Power Efficient Current Driver Based on Negative Boosting for High-Speed Lasers

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are commonly used in high-speed optical communication and 3D sensing applications. Both of these applications require high switching frequency and a short rise time of the VCSEL current. The parasitic inductance of the wire (connecting the driver with...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inElectronics (Basel) Vol. 8; no. 11; p. 1309
Main Authors Arslan, Saad, Shah, Syed Asmat Ali, Kim, HyungWon
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2019
Subjects
Capacitance
Circuits
Electric potential
High speed
Inductance
Optical communication
Parasitics (electronics)
Power consumption
Power supply
Semiconductors
Vertical cavity surface emission lasers
Voltage
Wire
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are commonly used in high-speed optical communication and 3D sensing applications. Both of these applications require high switching frequency and a short rise time of the VCSEL current. The parasitic inductance of the wire (connecting the driver with VCSEL) makes it challenging to achieve a short rise time, which often incur increased supply voltage and excessive power consumption. This paper utilizes a momentary boosting in supply voltage to overcome the parasitic inductance of the wire with minimal power overhead. The proposed technique uses a precalculated boosting capacitance to produce negative voltage for common-anode VCSELs. The boosting capacitance provides the required amount of charge during the rising transition and automatically disconnects itself in steady-state. Circuit simulations reveal up to three times shorter rise time at the negligible cost of less than 10% power overhead.
ISSN:2079-9292
2079-9292
DOI:10.3390/electronics8111309