UNDERSTANDING

OF
OPTICAL TRANSMISSION
BASIC OPTICAL
COMMUNICATION LINK

Modulation
Information to & Coupling
be transmitted Transmitter Arrangement
(Electrical) (Electrical to
Optical )
Optica
l Fiber

Electronics for
Recovered Information Receiver
Information Recovery (Optical to Electrical )
We will discuss ………..

TRANSMITTER
 SOURCES
LED
LASER
 COUPLING MECHANISM

RECEIVER

APD
PIN-FET
OPTICAL TRANSMITTER

 The transmitter converts an electrical

analog or digital signal into a
corresponding optical signal.
 The source of the optical signal can be
either a light emitting diode (LED), or
solid state laser diode (LD).
 The most used wavelengths of
operation for optical transmitters are
850, 1300, or 1550 nanometers.
A key advantage of Optical
Communication over electrical
communication
The input electrical signal need not to modulated by using
locally generated carrier .

 The signal can directly be modulated by Laser or LED. This

arrangement is known as Directly Modulation or Intensity
Modulation.

This will reduce the cost of equipment.

TYPES OF OPTICAL
SOURCES
 Incoherent Source
 LED
Edge-LED
Surface –LED
 Coherent Source
 Laser
Fabry-Perot
Distributed feedback
VCSEL
TYPICAL FIELD PATTERN OF LED
AND LASER
Operating Principle of LASER
and LED

LASER Works on the principle of Stimulated

emission, while LED works on the principle of
spontaneous emission
Absorption
 Spontaneous
Emission
 An electron in the valence band acquires some
amount of energy,and there by moves from valence
band to the conduction band

 The electron cannot remain in the higher energy level

for a longer duration and thus returns back from the
conduction band to the valence band

 When it returns back from conduction band to

valence band there will be emission of
radiation(Photon),the wavelength of which is
proportional to the difference in band gap of the two
Spontaneous Emission
 Stimulated
Emission

 A passing photon interacts with an electron in the higher

energy level,stimulating the emission of an identical
photon as the electron drops down to the lower energy
level

 Thus single photon results in the emission of an identical

photon

 The wavelength of the emitted photon is the same as the

incident photon and will be in coherence with it
Stimulated
Emission
Operation Of PN-
Junction
 Silicon has 4 electrons in its valence band,if we add
an impurity which has 5 valence electrons there will
be extra electrons left over after all the bonds are
formed(Stable covalent bond and no free electrons)

 Thus resulting in the formation of a N-type material

 If we dope silicon with a material having only 3

valence electrons,then there will be holes that are
formed

 Though holes do not have mobility like electrons,they

are charge carriers resulting in the formation of a P-
type material
 Operation Of PN-
Junction

 If a junction of P and N type material is formed it results

in the formation of a PN-Junction

 In a PN-Junction there will be movement of electrons

and a recombination of electron- hole pair takes place
thus, no charge carriers exist in the depletion layer thus
preventing any carrier flow

 This barrier prevents further flow of electrons

Operation Of PN-
Junction

 When sufficient energy is applied,electrons are

injected into depletion layer

 This forces the electrons which are already present to

move across the junction resulting in a forward bias

 Thus the electron-hole re-combination takes place

 When the electrons re-combine with the holes of

LASER/LED photons are emitted,wavelength of
which depends on the band-gap of the material
Operation Of PN-
Junction
Operation Of PN-
Junction

 Combining,P and N type materials as indicated

above results in the formation of a stable covalent
bond with no free electrons

 By varying the proportion of this P and N type

material a PN junction with desired amount of free
electrons can be formed

 Semiconductors like Ga-As are used for producing

such electrons, thus resulting in the emission of
radiation
LED

 An LED which is formed from a single type of a

semiconductor material, is called homo-junction LED and
results in the emission of a light which is omni-
directional(or in all directions)

 This type of LED is suitable for short distances of fiber(Has

lesser coupling efficiency)

 An LED can also be formed by the creation of a PN

junction with different crystalline properties and refractive
indices resulting in a hetero junction LED

 This allows the LED perform itself as a wave-guide thus

coupling light to the maximum extent possible
LED
LASER

LASER is an acronym for:

L-Light

A-Amplification by

S-Stimulated

E-Emission of

R-Radiation
Laser principle
FABRY-PEROT LASER
DIODE
 In a practical Laser device,light generating material is placed
between a set of reflectors that has been aligned parallel to
each other

 The optical cavity formed by the two mirrors is called a

Fabry Perot Resonator

 As energy is applied to the Laser material photons are

emitted spontaneous emission

 Some of the photons are lost due to reflections from the

sides

 However a single photon emitted by this spontaneous

emission is sustained within the cavity and results in
stimulated emission of 2 photons
 FABRY-PEROT LASER
DIODE
These two photons result in the emission of two more and so on thus
resulting in the emission of a number of photons

All the photons that are emitted will be in phase and thus LASER source
is said to be coherent

The length of the resonant cavity can be varied,resulting in the emission

of a desired wavelength

In a semi conductor LASER diode beam is available from both the ends

A photo detector can be placed at one end to monitor the power level of
the emitted radiation allowing drive circuitry to keep the output level
constant
FABRY-PEROT LASER
DIODE
DISTRIBUTED FEED BACK LASER
DIODE

 Fabry-Perot output is lots of different wavelengths, DFB

gives just one.
 DFB is similar to Fabry-Perot cavity, but with grating
above active layer
 Grating is a zig-zag structure, and its different refractive
index causes reflection at particular wavelength.
DISTRIBUTED FEED BACK LASER
DIODE

 Exact wavelength reflected depends on refractive index

change and zig-zag spacing.
 Only desired wavelength reflected back into laser cavity
and emitted.
 Much more expensive than Fabry-Perot lasers due to
increased complexity.
OUTPUT SPECTRUM OF
FP AND DFB LASER DIODES
 FP laser diode the
cavity is formed by
two mirror by
cleaving the end
edge of the laser.
 FP laser support
multi-longitude
mode with in the
cavity.
 In DFB laser diode
the cavity is
formed by the
grating which can
VERTICAL CAVITY SURFACE EMITTING
LASER(VCSEL)
 VCSEL’s have vertical laser
cavity and emit light vertically
from their surface
 Layers of partially reflective
mirrors above and below cavity
to confine light
 More efficient than edge
emitters, cheaper to test, and
easier to get light into fibers
 Currently only low powers and
not mass produced at 1550nm.
ADVANTAGES

DFB lasers have a number of significant

advantages over FP types:

 
 They can exhibit very narrow line-widths (of
the order of 50 kHz).

 They have quite low chirp(Spectral Width).

 They typically have a very low Noise

DISADVANTAGES
 DFB lasers are extremely sensitive to reflections.

 They are sensitive to temperature variations in two ways:

 The stable (average) temperature of the device has a
very strong influence on wavelength.

 Varying conditions produce significant fluctuations in laser

output power.

 They have a relatively high cost.

3 Level Laser
4 Level Laser
2 Types of collusion
He-Ne Laser
Factors to be taken into
consideration
while selecting the optical source

 Coupling efficiency
 Spectral width
 Types of modulation
 Linearity requirements
 Bandwidth
 Cost
 Required o/p power
COUPLING
EFFICIENCY
COUPLING
MECHANISM
COUPLIN
G
Coupling

 Optical source must ensure that the optical energy

must be efficiently coupled into the core of the fiber

 Fiber will transmit light launched into its Numerical

Aperture
ere are two popular methods for
ht coupling into the fiber

Pig-tailing

Placing the fiber’s tip in very close

proximity to an LED or LD.
COUPLING TO A FIBER

Use of a Graded Index Lens (GRIN lens) is

fairly common. A GRIN lens is very similar to just
a short length of graded index fiber (albeit with a
much larger diameter). The lens collects and
focuses the light onto the end of the fiber.
 A Ball lens is also often used. This is bonded to
the surface of the LED with an epoxy resin that
has a specific refractive index.

 The Direct Coupling method is becoming

increasingly popular.
 Just mount the fiber end so that it touches
the LED directly.
 A common way to do this is to mount the
LED inside a connector so that
when a fiber is plugged in.
 This has the advantage of low cost and low
complexity.

 Another common way is to fix a ball lens to

OPTICAL
RECEIVER
LIGHT DETECTORS

The light emerging from the end of an optical fiber

link must be detected and converted into
electrical pulses for further processing so that the
transmitted information can be received. The two
types of detectors normally used are;

 The Avalanche Photodiode (APD)

 The PIN Photodiode (PIN).
Light Detectors

 Photons can be absorbed by the semiconductors,there by

releasing electrons from the valence band

 These electrons combines with holes resulting in the

formation of electron-hole pairs

 For a photon to be absorbed,the wavelength of the photon

should match with that of the band gap

 Thus certain materials can only absorb photons of specific

wavelength,hence the wavelength of the source and the
detector must match
P-I-N DIODE DETETOR

 A photodiode is reverse biased,with resistance being more

there will be a large depletion region that is formed thus no
current flows

 If incident photon strikes depletion region the resulting

electron-hole pair move towards their corresponding
destinations resulting in a current flow

 If the photon strikes outside depletion region, time taken by

the electron-hole pair to move towards their respective
destinations will be more and thus resulting in a delay
P-I-N DIODE
DETECTOR
 In a PIN diode there is an Intrinsic region that is formed between P and
N junctions(Intrinsic region is a region which doesn’t have any
dopants)
 Since it doesn’t have any charge carriers,the resistance offered by the
intrinsic region will be more
 Due to this intrinsic region,the width of the depletion region will
increase
 As a result,there will be a faster response and efficiency also will
increase
 Thus a PIN diode will overcome the limitations of a normal PN-diode
 PIN diode is basically a one to one device,that is one-electron hole pair
creating only one electron-hole pair requiring more amplification
PIN Diode
 AVALANCHE PHOTO
DIODE
 An APD is a photo multiplier device which provides light
amplification as a part of its function
 It has a heavily doped P and N junctions,along with an intrinsic
layer resulting in a strong electric field
 When a photon strikes a depletion region an electron hole pair is
created
 If the electric field is strong, these carriers strike a neutral atom and
there will be an increase in its kinetic energy which makes an
electron to move to its valence band and thus resulting in the
formation of another carrier(Electron-hole pair)
Avalanche
Photodiode(APD)
 An APD is a photo multiplier device which provides light
amplification as a part of its function
 It has a heavily doped P and N junctions,along with an
intrinsic layer resulting in a strong electric field
 When a photon strikes a depletion region an electron hole
pair is created
 If the electric field is strong, these primary carriers strike a
neutral atom and there will be an increase in its kinetic
energy which makes an electron to move to its valence band
and thus resulting in the formation of another
carrier(Electron-hole pair)called the secondary carrier
Avalanche
Photodiode(APD)
 This carrier results in the formation of one more electron-
hole pair and so on resulting in a number of such secondary
carriers
 The gain depends upon the applied bias voltage, larger the
value more is the gain
 Typically the voltage that is applied will be hundred volts
 The bias voltage should not be very high,collision
ionization occurs without incident photon
 If the gain becomes very high,signal to noise ratio will
increase
Avalanche
Photodiode(APD)
KEY PARAMETERS OF OPTICAL
DETECTOR
 Detector Responsivity (Detectivity):
This is the ratio of output current to
input optical power. Hence this is the
efficiency of the device.
 Spectral Response Range:
This is the range of wavelengths
over which the device will operate.
 Response Time:
This is a measure of how quickly
the detector can respond to variations
in the input light intensity.
 Noise Characteristics:
The level of noise produced in the