Multi-Channel Laser Driver with High-Precision Pulse Generator for Solid-State dToF LiDAR

Ahstract-A channel addressable laser driver chip with on-chip pulse width stabilization for solid-state direct time-of-flight (dToF) light detection and ranging (LiDAR) system is presented in this work. The solid-state channel addressability significantly reduces transmit power and improves ranging distance by dividing the field-of-view (FoV) into illuminated sub-regions. The laser-diode driver (LDD) chip is implemented in 180nm BCD process and is capable of pumping more than 6.5A peak current into a multi-junction vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array, producing up to 11W optical pulses under 8V supply voltage. The pulse width variation of the on-chip pulse generator is +/-1.5% with a temperature range of -40°C to 85°C.