摘要 |
A laser driver according to the present invention is adapted to keep the optical output power of a laser diode constant even if the temperature has changed or if the performance of the laser diode has deteriorated with time. The laser driver includes a photodiode, a current-to-voltage converter, a reference voltage generator, a transconductor, a holding capacitor and a drive current output circuit. The current-to-voltage converter converts an output current of the photodiode, which is provided to monitor the optical output of the laser diode, into a monitor voltage. The transconductor supplies an output current corresponding to a difference between the monitor voltage and a predetermined reference voltage. The drive current output circuit outputs a laser drive current corresponding to the voltage held by the holding capacitor, which is connected to the output terminal of the transconductor. The laser driver with this configuration performs a feedback control in such a manner as to equalize the monitor voltage with the reference voltage, thereby keeping the optical output power of the laser diode constant. As a result, high-precision and stabilized APC performance is realized.
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