
M
Smooth-Start
During startup, the laser does not emit light, and the
APC loop is not closed. The smooth-start circuit pulls
the MD pin to approximately 2.5V during the POR delay
and while TX_DISABLE is high. This causes the power-
control amplifier to shut off the bias transistor. When
POR delay is over and TX_DISABLE is low, the MD pin
is released and pulled to GND by R
SET
because there
is no laser power and thus no monitor diode current.
The output voltage of the power-control amplifier then
begins to increase. A capacitor attached to COMP
(C
COMP
) slows the slew rate and allows a controlled
increase in bias current (Figure 11). Maxim recom-
mends C
COMP
= 0.1μF.
Modulation Circuitry
The modulation circuitry consists of an input buffer, a
current mirror, and a high-speed current switch (Figure
5). The modulator drives up to 30mA of modulation cur-
rent into a 25
load.
Many of the modulator performance specifications
depend on total modulator current. To ensure good driver
performance, the voltage at either OUT+ or OUT- must
not be less than V
CC
- 1V.
The amplitude of the modulation current is set with resis-
tors at the MODSET and temperature coefficient (TC)
pins. The resistor at MODSET (R
MOD
) programs the
temperature-stable portion of the modulation current,
and the resistor at TC (R
TC
) programs the temperature-
increasing portion of the modulation current. Figure 6
shows modulation current as a function of temperature
for two extremes: R
TC
is open (the modulation current
has zero temperature coefficient), and R
MOD
is open
(the modulation temperature coefficient is 4000ppm/
°
C).
Intermediate temperature coefficient values of the mod-
ulation current can be obtained as described in the
Design Procedure
section. Table 2 is the R
TC
and R
MOD
selection table.
Safety Circuitry
The safety circuitry contains a disable input, a fault
latch, and fault detectors (Figure 7). This circuitry moni-
tors the operation of the laser driver and forces a shut-
down if a single-point fault is detected. A single-point
fault can be a short to V
CC
or GND, or between any two
3.0V to 5.5V, 2.5Gbps VCSEL
and Laser Driver
8
_______________________________________________________________________________________
PIN
FAULT CONDITION
V
MON2
> 400mV
V
BIAS
< 400mV
V
MODSET
or V
TC
< 200mV
MON2
BIAS
TC, MODSET
Table 1. Typical Fault Conditions
MAX3996
100
IN+
IN-
INPUT BUFFER
50
50
V
CC
OUT+
OUT-
1.2V REFERENCE
0ppm/
°
C
MODSET
FAULT
200mV
MODSET
R
MOD
1.2V REFERENCE
4000ppm/
°
C
TC FAULT
200mV
TC
R
TC
Σ
CURRENT AMPLIFIER
96X
ENABLE
MODULATION
CURRENT
GENERATOR
CURRENT
SWITCH
Figure 5. Modulation Circuitry
0.6
0.8
0.7
1.0
0.9
1.2
1.1
1.3
0
20 30 40
JUNCTION TEMPERATURE (
°
C)
10
50 60 70 80 90 100 110
i
M
/
M
°
C
R
TC
≥
1.9k
R
MOD
= OPEN
TEMPCO = 4000ppm/
°
C
R
TC
= OPEN
TEMPCO = 50ppm/
°
C
Figure 6. Modulation Current vs. Temperature for Maximum
and Minimum Temperature Coefficient