A multi-section laser diode control system comprising a multi-section
laser diode (10), microprocessor controller (24), digital-to-analogue
converter (28), driver circuit (30) and wavelength locker (14) is
modified by inclusion of a locking circuit (40) which generates an
analogue correction signal . . . 1 V ph responsive to measurements of the
laser output made by the wavelength locker. The analogue correction
signal is added to the preset phase voltage V ph asserted by the
microprocessor controller to provide fast feedback that bypasses the
microprocessor controller. This novel feedback is made possible by
avoiding the use of the standard prior art control algorithm which
requires a division calculation to be performed. Instead, novel control
algorithms based purely on additions, subtractions and multiplications
are used. The laser can thus be locked to its target output frequency
without having to place slow analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue
converters in the feedback control path.