PCO-7110 Series

The PCO-7110 is a compact, economical OEM laser diode driver module designed to provide extremely fast, high current pulses to drive laser diodes in range finder, LIDAR, atmospheric communications and other applications requiring high current, nanosecond pulses. Six standard models are offered in the PCO-7110 product line, providing pulse currents ranging from 4A to 120A, and pulse widths from 4 nanoseconds to 65 nanoseconds, at frequencies as high as 50KHz. Custom pulse width and output current configurations are available for OEM applications – contact DEI for more information. Mounting pads are provided to mount the laser diode directly to the driver, eliminating the need for interconnect cables or striplines. The four-hole mounting pattern accepts TO-18, TO-5, TO-52, 5.6MM, and 9MM packages (EG&G Optoelectronics R, S, T and U packages), as well as other packages of similar dimensions and lead spacing, mounted perpendicular to the driver circuit board. To facilitate different packages and mounting preferences, there are two solder pads on the end of the board to accept various laser diode packages mounted on axis to the driver. Furthermore, the diode can be connected remotely from the driver using a low-impedance stripline interconnection between the mounting pads and the leads of the laser diode. A current monitor output may be viewed with an oscilloscope, providing a straight-forward means to observe the diode current waveform in real-time. The PCO-7110 driver provides high-speed performance, a robust design, flexible mounting configurations and the ability to drive a wide range of laser diodes in a small package. These features provide the user with an economical OEM module with the flexibility to be readily designed into a wide range of products. Technical Overview The PCO-7110 uses MOSFET transistors as the main switching element. Unlike avalanche transistor drivers, neither the power MOSFET or the gate drive transistor of the PCO-7110 are operated in breakdown, but instead are controlled via their gates. This design provides a high degree of reliability, excellent switching performance, and superior amplitude and temporal stability over a broad operating temperature range. The driver requires three inputs: A TTL trigger, +15VDC support power, and a high voltage DC input (+195V or +495V maximum, depending upon the driver model). The output current depends upon the available charge of the driver’s pulse forming network. This charge is directly proportional to the applied voltage. Therefore it is possible to vary the output of the PCO-7110 by varying the input high voltage amplitude. The output current can be varied over a large range with little variation in pulse width. Protection circuitry is designed into the PCO-7110 to protect the driver against excessively long input trigger signals and support power supply transients and over-voltage conditions. Additionally, high speed clamp diodes are incorporated into the output network to protect the laser diode against reverse voltage conditions.