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Optical Sources & Detectors

Navneet Singh Aulakh Scientist CSIO, Chandigarh.

Block diagram of Optical Communication System


TRANSMITTER
1 2 3

RECEIVER
Fiber splice 1 2 3

Optical fiber Coding Laser diode Photodiode + decoder

TRANSMISSION MEDIUM

Types of Optical Sources


LED (Light Emitting Diodes) LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)

LEDs Light Emitting Diode


Emits incoherent light through spontaneous emission. Used for Multimode systems with 100-200 Mb/s rates. Broad spectral width and wide output pattern. 850nm region: GaAs and AlGaAs 13001550nm region: InGaAsP and InP

Pure-crystal energy-band diagram

n-type material

p-type material

Electron diffusion across a pn junction

Reverse bias condition

Forward bias condition

Principle of Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Table 6-1: Light-Emitting Semiconductors Material Wavelength Range Bandgap Energy (m) (eV) AlGaInP GaAs AlGaAs InGaAs InGaAsP 1.82 - 1.94 0.61 - Table 6-1: Light-Emitting Semiconductors 0.68 0.9 Material Wavelength 1.4 Range Bandgap Energy (m) - 1.55 (eV) 1.4 0.8 - 0.9 0.95 1.0 - 1.3 AlGaInP 1.82 - 1.94 0.61 - 0.68 1.24 0.73 1.4 0.9 - 1.7 0.9 - 1.35 GaAs AlGaAs InGaAs InGaAsP 0.8 - 0.9 1.0 - 1.3 0.9 - 1.7 1.4 - 1.55 0.95 - 1.24 0.73 - 1.35

Forward Biased Diodes: holes and electrons recombine in some group III - V compounds, a few II - VI compounds, the electrons and holes recombine and produce radiation.

c Eg ! hv ! hf ! h , or: P hc P ! , and: Eg 1.24 P (Qm) ! Eg (eV)

Types of p-n Junctions


Homojunctions:

a s

a s

N
carriers are not confined light is not confined inefficient. Heterojunctions: the carriers are confined the light is also confined Historically, single hets, then double hets.

Heterojunctions:

Double-heterostructure configuration

Types of LEDs
Surface Emitting LEDs Edge Emitting LEDs

Surface Emitting LEDs

Coupling lens used to increase efficiency. Short optical Links with Large NA fibers. Data rates less than 20 Mbps.

Edge Emitting LEDs

Higher data rates>100Mbps Multimode and Single Mode fibers

Comparision between SLEDs And ELEDs


SLEDs generally radiate more power into air ( 2.5 to 3 times) than ELEDs since the emitted light is less effected by reabsorption. SLEDs couples more optical power into large NA (greater than .3 ) than ELED where as the opposite is true for low NAs. Less coupling efficiency in SLEDs as compare to ELEDs. ELEDs have better modulation bandwidth than SLEDs ELEDs have narrower bandwidth than SLEDs.

LED Characteristics
Optical Output Power Output Spectrum Modulation Bandwidth

Optical Output Power

1. Ideal light output against current characteristics for an LED 2. Light output of SLEDs against current 3. Light output of ELEDs against current

Power Versus Current Characteristics

Output power against temperature


Optical Output Power

SLED ELED

Temperature

LED Spectral Profile

Modulation Bandwidth

Current ratio I out/I in .707 .500

Electrical 3db point Optical 3 db point

Frequency

Packaging Microlensed LED

Advantages of LEDs
Easier Fabrication Lower Cost Simpler Temperature circuit design Lower temperature dependence

Lasers

LASER Basic Operation

Basic Steps required to form a laser beam : There are generally 3 processes: Absorption Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission

Principle Of LASER action


1)Absorption:
When a photon with certain energy is incident on an electron in a semiconductor at the ground state (lower energy level ) the electron absorbs the energy and shifts to the higher energy level(E2). The energy now acquired by the electron is (E2E1).

2)Spontaneous Emission
After the absorption process the electrons at the higher energy level are in an excited state. Now if there is no incident light ,they fall back to the lower energy level during which they give up the energy acquired during absorption in the form of radiation.The spontaneous emission process is as shown in the figure below:

3)Stimulated Emission
Once the external photon strikes to this excited atom,this leaves its position from the higher energy level and & it will emit the photon. Thus 2 photons are available at the output,one which is striking on the atom and other coming out because of excited emission of two photons and the light amplification takes place. These two photons are in same phase and traveling in the same direction.

Band Gap Materials


Direct Band gapSemiconductors like Si Indirect Band gapIII V compounds like GaAlAs , GaAsP, InGaAsP

Types of Lasers
Semiconductor Laser (used in advanced optical fiber communication) Solid State Laser (used in atmospheric and free space links) Gas Lasers(used in atmospheric and free space links)

Semiconductor Laser Diode

Types of semiconductor laser diode


DFB(Distributed feedback Laser) DBR (Distributed brag reflector Laser) Tunable Laser Diodes

DFB and DBR Lasers

Tunable Laser Diode


Laser structure is divided in three subsequent sections which are optically coupled Gain section is also called the active region and it generates light wave of high power. Passive section serve as a wavelength selective reflector A passive phase shifting section adjusts the effective optical length of gain and phase shifting sections together to the wavelength .

Soild State Lasers

In solid state lasers the active area is created by so called Laser active atoms. These active atoms are stimulated by injection of powerful light which is called optical pumping. By employing optical pumping electrons located in the ground level are pumped to an upper level with high energy. Laser operation is finally achieved by stimulated emission

Gas Lasers
In Gas lasers gas atoms or gas molecules are employed to produce the active material. Gas Lasers provides the best results as far as spatial and spectral quality of the laser light beam are concerned.

Emission Spectrum of Laser


Relative Intensity

1550

P(nm)

Packaging

Packaging

Packaging

Packaging

Advantages of Laser
High Modulation rates Narrower Spectral Width Less dispersion induced signal distortion Higher fiber coupling efficiency Greater transmission distance

Comparison between LED and LASERS

Optical Detectors

Requirements of Optical detector


High sensitivity at the operating wavelength High Fidelity Large electrical response to the optical signal Short response time to obtain a suitable bandwidth A minimum noise introduced by the detector Stability of performance characteristics Small Size Low bias voltage High reliability Low cost

Types of Photodiodes
PN Photodiode P-I-N Photodiode Avalanche Photodiode Phototransistor Photo Darlington Pair

PN Photodiode
To induce material to conduct current , one needs to populate the conduction band with electrons. The bandgap of Si is 1.17ev and the bandgap of Ge is .775ev respectively. For excitation of electron at the conduction band Ep=hf=hc/P>Eg

PN Photodiode
Ep p n

Applying external voltage (Reverse bias) enhances the flow of electrons and holes

Input Output Characteristics of Photodiode


Ip(mA) P(mW)
Input to a photodiode is light power P Output is current I.e Ip Ip E P So Ip=RP where R is responsivity and its value is constant Responsivity R ranges from .5A/W and this characteristics shows how effectively a photodiode convert light into an electrical signal

Responsivity versus wavelength in PN photodiode


Responsivity =Ip/P Photocurrent Ip is the number of electrons ,Ne, flowing per unit time,i.e Ip=Ne/t Light power is light energy per unit of time, where light energy is equal to the energy of photon(Ep) times the number of photons (Np) So P=NpEp/t where Ep=hc/P So R=Ip/P=Ne P/Np h c Where L=Ne/Np is quantum efficiency of a regular communications photodiode ranges from 50% to almost 100 %.

Disadvantages of PN photodiode
Narrow depletion Region So the need is to increase the width of the depletion region without manipulating unnecessarily the value of the reverse bias voltage.

P-I-N photodiode
A thick, lightly doped intrinsic layer sandwiched between thin p and n regions.

Types of P-I-N photodiodes


Front Illuminated Rear Illuminated

Front Illuminated Photodiode


Ep Metal Contacts Depletion region 5um Metal Contacts

Rear Illuminated Photo diode


Metal Contacts Depletion region Ep

Metal Contacts

Advantages of P-I-N photodiode


Intrinsic layer is thick, so more number of incident photons enter into this layer and generate electron hole pair, so results in the high quantum efficiency of the device. Reverse biasing voltage is small (usually 50) because the thickness of the depletion region is controlled by the thickness of the intrinsic layer, not by reverse voltage. High bandwidth ( Efforts to improve the bandwidth of 110 Ghz).

Avalanche Photodiode
Drawbacks of P-I-N photodiode need of an amplifier to magnify the photocurrent produced by the photodiode.

P+

N+

APD
The quantum efficiency of the APD is M times larger than that of a P-I-N photo diode. R(APD)=M x R(PIN) M depends upon 1 Accelerating voltage 2 Thickness of the gain region 3 Ratio of electrons to holes participating in the ionization process. M ranges from 10 to 500.

APD

Photo Transistor

BIp

Ip

Photo Darlington pair

Ip

Noise Sources in photodiode


Shot Noise Thermal Noise Dark current Noise Excess Noise

Shot Noise: Deviation of the actual number of electrons from the average numbers is known as shot noise. Thermal Noise The deviation of an instantaneous number of electrons from their average value because of temperature change is called Thermal Noise. Thermal Noise is often called Johnson noise .

Dark current Noise The dark current noise arises due to dark current which flows in the circuit when the photodiode is in unilluminated environment under bias condition. The magnitude of this current depends on the Operating temperature. Biased voltage Type of detectors

Excess Noise: Cause- Avalanche Multiplication Process

Facilities Available at Fiber Optics Division of CSIO


Fiber Handling and Termination Equipment OTDR Splicer Connector Polisher Termination Inspection Equipment Spectrum Analyser, Logic Analyser, CRO, and other Electronics Test Equipment

9814088999
scientistq@yahoo.com

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