10EC72 Optical Sources and Detectors 1. Optical Sources + Optical transmitter coverts electrical input signal into corresponding optical signal. "The ‘optical signal is then launched into the fiber. Optical souree is the major component in an ” optical transmitter. + Popularly used optical transmitters are Light Emitting Diode (LED) and semiconductor Laser Diodes (LD), LASS CLs Amatier sMwulaies Encssron @adcation) Characteristics of Light Source of Communication To be useful in an optical link, a light source needs the following characteristics: 4) It must be possible to operate the device continuously at a variety of temperatures for many years 4 iy i must be possible to modulate the light output over a wide range of modulating. frequencies. iii) For fiber links, the wavelength of the output should coincide with one of transmission windows for the fiber type used, iv) To couple large amount of power into an optical fiber, the emitting area should be small \v) To reduce material dispersion in an optical fiber link, the output spectrum should be narrow: vi) The power requirement for its operation must be low. vii) The light source must be compatible with the moder solid state devices. vill) The optical output power must be directly modulated by varying the input current t0 the device. ix) Better linearity of prevent harmonics and intermodulation distortion. x) High coupling efficiency. xi) High optical output power, xii) High reliability xiii) Low weight and low cost ‘Two types of light sources used in fiber optics are light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs). 2. Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) Pen Junction ee ECE/SJBIT Page 66Homajuectin 1 Suaslar te Ceonentinal juccke douse Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 © Conventional p-n junction is called as homojunetion as same semiconductor ‘material is sued on both sides junetion. The electron-hole recombination occurs in relatively wide layer = 10 jum, As the carriers are not confined to the immediate vicinity of junction, hence high current densities can not be realized The carrier confinement problem can be resolved by sandwiching @ thin layer (= 1 ym) between p-type and n-type layers. The middle layer may or may not be doped. The carrier confinement occurs due to band gap discontinuity of the junction. Such a junction is call heterojunction and the device is called double heterostructure. ‘+ Inany optical communication system when the requirements is ~ {) Bit rate f 100-48%-Mbisec,(¢ tes molec) Active region van be wade 94 topped ii) Optical power in tens of micro watts. or teukeypad Gasuitinanaher wmanerial i LEO ere heterepuncten LEDs are best suitable optical source. . LED Structures Heterojunetion (PH A addtional SomScenctuetar Gamer a+ Sc EVE “tie * A. heterojunction is an interface between two adjoining single crystal semiconductors with different band, gap. Cares, a een jer ) ‘© Heterojunction are of two types, Isotype (a-n oF p-p) or Antistype pn) Double Heterojunction (DH) In order to achieve efficient confinement of emitted radiation double heterojunction are used in LED structure. A heterojunetion is a junction formed by dissimilar semiconductors Double heterojunction (DH) is formed by two different semiconductors on each side of active region. Fig. 3.1.1 shows double heterojunction (DH) light emitter. ‘The crosshatched regions represent the energy levels of free charge. Recombination j occurs only in active InGaAsP layer. The two materials have different band gap energies and different refracti holes and electrons. The free charges can recombine only in narrow, well defined active layer dices. The changes in band gap energies create potential barrier for both side. ‘A double heterojunction (DH) structure will confine both hole and electrons to a narrow | active layer. Under forward bias, there will be a large number of carriers injected into active region where they are efficiently confined. Carries recombination occurs in small active region dia ECE/SJBIT bordered bin Page 671OECT2 Opti ‘iber Communication so Jeading to an efficient device. Antoer advantage DH structure is that the active region has @ higher reffactive index than the materials on either side, hence light emission oceurs in an optical ‘waveguide, which serves to narrow the output beam. Fig, 3.1.4 Double heterojunction (OM) emnitior LED configurations ‘At present there are two main types of LED used in optical fiber links ~ 1. Surface emitting LED. 2, Edge emitting LED. Both devices used a DH structure to constrain the carriers and the light to an active layer: Surface Emitting LEDs In surface emitting LEDs the plane of active light emitting region is oriented perpendicularly to the axis of the fiber. A DH diode is grown on an N-type substrate atthe top of the diode as shown in Fig. 3.1.2. A circular well is etched through the substrate of the device, A fiber is then connected to accept the emitted light ——————___—_—_—_——- ena ECE/SBIT Page 68Optical Fiber Communi 10BC72 Le oon san tanerg aan! J succes | ‘Soon sal crs that Fa, 31.2 Croseancon tough & pea suas emiting LED * At the back of device is a gold heat sink. The current flows through the p-type material and forms the small circular active region resulting in the intense beam of light. Diameter of circular active area = 50 jim Thickness of circular active area = 2.5 pm Current density = 2000 A/em2 half-power Emission pattern = Isotropic, 1200 beamwidth. ‘+ ‘The isotropic emission pattern from surface emitting LED is of Lambartian pattern, In Lambartian pattern, the emitting surface is uniformly bright, but its projected area diminishes as cos 0, where 0 is he angle between the viewing direction and the normal to the surface as shown in Fig. 3.1.3. The beam intensity is maximum along the normal, Fig. 3.1.3 Lambartian radiation The power is reduced t0 50% of its peak when @ = 600, therefore the total half-power beamwidth is 1200. The radiation pattern decides the coupling efficiency of LED. age Emitting LEDS (ELEDs) —S- ECE/SIBIT Page 69Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 + In order to reduce the losses caused by absorption in the active layer and to make the beam more directional, the light is collected from the edge of the LED. Such a device is known as edge emitting LED or ELED. It consists of an active junction region which is the source of incoherent light and two guiding layers. The reffactive index of guiding layers is lower than active region but higher than outer surrounding material. Thus a waveguide channel is form and optical radiation is directed into the fiber, Fig. 3.1.4 shows structure of ELED. se comet nae eat 20, feito Dou helena yes Sere eal soma Fig, 2.3.4 Structure of edge umiting, DH, stip contact LED Bdge emitter’s emission pattern is more concentrated (directional) providing improved coupling efficiency. The beam is Lambartian in the plane parallel to the junction but diverges more slowly in the plane perpendicular to the junction. In this plane, the beam divergence is limited. In the parallel plane, there is no beam confinement and the radiation is Lambartian, To maximize the useful output power, a reflector may be placed at the end of the diode opposite the emitting edge. Fig. 3.1.5 shows radiation from ELED. ‘3.8 Unsymmovie adaton from an ede emiting LED Features of ELED: 1. Linear relationship between optical output and current. 2. Spectral width is 25 to 400 nm for 2 = 0.8 ~ 0.9 um, 3. Modulation bandwidth is much large. 4. Not affected by catastrophic gradation mechanisms hence are more reliable. ECE/S)BIT Page 70Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 5. ELEDs have better coupling efficiency than surface emitter, 6. ELEDs are temperature sensitive Usage : 1. LEDs are suited for short range narrow and medium bandwidth links. 2, Suitable for digital systems up to 140 Mb/sec. 3. Long distance analog links, Light Source Materials ‘The spontaneous emission due to carrier recombination is called electro luminescence. To encourage electroluminescence it is necessary to select as appropriate semiconductor material. ‘The semiconductors depending on energy band gap can be categorize: 1. Direct band gap semiconductors. 2. Indirect band gap semiconductors, Some commonly used band gap semiconductors are shown in following table 3.1.1 Semiconductor Energy bandgap (V) | Recombination Bm" see) GaAs Diest : 1.43 721 x10" Gash Direct : 0.73 } 23910 InAs Direct : 0.35 | 8x10" Insb Direct : 0.18 458x107 si Indirect : 1.12 1.79 x 108 a a a caP Tntiect226 | sa7x10" Table 3.1.1 Semiconductor material for optical sources ‘© Direct band gap semiconductors are most usefill for this purpose. In direct band gap semiconductors the electrons and holes on either side of band gap have same value of ECE/SJBIT Page 71Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 crystal momentum.Hence direct recombination is possible. The recombination occurs within 16% to 10/40 sec ‘+ In indirect band gap semiconductors, the maximum and minimum energies occur at © different values of erystal momentum. The recombination in these semiconductors is quite slow i.e. 10-2 and 10-3 sec. * The active layer semiconductor material must have a direct band gap. In direct band gap semiconductor, electrons and holes can recombine directly without need of third particle to conserve momentum. In these materials the optical radiation is sufficiently high. These materials are compounds of group Ill elements (Al, Ga, In) and group V element (P, As, Sb). Some tertiary alloys Ga Al As are also used. Emission spectrum of Gal-x AlxAs LED is shown in Fig, 3.1.6. Ga At 4s Forxeoss Ga Aten serie 8 A PeakPower at 810 Woe om) Sa Fig. 9.4. Emission spectrum of Gay. Al,AS LED The peak output power is obtained at 810 nm. The width of emission spectrum at half power (0.5) is referred as full width half maximum. (FWHM) spectral width. For the given LED FWHM. is 36 nm, ‘The fundamental quantum mechanical relationship between gap energy E and frequency v is given as Balv c Bake Ss BCE/S)BIT Page 72Charie w ene elects: [bree Cx bererot¥eatyj-y 2 Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 m he devs tors Toute aek = devs toeero™ 5 where, energy (E) is in joules and wavelength (4) is in meters. Expressing the gap energy (Eg) in electron volts and wavelength (2) in micrometers for this application 124 aun zen Different materials and alloys have different bandgap energies. ‘The bandgap energy (Eg) can be controlled by two compositional parameters x and y, within direct bandgap region. The quartenary alloy Inlew Gigx Agy Ploy is the atrial Sted in such LEDs. Two expression relating Eg and x ae Eg = 1424+ 1.266 x +0266 x? By = 139-0727 +012 7? Quantum Efficiency and Power The internal quantum efficiency (nint) is defined as the ratio of radiative recombination rate to the total recombination rate. Where, & tin 3 Rr is radiative recombination rate. ee Ror is non-radiative recombination rate. Fa on * If mare the excess carriers, then radiative life time, Cae 2 an ee nok es Be owe tn + non-radiative life time, A qe vie he © The internal quantum efficiency is given as — ECE/SIBIT Page 73Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 a ie Se see 5 &, 2 Fine = TE ter * The recombination time of eatriers in active region is x. It is also known as bulk recombination life time. * Ifthe current injected into the LED is I and q is electron charge then total number of recombination per second is — * Optical power generated internally in LED is given as — Ra = Reh ¥ Far = (ria). Fon = (torx4)-bf Ray (hae # ib bel Far = Mine ECE/S|BIT Page 74leney is used to calculate the emitted power. The external quantum is defined as the ratio of photons emitted from LED to the number of photons generated internally. It is given by equation 4 aint New = + The optical output power emitted from LED is given as — P= nen Fer tL n (nea)? Prve Example 3.1.3 : The radiative and non radiative recombination life times of minority carriers in the active region of a double heterojunction LED are 60 nsec and 90 nsec respectively. Determine the total carrier recombination life time and optical power generated internally if the Peak emission wavelength si 870 nm and the drive currect is 40 mA. [July/Aug.-2006, 6 Marks] Solutions: Given: = 870 nm 0.87 x 10-6 m a1 = 60 nsee. r= 90 nsec, 1=40 mA = 0.04 Amp. i) Total carrier recombination life time: ii) Internal optical power: ECE/S|BIT Page 75” Optical Fiber Communi 10ECT2 hel eat = 36.06 Free = i tr he sa CK 4 ey (es2s210-¢3 10") x0.04] Apa ot = end ete Kus xt [osastagi ots a Bat = ssszum ie Advantages of LED. 1, Simple design, 2. Base of manufacture 3. Simple system integration, 4. Low cost, 5. High reliability. Disadvantages of LED 1. Refraction of light at semiconductor/air interface. 2. The average life time of a radiative recombination is only a few nanoseconds, therefore modulation BW is limited to only few hundred megahertz, 3. Low coupling efficiency. 4, Large chromatic dispersion, Comparison of Surface id Edge Emitting LED ] ‘Maximum LED ope | mouation | Output power euiyy | Fiber coupled power |__trequeney (MHz) Surface emitting | 60 <4 <0.2 Edge emitting 200 <7 <10 i ECE/S)BIT Page 76ir Optical Fiber Communication 10BC72 Injection Laser Diode (ILD) * The laser isa device which amplifies the light, hence the LASER is an acronym for light mplifcatign by stimulated emission of radiation. The operation of the devive may be deseribed by the formation of an electromagnetic standing wave within a cavity (optical resonator) which provides an output of monochromatic highly coherent radiation, Principle: oo + Material absorption light than emitting, Three different fundamental process occurs betveen the two energy states of an atom. 1) Absorption 2) Spontaneous emission 3) Stimulated emission Laser action is the result of three process absorption of energy packets (photons) spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission. (These processes are represented by the simple two-energy-level diagrams). Where, 1 is the lower state energy level, 5 2 is the higher state energy level. Quantum theory states that any atom exists only in certain discrete energy state, absorption or emission of light causes them to make a transition from one state to <=_ another. The frequency of the absorbed or emitted radiation f is related to the difference in energy E between the two states. Sep 4 2oby IFEL is lower state energy level. and E2 is higher state energy level. uray 2010 B=(E2-B1)=hi, ose 7 ‘Where, h = 6.626 x 10-34 J/s (Plank’s constant). * An atom is initially in the lower energy state, when the photon with energy (E2 ~ B1) is incident on the atom it will be excited into the higher energy state E2 through the absorption of the photon. 5——_»__ Fig, 3.4.7 Absorption a a ECE/SJBIT Page 77Optical Fiber Communication 1OEC72 When the atom is initially in the higher energy state E2, it can make a transition to the lower energy state El providing the emission of a photon at a frequency corresponding to E = hf. The emission process can occur in two ways. A) By spontaneous emission in which the atom returns to the lower energy state in random ‘manner. B) By stimulated emission when a photon having equal energy to the difference between the two states (E> —F1) interacts with the atom causing it to the lower state with the creation of the second photon, mn Fig. 3.1.8 Spontaneous emission 3.4.9 Stimulated eminsion Spontaneous emission gives incoherent radiation while stimulated emission gives coherent radiation, Hence the light associated with emitted photon is of same frequency of lent photon, and in same phase with same polarization. It means that when an atom is stimulated to emit light energy by an incident wave, the liberated energy can add to the wave in constructive manner, The emitted light is bounced back and forth internally between two reflecting surface. The bouncing back and forth of light wave cause their intensity to reinforce and build-up. The result in a high brilliance, single frequency light beam providing amplification. Emission and Absorption Rates ItNI and N2 are the atomic densities in the ground and excited states, Rate of spontaneous emission Re An, Rspon = AN2 Rate of stimulated emission Ce = BNE Bow Rstim = BN2 pem Rate of absorption —————__ ECE/SJBIT Page 784 Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 Rabs = B* NI pem Where, Cane - BM A.B and B’ are constants ‘em is spectral density, Under equilibrium condition the atomic densities Ny and No are given by Boltzmann statistics, ss ey exe lL Ey Where, Ks is Boltzmann constant, Tis absolute temperature, _ wre Under equilibrium the upward and downward transition rates are equal JAN: + BNzhonf= 8, Le Brom ageityas eg cab BANt pow Spectral density pem os Sven ta Als aE _ ap bans Tale) Yr Pon = STP Ta] (Pla lee LAr bras wie Comparing spectral densitybf black body radiation’given by Plank’s formula, Ax] ankys ) ® Bo Bokvtled = _aahat ft (yer =a Poon = DR oe ( ot tg asthe x “oe PAU B= B A and B are called Einstein's coefficient 3. Fabry ~ Perot Resonator Lasers are oscillators operating at frequency. The oscillator is formed by a resonant cavity providing a selective feedback. The cavity is normally a Fabry-Perot resonator ie. two parallel plane mirrors separated by distance L, en ECE/S)BIT Page 796 Optical Fiber Communication 1OECT2 erties Fi A134 Feo ont fr ere Light propagating along the axis of the interferometer is reflected by the mirrors back to the amplifying medium providing optical gain. The dimensions of cavity are 25-500 jm longitudinal 5-15 jm lateral and 0.1-0.2 jum transverse, Fi - 3.1.10 shows Fabry-Perot resonator cavity for a laser diode. ‘The two heterojunetions provide carrier and optical confinement in a direction normal to the Junction. The current at which lasing starts is the threshold current. Above this current the output power increases sharply. Distributed Feedback (DFB) Laser In DEB laser the lasing action is obtained by periodic variations of refractive index along ‘the longitudinal dimension of the diode. Fig, 3.1.11 shows the structure of DFB laser diode. ratings for Opteat layers e ut Fig. 3.1.11 OFB laser diode — ECE/S)BIT Page 80Me Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 Lasing conditions and resonant Frequencies ‘The electromagnetic wave propagating in longitudinal direction is expressed as ~ EGD=I@) ere reayetoe-at) where, (2) is optical field intensity, Q is optical radian frequency 8 is propagation constant. ‘The fundamental expression for lasing in Fabry-Perot cavity is — HO) = ope Famee-eo9I0 20) PA) EI Tis optical field confinement factor or the fraction of optical power in the active layer. 4 is effective absorption coefficient of material 8 is gain coefficient. hv is photon energy. 1 is distance traverses along the lasing cavity Lasing (light amplification) occurs when gain of modes exceeds above optical loss during one round trip through the eavity Le. Z=2L, IfR1 and R2 are the mirror reflectivty’s ofthe two ends of laser diode, Now the expression for lasing expressing is modified as, Lasts) meas bqe 1(2L) = [(0) e2Mr ehv-saen) awplifcaton ‘The condition of lasing threshold is given i) For amplitude: | (2L) (0) . “apt ii) For phase: e-jpu=1 oe) iif) Optical gain at threshold = Total loss in the cavity, je T gma Py ~ & <> Now the lasing expression is reduced to — P Sth = dp =% ah) Where, A end is mirror loss in lasing cavity. ‘An important condition for lasing to occur is that gain, ¢ > g th ie. threshold gain /S1BIT Page 81ant Optical Fiber Communication 1OECT2 External Quantum Efficiency ‘The external quantum efficiency is defined as the number of photons emitted per electron hole pair recombination above threshold point. The external quantum efficiency next is given by Nee = MH - ne (4 - @) fe 4, Where, ni= Internal quantum efficiency (0.6-0.7). gth = Threshold gain, «= Absorption coefficient. Typical value of next for standard semiconductor laser is ranging between 15-20 %, Resonant Frequencies At threshold lasing 2BL=2am -a2 (propagation constant) mis an integer Gain in any laser is a function of frequency. For a Gaussian output the gain and frequency are related by expression — st B= spel “ae| where, 2(0) is maximum gain, -- ECE/S)BIT Page 82rJ Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 ‘ais center wavelength in spectrum, © is spectral width of the gain. The frequency spacing between the two successive modes is — ave 2Ln The wavelength Spacing is given as — # She Optical Characteristics of LED and Laser ‘The output of laser diode depends on the drive current passing through it. At low drive Curent, the laser operates as an inefficient Led, When drive current crosses threshold value, lasing action beings. Fig. 3.1.13 illustrates graph comparing optical powers of LED operation {(4ue to spontaneous emission) and laser operation (due to stimulated emission). ee eegten Fig. 343 Optical characteristics ofan LED and laser compared Advantages of Laser Diode 1. Simple economic design, 2. High optical power. 3. Production of light can be precisely controlled. 4. Can be used at high temperatures. 5. Better modulation capability, ey. 7. Low spectral width (3.5 nm) 6. High coupling ettici 8. Ability to transmit optical output powers between $ and 10 mW. 9 Ability to maintain the intrinsic layer characteristics over long periods ECE/SIBIT Page 831OBC72 Disadvantages of Laser Diode 1. At the end of fiber, a speckle pattern appears as two coherent light beams add or subtract their clecirie field depending upon their relative phases. 2. Laser diode is extremely sensitive to overload currents and at high transmission rates, when laser is required to operate continuously the use of large drive current produces unfavorable thermal characteristics and necessitates the use of cooling and power stabilization, Comparison of LED and Laser Diode ‘Sr.No. Parameter LED LD (Laser Diode) | rinipie ofopeon | Spoumeou enon Seite enon 2 up bes Nou esbere ober 3 | srecvatwiaty | Bol spectem 20100.) | Muck aoe 5 amp 4 Data ter Very igh 5. Transmission distance ‘Smaller. Greater. 6. | Tempers sasiiy = More temper senitve 7, Coupling efficiency Very low. High. 2 | Comat dies | HAS RIS RI Siem 9. | Ge ompey Sipe Complex 10. Life time 10° hours. 10° hows. i. Cost Low. High. iz oupapane Tineadly, Prgortonal to dive Provan is eure 18 | comeniesied [Dine sua 501010038 pak, | TWvnHfourent 030 14 [Wels avaiate 06610 1.65 jm, 07810 1.65 in 15. Applications Moderate distance low data rate. sy “stance high data Optical Detectors Principles of Optical Detectors ECE/S)BIT Page 84 9Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 The photo deteetor works on the principle of optical absorption, The main requirement of light detector or photo deotor is ts fast response, For fiber optic communication Purpose most Suited photo detectors are PIN (p-type- Intrinsicen-type) diodes and APD (Avalanche photodiodes) ‘The performance parameters of a photo detector are responsivity, quantum efficiency, response time and dark current Cut-off Wavelength (2) ‘Any Panicular semiconductor can absorb photon over a limited wavelength range, The highest wavelength is known as cut-off wavelength (Ac). The cut-off wavelength is determined by band gap energy Eg of material. caer) By @ where, Eg inelectron volts (eV) and decut-off wavelength is in ym, Typical value of Ae for silicon is 1.06 jum and for germanium it is 1.6 hm, Quantum Efficiency (1) ‘The quantum efficiency is define as the number of electron-hole carrier pair generated per incident photon of energy h v and is given as — — Number of electron hole pairs generated Number of incident photons na bee Pia /be n here, Ipis average photocurrent Pinis average optical power incident on photo detector. Absorption coefficient of material determines the quantum efficiency, Quantum ‘ficiency 1) <1 as the entire photons incident will not generate e-h pairs, I is normally expressed in percentage. ECE/SJBIT Page 85a Optical Fiber Commun 10EC72 Detector Responsivity The responsivity of a photo detector is the ratio of the current output in amperes to the Tok incident optical power in watts, Responsivity is denoted by Rx Ep ze =z ° R me . 1 6 ipa by 1 % kb Pf. ae By fafey how ng Bn by 1 =7a_ nq 4+ % hv hv : Responsivity gives transfer characteristics of detector ie. photo current per unit incident optical power. ~ esa ea Pia 44x aghe ‘Typical responsivities of pfruphotodiodes are — he Silicon pi»photodiode at 900 nm 10.65 A/W. a4 Ly Germanium pinyphotodiode at 1.3 pm 90.45 A/W. ae ; In GaAs piryphotodiode at 1.3 um 0.9 AAW. Bs ~~ Bax 10 ~ { "* Gxa0e “\ equines peperetnce 1 As the intensity of optical signal atthe receiver is very low, the detector has to meet high Performance specification + The conversion efficiency must be high at the operating Wavelength. > The speed of response must be high enough to ensure that signal distortion does not occur. * The detection process introduces the minimum amount of noise. © It must be Possible to operate continuously over a wide range of temperatures for many years. © The detector size must be compatible with the fiber dimensions At present, these requirements are met by reverse biased fn photodiodes, In these devices, the semiconductor material absorbs a photon of light, which excites an electron from the valence band to the conduction band (opposite of photon emission). ‘The photo. generated ECE/S|BIT Page 86Optical Fiber Communica 10EC72 electron leaves behind it hole, and so each photon generates two charge carriers, The increases the material conductivity so call photoconductivty resulting in anincrease in the diode current. The diode equation is modified as — Taode = (la +1.)( adubT _ ay Where, sis dark current ie. current that flows when no signal is presen. this photo generated current due to incident optical signal, PIN Photodiode PIN diode consists of an intrinsic semiconductor sandwiched between two heavily doped Petype and netype semiconductors as shown in Fig. 3.2.2. {tke ar Fig. 322 PIN photodiode Sufficient reverse voltae is applied so as o keep intrinsic region fre from caries, so its resistance is high, most of diode voltage appears across i, and the electrical forces are strong Within it, The incident photons give up their energy and excite an electron fom valance to conduction band. Thus a free electron hole par is generated, these are called as photocarriers, ‘These carriers are collected across the reverse biased junction resulting in rise in current in external circuit called photocurrent, In the absence of light, PIN photodiodes behave electrically ‘st lke an ordinary rectifier diode. If forward biased, they conduct large amount of current. PIN detectors can be operated in_two modes : Photovoltaic and photoconductive. In photovoltaic mode, no_bias is applied to the detector. In this case the detector works very slow, and output isapproximately logarithmic to the input light level, Real world fiber optic receivers never use the photovoltaic mode. In Photoconductive mode, the detector is reverse biased. ‘The_output in this ease isa current that is very linear with the input light power. The intrinsic region some what improves the sensitivity of the device. 1t does Not provide internal gain, The combination of ECE/SjBIT Page 87Optical Filer Communication 10BC72 different semiconductors operating at different wavelengths allows the selection of material capable of responding to the desired operating wavelength Depletion Layer Photocurrent Consider a reverse biased PIN photodiode. en —_—, alae fr-lo- | “oe” |~o E tose | excuon — wis woo [eee | Orca | Ben Fig. 32.3 Roverse biasod PIN diode The total current density through depletion layer is — Jr = Jar Jar Where, Javis drift current density due to carriers generated in depletion region. ouris diffusion current density due to carriers generated outside depletion region. ‘The drift current density is expressed as — leet Jae = 14, (1-8) where, Ais photodiode area. ‘vis incident photon flux per unit area 1 The diffusion current density is expressed as — where, Dp is hole diffusion coefficient Pn is hole concentration in n-type material Pn0 is equilibrium hole density. ECE/S|BIT Page 88Optical Fiber Communication 10EC72 Substituting in equation 3.2.7, total current density through reverse biased depletion layer is- . fn * 0, [1-2] + ata Response Time Factors that determine the response time of a photodiode are — ') Transit time of photo carriers within the depletion region. ii) Diffusion time of photo carriers outside the depl RC time constant of diode and external circuit The transit time is given by — w Ya The diffusion process is slow and diffusion times are less than carrier drift time. By considering the photodiode response time the effect of diffusion can be calculated. Fig. 3.2.4 shows the response time of photodiode which is not fully depleted. 100% ue 20% Fest cant parse * Fig. 324 we ‘The detector behaves as a simple low pass RC filter having pass band of s- 2a Ba Oy where, RT, is combination input resistance of load and amplifier. CT is sum of photodiode and amplifier capacitance. ECE/S)BIT ‘Page 89Optical Fiber Communication 1OEC72 Avalanche Photodiode (APD) ‘When a p-n junetion diode is applied with high reverse bias breakdown can occur by two Separate mechanisms direct ionization of the Inttice atoms, zener breakdown and high velocity aries impact ionization of the lttice atoms called avalanche breakdown, APDs uses ses the ‘uilanche breakdown phenomena for is operation. ‘The APD has its internal gain which increases its responsivity, Fig. 3.2.5 shows the schematic structure of an APD. By virtue of the doping concentration and physical construction ofthe n+ p junction, the electric filed is high enough to Cause impact ionization. Under normal operating bias, the I-ayer (the pr region) is completely depleted. This is known as reach through condition, hence APDs are also known as reach through APD or RAPDs,] 5325 APO i ot ed ne de Similar to PIN photodiode, light absorption in APDs is most efficient in I-layer. In this region, the E-field separates the carriers and the electrons drift into the avalanche region where. will result_in reverse lased just below breakdown, with the bias voltage carrier multiplication occurs. If the APD is biased close to breakdown, Pthe APD is biased close to breakdows Jeakage current. Thus APDs are usually t being tightly controlled. ‘The multiplication for all carriers generated in the photodiode is given as — IM = Average value of total multiplied output current, IP = Primary unmultiplied photocurrent, Responsivity of APD is given by — ECE/S|BIT Page 90 2sOptical Fiber Communication 10EC72 nga, ce Bev peM te SF Happ = No M 9% = Unity gain responsivity. Recommended Questions I. List the characteristics of light sources required in optical communication, 2. Describe the construction and working of LED. 3. Explain the structure of surface emitting and edge emitting LEDs. 4. Compare the performance parameters of surface emitting LED and edge emitting LED. 5. Deduce the expression at internal quantum efficiency and internally generated optical power for LED. From this expression how external efficiency and power is calculated? 6. Explain the principle of laser action. Explain also the spontaneous and stimulated emission process. 7. Give the necessary conditions for lasing threshold 8, Explain the structure of — i) Fabry-Perot resonator. ii) DEB laser diode. —._ ECE/SIBIT Page 91