Pulsed laser diode demo board targets flash Lidar apps

EPC announces the availability of the EPC9144, a 15 V, 28 A high current pulsed laser diode driver demonstration board.

In time-of-flight systems, speed and accuracy of object detection is critical. As demonstrated on this board, the rapid transition capability of the AEC Q101-qualified EPC2216 provides power pulses to drive laser diodes, VCSELs or LEDs up to ten times faster than an equivalent MOSFET, in a small fraction of the area, energy, and cost

eGaN FETs and integrated circuits provide the high current pulses, extremely narrow pulse widths, and small size that make affordable, high performance lidar possible. The short pulse width lead to higher resolution, and the tiny size and low cost make eGaN FETs ideal for time-of-flight applications from automotive to industrial, healthcare to smart advertising, gaming, and security.

The EPC9144 ships with an interposer board. The interposer board is a collection of break-away 5 mm x 5 mm square interposer PCBs with footprints to accommodate different lasers, RF connectors, and a collection of other footprints designed for experimentation with different loads. The use of the interposers allows many different lasers or other loads to be mounted, allowing users to test the performance with the load requirements that are appropriate to their application.

GaN is a critical factor making affordable, high-performance lidar possible. Thus, the use of GaN components further expands the number of applications where increased accuracy is vital. These applications include self-driving cars and other time-of-flight applications such as facial recognition, warehouse automation, drones and topological mapping. The EPC9144 can also be used for applications requiring a ground-referenced eGaN FET; for example, in class E or similar circuits.

The EPC9144 demonstration board is priced $378.00 each. The EPC2216 eGaN FET used on the EPC9144 demonstration board is priced at 2.5Ku/reel at $0.532 each. Both are available for immediate delivery from Digi-Key here.