The LDC-3700C Series Laser Diode Controllers are an industry-leading family of high performance, microprocessor- based instruments that offer a high stability, low noise current source with an integrated 32W temperature controller specifically designed for controlling the current and temperature of laser diodes. These controllers are known throughout the industry for their reliability, precision, and ease-of-use.
Remote instrument operation in an R&D or production environment is available through a USB or GPIB/IEEE-488 interface. A trigger output is provided for integration into an automated measurement system where the TTL level output indicates a current step change for initiation of a measurement. For virtual instrument programming, LabVIEW™ instrument drivers can be downloaded from the Literature & Downloads tab on this page.
Laser diodes act as a gain medium. Small drive current fluctuations due to noise and drift are amplified optically. Because of this, a controller with a low noise and stable output is required to ensure stable optical output. The LDC-3700C Series of controllers make this possible. Each LDC-3700C Controller offers a precision 16-bit current source with 0.05% accuracy. Careful attention to design delivers as low as 20 ppm stability and 1.5 µA of noise so component measurements can be made with confidence.
Fine tuned for protection of your laser diode, our fast output shut-off provides an additional level of protection from intermittent contacts between the laser diode and the current source. These protection features all work in conjunction with all instrument modes of operation, providing worry free, fail safe control of your laser diode.
With the LDC-3700C Series Controllers, you can easily control the current to your laser diode in one of three operating modes:
The LDC-3700C Series Controllers include an integrated precision 32W temperature controller for quick temperature response of the laser diode’s chip temperature. For precise wavelength control during component testing, the LDC-3700C Series control algorithm maintains temperature with a stability of 0.004°C. Sixteen-bit control and measurement allows you to set temperature with 0.01°C resolution with a measurement accuracy of 0.05°C (with a calibrated sensor). In addition, the LDC-3700C series supports TEC forward voltage measurement for monitoring the total power consumption of your laser diode module.
These controllers offer extended temperature control from -100°C to 199.9°C with a choice of thermistor, IC, or RTD temperature sensors. Temperature can be controlled in one of three modes: constant temperature, constant sensor, or constant TE current. As an added precaution, if the temperature sensor or TE module circuit should open during operation, the laser diode current source output will be shut off and the appropriate fault indicator LED will illuminate. In addition to the normal control modes, the TEC output of the LDC-3700C Controllers is bounded by a fully independent hardware current limit to protect the laser diode’s internal TE module. These limits cannot be exceeded in any mode of operation. The controller can also be bounded by a high temperature limit setting.
Divided into two sections, TEC and LASER, the front panel offers quick, easy operation and information display without confusing multi-layer menus. Each bright, 5-digit, green LED display is easy to read from a distance, even with laser safety goggles. Each channel is directly addressable from the front panel "adjust" section with LASER and TEC parameters and modes easily selected or adjusted through discrete pushbuttons and a rotary digital encoder
For multiple instrument test configurations, the LDC-3700C Controllers offer a SAVE and RECALL feature. The SAVE function allows you to store all the front panel settings for any given instrument condition. The RECALL function allows you to retrieve any of the saved conditions at any time. This saves time in instrument re-configuration for different production runs or R&D experiments.