ON Semi Defends its 905nm Wavelength Choice in LiDARs

EETimes publishes ON Semi article "Demystifying LiDAR: An In-Depth Guide to the Great Wavelength Debate" by Bahman Hadji. It appears to be based on the previously published video presentation. Few quotes:

"After doing a deep dive into the technology and the differences between NIR and SWIR systems, it is clear why the vast majority of LiDAR systems in existence today are using NIR wavelengths. While the outlook for the future is never 100% certain, it is apparent that the cost and availability of ecosystem suppliers are key factors, and NIR-based systems will certainly always be cheaper due to the technology advantage and economies of scale for CMOS silicon. And while SWIR does allow for a longer-ranging LiDAR system, NIR-based LiDARs can also achieve desired automotive long-range requirements, while also performing extremely well for short- to medium-range configurations also needed in ADAS and AD. The existence of NIR-based LiDARs in mass production for the automotive market today shows that the technology has been commercialized and proven out, but it will still take some time for consolidation to happen and for the winners and losers to shake out. After all, the automobile industry at the turn of the 20th century contained 30 different manufacturers, and that increased to nearly 500 over the next ten years — but it only took a few years after that for most of them to disappear. It is expected that a similar dynamic may happen with LiDAR manufacturers by the end of this decade."