
Semiconductor Group
2
August 98
FOA2251A1
FOA2252A1
G
ENERAL
This document defines the ratings and characteristics of a laser driver circuit dedicated
for applications within data communication modules with respect to various
transmission standards and laser safety requirements.
A block diagram of this circuit is shown in figure 1. The laser driver mainly consists of a
modulator, a laser diode bias current controller and a laser- / V
CC
supervisor circuit.
Modulator:
The modulator is capable of driving modulation currents up to 60 mA. The modulation
current is adjustable by an external resistor (R
MOD
). Furthermore there is a control input
which defines the modulation current temperature dependency. The IC has an internal
temperature compensation circuit for compensating the temperature characteristic of
laser diode slope efficiency. With the external resistor (R
TC
), the modulation current
temperature coefficient is adjustable. The temperature input itself derives from chip
junction temperature. An input signal monitor circuit delivers an internal signal which is
used for laser disabling, if data input is constantly high or low.
Bias Controller:
The bias controller controls the laser diode’s optical output power by adjusting the bias
current. The controller cutoff frequency is adjustable by external capacitor (C
BIAS
). The
laser bias current will start at < 300
μ
A after laser enable.
Laser Supervisor / V
CC
Supervisor:
The laser supervisor circuit monitors the laser output power by the means of monitor
diode feedback. The voltage generated by monitor diode circuit is compared to a
reference. If the input voltage deviates more than
±
2dB (optical power
±
1dB) from this
reference, the laser diode is switched off and a fault indication is generated. The V
CC
supervisor monitors the circuit power supply and switches off the laser if the V
CC
level
is below the reset threshold. It is keeping the laser output down for the adjusted delay
time (Power On Delay) after V
CC
has risen above the V
CC
reset threshold.