UNIT-4

LIGHT SOURCES

Properties of a Good Light source:-

(1) Be compatible in size to low-loss optical fibers by having a small light-emitting

area capable of launching light into fiber
(2)Launch sufficient optical power into the optical fiber to overcome
fiber attenuation and connection losses allowing for signal detection at the receiver
(3)Emit light at wavelengths that minimize optical fiber loss and dispersion.
(4)Optical sources should have a narrow spectral width to minimize dispersion
(5) Allow for direct modulation of optical output power

Basic Concepts

(1) Absorption of Radiation:- The light interaction with matter takes place in
discrete packets of energy or quanta known as photons.
If an atom is initially in a lower state 1, it can rise to a higher state 2 by aborbing
a quantum of radiation (photon) of frequency f is given by
E = E2 – E1
hf = E2 – E1
f= E2 – E1/h.
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where h= 6.65*10 Js.
(2) Spontaneous Emission:- When excited atoms jump immediately from higher
state to lower state then it release the energy in the form of photon. This process is
known as spontaneous emission. Higher energy states are unstable and atoms
cannot exist there whereas lower energy state are stable state,

(3) Stimulated Emission:- An atom in excited energy state may under the
influence of electromagnetic field of photon of frequency f incident upon it jumps
it lower energy state , emitting an additional photon of same phase and frequency.
This is known as stimulated emission.

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(4) Population Inversion :- The condition of thermal equilirum given by
Boltzmann distribution defines that lower energy level E1 of the two level atomic
systems contains more atoms than the upper energy level E2.this situation is normal
for structures at room temperature.
To achieve optical amplification it is necessary that to create a non equilibrium
distribution of atoms such that population of the upper level is greater than that of
lower energy level (N2>N1). This condition is known as population Inversion. To
achieve optical amplification .To achieve population inversion it is nessary to
excite atoms into the upper energy level E2 . This process is achieved by using an
external energy source and is known as pumping.

Optical Feedback and Laser Oscillations:-

A laser (Light Amplification by Stimulate Emission of Radiation) is a device

that produces optical radiation by the process of stimulated emission. It is
necessary to contain photons produced by stimulated emission within the laser
active region. Figure shows an optical cavity formed to contain the emitted
photons by placing one reflecting mirror at each end of an amplifying medium.
One mirror is made partially reflecting so that some radiation can escape from the
cavity for coupling to an optical fiber.

Only a portion of the optical radiation is amplified. For a particular laser structure,
there are only certain wavelengths that will be amplified by that laser.
Amplification occurs when selected wavelengths, also called laser modes, reflect
back and forth through the cavity. For lasing to occur, the optical gain of the
selected modes must exceed the optical loss during one round-trip through the
cavity. This process is referred to as optical feedback.

Heterojunction structures:- It had Improved carrier confinement and thus

lower current densities ( 103 A cm-2 )
DH ILD fabricated from lattice matched III-V alloys provided both carrier and
optical confinement on both sides of the p-n junction, giving the injection laser a
greatly enhanced performance.

Stripe Geometry(DH LASER DIODE)

DH laser structure provides optical confinement in the vertical direction through

the refractive index step at the heterojunction interfaces, but lasing takes place
across the whole width of the device.

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Features of DH laser diode:
(1) Sides of cavity simply formed by roughening the edges of the device
(2)Reduce unwanted emission in these directions
(3)Limit the number of horizontal transverse modes
(4) Broad emission area creates several problems including difficult heat sinking,
relatively wide active area, and unsuitable light output geometry for efficient
coupling to fibers.

DH Stripe Injection Laser

To overcome broad emission problems whilst also reducing the required threshold
currents laser structures in which active region does not extend to the edges of the
device were developed. In this structure, the major current flow through the device
and hence the active region is within the stripe. Generally, stripe is formed by
creation of high resistance areas on either side by techniques such as Proton
Bombardment or Oxide Isolation. The stripe therefore acts as a guiding
mechanism which overcomes the major problems of the broad area device

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 DFB Laser Diode
Distributed Feedback : DFB laser diode is a mode-hop-free single longitudinal
mode (single-mode) laser that has a diffraction grating structure (a wavy structure)
inside the resonator. Diffraction grating structure is formed on top of the active
layer (The boundary of the cladding layer and the active layer has a diffraction
grating pattern). In a DFB laser, out of the light generated in the photoactive layer,
only the light that has been affected by the diffraction grating comes back in to the
resonator (feedback). Because only this specific wavelength light that has been
selected by the diffraction grating structure strengthening, it single-mode oscillates.
Because diffraction gratings are distributed along the resonance direction of the
active layer, it is called a Distributed Feedback laser.

DBR Laser Diode

A Distributed Bragg Reflector: DBR is a laser diode that has a diffraction grating
structure at the Fabry-Perot laser’s extension of the waveguide of the active layer.
In a diffraction grating only a certain wavelength (one mode) is reflected in the
active layer’s direction, other light doesn’t return to it. Because of this DBR laser
diodes become a single mode laser that only oscillates a single wavelength.
Between the DBR laser diodes active layer and feedback layer is the phase section.
By controlling the phase in this area, you can aim and control only the phase.
Because this is possible, a DBR laser diode can be single wavelength operated over
a wide range.

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Working of LED
Light is emitted at site of carrier recombination
which is primarily close to the junction.
However, the amount of radioactive recombination
and the emission area within the structure is
dependent upon the semiconductor materials used
and the fabrication of the device.

Emits in coherent light through spontaneous

emission.
Used for Multimode systems with100-200Mb/s
rates.
Broad spectral width and wide output pattern.
850 nm region: GaAs and AlGaAs
1300–1550nmregion:InGaAsP and InP

Heterojunction

Heterojunction is the advanced junction design to reduce diffraction loss in the

optical cavity.
This is accomplished by modification in the material to control the index of
refraction of the cavity and the width of the junction. The index of refraction of the
material depends upon the impurity used and the doping level.
The Heterojunction region is actually lightly doped with p-type material and has
the highest index of refraction.
The n-type material and the more heavily doped p-type material both have lower
indices of refraction.
This produces a light pipe effect that helps to confine the light to the active
junction region. In the homojunction, however, this index difference is low and
much light is lost. Double or single hetero-structure junction with better light
output
Heterojunctions: Different p- and n- materials
Carriers are confined. Light is also confined

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Single Heterojunction, Double Heterojunction.
A heterojunction is a junction between two different semiconductors with different
bandgap energies.
The difference in bandgap energies creates a one-way barrier. Charge carriers
(electrons or holes) are attracted over the barrier from the material of higher
bandgap energy to the one of lower bandgap energy
Double Heterojunction
When a layer of material with a lower bandgap energy is sandwiched between
layers of material with a higher energy bandgap a double heterojunction is formed.
This is called a double heterojunction because there are two heterojunctions
present - one on each side of the active material.
The double heterojunction forms a barrier which restricts the region of electron-
hole recombination to the lower bandgap material. This region is then called the
“active” region
Types of LED Structures
(1)Surface Emitting LED’s (SLED)
(2) Edge Emitting LED’s (EELED)
(3) Superluminescent LED’s (SLD)

Confining and Guiding the Light within the Device

In both types of LED (SLED and ELED) a combination of insulating materials and
junctions is used to:
(1)Guide the current flow to a small “active region” and
(2) Guide the light produced out of the device and into an easy position for
coupling to a fiber.
Surface Emitting LED (SLED)
A method for obtaining high radiance is to restrict the emission to a small active
region within the device.This technique is known as Burrus and Dawson with
homostructure devices was to use an etched well in a GaAs substate in order to
prevent heavy absorption of the emiited radiation and physically to accommodate
the fiber.
Features of SLED are :-
(1) Power coupled into the fiber is dependent on many factors; distance and
alignment between emission area and fiber, emission pattern and interfacing
medium
(2) More Power.
(3) poor radiance 
(4) Coupling lens used to increase efficiency.
(5) Data rates less than 20 Mbps

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Edge Emitter LED

Features of Edge Emitter LED

(1) It hadthe advantage of transparent guiding layers with a very thin active layer
(50 to 100 m). This reduces self absorption and narrows the beam divergence.
(2) Light is emitted at one end face only.
(3) Couple more power to small NA fibers
(4)Higher data rates>100Mbps, better modulation
(5)Multimode and Single Mode fibers
(6)ELEDs provide narrower linewidth than SLED
(7)High radiance

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Superluminescent LEDs
One end is made optically lossy to
prevent reflections and thus suppress
lasing.
Injection current increased until
stimulated emission i.e. amplification
occurs without feedback A
superluminescent diode (SLED or
SLD) is an edge-emitting
semiconductor light source based on
superluminnescence.It combines the
high power and brightness of laser diodes with the low coherence of conventional
LED.
Its emission band is 5–100 nm wide.
Significant benefits over both SLEDs and ELEDs for OFS
SLDs Provide
(1)High output power
(2)Directional output beam
(3)Narrow spectral line width

Comparison : SLEDs Vs ELEDs

(1) SLED’s generally radiate more power into air (2.5 to 3 times) than ELED’s
since the emitted light is less affected by re-absorption.
(2) SLED’s couples more optical power into large NA (greater than 0.3) than
ELED where as the opposite is true for low NA’s.
(3)Less coupling efficiency in SLED’s as compare to ELED’s.
(4)ELED’s have better modulation bandwidth than SLED’s
(5) ELEDs have narrower bandwidth than SLED’s

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Comparison between LED and LASER