Analog Devices Debuts ADL5317 Photodiode Controller

Analog Devices Inc. (ADI, Wilmington, MA) introduced its new ADL5317 avalanche photodiode (APD), which offers bias control and current monitoring on a single chip for space-constrained optical transceiver modules. The ADL5317 accurately sets the bias voltage over a 6 V to 72 V range, while simultaneously monitoring current over a six-decade range.

The device supports next-generation optical networks operating at typical data rates of 10 Gbps and above, and its linear interface reduces the noise normally found in APD modules. The 3 V linear bias control interface of the ADL5317 allows optical designers to use a fixed high-voltage switcher, lowering the supply decoupling and low-pass filtering requirements of traditional APD biasing designs that are prone to switching noise created by PWM-based dc-dc converters. It mirrors photodiode current (5:1 ratio) with a linearity of 0.5% from 50 nA to 1 mA and 1% from 5 nA to 5 mA.

The ADL5317 APD bias controller is sampling now in a 3 mm x 3 mm LFCSP package, and is priced at $4.10 per unit in 1,000-piece quantities. Full production will begin in June 2005.