Ricoh RN5C750 and RN5C752 laser diode driver ICs

RICOH Electronic Devices Co., Ltd. owns many patents and has years of experience in developing laser diode driver ICs, because such products are widely used in our world-famous office laser copiers and printers. Laser driven projectors are now also becoming popular to use in specific automotive and consumer equipment, such as ADAS head-up displays for car dashboards and in portable pico video projectors to view presentations and films. This change is a result of technology advances in electronics integration, ultra-small IC packaging and light sources.

Laser projectors have significant advantages over conventional displays using LEDs, their color range is twice as large and its contrast ratio is much better for a crystal clear visibility of the displayed content.

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Technical Features

The RN5C750 and RN5C752 are four-channel laser drivers that have been developed for use in RGB or RGGB laser scanning type screens and are equipped with many functions. Offers a full HD resolution (1080p) and 60 fps image thanks to a fast laser diode output of 200 megapixel / sec and a high output current of up to 800 mA (LD1) and 400 mA (LD2-4).

The laser diode outputs can tolerate voltages up to 10 V to make it possible to use laser diodes with a high forward voltage. In addition, power control for the laser diodes is performed by automatically adjusting the power source to save power and minimize heat dissipation. Contains various protection circuits such as laser diode overcurrent and short detection, thermal shutdown and photodiode overcurrent detection.

The RN5C750 has passed the AEC-Q100 (Grade 2) compatible reliability tests for automotive purposes and has a guaranteed operating temperature range from -40 to +105°C. The RN5C752 is an identical IC for consumer applications and has a temperature range from 0 to +70°C.

A special feature adopted from professional laser printers is used to deliver a high-quality output regardless of temperature. By using four additional photodiode sensors connected to the IC, it is possible to automatically detect the threshold current (Ith) and colour current (Icolor) of each channel and maintains its colour range regardless of temperature fluctuations.

Applications and destinations

Due to the smaller size and the simple optical requirements, it is possible to replace existing solutions. It is assumed that laser scanning projection is most suitable for the next generation of automotive augmented reality HUD systems. In the field of digital video projection, the demand for portable laser scanning pico projectors is also expected to increase in the near future due to the compact size and focus-free features.

The new laser diode driver ICs are a newly added category in our product portfolio and have until now only been used for internal purposes, such as in copiers and printers. We estimate major market interests because this type of technology is quickly becoming popular. The optical and power consumption functions have significant advantages over the currently available solutions and the costs of such advanced laser systems are becoming affordable nowadays.

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