Semiconductor light sources

• Light Emitting Diode (LED)

- Structure, Material, Quantum efficiency, LED Power
• Laser Diodes (LD)
- Structure, Modes, Rate equation, Quantum efficiency,
Resonant frequencies, Radiation pattern
 “for fundamental work in the field of
quantum electronics, which has led to the
construction of oscillators and amplifiers
based on the maser-laser principle"

Basov, Prokhorov and Townes: Nobel prize 1964

Basov, Vul, Popov, Krokhin:

1957 first semiconductor laser proposal and development
1961 first injection laser proposal (also Dumke 1962)
 The Nobel Prize in Physics 2000

Zhores I. Alferov Herbert Kroemer

"for developing semiconductor heterostructures used

in high-speed- and opto-electronics"
 Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

• For photonic communications requiring data rate 100-200 Mb/s

with multimode fiber with tens of microwatts, LEDs are usually
the best choice.
• LED configurations being used in photonic communications:
1- Surface Emitters (Front Emitters)
2- Edge Emitters
Homojunction
Forward biased junction
 Heterojunctions Type II
Type I

Ec
Ec Eg2
Eg1 Eg2
Eg1 Ev
Ev

Type III
Ec

Ev Eg1
Ec
Eg2
Ev
 Double Heterojunction
z
Wide-gap semiconductor Eg2
Narrow-gap semiconductor Eg1

Wide-gap semiconductor Eg2

Conduction band edge

Eg2
Eg1

Valence band edge

z
Cross-section drawing of a typical
GaAlAs double heterostructure light
emitter. In this structure, x>y to provide
for both carrier confinement and optical
guiding.
b) Energy-band diagram showing the
active region, the electron & hole
barriers which confine the charge carriers
to the active layer.
c) Variations in the refractive index; the
lower refractive index of the material in
regions 1 and 5 creates an optical barrier
around the waveguide because of the higher
band-gap energy of this material.

1.240
 ( m)  [4-3]
E g (eV)
 Surface-Emitting LED

Schematic of high-radiance surface-emitting LED. The active region is limitted

to a circular cross section that has an area compatible with the fiber-core end face.
 Edge-Emitting LED

Schematic of an edge-emitting double heterojunction LED. The output beam is

lambertian in the plane of junction and highly directional perpendicular to pn junction.
They have high quantum efficiency & fast response.
 Light Source Material
• Most of the light sources contain
III-V ternary & quaternary
compounds.
• Ga1 x Al x As by varying x
emission wavelength over the
range of 800 nm to 900 nm. The
spectral width is 20 to 40 nm.
• In1 x Ga x As y P1 y By changing
0<x<0.47; y is approximately 2.2x,
the emission wavelength of 920
nm to 1600 nm. The spectral width
varies from 70 nm to 180 nm
when the wavelength changes
from 1300 nm to 1600 nm. These
materials are lattice matched.
Spectral width of LED types
Rate equations, Quantum Efficiency & Power of
LEDs
• When there is no external carrier injection, the excess density
decays exponentially due to electron-hole recombination.

n(t )  n0 e  t /
• n is the excess carrier density,

n0 : initial injected excess electron density

 : carrier lifetime.
• Bulk recombination rate R:

dn n
R 
dt 
• Bulk recombination rate (R) = Radiative recombination rate +
nonradiative recombination rate
bulk recombination rate ( R  1/τ ) 
radiative recombination rate ( Rr  1/τ r )  nonradiative recombination rate( Rnr  1/τ nr )

With an external supplied current density of J the rate equation for the electron-hole
recombination is:

dn(t ) J n
 
dt qd 
q : charge of the electron; d : thickness of recombination region
In equilibrium condition: dn/dt=0

J
n
qd
Internal Quantum Efficiency & Optical Power

Rr  nr 
int    = Internal Quantum Efficiency (IQE)
Rr  Rnr  r   nr  r
int : internal quantum efficiency in the active region

Optical power generated internally in the active region in the LED is:

I hcI
Pint  int h  int
q q
Pint : Internal optical power,
I : Injected current to active region
 External Quantum Eficiency

# of photons emitted from LED

ext 
# of LED internally generated photons

• In order to calculate the external quantum efficiency, we need to

consider the reflection effects at the surface of the LED. If we
consider the LED structure as a simple 2D slab waveguide, only
light falling within a cone defined by critical angle will be emitted
from an LED.
 c
1
ext  
4 0
T ( )(2 sin  )d
4n1n2
T ( ) : Fresnel Transmission Coefficient  T (0) 
(n1  n2 ) 2
1
If n2  1  ext 
n1 (n1  1) 2
Pint
LED emitted optical power, P  ext Pint 
n1 ( n1  1)2
Laser Diodes (LDs)
 Reminder: LASER
(Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation)

1. Active (gain) medium that can amplify light that passes

through it
2. Energy pump source to create a population inversion in
the gain medium
3. Two mirrors that form a resonator cavity
 LASER
(Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation)
No (or negative) feedback:
• Laser is an optical oscillator. It comprises a
resonant optical amplifier whose output is fed
back into its input with matching phase. Any
oscillator contains:
1- An amplifier = pumped active medium
2- A feedback system = optical resonantor
Positive feedback:
3- A frequency selection mechanism (both of
the above)
4- An output coupling scheme (one of the
resonator mirrors)
 Lasing in a pumped active medium

• In thermal equilibrium the stimulated emission is essentially

negligible, since the density of electrons in the excited state is
very small, and optical emission is mainly because of the
spontaneous emission. Stimulated emission will exceed
absorption only if the population of the excited states is greater
than that of the ground state. This condition is known as
Population Inversion. Population inversion is achieved by
various pumping techniques.

• In a semiconductor laser, population inversion is accomplished

by injecting electrons into the material to fill the lower energy
states of the conduction band.
Carrier confinement and optical guiding in a laser diode

(a) A double
n p p heterostructure diode has
two junctions which are
(a) AlGaAs GaAs AlGaAs between two different
bandgap semiconductors
(~0.1 m) (GaAs and AlGaAs).
Electrons in CB Ec
Ec (b) Simplified energy
Ec
2 eV
band diagram under a
2 eV
1.4 eV large forward bias.
Lasing recombination
(b) Ev takes place in the p-
Ev GaAs layer, the
active layer
Holes in VB

Refractive (c) Higher bandgap

index materials have a
(c) Active n ~ 5% lower refractive
region index
Photon
density
(d) AlGaAs layers
 provide lateral optical
(d) confinement.
1.240
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)  ( m) 
E g (eV)
 Laser Diode
• Laser diode is a vastly improved LED, in the sense that uses stimulated
emission in semiconductor from optical transitions between energy
states of the valence and conduction bands with optical resonator
structure such as Fabry-Perot resonator with both optical and carrier
confinements.
Fabry-Perot Resonator
 Fabry-Perot Resonator
Relative intensity
M1 M2 m=1
A 1 f R ~ 0.8
m=2 R ~ 0.4
m
B
L m=8 
m - 1 m m + 1
(a) (b) (c)
Resonant modes : kL  m m  1,2,3,..
Schematic illustration of the Fabry-Perot optical cavity and its properties. (a) Reflected
waves interfere. (b) Only standing EM waves, modes, of certain wavelengths are allowed
in the cavity. (c) Intensity vs. frequency for various modes. R is mirror reflectance and
lower R means higher loss from the cavity.
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

(1  R) 2
I trans  I inc
(1  R) 2  4 R sin 2 (kL)
R: reflectance of the optical intensity, k: optical wavenumber
 Comparison between an LD and LED

• Laser Diode • LED

– Stimulated radiation – Spontaneous radiation
– narrow linewidth – broad spectral
– coherent – incoherent
– higher output power – lower output power
– a threshold device – no threshold current
– strong temperature – weak temperature
dependence dependence
– higher coupling – lower coupling
efficiency to a fiber efficiency
 Laser Diode Characteristics

• Nanosecond & even picosecond response time (GHz BW)

• Spectral width of the order of nm or less
• High output power (>tens of mW)
• Narrow beam (good coupling to single mode fibers)

• Laser diodes have three distinct radiation modes namely,

longitudinal, lateral and transverse modes.

• In laser diodes, end mirrors provide strong optical feedback in

longitudinal direction, so by roughening the edges and cleaving
the facets, the radiation can be achieved in longitudinal direction
rather than lateral direction.
 Laser Operation & Lasing Condition
• To determine the lasing condition and resonant frequencies, we
should focus on the optical wave propagation along the
longitudinal direction, z-axis. The optical field intensity, I, can be
written as:
I ( z , t )  I ( z ) e j ( t  z )

• Lasing is the condition at which light amplification becomes

possible by virtue of population inversion. Then, stimulated
emission rate into a given EM mode is proportional to the
intensity of the optical radiation in that mode. In this case, the
loss and gain of the optical field in the optical path determine the
lasing condition. The radiation intensity of a photon at energy h
varies exponentially with a distance z amplified by factor g, and
attenuated by factor  according to the following relationship:
 I ( z )  I (0)exp  g ( h )   i ( h )  z 

R1 n1 R2

Z=0 n2 Z=L

I (2 L)  I (0) R1R2 exp  g ( h )   i ( h )  (2 L) 

 : Optical confinement factor, g: gain coefficient
αi : effective absorption coefficient,
2
n n 
R 1 2
 n1  n2 
I ( 2 L )  I (0)
Lasing Conditions:
exp(  j 2  L )  1
 Threshold gain & current density

1  1 
g th   i   m   i  ln  
2 L  R1R2 

Laser starts to "lase" if: g  g th

For laser structure with strong carrier confinement, the threshold current
Density for stimulated emission can be well approximated by:
 Optical output vs. drive current
O ptical P ow er Laser
Optical Power

O ptical P ow er LED
Stimulated
emission 
O ptical P ow er Laser
Spontaneous
 emission

I
0
It h


Typical output optical power vs. diode current ( I) characteristics and the corresponding
output spectrum of a laser diode.
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
 Semiconductor laser rate equations
• Rate equations relate the optical output power, or # of photons per unit
volume,  , to the diode drive current or # of injected electrons per
unit volume, n. For active (carrier confinement) region of depth d, the
rate equations are:
d 
 Cn   R sp 
dt  ph
Photon rate  stimulated emission  spontaneou s emission  photon loss

dn J n
   Cn 
dt qd  sp
electron rate  injection  spontaneou s recombinat ion  stimulated emission

C : Coefficient expressing the intensity of the optical emission & absorption process
Rsp :rate of spontaneous emission into the lasing mode
 ph : photon life time
J : Injection current density
 Threshold current Density & excess electron density

• At the threshold of lasing:   0, d / dt  0, Rsp  0

1
 Cn   /  ph  0  n   nth
C ph

• The threshold current needed to maintain a steady state threshold

concentration of the excess electron, is found from electron rate
equation under steady state condition dn/dt=0 when the laser is just
about to lase:
J th nth nth
0   J th  qd
qd  sp  sp
 Laser operation beyond the threshold
J  J th

• The solution of the rate equations gives the steady state photon
density, resulting from stimulated emission and spontaneous
emission as follows:

 ph
s  ( J  J th )   ph Rsp
qd
 External (differential) quantum efficiency
• Number of photons emitted per radiative electron-hole pair
recombination above threshold, gives us the external quantum
efficiency.

ext  (photon energy) x(photon density) x(effective volume of the optical mode)
x(escape rate of photons)

Pout   s ( wLd op )( vg m )

  m
Pout  i ( I  I th )
q i   m
dPout / dI
ext 
 / q
 External (differential) quantum efficiency
• Number of photons emitted per radiative electron-hole pair
recombination above threshold, gives us the external quantum
efficiency.
i m i ( g th   )
ext  
 m  i g th
q dP dP (mW)
  0.8065[  m]
E g dI dI (mA)

• Note that:

i  60%  70%; ext  15%  40%

 Emission Spectra of the typical DH laser

• Emission spectra of a perfect laser

– above the threshold, the laser may
approach near-perfect monochromatic
emission with a spectra width in the
order of 1 to 10 Å.

• High-resolution emission spectra

(of a typical stripe-geometry DH laser)
– Sub-peaks, which are evenly spaced
with a separation of  = 7.5 Å, appear
in the spectra. belong to the longitudinal
modes.
– Because of these longitudinal modes, the
stripe geometry laser is not a spectrally
pure light source for optical
communication.
 Laser Resonant Frequencies
• Lasing condition:

exp( j 2 L)  1  2 L  2m , m  1,2,3,...

2n
• Assuming  the resonant frequency of the mth
mode is:  n = refractive index

mc
m  m  1,2,3,...
2 Ln

c 2
   m   m 1    
2 Ln 2 Ln
 Spectrum from a laser Diode

 (  0 ) 
g ( )  g (0) exp    : spectral width
 2 
2
 Characteristics of the DH laser

 Threshold current density vs. active

layer thickness
– The threshold current density
decreases with decreasing d,
reaches a minimum, and then
increases. The increase of Jth at very
narrow active thickness is caused by
poor optical confinement.

 Output power vs. diode current

– The light-current characteristics is
quite linear above threshold.

 Temperature dependence
– The threshold current increases
exponentially with temperature
 Jth ~ exp [ T/T0 ]
 Design considerations for laser diode performance
• Low threshold current
– low threshold can be generated by electronic devices which can be
modulated at high speed to provide a high speed modulation in the output
(1) reducing the active layer thickness (d)
↣ Quantum-Well (~ 50 - 100 Å), Strain Quantum-Well
(2) N-doped active region
(3) Stripe geometry

• Lateral confinement
– to avoid the “kink” effect, which produces noise in the optical transmitter
 reduce the lateral dimension of the Fabry-Perot cavity
 (1) Stripe geometry (Gain-guided cavity)
(2) Buried heterostructures

• Selective Optical Cavity

– to reduce the laser linewidth
 (1) Distributed Feedback (DFB) structures
(2) Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs)