Laser safety techniques and configurations

#The present application is a national phase entry under 35 U.S.C. §371 of International Application No. PCT/US2012/030760, filed Mar. 27, 2012, entitled “LASER SAFETY TECHNIQUES AND CONFIGURATIONS,” which designates, among the various States, the United States of America, and the entire contents and disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

#Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of integrated circuits, and more particularly, to laser safety techniques and configurations.

#A single fault eye safety event may occur when a bonding wire breaks for a laser node. For example, a bonding wire that couples a laser of a laser die to a power supply voltage of another die may break and be shorted to ground (e.g., by touching the laser die surface), which may cause a voltage over the laser to be too large with no current constraint. The laser may, as a result, be over-driven, and the optical output power of the laser may exceed an eye safety limit for laser safety class certification such as, for example, Class 1 certification as internationally specified by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60825.

#Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitate this description, like reference numerals designate like structural elements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

#FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a top view of an example optical communication system, in accordance with some embodiments.

#FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example configuration of a common anode laser driver having a laser safety mechanism, in accordance with some embodiments.

#Embodiments of the present disclosure provide laser safety techniques and configurations. In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way of illustration embodiments in which the subject matter of the present disclosure may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

#Various operations are described as multiple discrete operations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent.

#For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A and/or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).