Design Of Driver Which For A Group Of Parallel Connected Semiconductor Lasers

With the more and more widely uses of the semiconductor lasers in many fields, its driver also have been paid more attentions by more people. The using of computer to control the laser's output power can raise the performance-cost (cost performance) ration of the power effectively, simplify the hardware structure of the laser power, strengthen the automatic degree of the whole machine. It is also become easy to expand its function. The digitized control based on microcomputer can work the semiconductor laser accurately, stably and effectively. Digitization, intelligent is the inevitable developing direction of the semiconductor lasers' power. We have noticed that when controlling the semiconductor laser's power with microcomputer, because the majority is shared, if we add a small amount of hardware circuits in the computer, and supplement the software meanwhile, with one power can we drive several laser diodes at the same time, it's the laser diode group, we call. Thus, we can improve the cost performance of the power further. And, with the open-up day by day of the semiconductor laser's using, its output power is required larger and larger. But with the larger and larger output power of the semiconductor lasers, its prices are also having an exponential rises. So, we have proposed a kind of scheme: Driving several laser diodes at the same time with one driver, making each of it can work alone, then coupling the several beams of lasers into a fiber coupler, then can we get larger power and cost performance, especially to those high-power laser diodes, it is remarkable to improve the cost performance. This paper described the concept of the laser diode group and the design of its driver. The main contents as follows: (1) The meaning of the design of the driver for the laser diode group was described, the history of the driver for LD and its status quo were introduced as well. (2) The operation principle of the semiconductor laser, instructions for use, and the damage mechanism were analyzed intensively, and then the equivalent circuit model of LD and the primary demands of the driver were drawn. (3) The circuit structure of the power was proposed, then analyses to some circuits and demonstration of the scheme were made, and on the basis of damage mechanism, the protection circuit and anti-interference circuit were designed. (4) Software was completed, and the anti-interference technology in the program was emphasized. (5) Computer simulation, experiment testing and program debugging have been made, while attentions were emphasized in the course of the testing.