1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser driver, in particular, a laser driver for driving a laser diode in a direct modulation system.
2. Background Arts
Some laser drivers have been developed for the direct to modulation system. For example, a laser driver which introduced a push-pull driving technique to provide a modulation current to a light emitting element is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-109940.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-109940.
An aspect of the present application relates to a laser driver that comprises a first generator to generate a first signal in response to an input signal, a second signal generator to generate a second signal in response to the input signal, and an output terminal configured to output a shunt current to drive a laser diode. The first signal has first amplitude and a first rising transition. The first rising transition switches the laser diode from an on state to an off state of the laser diode. The second signal has second amplitude smaller than the first amplitude and a second rising transition having a delay from the first rising transition. The shunt current includes the first signal and the second signal.
The foregoing and other purposes, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the drawings, in which:
When such edge emitting semiconductor laser is driven by a laser driver in the direct modulation system, the optical output signal emitted from the edge emitting semiconductor laser shows some overshoots and undershoots at both of a 0 level (OFF level) and a 1 level (ON level) of waveform thereof. A relaxation oscillation of the edge emitting semiconductor laser causes such overshoots and undershoots. Frequency of the relaxation oscillation (relaxation oscillation frequency) depends on a driving current to drive the edge emitting semiconductor laser diode. The relaxation oscillation frequency becomes lower, when the driving current becomes small at the OFF level of the optical output signal.
Referring back to
The laser driver 3 is a laser driver for the direct modulation system, which provides the driving current ILD to the light emitting element LD based on a shunt driving technique. The laser driver 3 is, for example, a laser driver for a high-speed direct modulation system with a transmission rate of 25 Gbps or higher. The laser driver 3 directly modulates the light emitting element LD by turning on and off of the driving current ILD. The laser driver 3 generates the shunt current (output signal) Ish in response to an input signal. The shunt current Ish is a modulation signal to modulate the driving current ILD. A part of the bias current Ibias is bypassed as the shunt current Ish and the bypassed part flows into the laser driver 3 through the bonding wire B1. Accordingly, the rest of the bias current Ibias flows into the light emitting element LD as the driving current ILD. Therefore, the driving current ILD is equal to the bias current Ibias minus the shunt current Ish, namely Ibias-Ish. The waveform of the driving current ILD reverses the waveform of the shunt current Ish.
More specifically, the configuration of the laser driver 3 is explained below. The laser driver 3 includes a main signal generator (first generator) 4 and a sub signal generator (second generator) 5.
The main signal generator (first generator) 4 is a circuit to generate a main current (main signal) Ic1 to switch the light emitting element LD between the ON and OFF states in response to the input signal. The main signal generator 4 includes a transistor 41 (first transistor) and a resistor 42. The transistor 41 receives the input signal at a control terminal (base) thereof and output the main current Ic1 from one of current terminals thereof (collector). The transistor 41 is, for example, an NPN-type bipolar transistor. The base (control terminal) of the transistor 41 is connected to an input terminal of the laser driver 3. The emitter (the other of current terminals) of the transistor 41 is connected to the ground through the resistor 42. The collector (one of current terminals) of the transistor 41 is connected to the output terminal of the laser driver 3. In the configuration, when the input signal is fed to the base of the transistor 41, the transistor 41 is switched between the ON and OFF states according to voltage level of the input signal. While the transistor 41 is in the ON state, the collector current flows in the transistor 41 as the main current Ic1. While the transistor 41 is in the OFF state, the collector current (main signal) decreases to substantially zero.
The sub signal generator (second generator) 5 is a circuit to generate a sub current (second signal) Ic2 to slow a falling edge (falling transition) in the waveform of the driving current ILD from a middle of the falling transition, as described later. Here, an operation to slow a falling transition is equivalent to the operation to decrease a slope of the falling transition. The sub current Ic2 has the same polarity as the main current Ic1 and the amplitude of the sub current Ic2 is smaller than the amplitude of the main current Ic1. The sub current Ic2 in a DC magnitude thereof is smaller than that of the main current Ic1. The sub current Ic2 include asymmetrical pulses and a rise time larger (slower) than that of the main current Ic1. For one falling transition of the driving current ILD, the instant the sub current Ic2 begins to rise is delayed from the instant when the main current Ic1 begins to rise.
Here, the rise time of a signal is defined as a time required for the signal to move from a lower level to a higher level in waveform of the signal, taking a time in the horizontal axis and a physical parameter in the vertical axis. Along (large) rise time corresponds to a gradual slope (small differential coefficient) of a physical parameter of the signal. A long (large) fall time corresponds to a gradual slope (small differential coefficient) of a physical parameter of the signal. Here, when the Low level corresponds to 0% of amplitude and High level corresponds to 100% of amplitude, the rise time is specifically defined as a required time for a signal to move from 20% to 80% and the fall time is defined as a required time for the signal to move from 80% to 20%.
The sub signal generator (second generator) 5 includes a low pass filter (LPF) 51, a bias circuit 52, a transistor 53 (second transistor), and a resistor 54. The low pass filter 51 is a circuit to decrease high frequency components from the received input signal to decease a slope of a rising transition of the received input signal. An input terminal of the low pass to filter 51 is connected to the input terminal of the laser driver 3. An output terminal is connected to the base of the transistor 53.
The transistor 53 receives the input signal through the low pass filter 51 at a control terminal (base) thereof and outputs the sub signal Ic2 from one of current terminals thereof (collector). The transistor 53 is, for example, an NPN-type bipolar transistor. The base (control terminal) of the transistor 53 is connected to the output terminal of the low pass filter 51. The emitter (the other of current terminals) of the transistor 53 is grounded through the resistor 54. The collector (one of current terminals) of the transistor 54 is connected to the output terminal of the laser driver 3.
The resister 54 is used to set the amplitude of the sub signal Ic2 to a desired value. The amplitude of the sub signal Ic2 may be adjusted by trans-conductance gm of the transistor 53 and the resistance of the resistor 54. The trans-conductance gm of the transistor 53 depends on sizes of the transistor 53, for example, a gate length and a gate width in a case of the field effect transistor (FET).
The bias circuit 52 is a circuit to set the bias voltage of the control terminal (base) of the transistor 53. For example, the bias circuit 52 sets the bias voltage between 0.6 to 0.8 V. The shape of the waveform of the sub signal Ic2 depends on the bias voltage (base voltage) of the transistor 53. The base voltage is a sum of the input signal after passing through the low pass filter 51 and the bias voltage provided by the bias circuit 52. When the base voltage is lower than a forward voltage Vth2 of the p-n junction between the base and the emitter of the transistor 51, which is around 0.8 V, the transistor 53 becomes OFF and the sub signal Ic2 is ceased. When the base voltage is higher than the forward voltage Vth2, the transistor 53 turns on and flows the collector current therein, which corresponds to the sub signal Ic2. Therefore, the sub signal Ic2 has the waveform formed by a half-wave rectification of the input signal after passing through the low pass filter 51. A slice level of the half-wave rectification depends on the bias voltage. The bias voltage is set so that the sub signal Ic2 has a rising transition whose differential coefficient (momentary slope) gradually decreases as approaching the high level like a rounded corner. For example, the bias voltage is set so that the transistor 53 turns off while the signal is lower than the center level of the amplitude of the input signal after passing through the low pass filter 51.
In the sub signal generator 5 described above, when the input signal is fed to the base of the transistor 53 through the low pass filter 51, the transistor 53 switches according to voltage level of the input signal. When the transistor 53 turns on, the collector of the transistor 53 generates (absorbs) a collector current as the sub signal Ic2. The bias circuit 52 in the sub signal generator 5 sets the bias voltage of the transistor 53 to a voltage level lower than the bias voltage of the transistor 41. The main signal Ic1 generated by the main signal generator 4 and the sub signal Ic2 generated by the sub signal generator 5 are superposed and output from an output terminal of the laser driver 3 to an anode of the light emitting element LD as the shunt current Ish.
The laser driver 3 further includes a suppression circuit 6. The suppression circuit 6 is a circuit to suppress a resonant peak caused by capacitance Cout attributed to a parasitic capacitor 7 and inductance Lbw of the bonding wire B1 connecting the output terminal of the laser driver 3 to the light emitting element LD. The suppression circuit 6 includes a resistor 61 and a capacitor 62. The resistor 61 and the capacitor 62 constitute a series circuit connected between the output terminal of the laser driver 3 and the ground.
As referring
In the main signal generator 4, when the input signal is fed to the base (control terminal) of the transistor 41, the transistor 41 switches according to the voltage level of the input signal and generates (draws) the collector current as the main signal Ic1 shown in
In the sub signal generator 5, the input signal passes through the low pass filter 51. The input signal after passing through the low pass filter 51 has a longer rise time and a longer fall time in comparison with the original input signal before passing through the low pass filter 51, as shown in
The input signal after passing through the low pass filter 51 is fed to the base of the transistor 53. The bias circuit 52 shifts the voltage level of the input signal fed to the base of the transistor 53 to a lower level, so that the transistor 53 turns off when the input signal is lower than a center value of the amplitude thereof, and the transistor 53 turns on when the input signal is higher than the center value, like performing a half-wave rectification. The collector of the transistor 53 outputs (shunts) a collector current as the sub signal Ic2 shown
The sub signal IC2 has the polarity same as the main to signal Ic1, but the waveform thereof seems to be generated from the input signal after passing through the low pass filter 51 by a half-wave rectification. The time at which the sub signal Ic2 begins to rise from the Low level is delayed from the time at which the main signal Ic1 begins to rise from the Low level. Also, the time at which the sub signal Ic2 begins to fall from the High level is delayed from the time at which the main signal Ic1 begins to fall from the High level. The delay in the rising transition is larger than the delay in the falling transition, and is smaller than one period of the transmission rate, for example, several pico-seconds.
The main signal Ic1 generated by the main signal generator 4 and the sub signal Ic2 generated by the sub signal generator 5 are added to each other to generate the shunt current Ish as shown in
In the laser driver 3 described above, the transistor 41 and the transistor 53 are connected in parallel to the output terminal. The transistor 41 directly receives the input signal in the base thereof. The transistor 53 receives the input signal in the base thereof but through the low pass filter 51. The bias circuit 52 is connected to the base of the transistor 53. The bias circuit 52 sets the bias voltage to be applied to the base of the transistor 53 to a voltage level lower than the bias voltage applied to the base of the transistor 41. The transistor 41 subtracts (absorbs) the main signal Ic1 from the bias current Ibias, and the transistor 53 subtracts (absorbs) the sub signal Ic2 from the bias current Ibias concurrently with the transistor 41. Accordingly, the laser driver 3 modulates the driving current ILD by subtracting the shunt current Ish from the bias current Ibias. The shunt current Ish includes the main signal Ic1 and the sub current Ic2.
The above-mentioned laser driver is practically provided as a driver IC for a shunt driving system.
The driver IC includes the laser driver 3, two resistors 11 and 12, a reference voltage generator 13, two transistors 14 and 15, and two current sources 16 and 17. The output terminal of the laser driver 3 is connected to the output terminal OUT. The ground potential is provided to the laser driver 3 through the ground terminal GND.
The resistors 11, 12 are termination resistors for the differential input signal. One end of the resistor 11 is connected to the input terminal INP and one end of the resistor 12 is connected to the input terminal INN. Respective other ends of the resistors 11, 12 are commonly connected to the reference voltage generator 13 and biased to a bias voltage Vref. The resistance R1 of the resistor 11 and the resistance R2 of the resistor 12 are, for example, 50 Ohm.
The transistor 14 is, which may be a type of, for example, to an NPN-type bipolar transistor, is connected to the input terminal INP in the base thereof, to the ground terminal GND through the current source 16 in the emitter, and to the power supply terminal Vcc in the collector. The transistor 15 is, which may be a type of, for example, an NPN-type bipolar transistor, is connected to the input terminal INN in the base, to the ground terminal GND through the current source 17 and the input terminal of the laser driver 3 in the emitter, and to the power supply terminal Vcc in the collector thereof.
In the driver IC 10 described above, an emitter follower, which is constituted of the transistor 14 and the current source 16, receives the positive-phase signal Vinp. Another emitter follower, which is constituted of the transistor 15 and the current source 17, receives the negative-phase signal Vinn. The output signal of the latter emitter follower that receives the negative-phase signal Vinn is provided to the laser driver 3 as an input signal. In the configuration, the base voltage Vb1 of the transistor 41 is determined by the following equation (1).
Vb1=Vref−R2×Ibn−Vben (1)
Where R2 is resistance of the resistor 12 and Ibn is a base current of the transistor 15 and Vben is a base-emitter voltage.
Advantages of the laser driver 3 is described below as referring to a comparative example.
As shown in
As shown in
As referring to
In the circled part U1 of the waveform shown in
In the light emitting element LD, carrier consumption by photon in an active layer is delayed while the carrier decreases (corresponding to a falling transition of the optical output signal), and excessive carrier consumption occurs when the carrier stops the decreasing. This mechanism causes undershoots (just after the falling transition) in the waveform of the optical output signal. Then, excessive decrease of carrier density causes excessive decrease of carrier consumption by photon and carrier increased by current injection becomes in excess in comparison with the steady point (the 0 level) and brings about the relaxation oscillation like a swinging back. A gradual slope of a falling transition may restrain the relaxation oscillation, but such a slow transition maynot work for high-speed modulations. However, a steep slope with a partial gradual slope (only a lower part thereof is gradual, more specifically, differential coefficient dILD/dt is gradually decreased before the driving current ILD reaches the 0 level) to suppress the excessive decrease may restrain the relaxation oscillation.
The laser driver 3 generates the shunt current Ish to realize such a special slope by adding the sub signal Ic2 to the main signal Ic1. The main signal Ic1 controls the switching of the light emitting element LD between the 0 level and the 1 level. The sub signal Ic2 functions such that a differential coefficient dIc2/dt is gradually decreased before the driving current reaches the 0 level in a rising transition. Therefore, the rise time of the sub signal Ic2 is longer (larger) than the rise time of the main signal Ic1. The rising transition of the shunt current Ish is shaped by adding the rising transition of the sub signal Ic2 to the rising transition of the main signal Ic1, so that the slope of the shunt current holds steep in the middle of the transition and gradually becomes gentle before the shunt current reaches the High level (which corresponds to the Low level of the driving current). In other words, in the middle of the rising transition, the differential coefficient dIsh/dt (momentary slope) begins to decrease. The shunt driving system modulates the driving current ILD by subtracting the shunt current Ish from the bias current Ibias. The waveform of the driving current ILD reverses the waveform of the shunt current Ish. A gradual decrease of the differential coefficient (momentary slope) of the shunt current Ish from the middle of a rising transition allows the slope of the driving current ILD to be gradually decreased before the driving current ILD reaches the 0 level thereof from the middle of the falling transition. The driving current ILD with such a special slope enables to slow the rate of the carrier consumption from the middle of the falling transition and restrain the excessive decrease of the carriers. Therefore, the laser driver 3 reduces the relaxation oscillation in the 0 level of the optical output signal and prevents the waveform of the optical output signal from showing the undershoots, ringing in the 0 level, and the pattern jitters due to the relaxation oscillation.
Additionally, by decreasing the differential coefficient dIsh/dt (momentary slope) from the middle of the rising transition of the shunt current Ish, the differential coefficient dILD/dt from the middle of the falling transition of the driving current ILD may be decreased. If the whole slope of the falling transition of the driving current ILD is decreased, the optical output signal is unable to show a sufficient opening in the eye pattern. The laser driver 3 may prevent the eye pattern from being deteriorated.
In the laser driver 3, the transistor 41 outputs the main signal Ic1 in response to the input signal, while, the base of the transistor 41 directly receives the input signal. The transistor 53 outputs the sub signal Ic2 in response to the input signal after passing through the low pass filter 51, that is, the base of the transistor 53 receives the input signal through the low pass filter 51. The low pass filter reduces the high frequency components from the input signal, so that the rise time of the sub signal Ic2 is longer (larger) than the rise time of the main signal Ic1. The laser driver with the configuration described above enables the differential coefficient dIsh/dt (momentary slope) of the shunt current Ish to be gradually decreased from the middle of the rising transition, in particular, before the shunt current Ish reaches the 1 level thereof. Further, by adjusting the bias voltage supplied to the base of the transistor 53, the waveform of the sub signal Ic2 may be shaped based on the input signal after passing through the low pass filter 51, so that the lower part of the rising transition of the sub signal Ic2 shows a relatively steep slope and the upper part of the rising transition shows a relatively gradual slope to restrain the relaxation oscillation of the light emitting element LD.
As the amplitude of the sub signal Ic2 is smaller than the amplitude of the main signal Ic1, the ratio of the sub signal Ic2 to the shunt current becomes smaller than the ratio of the main signal Ic1 to the shunt current. In addition, the time at which the sub signal Ic2 begins to rise is delayed from the time at which the main signal Ic1 begins to rise. Therefore, the instant from which the differential coefficient dILD/dt of the driving current ILD begins to decrease may be close to the instant at which the driving current ILD reaches the 0 level. Here, the differential coefficient dILD/dt corresponds to the amount of decrease per a unit time (momentary slope) for the driving current ILD. Accordingly, the laser driver 3 may restrain degradation of the eye pattern of the optical output signal.
When the current source shown in
In
An advantage of the laser driver 1 on the optical output signal may be understood by comparing
A laser driver according to the present invention is not limited to the laser driver according to the embodiment described above, and various modifications may be made. For example, the shunt current may include a main signal and a sub signal when the laser driver output the shunt current. Other variations having the equivalent functionality and behavior (operation) with the above-mentioned embodiments may be used as the main signal generator 4 and the sub signal generator 5.
A circuit configuration for generating the waveform of the driving current ILD shown in
A transistor 53 in the sub signal generator 5 is not limited to the NPN-type bipolar transistor according to the embodiment described above. An nMOSFET may be used as the transistor 53 as shown in
When an nMOSFET is used as the transistor 53, the source (the other of current terminals) of the nMOSFET may be directly grounded without the resistor 54 as shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014-230920 | Nov 2014 | JP | national |