GaN laser driver switching 30 A in the sub-nanosecond range

摘要

A GaN-HEMT-based laser driver circuit is presented which can switch 30 A of current with a minimum pulse width of 580 ps. The pulse width can be varied electronically. Its maximum depends only on the value of the storage capacitor. This demonstrates the potential of GaN transistors also for high-speed high-current applications at low voltages. The driver is integrated together with the laser diode on a submount following a special scheme, which is essential to keep parasitic inductance low.