Patent ID: 7075047

Claim:
A temperature control apparatus comprising: a light-emitting device; a light-emitting device controller for outputting an optical output control signal for controlling the optical output of the light-emitting device; a heating/cooling unit for controlling the temperature of the light-emitting device to a predetermined target temperature; a temperature detector for detecting the temperature of the light-emitting device, converting the result of detection into a voltage, and outputting the voltage; a first reference voltage holding unit for previously holding an output voltage of the temperature detector corresponding to the target temperature; a reference voltage controller for generating a holding signal and a switching signal on the basis of tho optical output control signal, and outputting these signals; a second reference voltage holding unit for holding the output voltage of the temperature detector on the basis of the holding signal; a reference voltage switching unit for selecting, on the basis of the switching signal, either the output voltage of the first reference voltage holding unit or the output voltage of the second reference voltage holding unit, and outputting the selected voltage as a reference voltage; and a heating/cooling controller for generating a control current the basis of a difference between the output voltage of the temperature detector and the reference voltage outputted from the reference voltage switching unit to control the heating/cooling unit; wherein said reference voltage controller controls the reference voltage switching unit with the switching signal to make the switching unit select the output voltage of the first reference voltage holding unit as the reference voltage when the light-emitting device is quenched, and controls the reference voltage switching unit with the switching signal to make the switching unit select the output voltage of the temperature detector which is held by the second reference voltage holding unit on the basis of the holding signal, as the reference voltage, when the light-emitting device emits light.