Patent ID: 7778294

Claim:
An optical disk apparatus, comprising: a laser for emitting a laser beam onto an optical disk; a laser driver, comprising: a microcomputer interface configured to receive a first control signal, a pulse generator configured to generate a modulated output signal at a power level determined according to the first control signal, and a current generating circuit configured to supply a driving current to the laser based on the modulated output signal and a supply voltage of the laser driver, a power source configured to provide a supply voltage to the laser driver according to a second control signal; a temperature detecting circuit for detecting temperature in the vicinity of the laser or the laser driver; and a microcomputer configured to generate the first control signal and the second control signal and to control the supply voltage with the second control signal based on the temperature detected by the temperature detecting circuit, wherein the amount of the supply voltage is controlled so as to decrease when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting circuit rises, and to increase when the temperature detected by the temperature detecting circuit falls.