University of Technology

Department of Communication Engineering

Optical Communication Systems Engineering Branch

Optical source

Report required include

Optical networks I

Mousa Saad Luaibi

Morning Study Fourth Year

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Monday, 26th December, 2022

Iraq, Baghdad

[email protected]
➢ Goals
• Knowing the need for visual resources and the required characteristics in them.
• Identify the most famous types of optical sources, their principle of operation,
characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
• Compare and simulate the types of visual sources and determine the results.

➢ Equipment’s
• Desktop or lap top computer.
• OptiSytem software.

➢ Introduction
Any communication system, the transmitter consists of a source of information, a carrier
signal, a modulator that carries the information signal on the carrier signal, and other
components that process the signal before sending it. The same applies to the optical fiber
communication system, but the carrier signal is optical generated by an optical source,
which is often considered the main component of the transmitter and active in the optical
fiber communication system. Optical fiber communication systems often use
semiconductor light sources such as light emitting diode (LED) and light amplification by
stimulated emission of radiation (LASER) because of the many inherent advantages they
offer. The selection process between visual sources for use is carried out according to a
set of characteristics that it can provide:

• Temperature: It can run continuously at a variety of temperatures for many years.

• Modulation: It is possible to modulate the output over a wide range of modulation
frequencies directly by changing the input current of the device.
• Wavelength: The output wavelength must match one of the transmission windows of
the fiber type being used.
• Output spectral: It should be narrow to reduce scattering of materials in the optical
fiber.
• Power: It should have low operating power and high output power.
• Reliability: It must be relied upon for a long time and no performance problems
appear.
• Weight: It should have a low weight for easy handling.
• Cost: It must be low to be affordable.
➢ Light Emitting Diode
It is given abbreviated by (LED) and it is one of the most common and most widely used
light sources in ancient times. Simply, it is a diode that is made from Indium Gallium
Arsenide (InGaAs) and Aluminium Gallium Arsenide (AlGaAs) to the (850 nm) region and
from Indium Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (InGaAsP) and Indium Phosphide (InPs) to the
(1300-1550 nm) regions, and emits non-coherent light with a spectral width wider than
another optical source (LASER) is widely used in multi-mode systems because it emits light
enough at a lower cost.

• Principle operation
Simply put, it is a PN-Junction with one side (N-Type) containing electrons and the
other side (P-Type) containing holes. When a current is applied on both sides with a
forward bias, i.e. connects the positive pole to (P-Type) and the negative pole to (N-
Type), this after a short time will stimulate the excited electrons to coalesce with the
holes and generate photons of different wavelengths, polarization and stage. This
process is known as spontaneous emission.

Figure (1): Structure and principle operation of LED.

Figure (2): Spontaneous emission.

• Characteristics
The internal quantum efficiency is given by:
𝜏𝑛
𝜂𝑖𝑛 = × 100%
𝜏𝑛 + 𝜏𝑟

The optical power generated internally in LED is given by:

𝜂𝑖𝑛 𝐼𝐷 ℎ𝑓
𝑃𝑖𝑛 =
𝑞

The external quantum efficiency is given by:

1
𝜂𝑒𝑥 = × 100%
𝑛(𝑛 + 1)2
The output power is given by:
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝜂𝑒𝑥 𝑃𝑖𝑛
Where:
𝜏𝑟 : radiative life time
𝜏𝑛 : non-radiative life time
𝐼𝐷 : current of diode.
𝑚2 𝑘𝑔
ℎ: Planck constant= 6.62 × 10−34
𝑠
𝑐
𝑓: frequency of light=
𝜆
𝑞: Electron charge=1.6 × 10−19 𝐶
𝑛: refractive index of LED material

• Advantages
1. Simple design.
2. Ease of manufacture.
3. Simple system integration.
4. Low cost.
5. High reliability.

• Drawbacks
1. Large chromatic dispersion.
2. Low coupling efficiency.
3. Refraction of light at semiconductor/air interface.
4. Modulation bandwidth is limited to few hundred MHz.
5. Low data rate and use for short distance.
 • Example
A double-hetero junction InGaAsP LED emitting at wavelength 1310 nm has radiative
and nonradiative life times of 25 and 90 ns respectively. The current diode is 35 mA
and refractive index of light source material is 3.5, Find:
1. The internal power generated in LED.
2. The output power emitted from LED.
Answer:
1. To find the internal power generated in LED:
𝜏𝑛 (90)
𝜂𝑖𝑛 = × 100% = × 100% = 78.26%
𝜏𝑛 + 𝜏𝑟 (90) + (25)
𝜂𝑖𝑛 𝐼𝐷 ℎ𝑓 (0.7826)(35 × 10−3 )(6.62 × 10−34 )(3 × 108 )
𝑃𝑖𝑛 = = = 25.95𝑚𝑊
𝑞 (1.6 × 10−19 )(1310 × 10−9 )

2. To find the output power emitted from LED.

1 1
𝜂𝑒𝑥 = × 100% = × 100% = 1.41%
𝑛(𝑛 + 1)2 (3.5)(3.5 + 1)2
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝜂𝑒𝑥 𝑃𝑖𝑛 = (0.0141)(25.95 × 10−3 ) = 0.366𝑚𝑊

➢ Light Amplification of Emitting Radiation

It is given an abbreviation (LASER) and it is one of the modern technologies and the most
efficient types of visual sources. Simply put, it is a device that amplifies and emits coherent
light with a narrow spectral width and high output power. It is widely used in single mode
systems and can also be used in multimode graded index system.

• Principle operation
It consists of a PN-junction, one of which is (N-Type) that contains electrons, and the
other (P-Type) that contains holes, in addition to mirrors on both sides, as in Figure (3).
When you shine a photon on an excited electron, it will lead to the release of a new
photon similar to the incident photon in terms of frequency, polarization, and phase.
This process is known as stimulated emission. The new photons will scatter in different
directions, but the mirrors will collect them in two directions, and by means of
interference they will be output with a high power.
 Figure (3): Structure of LASER.

Figure (4): Stimulated emission.

• Characteristics
The internal quantum efficiency is given by:
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
𝜂𝑖𝑛 = × 100%
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑠

The external power efficiency is given by:

𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝜂𝑒 = × 100%
𝑃
Where:
𝑃𝑜𝑢𝑡 : The output power emitted from diode.
𝑃: The electrical input power to the diode.

• Advantages
1. High optical power.
2. Can be used at high temperature.
3. Better modulation capability.
4. High coupling efficiency.
5. Low spectral width.
6. High data rate and use for long distance.
 • Drawbacks
1. High sensitive.
2. Complex design.
3. High cost.
4. Less life time.

➢ Simulation
• Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Figure (5): Simple optical fiber system by using LED source.

According to the information for each block as shown above in figure (5), I’ll get:

(a) (b) (c)

Figure (6): At wavelength=1330 nm:
(a) Information signal. (b) Received signal. (c) Eye diagram.
 (a) (b) (c)
Figure (7): At wavelength=1550 nm:
(a) Information signal. (b) Received signal. (c) Eye diagram.

Wavelength BER Q-factor

1300 nm 1 0
1550 nm 1 0

Table (1): The bit error rate and quality factor values for multiple wavelengths.

• Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER)

Figure (8): Simple optical fiber system by using LASER source.

According to the information for each block as shown above in figure (8), I’ll get:
 (a) (b) (c)
Figure (9): At wavelength=1330 nm:
(a) Information signal. (b) Received signal. (c) Eye diagram.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure (10): At wavelength=1550 nm:
(a) Information signal. (b) Received signal. (c) Eye diagram.

Wavelength BER Q-factor

−23
1300 nm 1.979493 × 10 9.89948
−25
1550 nm 2.1127 × 10 10.349

Table (2): The bit error rate and quality factor values for multiple wavelengths.
➢ Comparison between LED and LASER

Characteristic LED LASER

Principle operation Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission
Output beam Non coherent Coherent
Spectral width 20-100 nm 1-5 nm
Data rate Low Very high
Transmission distance Short Long
Temperature sensitivity Less sensitive More sensitive
Compatible fibers Multimode Single mode
Structure Simple Complex
Life time 105 hours 104 hours
Cost Low High
Output power Linearity to current of diode Proportional to current above
threshold
Wavelength available 0.66-1.65 µm 0.78-1.65 µm
Coupling efficiency Very low High
Current required 50-100 mA 5-40 mA
Table (3): Comparison between LED and LASER.

➢ Conclusion
According to all of the above, it was concluded that (LASER) provides many of the required
characteristics for using the light source. It was also found that the quality of the received
signal is inversely proportional to the wavelength of the transmission.

➢ References
[1] V. S. Bagad, Optical Fiber Communication, 1st edition, Technical Publications Pune,
2009.
[2] Gerd Keiser, Optica Fiber Communications, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill Higher Education,
2000.
[3] Govind P. Agrawal, Fiber-Optic Communication Systems, 3rd edition, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 2002.
[4] John M. Senior, Optical Fiber Communications Principles and Practice, 3rd edition,
Pearson Education Limited, 2009.