EEE/INSTR/ECE F214 Electronic Devices

Introduction to Optoelectronics

Prof. A. Pethe
BITS Pilani, K.K.Birla Goa Campus
 Introduction
• So far we have discussed how electrons and holes can be modulated in pieces of
semiconductor to create interesting devices. For eg.
– Allow conduction in only 1 direction
– Have a voltage controlled switch
– Current controlled switch or amplify small ac signals.
• Lets now throw in a new particle a “photon” in this mix, and see what kinds of interesting
devices or applications we can think of.
– Can we convert these photons into electrons – these can be used to power other
circuits?
– Can we convert electrons/holes into photons – light emitters ?
– Can we combine the two devices to create larger systems which can harness the speed
of light to compute faster?
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 Properties of semiconductor
EC When light of energy higher than impinges on the
semiconductor, then a covalent bond is broken and an
Thermal energy
or light EV electron-hole pair is generated
Band-to-band

EC When there are excess electrons and holes in the

semiconductor, they tend to recombine. If the
semiconductor is a direct BG then a photon of equivalent
EV
energy of is emitted.
Band-to-band : usually
radiative

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 Types of Devices
We will discuss three types of devices in this class
• Solar cells
• Photodetectors
• LED – Light Emitting Diode

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 Solar cells – a history
• 1839: Photovoltaic effect was first recognized by French physicist Alexandre-Edmond
Becquerel.
• 1883: First solar cell was built by Charles Fritts, who coated the semiconductor Se with a
thin layer of Au to form junctions (1% efficient)
• 1946: Russell Ohl patented the modern solar cell
• 1954: Modern age of solar power technology arrives – Bell labs, experimenting with
semiconductors, accidentally found that Si doped with certain impurities was very sensitive
to light

From nanohub.org

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 Fundamental functions of a solar cell
• Photogeneration of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in a light absorbing
material
• Separation of charge carriers to a conductive contact to transmit electricity

The most commonly used solar cell today in the world is the “first generation” solar cell
and is based on a P-N junction diode.

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 P-N Junction under light – (1)
Let’s assume a light of generation rate 𝑔 𝑐𝑚 is incident on the P-N 𝑔
junction
Excess carriers will be created in W, Lp and Ln since these regions will not
P N
support recombination, hence the total optical current can be thought of as,
𝑊 ℰ
𝐼 = 𝑞𝐴𝑔 𝐿 +𝐿 +𝑊
𝐼
In the diode, the Electric field in the depletion region is always directed from n
to p – so this optical current flows opposite to FB current
Net diode current is given by 𝐼 =𝐼 −𝐼
𝑉
𝐼=𝐼 𝑒 − 1 − 𝑞𝐴𝑔 𝐿 +𝐿 +𝑊
𝑔

That means, in reverse bias, the current increases and in FB, the current reduces.

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 P-N Junction under light – (2)
When the diode is shorted, that is V=0, in the normal diode, the 𝐼
diffusion current cancels the drift current and hence the net current is
zero. in the presence of light, since carriers will be generated and
drift in the built – in electric field, a current will be associated with this 𝑉
𝑉
device – which is nothing but .
𝑔
𝐼
When the diode is an open circuit, I=0, then as the excess carriers are
generated, they drift across the depletion region and create a potential difference
to counter the built in potential. This potential difference built up in the diode due
to the light is called .
𝑘𝑇 𝐼 𝑘𝑇 𝑔 𝐿 +𝐿 +𝑊
Substituting I=0, in the prev eqn. 𝑉 = 𝑞
𝑙𝑛 1 +
𝐼
=
𝑞
𝑙𝑛 1 +
𝐿 ⁄𝜏 𝑝 + 𝐿 ⁄𝜏 𝑛

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 P-N junction under light – (3)
The diode is assumed to be symmetric i.e. and . We can define the generation
rate in terms of the minority carrier concentration as , then the above equation simplifies to
𝑉 = 𝑙𝑛 for 𝑔 ≫𝑔
𝐼

Lets examine the device when it is in the IV Quadrant. A potential

difference exists from P N while current flows from NP.
The diode is generating electrical power  supplies I to a circuit
𝑉
across the voltage range
𝑔
Ideal current source Max Voc is limited to Vbi –
𝑉
- Why?

+ 𝐼

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 Power output of a solar cell

From nanohub.org
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 Maximum Power from a solar cell
𝐼 For a load resistor connected to the cell, the power delivered
to the load is given by
𝑉 ,𝐼

Is this power constant throughout the region of operation?

The maximum power that can be delivered by this cell is the
size of the largest rectangle that can fit inside this curve. That
𝑉 maximum power point is denoted as .

Another figure of merit of the solar cell is a Fill factor (FF) defined by the ratio of maximum power
delivered to that of an ideal battery.
𝑉 𝐼
𝐹. 𝐹. =
𝑉 𝐼
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 Fill Factor contd…

We talk about efficiency of the solar cell which is given by

is the incoming solar radiation measured in

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 Improving solar cell efficiency

• • • Series R
• Reflection - surface • Doping • Metal
and metal • • Doping of neutral
• • Surface region
• Surface Recombination
Recombination

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 Efficiency improvement
• In addition to improving the semiconductor devices, external factors are engineered to
increase the amount of photon flux that is incident on the device.
– The panels are tilted to ensure solar radiation is normally incident on the device – worse problem as one moves
away from the equator
– Absorption coefficient- dependent on the material and wavelength of the light. Need to ensure that maximum
light is absorbed.
– Use of ARC (anti-reflection coatings) to pick wavelengths that can be absorbed easily leading to higher efficiency
• Furthermore, the temperature of the device needs to be controlled to prevent heating due to
IR. Why is temperature important?
• Reduce parasitic resistances in the structure.

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 Photodetectors
• Converts light to electrical signals V
or I
• Response should be proportional to
the power in the incoming light
beam

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 Important properties of photodetectors
• Must be sensitive in some given spectral region (range of optical wavelengths).
• The responsivity should be constant or atleast well defined within some wavelength range
• The detector should have zero response in some other wavelength (solar blind detectors
sensitive to only UV and not visible)
• The detector should be suitable over a range of optical powers. The dynamic range is
defined as the ratio of the largest to the smallest power that may be detected and normally
expressed in decibels. Ideally the response should be linear within this dynamic range.
• Active area of the detector must be larger than the size of the beam
• In case of signaling applications, the detector normally should work over a high frequency of
optical pulses – normally refered to as the bandwidth. On the other hand, lock-in detectors
generally have a very small BW used to identify signal.
• In most signaling applications, the latency in the detector should be minimized.
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 Photodetectors – Figures of merit
• Quantum efficiency – ratio of how many photoelectrons are produced for every photon
incident on the photosensitive surface . The external efficiency is generally less
than internal one.
• Spectral Responsivity – the magnitude of the electrical signal output in response to a
particular light power
• Response time – a measure of how long it takes a detector to respond to a change in light
power falling on it. Normally it is ~10% of the smallest pulse width that will need to be
detected.

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 Absorption Coefficients

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 Photoresistor
Light will cause EHP that will change the
conductivity of the material. Measuring
current at given voltage proportional to the
total incident light. Absorption sensitive to
the band-gap of the semiconductor.

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 Junction photodiode
• Same as before – this is a p-n junction with light falling on the
junction.
• 2 distinct modes of operation possible
– Photovoltaic mode – diode operated with no applied voltage (Quadrant IV)
– Photoconductive mode – applied reverse bias (Quadrant III)

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 Photoconductive diode
• Use an asymmetric diode P+/N
• Need a large depletion region to create many
EHPs and hence get more photocurrent.
• The current lasts till all the charges diffuse into
the depletion region

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 Photodiode characteristics

Reverse bias current varies linearly with

For a commercially available
illumination intensity
photodiode.

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 P-i-N Photodiode
• Use a i-layer sandwiched between heavily
doped n+ and p+ regions.
• Width of the depletion region can be wide –
depending on the i-region width. This can be
suitably designed to improve efficiency for a
given beam dimension.
• Field in the depletion region is uniform. Easier
to engineer.
• Trade off between responsivity and response
time

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 Avalanche photodiode – APD – (1)
• In the last two cases, the electrical signal generated was
proportional to the intensity of light falling on the diode.
• If an amplifying mechanism can be built into the diode,
then for the same light intensity a much higher electrical
signal may be measured. This would improve responsivity
over a large bandwidth
• One way to achieve this is by impact ionization. If the
photelectron can get sufficiently accelerated in a high
electric field, it can gain sufficient energy to produce
secondary EHP by breaking bonds causing a much larger
currents at smaller light intensities.

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 APD – (2)
• A lightly doped(almost intrinsic) TT layer is introduced
between the p and the P+ layer.
• With sufficient RB, the depletion width extends across the
entire TT layer.
• Impact ionization causes the current to increase for a given
photon flux. Modulated to a certain degree by the field
applied across the diode.
• Normally, responsivity and response time are traded off.

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 Noise in photodetectors

• Thermal generation of EHP will cause a variation in the dark current of the detector
• Statistical distribution in transit times of the carriers will further increase the variation in the
photocurrent.
• Additionally, the quantum nature of the photon absorption process add a noise factor to the
photocurrent.
• SNR of the photodetector is an important parameter 𝑆 =

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 Noise Equivalent Power (NEP)
• NEP – Optical signal power per sqrt of frequency bandwidth required to
generate a photocurrent signal that is equal to the total noise current.
• The detectivity or the smallest signal that can be detected by the detector is
hence 1/NEP – limit of detection.
• In APDs, since impact ionization is a random process, the NEP for those
increases. Care must be taken when designing the APD, that the II is not
high at the detectivity limit.

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 Allowable light levels
• Normally when you buy PDs, the manufacturer sets a maximum allowable
limit for continous light intensity
• Light levels in the excess of this limit, can cause saturation, hysteresis
effects and irreversible damage to the detector.
• However, if you are using this to detect light pulses, then you can get away
with the higher light intensity as long as the pulse width is less – use with
caution!

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 Light Emitting Diodes (LED)
• Flip the solar cell – an LED is P-N junction diode that
emits a monochromatic (single color) light when
operated in the forward bias direction.
• If this diode, is built in a direct BG semiconductor,
when the excess holes and electrons recombine, they
emit a photon of energy close to the bandgap.

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 Evolution of visible LEDs

Ponce and Bour, Nature 386, 1997

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 Color in LEDs –(1)

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 Recombination Process
• Recombination if assisted through deep level traps might
cause non-radiative energy loss which leads to loss in
LED intensity or failure. Properties of the semiconductor
including defects key to getting LEDs to work efficiently.
• On the other hand, shallow traps or dopants are
sometimes used to favor band transitions at energies less
than the bandgap – can be engineered to generate various
colors.

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 LED Colors – (2)
Lighting applications

2014 Nobel Prize in

Physics to Isamu
Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano
and Shuji Nakamura – “for
the invention of efficient
blue light-emitting diodes
which has enabled bright
and energy-saving white
light sources”

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 LED structures
Single or Quantum well structures are used to modulate the energy that will be emitted
during recombination.

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 LED Performance Metrics – (1)
• Color: As seen before color is determined by the EG. However, when designing
human eye perception needs to be considered too. Sensitivity of human eye is
closest in the amber/yellow region.
• White light (solid state lighting) – in ideal theory, light of all colors needs to overlap
at equal intensity to generate white light. Again for the human eye, just combining
the three primary colors (RGB) will get white. Blue LEDs was hence an important
component which was eluding scientists for a long time.
• Intensity – for a given current, the LED should give out the maximum intensity. This
is normally determined by external design factors that include the
encapsulation/phospor used around the semiconductor.

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 LED Performance Metrics – (2)
• Visibility – need to account for both the intensity that is emitted from the LED and
the spatial pattern in which the light is emitted. In the LED, generally the emitted
light is diffused – so that affects the apparent intensity
• Operating life (primary advantage for lighting application)- since these are
semiconductor devices, they can be manufactured with high degree of precision
and generally do not have catastrophic failures associated with filament based
lighting. As the LED is operated, it begins to age, traps are created and so the
intensity begins to fall. Normally lifetime is characterized as the time required for the
intensity to fall by half
• Voltage/Current – by definition, an LED is a current controlled device. The current
causes excess carriers. This current can heat up all resistors and hence efficient
heat sink design for the LED is important to improve its lifetime. To ensure that the
LEDs do not overheat – they must always be connected with protect circuitry that
includes a control resistor and additional breaker circuitry if needed.
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 Common applications for LEDs
• Sensor applications: medical instrumentation, bar code readers, money sensors,
encoders, optical switches, fiber optic communication.
• Sign application: videos, screens, message boards
• Automotive: interior and exterior lighting, dashboard display.
• Urban infrastructure : lighting, signalling, runway lights, emergency vehicles etc.
LED lighting is used for energy savings primarily – almost 85% more efficient than
incandescent lighting. Additionally, maintenance costs are reduced due to reduced
failure rate. Finally, since LEDs tend to be more intense than incandescent they
provide better visibility during daylight and adverse weather conditions.

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