Large current nanosecond pulse generating circuit for driving semiconductor laser diode

• Published in: Microwave and optical technology letters Vol. 61; no. 4; pp. 867 - 872
• Main Authors: Wen, Shaocong, Wang, Mao, Xie, Jie, Wu, Dongmin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01-04-2019; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Avalanche transistors; circuit modeling; Circuits; Diodes; driver circuit; Lasers; Lidar; light detection and ranging (Lidar); MOSFETs; Nanosecond pulses; Pulse duration; Semiconductor lasers; Switching; time‐of‐flight (TOF)
• ISSN: 0895-2477; 1098-2760
• DOI: 10.1002/mop.31654

The semiconductor laser diode SPL LL90_3, which integrates the RC charge‐discharge circuit and a MOSFET switching device, is usually used for pulsing laser in the light detection and ranging system with a rated peak power of 70 W at 30 ns pulse‐width. To further increase the peak power and reduce the pulse width and rising edge, a driving circuit with an avalanche transistor used as a pre‐switching device is proposed. A trigger pulse with about 10 ns’‐pulse‐width is obtained to drive the laser diode. At the same time, the pulsing laser's peak power can reach 141 W at the testing repetition rate of 55 kHz.