SMMRE,USM

EBB 424E Semiconductor

Devices and Optoelectronics
Part II - Optoelectronics
Dr Zainovia Lockman

EBB 424:
Semiconductor Devices and Optoelectronics

Part 1:
Semiconductor Devices
Dr. Sabar D. Hutagalung

Part 2:
Optoelectronics
Devices
Dr Zainovia Lockman

70% Exam
30% Coursework

Contents of the Course

Optoelectronics
Light sources

Light Detectors

LED

Photodetector

LASERS

Photoconductor
Photovoltaic

Scope of the Course

By the end of the course you will be able to

describe various optoelectronics devices.
In particular you need to be able to describe:
1. The device configuration
2. Materials requirements
3. Materials selection
4. Materials issues

What is Optoelectronics?
"Optoelectronics, the alliance of optics and electronics, [is] one of the most
exciting and dynamic industries of the information age. As a strategic enabling
technology, the applications of optoelectronics extend throughout our everyday
lives, including the fields of computing, communication, entertainment,
education, electronic commerce, health care and transportation. Defense
applications include military command and control functions, imaging, radar,
aviation

sensors,

and

optically

guided

weapons.

Optoelectronics businesses manufacture components such as lasers, optical

discs, image sensors, or optical fibers, and all sorts of equipment and systems
that are critically dependent on optoelectronics components. Optoelectronics
technology is a key enabler of the USD$1.5 Trillion global information
industry."

Light- Emitting Diodes

LEDs

Red LED

LED for displays

White LED

Blue LED

LED for traffic light

DIODE LASERS
Diode lasers have been used for cutting,
surgery, communication (optical fibre),
CD writing and reading etc

Producing Laser in the Lab

Optoelectronic devices for

Photovoltaic Applications

Solar Cells

Fibre optics Communication

Transmitter Channel Receiver

IR - Lasers

Fibr
e

Tran
smit
ter

Cha
nn

Opti
cs

el

IRPhotodetector

Rec
eive
r

Head Mounted Display Applications: Next

generation head mounted display and
virtual reality training

What is expected of you?

Objectives of the Part II EBB424E

To describe the fundamentals of photon-electron

interaction in solid and to relate such
understanding with the optoelectronics devices
To develop an appreciation of intrinsic properties
of semiconductors focusing on the optical
properties of the material
To familiarise with the basic principles of
optoelectronic devices (light emitting diode, laser,
photodetector and photovoltaic).
To state the materials issues, requirements and
selection for a given optoelectronic devices

Introduction to
Optoelectronics - Lights
Lecture 1

Lights- Newton and Huygens

Lights

as wave?
Lights as particles?
Huygen
s

They did not agree

with each other!
Newton

Lights Einstein and Planck

1905 Einstein related wave and

particle properties of light

Planck - WAVE-PARTICLES DUALITY

E = h
Total E of the Photon
(particle side)

Frequency (wave
side)

Light is emitted in multiples of a certain minimum energy unit. The size of

the unit photon.
Explain the photoelectric effect - electron can be emitted if light is
shone on a piece of metal
Energy of the light beam is not spread but propagate like particles

Photons

When dealing with events at an atomic scale it is

often best to regard light as composed of particles
photon. Forget it being wave.
A quanta of light
Electromagnetic radiation quantized and occurs
in finite "bundles" of energy = photons
The energy of a single photon is given, in terms
of its frequency, f, or wavelength, , as,
Eph = hf = hc/

Maxwell Electromagnetic wave

Light as Electromagnetic Wave

Light as an electromagnetic wave is characterised

by a combinations of time-varying electric field ()
and magnetic field (H) propagating through space.
Maxwell showed both and H satisfy the same
partial differential equation:

1
, H 2 2 , H
c t
2

Changes in the fields propagate through

space with speed c.

Speed of Light, c

Frequency of oscillation, of the fields and their

wavelength, o in vacuum are related by;

c = o

In any other medium the speed, v is given by;

v= c/n =

n = refractive index of the medium

= wavelength in the medium

And, n r r

r = relative magnetic permeability of the medium

r = relative electric permittivity of the medium

The speed of light in a medium is related to the

electric and magnetic properties of the medium, and
the speed of light can be expressed

Question 1
Relate Plancks Equation (E = h) with the
Speed of Light in a medium (c = )
h =
Plancks constant = eV
c =
Speed of light =
2.998 x 108 ms-1
Why do you think this equation is important
when designing a light transmission devices
based on semiconductor diodes?
Relate this with Photon Energy.

Answer 1

E = hc

Particles: photon energy

Wave-like properties

Answer 1
= 1.24x 10-6 /E
Wavelength

Energy

Associated
with colours

Each colour has energy

associated with it

Question 2

Based on the equation you have produced in

question 1, calculate the photon energy of
violet, blue, green, orange and red lights.

Electromagnetic Spectrum
Shorter wavelength
Larger Photon
Energy (eV)

Answer 2:
V ~ 3.17eV
B ~ 2.73eV
G ~ 2.52eV
Y ~ 2.15eV
O ~ 2.08eV
R ~ 1.62eV

Longer

Visible Lights

Lights of wavelength detected by human eyes ~ 450nm to

650nm is called visible light:

3.1eV

1.8eV

Human eyes can detect lights with different colours

Each colour is detected with different efficiency.
Spectral Response of Human
Eyes

Efficiency, 100%

400nm 500nm 600nm 700nm

Interaction Between Light and Bulk

Material
3c

Semi-transparent
material

Incident light
1

1- Refraction
2- Transmission
3a Specular
reflection

3a
3b

3b Total internal
reflection

3c Diffused
reflection
4 Scattering
There is also
dispersion where
different colours bend

Appearance of insulator, metal and

semiconductor

Appearance in term of colour depends on the interaction

between the light with the electronics configuration of the
material.
Normally,
High resistiviy material: insulator transparent
High conductivity material: metals metallic luster and
opaque
Semiconductors coloured, opaque or transparent, colour
depending on the band gap of the material
For semiconductors the energy band diagram can explain the
appearance of the material in terms of lustre and colouration

Question 3. Why is Silicon Black

and Shiny?

Answer 3.

Need to know, the energy gap of Si

Need to know visible light photon energy

Egap = 1.2eV
Evis ~ 1.8 3.1eV

Evis is larger than Silicon Egap

All visible light will be absorbed
Silicon appears black
Why is Si shiny?
A lot of photons absorption occurs in silicon, there are
significant amount of electrons on the conduction
band. These electrons are delocalized which induce
the lustre and shines.

Question 4. Why is GaP yellow?

Answer 4
Need to know the Egap of GaP
Egap = 2.26eV
Equivalent to = 549nm.
E photons with h > 2.26ev absorb light (i.e.
green, blue and violet)
E photons with h < 2.26eV transmit light (i.e.
yellow, orange and red).
Sensitivity of human eye is greater for yellow
than red therefore GaP appears
yellow/orange.

Colours of Semiconductors
Evis= 1.8eV
3.1eV
I

If Photon Energy, Evis > Egap Photons will be

absorbed
If Photon Energy, Evis < Egap Photons will
transmitted
If Photon Energy is in the range of Egap ;
Those with higher energy than Egap will be
absorbed.
We see the colour of the light being

Why do you think glass is

transparent?

Glass is insulator (huge band gap)

The electrons find it hard to jump across a big energy gap (E gap >> 5eV)

Egap >> E visible spectrum ~2.7- 1.6eV

All colored photon are transmitted, no absorption hence light transmit

transparent.
Defined transmission and absorption by Lamberts law:
I = Io exp (- l)

I = incident beam
Io = transmitted beam
= total linear absorption coefficient (m -1)
= takes into account the loss of intensity from both scattering centers and absorption
centers.
= approaching zero for pure insulator.

What happens during

photon absorption process?
Photon interacts with the lattice
Photon interacts with defects
Photon interacts with valance electrons

Wavelength (m)
Vis

UV

IR

Important region:

Eg ~ vis

Absorption coefcient (), cm-1

Absorption Process of Semiconductors

Photon energy (eV)

Absorption spectrum of a semiconductor.

Absorption an important phenomena

in describing optical properties of
semiconductors

Light, being a form of electromagnetic radiation, interacts

with the electronic structure of atoms of a material.
The initial interaction is one of absorption; that is, the
electrons of atoms on the surface of a material will absorb the
energy of the colliding photons of light and move to the
higher-energy states.
The degree of absorption depends, among other things, on
the number of free electrons capable of receiving this photon
energy.

Absorption Process of Semiconductors

The interaction process is a characteristic of a photon and

depends on the energy of the photon (see the pervious slide
the x-axis).
Low-energy photons interact principally by ionization or
excitation of the outer orbitals in solids atoms.
Light is composed of low-energy photons (< 10 eV)
represented by infrared (IR), visible light, and ultraviolet
(UV) in the electromagnetic spectrum.
High-energy protons (> 104 eV) are produced by x-rays and
gamma rays.
The minimum photon energy required to excite and/or ionize
the component atoms of a solid is called the absorption
edge or threshold.

Valance-Conduction-Absorption
Process requires the
lowest E of photon to
initiate electron jumping
(excitation)

Conduction band, EC

EC-EV = h
EC-EV = Egap
If h > Egap then
transition happens
Electrons in the
conduction band and
excited.

Egap

Ephoton

Valance band, EV

After the absorption then what?

Types Direct and Indirect photon absorption

For all absorption process there must be:
Conservation of energy
Conservation of momentum or the wavevector

The production of e-h pairs is very important

for various electronics devices especially the
photovoltaic and photodetectors devices.
The absorbed light can be transformed to
current in these devices

Direct Band Gap

E
Direct
vertical
transition

Conservation of E
h = EC(min) - Ev (max) =
Egap
K (wave number)

Momentu
m of
photon is
negligible

Conservation of
wavevector
Kvmax + photon = kc

Indirect Band Gap

E

K (wave number)

Question 5.
For

indirect band gap transition,

how do the energy and
momentum or the wavevector
are being conserved?

Answer Question 5 yourself

Refraction, Reflection and Dispersion

Light when it travels

in a medium can be
absorbed and
reemitted by every
atom in its path.
Defines by
refractive index;
n

High n
Small n

n1 = refractive index of material 1

n2 = refractive index of material 2

Total Internal Reflection

t
ki

Incident
light

Transmitted
(refracted) light
kt
n2
kr

n 1 > n2

Evanescent wave

c c

TIR

Reflected
light
(a)

i >c

(b)

(c)

Light wave travelling in a more dense medium strikes a less dense medium. Depending on
the incidence angle with respect to c, which is determined by the ratio of the refractive
indices, the wave may be transmitted (refracted) or reflected. (a)i < c (b) i = c (c) i
> c and total internal reflection (TIR).
1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

Mechanism and Application of TIR

Optical fibre for
communication

What sort of materials do

you think are suitable for
fibre optics cables?

End
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