Laser bias current control

• Main Authors: Lammers Todd Michael, Chu Alfredo Sam, Zhu Wenzhong, Matousek Robert, Schick Thomas Lee
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 13.03.2018
• Subjects: INFORMATION STORAGE; INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORDCARRIER AND TRANSDUCER; PHYSICS

A preamplifier circuit can include a control line dedicated to receive a control signal that corresponds to indicating a specific register of the preamplifier circuit, which can allow the preamplifier to switch between utilizing two or more registers to control a current output of the preamplifier circuit. The preamplifier circuit may also have a serial input to program multiple registers of the preamplifier circuit in a serial fashion. In some embodiments, the current output may be a laser bias current. The preamplifier may adjust an output current that drives a laser emitter based on a control signal indicating which specific registers controls the output current. Further, a controller, such as a system-on-chip controller, may selectively vary the control signal to affect the current output of the preamplifier circuit. These systems and methods may be particularly useful for lasers and heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR).