Equipment List: 5 Resistors x2 , 10F Capacitor, N1004 Rectifier Diode, Red L.E.

L.E.D, Jumper cables Voltage regulator (LM317), 100 Potentiometer, 5mW Laser Diode, Breadboard Variable DC Power supply (0 10)V, Digital multi-meter Multisim

Experimental Procedure and Results: In this Experiment the above mentioned equipment is put under a unique configuration to make a power supply for a laser diode. The configuration is based on connecting a Variable DC Power supply (0 10) V to a N1004 Rectifier Diode, this diode is connected to a LM 317 Voltage regulator which is then connected to a 2 5 Resistors in parallel combination with a 100 Potentiometer in series. The following circuit is connected to a 10F Capacitor and a test L.E.D in parallel configuration. The following circuit is tested with an amp-meter to determine the current drainage through the test L.E.D. Once the threshold current drain is set to a satisfied range the laser diode is placed in parallel configuration with the circuit.
The test L.E.D is not required as a part of the circuit but it could be replaced with a different load for e.g. a large resistor. The only purpose of the test L.E.D is to test the working of the circuit and regulate a threshold current drop before connecting the Laser Diode as a safety device.

Each component of this circuit provides a specific role in order to ensure a stable working environment for the laser diode. The main stabilizing component in this circuit is the voltage regulator. The input (Vin) of this regulator is connected to the diode in forward Bias mode which then connects to the Variable DC power supply. The diode acts as a voltage reference source which provides a stable voltage output to the regulator. The further stability in the circuit comes from the voltage regulator which provides almost

Laser Diode Power Supply Circuit | Hassan Khokhar, Carlyle Hickman, Kyle Hayes, Ryan Halgren

constant voltage drop across the Laser Diode. The current drain of the circuit is stabilized with the help of the potentiometer and the 5ohms resistors in parallel with the voltage regulator. T threshold of the current can be stabilized by minute changes in the potentiometer. The output is further stabilized by adding and additional Capacitor in parallel with the Resistor bank. The last component is the test L.E.D for stabilizing the current before the Laser is connected. It can be observed that once the Laser diode is connected to the circuit it will drain a lot of current and may over-heat. The over rating of the current can result in laser diode failure. This can be rectified by lowering the overall resistance of the circuit by changing the value of the potentiometer or by simply reducing the input voltage from the DC power supply.

Laser Diode Power Supply Circuit | Hassan Khokhar, Carlyle Hickman, Kyle Hayes, Ryan Halgren

The computer aided design of the following circuit using Multisim could be seen in the figure 1.1:

(MultiSim Simulation/Laser diode Driver Circuit Figure 1.1)

The working picture of the project could be seen in Figure 1.2:

(Laser diode driver circuit Figure 1.2)

Laser Diode Power Supply Circuit | Hassan Khokhar, Carlyle Hickman, Kyle Hayes, Ryan Halgren

Experimental Data: In this Experiment the only observations made was testing the Laser diode driver circuit for proper beam width and beam spread. Experiment Answer: This lab required to build a stable power supply for a Laser diode, which was comfortably accomplished using the circuit shown in the Figure 1.1 and 1.2 and it was also demonstrated by pointing the output on the wall with minimal widespread of the beam several meters away. Conclusion: Student Conclusions: In this experiment the only anomaly observed was the current drain when the laser diode was connected to the circuit, this result in excess drainage of current through the laser diode and resulted on over heating of the diode. This could also have been catastrophic for our laser diode since the threshold of the laser diode is about (40-60) mA and the measured current drain was about 700mA. This anomaly was simply fixed by lowering the value of the resistance from the potentiometer for less current drainage but it this only fixed half of the problem. The current was brought down in the threshold region by lowering the overall voltage from the initial voltage of 7.5V to 5V from the DC power Source. Continuous Improvements: Since the laser diode requires a constant current source, the overall working of this circuit could be improved by using an op-amp in a deferential amplifier mode instead of a voltage regulator. The

Laser Diode Power Supply Circuit | Hassan Khokhar, Carlyle Hickman, Kyle Hayes, Ryan Halgren

op-amp would help tremendously buy maintaining a constant current though the circuit and provide a better output power as well. Related Resources: 1. Data-sheet Voltage regulator (LM317): http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/LM/LM317.pdf 2. Data-Sheet Potentiometer http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/pdf/526819/KINGTRONICS/RKT-3386.html 3. Data-Sheet Laser Diode http://www.us-lasers.com/d650nm5m.htm

Laser Diode Power Supply Circuit | Hassan Khokhar, Carlyle Hickman, Kyle Hayes, Ryan Halgren