Patent attributes
The present disclosure is directed toward circuits for driving one or more laser diodes with a series of current pulses, where the energy required for each current pulse is generated and stored on a pulse-by-pulse basis. Laser-driver circuits in accordance with the present disclosure include a charge-storage inductor that is electrically coupled with a power supply and a charge-storage capacitor that is electrically coupled with a laser-diode string. The electrical coupling between the inductor and capacitor is controlled by one or more switches having on- and off-states that determine whether the inductor is charged by the power supply, charges the capacitor, or whether the charged capacitor generates a current pulse in the laser-diode string. By controlling the states of the switches, the energy provided to the laser-diode string can be controlled on a pulse-by-pulse basis.
