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Other Niche and Emerging Applications

D31.3 - Evaluation of Short-Pulse Laser Driver Using Direct-Drive Normally-on GaN HEMT

Thursday, March 26, 2026
12:00 PM - 1:45 PM CT
Location: Hemisfair Ballroom
This work presents a short-pulse laser driver that integrates direct-drive normally-on gallium nitride (GaN) technology into a half-bridge structure, achieving 50 MHz repetition rate for optical phased array light detection and ranging (OPA LiDAR) application. The switching characteristics of in-house low-voltage normally-on GaN devices are extracted through double-pulse testing. Compared with charging the laser-pulse capacitor via resistor, the half-bridge structure can precisely control the charging and discharging time that improves the power efficiency. Experimental results on the PCB prototype confirm the ability to drive the laser diode at 3 ns pulse width, 25 A peak laser current and 50 MHz repetition rate.