ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

BEC
-057 OPTICAL COMMUNICATION 3L:0T:0P 3 Credits

Unit Topics Lectures

Introduction to Optical Communication: Optical Spectral Band with Operating
Windows, General Communication System, Optical Communication System with its 8
advantages.
Optical Fiber Waveguides: Ray Theory of Transmission with TIR, Acceptance Angle,
I Numerical Aperture and Skew Rays, Electromagnetic Mode Theory for OpticalPropagation,
Modes in a Planar Guide, Phase and Group Velocity, Phase Shift with Total Internal
Reflection, Evanescent Field, Goos-Haenchen Shift, Cylindrical Fiber Modes,
Mode Coupling, Step Index fibers Vs Graded Index fibers, Single Mode Fibers- Cut off
wavelength, MFD & Spot Size.
Signal Loss in Optical Fibers: Attenuation, Material Absorption Losses (Intrinsic and 8
Extrinsic absorption), types of Linear and Non-Linear Scattering Losses, Fiber Bending
Losses, Kerr Effect.
Dispersion: Introduction with its types: Chromatic / Intramodal Dispersion (Material and
II
Waveguide Dispersion), Intermodal dispersion (for MSI and MGI fibers), Overall (Total)
Fiber Dispersion in Multimode and Singe Mode Fiber, Dispersion Modified Single Mode
Fibers, Polarization & Fiber Birefringence.
Optical Sources: LEDs-Introduction to LEDs & Materials used for fabrication, LED 8
Power and Efficiency, LED Structures, LED Characteristics, Modulation Bandwidth.
Laser Diodes-Introduction, Optical Feedback & Laser Oscillations, Resonant
III
Frequencies, Laser Modes, and Threshold Condition for Laser Oscillation, Laser Diode
Rate Equations, Semiconductor injection Laser- Efficiency, Laser Single Mode operation,
Reliability of LED & ILD.
Power Launching in Fiber: Source to Fiber Power Launching and Coupling Techniques, 8
Power Launching Vs Wavelength, Equilibrium Numerical Aperture.
Photo Detectors: Introduction, Physical Principles of Photodiodes: The PIN Photo
IV
Detector, Avalanche Photodiodes, Temperature Effect on Avalanche Gain, Detector
Response Time, Photo Detector Noise: Noise Sources, Signal to Noise Ratio, Comparison
of Photo Detectors, Fundamental Receiver Operation with Digital Signal Transmission.
Digital Receiver Performance: Probability of Error / BER, Receiver Sensitivity & The 8
Quantum Limit, Error Control Techniques, Eye Diagram Pattern Features, Coherent
V Detection: Homodyne Detection and Heterodyne Detection, Digital links: Point to Point
Links, Power Penalties, Multichannel & Multiplexing Transmission Techniques, basic
concept of Free Space Optics (FSO) based Communication System.

Text Book:
1. John M. Senior, “Optical Fiber Communications”, Pearson, 3rd Edition, 2010.
2. Gerd Keiser, “Optical Fiber Communications”, McGraw Hill, 5th Edition, 2013.
3. Govind P. Agrawal, “Fiber Optic Communication Systems”, John Wiley, 3rd Edition, 2004.
Course Outcomes: At the end of this course students will demonstrate the ability to:
1. Define and explain the basic concepts and theory of optical communication.
2. Describe the signal losses with their computation and dispersion mechanism occurring inside the optical
fiber cable.
3. Differentiate the optical sources used in optical communication with their comparative study.
4. Identify different optical components on receiver side; assemble them to solve real world problems
related to optical communication systems.
5. Evaluate the performance of an optical receiver to get idea about power budget and ultimately be an
engineer with adequate knowledge in optical domain.

Curriculum & Evaluation Scheme (V & VI semester) Page 14

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LED power and efficiency 405

7.2.1 The double-heterojunction LED

The principle of operation of the DH LED is illustrated in Figure 7.2. The device shown
consists of a p-type GaAs layer sandwiched between a p-type AlGaAs and an n-type
AlGaAs layer. When a forward bias is applied (as indicated in Figure 7.2(a)) electrons
from the n-type layer are injected through the p–n junction into the p-type GaAs layer
where they become minority carriers. These minority carriers diffuse away from the junc-
tion [Ref. 9], recombining with majority carriers (holes) as they do so. Photons are there-
fore produced with energy corresponding to the bandgap energy of the p-type GaAs layer.
The injected electrons are inhibited from diffusing into the p-type AlGaAs layer because
of the potential barrier presented by the p–p heterojunction (see Figure 7.2(b)). Hence,
electroluminescence only occurs in the GaAs junction layer, providing both good internal
quantum efficiency and high-radiance emission. Furthermore, light is emitted from the
device without reabsorption because the bandgap energy in the AlGaAs layer is large in
comparison with that in GaAs. The DH structure is therefore used to provide the most
efficient incoherent sources for application within optical fiber communications. Never-
theless, these devices generally exhibit the previously discussed constraints in relation to
coupling efficiency to optical fibers. This and other LED structures are considered in
greater detail in the following section.

Figure 7.2 The double-heterojunction LED:

(a) the layer structure,
shown with anapplied forward bias;
(b) the corresponding energy band diagram
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LED structures 407

7.3 LED structures

There are six major types of LED structure and although only two have found extensive
use in optical fiber communications, two others have become increasingly applied. These
are the surface emitter, the edge emitter, the superluminescent and the resonant cavity LED
respectively. The other two structures, the planar and dome LEDs, find more application
as cheap plastic-encapsulated visible devices for use in such areas as intruder alarms, TV
channel changers and industrial counting. However, infrared versions of these devices
have been used in optical communications mainly with fiber bundles and it is therefore
useful to consider them briefly before progressing to the high-radiance LED structures.
7.3.1 Planar LED
The planar LED is the simplest of the structures that are available and is fabricated by
either liquid- or vapor-phase epitaxial processes over the whole surface of a GaAs sub-
strate. This involves a p-type diffusion into the n-type substrate in order to create the junc-
tion illustrated in Figure 7.3. Forward current flow through the junction gives Lambertian
spontaneous emission and the device emits light from all surfaces. However, only a
limited amount of light escapes the structure due to total internal reflection, as discussed
in Section 7.2, and therefore the radiance is low.

Figure 7.3 The structure of a planar LED showing the emission of light from all surfaces

7.3.2 Dome LED

The structure of a typical dome LED is shown in Figure 7.4. A hemisphere of n-type GaAs
is formed around a diffused p-type region. The diameter of the dome is chosen to maxi-
mize the amount of internal emission reaching the surface within the critical angle of the
GaAs–air interface. Hence this device has a higher external power efficiency than the
planar LED. However, the geometry of the structure is such that the dome must be far
larger than the active recombination area, which gives a greater effective emission area
and thus reduces the radiance.

7.3.3 Surface emitter LEDs

A method for obtaining high radiance is to restrict the emission to a small active region
within the device. The technique pioneered by Burrus and Dawson [Ref. 10] with
homostructure devices was to use an etched well in a GaAs substrate in order to prevent
heavy absorption of the emitted radiation, and physically to accommodate the fiber. These
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Figure 7.4 The structure of a dome LED

structures have a low thermal impedance in the active region allowing high current densi-
ties and giving high-radiance emission into the optical fiber. Furthermore, considerable
advantage may be obtained by employing DH structures giving increased efficiency from
electrical and optical confinement as well as less absorption of the emitted radiation.
This type of surface emitter LED (SLED) has been widely employed within optical fiber
communications.
The structure of a high-radiance etched well DH surface emitter* for the 0.8 to 0.9 μm
wavelength band is shown in Figure 7.5 [Ref. 11]. The internal absorption in this device is
very low due to the larger bandgap-confining layers, and the reflection coefficient at the
back crystal face is high giving good forward radiance. The emission from the active layer
is essentially isotropic, although the external emission distribution may be considered
Lambertian with a beam width of 120° due to refraction from a high to a low refractive
index at the GaAs–fiber interface. The power coupled Pc into a multimode step index fiber
may be estimated from the relationship [Ref. 12]:

Pc = π (1 − r)ARD(NA)2 (7.22)

where r is the Fresnel reflection coefficient at the fiber surface, A is the smaller of the
fiber core cross-section or the emission area of the source and RD is the radiance of the
source. However, the power coupled into the fiber is also dependent on many other factors
including the distance and alignment between the emission area and the fiber, the SLED
emission pattern and the medium between the emitting area and the fiber. For instance, the
addition of epoxy resin in the etched well tends to reduce the refractive index mismatch
and increase the external power efficiency of the device. Hence, DH surface emitters often
give more coupled optical power than predicted by Eq. (7.22). Nevertheless Eq. (7.22)
may be used to gain an estimate of the power coupled, although accurate results may only
be obtained through measurement.

* These devices are also known as Burrus-type LEDs

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LED structures 409

Figure 7.5 The structure of an AlGaAs DH surface-emitting LED (Burrus type).

Reprinted from Ref. 11 with permission from Elsevier

Example 7.4
A DH surface emitter which has an emission area diameter of 50 μm is butt jointed
to an 80 μm core step index fiber with a numerical aperture of 0.15. The device has a
radiance of 30 W sr−1 cm−2 at a constant operating drive current. Estimate the optical
power coupled into the fiber if it is assumed that the Fresnel reflection coefficient at
the index matched fiber surface is 0.01.
Solution: Using Eq. (7.22), the optical power coupled into the fiber Pc is given by:

Pc = π (1 − r)ARD(NA)2

In this case A represents the emission area of the source.

Hence:

A = π (25 × 10−4)2 = 1.96 × 10−5 cm2

Thus:

Pc = π(1 − 0.01)1.96 × 10−5 × 30 × (0.15)2

= 41.1 μW

In this example around 41 μW of optical power is coupled into the step index fiber.
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LED structures 411

7.3.4 Edge emitter LEDs

Another basic high-radiance structure currently used in optical communications is the
stripe geometry DH edge emitter LED (ELED). This device has a similar geometry to a
conventional contact stripe injection laser, as shown in Figure 7.7. It takes advantage of
transparent guiding layers with a very thin active layer (50 to 100 μm) in order that the
light produced in the active layer spreads into the transparent guiding layers, reducing
self-absorption in the active layer. The consequent waveguiding narrows the beam diver-
gence to a half-power width of around 30° in the plane perpendicular to the junction.
However, the lack of waveguiding in the plane of the junction gives a Lambertian output
with a half-power width of around 120°, as illustrated in Figure 7.7.
Most of the propagating light is emitted at one end face only due to a reflector on the
other end face and an antireflection coating on the emitting end face. The effective radi-
ance at the emitting end face can be very high giving an increased coupling efficiency into
small-NA fiber compared with the surface emitter. However, surface emitters generally
radiate more power into air (2.5 to 3 times) than edge emitters since the emitted light is
less affected by reabsorption and interfacial recombination. Comparisons [Refs 15–17]
have shown that edge emitters couple more optical power into low NA (less than 0.3) than
surface emitters, whereas the opposite is true for large NA (greater than 0.3).

Figure 7.7 Schematic illustration of the structure of a stripe geometry DH AlGaAs

edge-emitting LED
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412 Optical sources 2: the light-emitting diode Chapter 7

Figure 7.8 Truncated stripe InGaAsP edge-emitting LED [Ref. 20]

The enhanced waveguiding of the edge emitter enables it in theory [Ref. 16] to couple
7.5 times more power into low-NA fiber than a comparable surface emitter. However, in
practice the increased coupling efficiency has been found to be slightly less than this (3.5
to 6 times) [Refs 16, 17]. Similar coupling efficiencies may be achieved into low-NA fiber
with surface emitters by the use of a lens. Furthermore, it has been found that lens
coupling with edge emitters may increase the coupling efficiencies by comparable factors
(around five times).
The stripe geometry of the edge emitter allows very high carrier injection densities for
given drive currents. Thus it is possible to couple approaching a milliwatt of optical power
into low-NA (0.14) multimode step index fiber with edge-emitting LEDs operating at high
drive currents (500 mA) [Ref. 18].
Edge emitters have also been found to have a substantially better modulation band-
width of the order of hundreds of megahertz than comparable surface-emitting structures
with the same drive level [Ref. 17]. In general it is possible to construct edge-emitting
LEDs with a narrower linewidth than surface emitters, but there are manufacturing prob-
lems with the more complicated structure (including difficult heat-sinking geometry)
which moderate the benefits of these devices.
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LED characteristics 423

7.4 LED characteristics

Figure 7.17 An ideal light output against current characteristic for an LED

Figure 7.20 Light output against current characteristic at various ambient

temperatures for an InGaAsP ridge waveguide SLD.

7.4.2 Output spectrum

The spectral linewidth of an LED operating at room temperature in the 0.8 to 0.9 μm
wavelength band is usually between 25 and 40 nm at the half maximum intensity points
(full width at half power (FWHP) points). For materials with smaller bandgap energies
operating in the 1.1 to 1.7 μm wavelength region the linewidth tends to increase to around
50 to 160 nm. Examples of these two output spectra are shown in Figure 7.22 [Refs 7, 63].
Also illustrated in Figure 7.22(b) are the increases in linewidth due to increased doping
levels and the formation of bandtail states (see Section 6.3.4). This becomes apparent
in the differences in the output spectra between surface- and edge-emitting LEDs where
the devices have generally heavily doped and lightly doped (or undoped) active layers
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LED characteristics 425

respectively. It may also be noted that there is a shift to lower peak emission wavelength
(i.e. higher energy) through reduction in doping in Figure 7.22(b), and hence the active
layer composition must be adjusted if the same center wavelength is to be maintained.
The differences in the output spectra between InGaAsP SLEDs and ELEDs caused
by self-absorption along the active layer of the devices are displayed in Figure 7.23. It
may be observed that the FWHP points are around 1.6 times smaller for the ELED than
the SLED [Ref. 13]. In addition, the spectra of the ELED may be further narrowed by
the superluminescent operation due to the onset of stimulated gain and in this case the
linewidth can be far smaller (e.g. 30 nm) than that obtained with the SLED.

Figure 7.22 LED output spectra: (a) output spectrum for an AlGaAs surface emitter
with doped active region [Ref. 7]; (b) output spectra for an InGaAsP surface emitter
showing both the lightly doped and heavily doped cases.

Figure 7.23 Typical spectral output characteristics for InGaAsP surface- and edge-
emitting LEDs operating in the 1.3 μm wavelength region [Ref. 13; © Elsevier]
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428 Optical sources 2: the light-emitting diode Chapter 7

7.4.3 Modulation bandwidth

The modulation bandwidth in optical communications may be defined in either electrical
or optical terms. However, it is often more useful when considering the associated electrical
circuitry in an optical fiber communication system to use the electrical definition where
the electrical signal power has dropped to half its constant value due to the modulated
portion of the optical signal. This corresponds to the electrical 3 dB point or the frequency
at which the output electric power is reduced by 3 dB with respect to the input electric
power. As optical sources operate down to d.c. level we only consider the high-frequency
3 dB point, the modulation bandwidth being the frequency range between zero and this
high-frequency 3 dB point.
Alternatively, if the 3 dB bandwidth of the modulated optical carrier (optical bandwidth)
is considered, we obtain an increased value for the modulation bandwidth. The reason
for this inflated modulation bandwidth is illustrated in Example 7.6 and Figure 7.25. In
considerations of bandwidth within the text the electrical modulation bandwidth will be
assumed unless otherwise stated, following current practice.

Figure 7.25 The frequency response for an optical fiber system showing the electrical
and optical bandwidths

Example 7.6
Compare the electrical and optical bandwidths for an optical fiber communication
system and develop a relationship between them.
Solution: In order to obtain a simple relationship between the two bandwidths it is
necessary to compare the electric current through the system. Current rather than
voltage (which is generally used in electrical systems) is compared as both the opti-
cal source and optical detector (see Section 8.6) may be considered to have a linear
relationship between light and current.
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LED characteristics 429

Electrical bandwidth: The ratio of the electric output power to the electric input
power in decibels REdB is given by:

electric power out (at the detector)

REdB = 10 log10
electric power in (at the source)
I2out /Rout
= 10 log10
I2in /Rin
G Iout J 2
∝ 10 log10
I Iin L

The electrical 3 dB points occur when the ratio of electric powers shown above is --12 .
Hence it follows that this must occur when:

G Iout J 2 1 Iout 1
= or =
I Iin L 2 Iin √2

Thus in the electrical regime the bandwidth may be defined by the frequency when
the output current has dropped to 1/√2 or 0.707 of the input current to the system.
Optical bandwidth: The ratio of the optical output power to the optical input
power in decibels ROdB is given by:

optical power out (received at detector)

ROdB = 10 log10
optical power in (transmitted at source)
Iout
∝ 10 log10
Iin

(due to the linear light/current relationships of the source and detector). Hence the
optical 3 dB points occur when the ratio of the currents is equal to --12 , and:

Iout 1
=
Iin 2

Therefore in the optical regime the bandwidth is defined by the frequencies at

which the output current has dropped to --12 or 0.5 of the input current to the system.
This corresponds to an electric power attenuation of 6 dB.

The modulation bandwidth of LEDs is generally determined by three mechanisms.

These are:
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430 Optical sources 2: the light-emitting diode Chapter 7

(a) the doping level in the active layer;

(b) the reduction in radiative lifetime due to the injected carriers;
(c) the parasitic capacitance of the device.

Assuming negligible parasitic capacitance, the speed at which an LED can be directly
current modulated is fundamentally limited by the recombination lifetime of the carriers,
where the optical output power Pe(ω) of the device (with constant peak current) and angular
modulation frequency ω is given by [Ref. 66]:

Pe(ω) 1
= 1 (7.24)
Pdc [1 + (ωτ i)2]---2

where τi is the injected (minority) carrier lifetime in the recombination region and Pdc is
the d.c. optical output power for the same drive current.

Example 7.7
The minority carrier recombination lifetime for an LED is 5 ns. When a constant d.c.
drive current is applied to the device the optical output power is 300 μW. Determine
the optical output power when the device is modulated with an rms drive current cor-
responding to the d.c. drive current at frequencies of (a) 20 MHz; (b) 100 MHz.
It may be assumed that parasitic capacitance is negligible. Further, determine the
3 dB optical bandwidth for the device and estimate the 3 dB electrical bandwidth
assuming a Gaussian response.
Solution: (a) From Eq. (7.24), the optical output power at 20 MHz is:

Pdc
Pe(20 MHz) = 1
[1 + (ωτ i)2]---2
300 × 10−6
= 1
[1 + (2π × 20 × 106 × 5 × 10−9)2]---2
300 × 10−6
= 1
[1.39]---2
= 254.2 μW

(b) Again using Eq. (7.24):

300 × 10−6
Pe(100 MHz) = 1
[1 + (2π × 100 × 106 × 5 × 10−9)2]---2
300 × 10−6
= 1
[10.87]---2
= 90.9 μW
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LED characteristics 431

This example illustrates the reduction in the LED optical output power as the device
is driven at higher modulating frequencies. It is therefore apparent that there is a
somewhat limited bandwidth over which the device may be usefully utilized.
To determine the optical 3 dB bandwidth, the high-frequency 3 dB point occurs
when Pe(ω)/Pdc = --12 Hence, using Eq. (7.24):

1 1
=
2 ---12
[1 + (ωτi) ] 2

and 1 + (ωτi)2 = 4. Therefore ωτi = √3, and:

√3 √3
f= = = 55.1 MHz
2πτ π × 10−8

Thus the 3 dB optical bandwidth Bopt is 55.1 MHz as the device, similar to all LEDs,
operates down to d.c. level.
Assuming a Gaussian frequency response, the 3 dB electrical bandwidth B will be:

55.1
B= = 39.0 MHz
√2

Thus the corresponding electrical bandwidth is 39 MHz. However, it must be re-

membered that parasitic capacitance may reduce the modulation bandwidth below
this value.

7.4.4 Reliability of LED

LEDs are not generally affected by the catastrophic degradation mechanisms which can
severely affect injection lasers (see Section 6.7.6). Early or infant failures do, however,
occur as a result of random and not always preventable fabricational defects. Such failures
can usually be removed from the LED batch population over an initial burn-in operational
period [Ref. 75]. In addition, LEDs do exhibit gradual degradation which may take the
form of a rapid degradation mode* or a slow degradation mode.
Rapid degradation in LEDs is similar to that in injection lasers, and is due to both the
growth of dislocations and precipitate-type defects in the active region giving rise to
dark line defects (DLDs) and dark spot defects (DSDs), respectively, under device aging
[Ref. 69]. DLDs tend to be the dominant cause of rapid degradation in GaAs-based LEDs.
The growth of these defects does not depend upon substrate orientation but on the injec-
tion current density, the temperature and the impurity concentration in the active layer.
Good GaAs substrates have dislocation densities around 5 × 10−4 cm−2. Hence, there is
less probability of dislocations in devices with small active regions. DSDs, and the glide
of existing misfit dislocations, however, predominate as the cause of rapid degradation in
InP-based LEDs.
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434 Optical sources 2: the light-emitting diode Chapter 7

LEDs may be fabricated which are largely free from these defects and are therefore
subject to a slower long-term degradation process. This homogeneous degradation is
thought to be due to recombination enhanced point defect generation (i.e. vacancies and
interstitials), or the migration of impurities into the active region [Ref. 76]. The optical
output power Pe(t) may be expressed as a function of the operating time t, and is given by
[Ref. 76]:

Pe(t) = Pout exp(−βr t) (7.25)

where Pout is the initial output power and βr is the degradation rate. The degradation rate is
characterized by the activation energy of homogeneous degradation Ea and is a function of
temperature. It is given by:

βr = β0 exp(−Ea /KT) (7.26)

where β0 is a proportionality constant, K is Boltzmann’s constant and T is the absolute tem-

perature of the emitting region. The activation energy Ea is a variable which is dependent
on the material system and the structure of the device. The value of Ea is in the range 0.56
to 0.65 eV, and 0.9 to 1.0 eV for surface-emitting GaAs/AlGaAs and InGaAsP/InP LEDs
respectively [Ref. 9]. These values suggest 106 to 107 hours (100 to 1000 years) CW opera-
tion at room temperature for AlGaAs devices, and in excess of 109 hours for surface-
emitting InGaAsP LEDs.

Example 7.8
An InGaAsP surface emitter has an activation energy of 1 eV with a constant of pro-
portionality (β0) of 1.84 × 107 h−1. Estimate the CW operating lifetime for the LED with
a constant junction temperature of 17°C, if it is assumed that the device is no longer
useful when its optical output power has diminished to 0.67 of its original value.
Solution: Initially, it is necessary to obtain the degradation rate βr. Thus from
Eq. (7.26):

βr = β0 exp(−Ea/KT)
A −1 × 1.602 × 10−19 D
= 1.84 × 107 exp
C 1.38 × 10−23 × 290 F
= 1.84 × 107 exp(−40)
= 7.82 × 10−11 h−1 Therefore:

Now, using Eq. (7.25): βrt = −ln 0.67

Pe(t) and:
= exp(−βrt) = 0.67
Pout
ln 0.67 0.40
t= =
7.82 × 10−11 7.82 × 10−11
= 5.1 × 109 h