A CMOS Current-Mode Vertical-Cavity-Semiconductor-Emitting-Laser Diode Driver for Short-Range LiDAR Sensors

Abstract

This paper presents a current-mode VCSEL driver (CMVD) implemented using 180 nm CMOS technology for application in short-range LiDAR sensors, in which current-steering logic is suggested to deliver modulation currents from 0.1 to 10 mApp and a bias current of 0.1 mA simultaneously to the VCSEL diode. For the simulations, the VCSEL diode is modeled with a 1.6 V forward-bias voltage and a 50 Ω series resistor. The post-layout simulations of the proposed CMVD clearly demonstrate large output pulses and eye-diagrams. Measurements of the CMVD demonstrate large output pulses, confirming the simulation results. The chip consumes a maximum of 11 mW from a 3.3 V supply, and the core occupies an area of 0.1 mm2.

Keywords

• current mirror
• current mode
• current steering
• LiDAR
• VCSEL