Frequently Asked Questions About Laser Drivers

A laser driver is a specialized circuit that acts as the core of the transmitter stage in Time-of-Flight (ToF) systems. It generates the extremely short, high-power optical pulses required for accurate distance measurement. Its performance directly impacts spatial resolution, accuracy, and range in LiDAR and rangefinder modules.

Traditional discrete architectures use separate components for the boost regulator, isolation/energy-transfer stage, gate driver, and switching transistor. This approach is often inefficient (capacitor-to-capacitor energy transfer can lose up to 50%), creates thermal management challenges, increases PCB footprint, and raises Bill of Materials (BoM) cost.

FirePower integrates the boost converter, GaN FET drivers, and control/fault logic into a single monolithic IC. This eliminates inefficient intermediate energy-transfer stages found in discrete resonant drivers, improving efficiency, reducing heat, shrinking solution size, and lowering BoM cost.

To achieve nanosecond-scale pulses at very high peak currents, advanced drivers use a resonant topology that places a capacitor in parallel with the laser diode. Together with unavoidable parasitic inductances (e.g., package/PCB inductance), this forms a resonant tank that enables rapid, energetic discharge through the laser.

Experimental results of SL2002 integrated driver demonstrate optical pulses approaching ~1000 W peak power with <3 nanoseconds Full-Wave-Half-Magnitude (FWHM) pulse duration, and 150 W peak power with sub-1 ns pulse widths.

The integrated control and fault-management logic enables fast fault sensing and reporting with nanosecond-level response times. This supports strict control of pulse energy and helps systems comply with eye-safety standards such as IEC 60825-1.

Yes. By integrating key functions and eliminating major charging/energy transfer losses, the overall charging efficiency is improved to ~85%, which is quite significant for portable and thermally constrained applications.

Applications include automotive LiDAR (ADAS/autonomy), industrial automation ToF sensors, drones/UAV mapping and collision avoidance, logistics robots (AMRs/AGVs), sports/recreation rangefinders, and consumer electronics depth sensing (e.g., smartphones).

SL2001 is a dual-output driver intended for higher-power applications with a wide input range (about 3 V to 24 V) and peak laser power up to ~1000 W (application dependent). SL2002 is a single-channel driver optimized for lower-power and portable/battery systems, operating from about 2.8 V to 5.5 V input, supporting up to 200 W peak power and ~1 MHz repetition rates for handheld rangefinders.

Yes. The FirePower family of products support both edge-emitting lasers (EEL) and VCSEL diodes.

Yes. Several compact evaluation boards with different type of laser diodes and peak power capabilities are available. Please visit Laser Driver EVK or contact sa***@*********mi.com for more details.