High Power Laser Diode Driver | Current Range 20 Amps | Multi-Stage Protection for High Power Laser Diodes

Product Overview:

LDI-187 Precision Laser Diode Driver

The LDI-187 has been designed to electrically bias high power laser diodes while protecting them from the common causes of damage which can harm or destroy the laser. Because high power lasers require relatively high levels of DC current and voltage, and generate high levels of waste heat, they have a unique set of electrical and thermal requirements which need to be addressed to protect them from being damaged. Additionally, the driver has been designed with features to assist the user to safely operate the laser diode under test. It offers features such as a front panel e-Stop power kill switch, redundant safety interlocks, and a front panel key-switch master power on/off.

Designed to Protect High Power Laser Diodes from Being Damaged

• User Adjustable Current and Voltage Limits Setting current and voltage limits are necessary to ensure a long lifetime for the laser diode. Limits can be set using the front panel & key-pad, or through software and/ or Labview GUI.


• User Adjustable Soft-Start Current Ramp There is an internal 300 millisecond soft-start ramp to the current set-point. This reduces the potential for thermal shock to the laser at power ON and is used to ensure good electrical contact prior to fully applying the current bias the laser diode. The user has the ability to adjust the ramp time in order to optimize performance. These laser diode drivers offer the industries' only user-set slow start current ramp to the bias set point. This allows the user to extend the ramp time out to 10’s of seconds to prevent the possibility of thermal shock and prevent over driving the module during the start up sequence.


• Protection Against Power Black-Out / Brown-Out and AC Power Surges AC line filters and power clamp circuitry protects the laser diode from AC input power transients and surges. These transients can occur when the bench / wall power source is momentarily interrupted due to a black or brown-out power outage.


• Laser Diode Over-Temperature Shut-Down / External Monitor & Shut-Down A thermistor input is provided to allow the user to monitor the temperature of the laser diode. This can then be used to shut the laser diode off if a temperature maximum for the laser diode is exceeded. Also included is the ability to control an external cooling fan. A temperature sensor input is available on the back panel, and the external fan control supply is capable of driving up to 500 mA at 24 V.

User Safety Features

The driver has been designed with features to assist the user to safely operate the laser diode under test. These features include a front panel e-Stop power kill switch, redundant safety interlocks, a front panel key-switch master power on/off, and an over-temperature thermistor sensor input.

CW and Quasi-CW Modes of Operation

In addition to CW (continuous wave) mode of operation, these laser diode drivers offer flexible modulation capabilities and an integrated QCW mode (integrated pulse generator). The user can apply a TTL digital or analog modulation input through the rear panel BNC. The controller has an internal function generator which can be used to set the modulation signal or the quasi-CW pulses with a time base accuracy of 1.0%. In QCW mode, the user can set pulse parameters from a remote TTL signal source or use the internal function generator.

User Interface / Front Panel + Keypad / RS232 / USB / LabVIEW Drivers

Controller setup is fast and intuitive via the front panel LCD display and keypad with a simple to use menu structure. These drivers come with standard an RS-232 interface and a USB interface adapter. The included LabView driver GUI makes set-up and control of the system fast and simple.