Laser Diode Driver Uses Very Little Power

Touted as the market's lowest-power laser diode driver, the MAX3930 is designed to directly modulate laser diodes at data rates up to 10.7 Gb/s while drawing only 108 mA from a single +5V or -5.2V supply. The device is said to be ideal for long-reach optical transmitter applications within SDH/SONET, DWDM, and 10-Gbit Ethernet systems. The laser driver consists of a high-speed modulation driver, laser-biasing block, and a pulse-width adjustment control circuit.
The driver receives differential CML signals with 50W on-chip line terminations and it is able to deliver a laser modulation current of 20 mA to 100 mA with an edge speed of 25 ps. When a clock signal is available, an integrated data retiming function can be selected to improve signal performance. An integrated bias circuit provides a programmable current up to 100 mA. Operating over a -40°C to +85°C temperature range, price is $155 each/1,000. Evaluation kits are also available.