Laser & Infrared, Volume. 55, Issue 1, 18(2025)

Design of digital drive circuit for vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

WEI Ying-ze1,2,3,4, LIAO Ying2,3,4,5, ZHOU Jian-bin1,5、*, TONG Xin2,3,4, YE Fan2,3,4, LI Song-song2,3,4, LUO Peng-kui3, and LI Rong-feng2,3,4,6
Author Affiliations
  • 1College of Nuclear Technology and Automation Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
  • 2The Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 3China Spallation Neutron Source Science Center, Dongguan 523803, China
  • 4Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Extreme Conditions, Dongguan 523803, China
  • 5School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, China
  • 6School of Mechanical Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China
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    Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) is the critical component of optical quantum instruments including atomic magnetometers and atomic clocks. The stability of the VCSEL's output laser significantly impacts key parameters, such as the measurement accuracy and sensitivity of these instruments. This paper introduces a VCSEL digital drive circuit with ZYNQ7010 FPGA as a controller, which uses the XTR111 chip to supply the high-stability current required by the VCSEL, and controls the semiconductor cooler (TEC) integrated inside the VCSEL to realize high-precision temperature control through the MAX1978 chip. The experimental result shows that the designed drive circuit can output linearly adjustable current range from 0 mA to 2 mA, with an adjustment accuracy better than 0.04 mA. Additionally, the temperature control accuracy of the TEC is better than 0.1 ℃. Finally, at a driving current of 1.325 mA and an operating temperature of 63 ℃, the VCSEL exhibits minimal drift, with the maximum output power and wavelength drifts measuring 0.001 mW and 0.004 nm, respectively. This digital drive circuit meets the requirements of light source driving for high-precision measuring instruments such as atomic magnetometers.

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    WEI Ying-ze, LIAO Ying, ZHOU Jian-bin, TONG Xin, YE Fan, LI Song-song, LUO Peng-kui, LI Rong-feng. Design of digital drive circuit for vertical cavity surface emitting lasers[J]. Laser & Infrared, 2025, 55(1): 18

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    Paper Information

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    Received: Apr. 16, 2024

    Accepted: Mar. 13, 2025

    Published Online: Mar. 13, 2025

    The Author Email: ZHOU Jian-bin (2022736355@qq.com)

    DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1001-5078.2025.01.003

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