LASER DRIVE CIRCUIT AND SENSOR DEVICE

To provide a laser drive circuit capable of achieving an increased speed in the quenching drive of a light emitting element by achieving a more increased speed in the fall time of an emission waveform of the light emitting element.SOLUTION: There is provided a laser drive circuit including: a first drive current part adjusting, by means of a first MOSFET and a second MOSFET that are connected in series, the inflow of a current to a light emitting element that emits light in accordance with the quantity of current when the light emitting element is turned on and when the light emitting element is turned off; a voltage drop part reducing a voltage between a gate and a source of the first MOSFET when the light emitting element is turned off; and a timing generation part generating a signal for controlling the drive of the first drive current part and the voltage drop part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12 【課題】発光素子の発光波形の立ち下がり時間をより高速化することで、発光素子の消光駆動を高速化させることが可能な、レーザ駆動回路を提供する。【解決手段】電流量に応じて発光する発光素子の発光時及び消灯時に前記発光素子への電流の流入を直列に接続された第１ＭＯＳＦＥＴ及び第２ＭＯＳＦＥＴにより調整する第１の駆動電流部と、前記発光素子の消灯時に前記第１ＭＯＳＦＥＴのゲートソース間電圧を降下させる電圧降下部と、前記第１の駆動電流部及び前記電圧降下部の駆動を制御するための信号を生成するタイミング生成部と、を備える、レーザ駆動回路が提供される。【選択図】図１２