Engineers can now deploy high precision LiDAR and laser measurement systems with lower power consumption, smaller boards, and integrated laser firing control.
As LiDAR and laser-based measurement systems expand into automotive, industrial, consumer, and sports applications, engineers face growing pressure to reduce system size, power consumption, and complexity. Traditional laser drivers often require multiple external components, consume significant energy, and increase design overhead, limiting scalability for next-generation devices.
Silanna Semiconductor has addressed this challenge with its FirePower laser firing system ICs. The SL2001 and SL2002 integrate resonant capacitor charging and high-current laser diode firing on a single chip, cutting board footprint by up to 80% and power losses by 70%. By combining multiple functions on one device, these ICs simplify design and reduce BOM costs compared to conventional laser driver technologies.
The SL2001 targets automotive-grade LiDAR, delivering sub-2 ns FWHM laser pulses and peak output up to 1000 W from a 3 to 24 V supply. The SL2002 is optimized for handheld and battery-powered systems, providing 100 W pulses with a 1 MHz repetition frequency from a 2.8 to 5.5 V supply. Both devices support edge-emitting and VCSEL laser modules and are housed in compact 14-pin packages.
Key features of the ICs include:
- Single-chip integration of charging, firing, and fault sensing
- 80% reduction in system footprint
- 70% lower power losses
- Supports automotive, industrial, consumer, and battery-powered LiDAR
- Sub-2 ns laser pulses for high-precision applications
- Evaluation kits and production ICs available through DigiKey
Ahsan Zaman, Product Marketing Director at Silanna Semiconductor, says, “There is a huge need to integrate laser-based measurement into an array of applications, from automotive LiDAR to sports, hunting, industrial, logistics and consumer systems, In all these applications, engineers need to reduce size, power loss, system complexity and system cost. We’ve had an incredible response to previews, so we’re delighted to have moved into full production.”
