An Ultra-High Stability, Low-Noise Laser Current Driver with Digital Control

TL;DR

This paper introduces a highly stable, low-noise laser current driver with digital control, offering improved stability, accuracy, and remote operation capabilities for laser applications.

Contribution

A novel laser current driver design that enhances stability, reduces noise, and incorporates digital control for precise, repeatable operation near the laser source.

Findings

Demonstrates excellent long-term stability and low noise levels.

Achieves high modulation bandwidth suitable for advanced laser applications.

Provides detailed characterization of stability, noise, and transient response.

Abstract

We present a low-noise, high modulation-bandwidth design for a laser current driver with excellent long term stability. The driver improves upon the commonly-used Hall-Libbrecht design. The current driver can be operated remotely by way of a micro-processing unit, which controls the current set point digitally. This allows precise repeatability and improved accuracy and stability. It also allows the driver to be placed near the laser for reduced noise and for lower phase lag when using the modulation input. We present the theory of operation for our driver in detail, and give a thorough characterization of its stability, noise, set point accuracy and repeatability, temperature dependence, transient response, and modulation bandwidth.