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Considerations With Optical Sources Considerations With Optical Sources

This document discusses considerations for optical sources used in fiber optics. It outlines key factors such as physical dimensions that suit fiber, a narrow radiation pattern, linear output power proportional to driving current, fast response time, adequate output power, narrow spectral width, stability, efficiency, driving circuit issues, and reliability and cost. It then describes semiconductor light sources like LEDs and lasers, how they operate, materials used, and the advantages of heterostructure devices over homojunction devices in reducing diffraction loss.

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Leena Vs
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88 views

Considerations With Optical Sources Considerations With Optical Sources

This document discusses considerations for optical sources used in fiber optics. It outlines key factors such as physical dimensions that suit fiber, a narrow radiation pattern, linear output power proportional to driving current, fast response time, adequate output power, narrow spectral width, stability, efficiency, driving circuit issues, and reliability and cost. It then describes semiconductor light sources like LEDs and lasers, how they operate, materials used, and the advantages of heterostructure devices over homojunction devices in reducing diffraction loss.

Uploaded by

Leena Vs
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Considerations with Optical Sources Considerations with Optical Sources

Physical dimensions to suit the fiber


Ability to be directly modulated by varying
Narrow radiation pattern (beam width) driving current

Linearity (output light power proportional to Fast response time (wide band)
driving current)
Adequate output power into the fiber

Considerations… Semiconductor Light Sources


A PN junction (that consists of direct band gap
Narrow spectral width (or line width) semiconductor materials) acts as the active or
recombination region.
Stability and efficiency When the PN junction is forward biased, electrons
and holes recombine either radiatively (emitting
Driving circuit issues photons) or non-radiatively (emitting heat). This is
Reliability and cost simple LED operation.
In a LASER, the photon is further processed in a
resonance cavity to achieve a coherent, highly
directional optical beam with narrow linewidth.
Light Emission The Light Emitting Diode (LED)
For fiber-optics, the LED should have a high
Basic LED operation: When an electron radiance (light intensity), fast response time and a
jumps from a higher energy state (Ec) to a high quantum efficiency
lower energy state (Ev) the difference in energy
Ec- Ev is released either Double or single hetero-structure devices
Surface emitting (diffused radiation) Vs Edge
as a photon of energy E = hν (radiative
emitting (more directional) LED’s
recombination)
Emitted wavelength depends on bandgap energy
as heat (non-radiative recombination)

Materials for LEDs Homojunction


The p-n junction of the basic GaAs LED/laser
described before is called a homojunction because
only one type of semiconductor material is used in
the junction with different dopants to produce the
junction itself.
The index of refraction of the material depends
upon the impurity used and the doping level.
Heterojunction Heterojunction Structure
The Heterojunction region is actually lightly
Heterojunction is the advanced junction design to doped with p-type material and has the
reduce diffraction loss in the optical cavity. highest index of refraction.
This is accomplished by modification of the laser The n-type material and the more heavily doped
p-type material both have lower indices of
material to control the index of refraction of the refraction.
cavity and the width of the junction.
This produces a light pipe effect that helps to
confine the laser light to the active junction region.
In the homojunction, however, this index
difference is low and much light is lost.

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