Electronics Design
Intense’s electronics experts can deliver state-of-the-art laser driver solutions. In many of our products, each laser emitter is individually controlled by on-board electronics interfaced to the customer’s system.
These are available for purchase as:
- Discrete electronics circuits
- ASIC based circuit solutions
Electronics Design
Ease of use and compact size make an ASIC solution especially suitable for high density applications, such as Computer to Plate (CtP) and direct marking printing. Our experience in FPGA programming allows us to rapidly develop customer functionality using standard ASIC drivers. For example, mixed signal ASIC based control circuits can be used in systems where switching speeds >1MHz are required with up to 300mA output for multiple channels. Within these circuits, FPGA devices handle customer specific control code.
A particular challenge when developing laser driver circuitry for such applications is handling the large rate of change of current required to individually operate each channel. Special consideration must be given to low inductance wiring, high density circuitry, and rise time and timing control.
ASICs are especially useful for product coding and marking applications that utilize lower switching speeds, around the 1kHz range, and a high number and density of laser emitters.
Intense has developed a modular ASIC design that supplies current to each array chip within the ‘super array’. Timing control of each ASIC ensures that the image on the print media lines up precisely.
Circuit Layout & Software
In addition to ASIC development, we have extensive experience in PCB and hybrid microcircuit layout and supply. We also have developed laser drivers for applications other than print systems, especially in the area of high power laser drivers at modulation speeds exceeding 100MHz. Other capabilities include development of control software, and design in the area of 10GHz telecoms and 40Gb/s optoelectronics systems.
