A CMOS Optoelectronic Transceiver with Concurrent Automatic Power Control for Short-Range LiDAR Sensors

Choi, Yejin; Li, Juntong; Jung, Dukyoo; Choi, Seonhan; Park, Sung-Min

doi:10.3390/s25030753

Open AccessCommunication

A CMOS Optoelectronic Transceiver with Concurrent Automatic Power Control for Short-Range LiDAR Sensors

by

Yejin Choi

^1,2,†,

Juntong Li

^1,2,†,

Dukyoo Jung

³

,

Seonhan Choi

^1,2 and

Sung-Min Park

^1,2,*

¹

Division of Electronic & Semiconductor Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea

²

Graduate Program in Smart Factory, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea

³

College of Nursing, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Sensors 2025, 25(3), 753; https://doi.org/10.3390/s25030753

Submission received: 7 January 2025 / Revised: 23 January 2025 / Accepted: 24 January 2025 / Published: 26 January 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Optoelectronic Functional Devices for Sensing Applications)

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Abstract

This paper presents an optoelectronic transceiver (OTRx) realized in a 180 nm CMOS technology for applications of short-range LiDAR sensors, in which a modified current-mode single-ended VCSEL driver (m-CMVD) is exploited as a transmitter (Tx) and a voltage-mode fully differential transimpedance amplifier (FD-TIA) is employed as a receiver (Rx). Especially for Tx, a concurrent automatic power control (APC) circuit is incorporated to compensate for the inevitable increase in the threshold current in a VCSEL diode. For Rx, two on-chip spatially modulated P⁺/N- well avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are integrated with the FD-TIA to achieve circuit symmetry. Also, an extra APD is added to facilitate the APC operations in Tx, i.e., concurrently adjusting the bias current of the VCSEL diode by the action of the newly proposed APC path in Rx. Measured results of test chips demonstrate that the proposed OTRx causes the DC bias current to increase from 0.93 mA to 1.42 mA as the input current decreases from 250 µA_pp to 3 µA_pp, highlighting its suitability for short-range sensor applications utilizing a cost-effective CMOS process.

Keywords: APC; APD; LiDAR; optoelectronic; sensor; transceiver; VCSEL

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MDPI and ACS Style

Choi, Y.; Li, J.; Jung, D.; Choi, S.; Park, S.-M. A CMOS Optoelectronic Transceiver with Concurrent Automatic Power Control for Short-Range LiDAR Sensors. Sensors 2025, 25, 753. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25030753

AMA Style

Choi Y, Li J, Jung D, Choi S, Park S-M. A CMOS Optoelectronic Transceiver with Concurrent Automatic Power Control for Short-Range LiDAR Sensors. Sensors. 2025; 25(3):753. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25030753

Chicago/Turabian Style

Choi, Yejin, Juntong Li, Dukyoo Jung, Seonhan Choi, and Sung-Min Park. 2025. "A CMOS Optoelectronic Transceiver with Concurrent Automatic Power Control for Short-Range LiDAR Sensors" Sensors 25, no. 3: 753. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25030753

APA Style

Choi, Y., Li, J., Jung, D., Choi, S., & Park, S.-M. (2025). A CMOS Optoelectronic Transceiver with Concurrent Automatic Power Control for Short-Range LiDAR Sensors. Sensors, 25(3), 753. https://doi.org/10.3390/s25030753

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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A CMOS Optoelectronic Transceiver with Concurrent Automatic Power Control for Short-Range LiDAR Sensors

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