Design and Stability Analysis of a Digital Automatic Power Control Based on a PI Controller for Laser Drivers

Abstract

Laser diodes are widely used in research and industrial applications in areas such as measurements, communications and health. In most of these applications, stability in the emitted light power is required. This can be realized by modifying the internal parameters, such as the current supply, by using an analog automatic power control (APC). This research presents the design and analysis of a feedback laser driver (digital APC system) based on a proportionall–integral (PI) controller. The controller’s theoretical design acting on the supply current in a laser was obtained by algebraically solving the general equations of a PI controller over a laser described as a steady-state system. The required steady-state model can be determined from the lightl–current curve obtained either from the laser data sheet or experimentally. A posterior numerical analysis shows that the proportional gain of the PI controller is only limited numerically by the reciprocal of the slope efficiency of the laser when the characteristic time of the system is greater than the sampling period. Finally, the APC model was tested in an experimental setting using a laser diode ADL-65052TL at several temperatures. The results show that the proposed relations for the proportional gain and the integral time are valid, achieving the desired power stability with a drift of less than 0.1%.