Optical Detectors and storage devices

Photodetectors
• Photodetectors are sensors that can convert the photon energy of light into electrical signal.

• They are absolutely necessary for various scientific implementations like fiber optic communication
systems, process control, environmental sensing, safety and security, and also in defense-related
applications.
• Photodiode is a component used as a photo detector
 Photo diode
• A photodiode is a PN-junction diode that consumes light energy to produce an electric current.
Sometimes it is also called a photo-detector, a light detector, and photo-sensor.
• These diodes are particularly designed to work in reverse bias conditions, it means that the P-side of
the photodiode is associated with the negative terminal of the battery, and the n-side is connected to
the positive terminal of the battery.
• This diode is very sensitive to light so when light falls on the diode it easily changes light into an electric
current.
• The solar cell is also branded as a large-area photodiode because it
converts solar energy into electric energy. Though, solar cell works only in bright light
• These diodes have a slow response time when the surface area of the photodiode increases.
Photodiodes are alike to regular semiconductor diodes, but that they may be either visible to let
light reach the delicate part of the device.
Types of photo diode

• PN jn Photodiode
• Schottky Photo Diode
• Avalanche Photodiode
• PIN photo diode
 PN jn.photo diode
• When a photo diode is reverse biased, it has a very small reverse leakage current.
• The reverse current is produced by thermally generated electron hole pairs which are swept across the
junction by the electric field created by the reverse voltage.
• In a rectifier diode, the reverse current increases with temperature due to an increase in the number of
electron-hole pairs.
• A photo-diode differs from a rectifier diode in that when its pn junction is exposed to light, the reverse
current increases with the increase in light intensity .
• This is explained as follows.
• When light (photons) falls on the pn junction, the energy is imparted by the photons to the atoms in the
junction.
• This will create more free electrons (and more holes).
• These additional free electrons will increase the reverse current.
• As the intensity of light incident on the pn junction increases, the reverse current also increases.
• In other words, as the incident light intensity increases, the resistance of the device (photo-diode)
decreases.
• FIG shows the basic photo-diode circuit.

• The circuit has reverse biased photo-diode, resistor R and d.c.

supply.

• The operation of the photodiode is as under :

• When no light is incident on the pn junction of photo-diode, the

reverse current Ir is extremely small. This is called dark current.

 The basic biasing arrangement, construction and symbols of a photodiode
are shown in Fig. 53.8.
 As seen, a lens has been used in the cap of the unit to focus maximum light
on the reverse-biased junction.
 The active diameter of these devices is about 2.5 mm but they are mounted
in standard TO-5 packages with a window to allow maximum incident light.
 Characteristics of Photo-diode

There are two important characteristics of photodiode.

(i) Reverse current-Illumination curve. Fig. 7.12 shows
the graph between reverse current (IR) and illumination
(E) of a photo-diode. The reverse current is shown on
the vertical axis and is measured in μA. The illumination
is indicated on the horizontal axis and is measured in
mW/cm2. Note that graph is a straight line passing
through the origin.

 IR = m E

where m = slope of the straight line

The quantity m is called the sensitivity of the photo-diode.

(ii) Reverse voltage-Reverse current curve. Fig. 7.13 shows the graph between reverse

current (IR) and reverse voltage (VR) for various illumination levels. It is clear that for

a given reverse-biased voltage VR, the reverse current IR increases as the illumination

(E) on the pn junction of photo-diode is increased.

 Dark resistance, saturation current
• The resistance of photo-diode with no incident light is called dark resistance (R R).

Dark resistance of photo-diode, VR/dark current

• When light is incident on the pn junction of the photo-diode, there is a transfer of

energy from the incident light (photons) to the atoms in the junction. This will create
more free electrons (and more holes). These additional free electrons will increase the
reverse current.

• (iii) As the intensity of light increases, the reverse current IR goes on increasing till it
becomes maximum. This is called saturation current.
 A photodiode can turn its current ON and OFF in nanoseconds.
 Hence, it is one of the fastest photodetectors.
 It is used where it is required to switch light ON and OFF at a maximum rate.
Applications of a photodiode include

1. detection
2. demodulation
3. switching
4. logic circuit that require stability and high speed
5. character recognition
6. optical communication equipment
7. encoders etc
 Dust Sensor
 A photodiode Fig. 53.10 shows a combination of an LED and a photodiode used as a dust
sensor.
 As seen, the light emitted from the LED gets reflected by the dust particles.
 The reflected light is collected by the photodiode and is converted into an electrical
signal.
 The dust sensor is employed in cleaners.
 The combination of an LED and a photodiode is also
used as :
(1) a paper sensor in facsimile machines,
(2) as a tape-end sensor in videotape recorders/ players,
and
(3) as a dirt detector for rinsing in washing machines.
 53.7. Photoconductive Cell

 It is a semiconductor device whose resistance varies inversely with the

intensity of light that falls upon it.
 It is also known as photoresistive cell or photoresistor because it
operates on the principle of photoresistivity.
(a) Theory
 The resistivity (and, hence, resistance) of a semiconductor depends on
the number of free charge carriers available in it.
 When the semiconductor is not illuminated, the number of charge
carriers is small and, hence, resistivity is high.
 But when light in the form of photons strikes the semiconductor, each
photon delivers energy to it.
 If the photon energy is greater than the energy band gap of the
semiconductor, free mobile charge carriers are liberated and, as a
result, resistivity of the semiconductor is decreased..
(b) Construction and Working
 The Photoconductive cells are generally
made of cadmium compounds such as
cadmium sulphide (CdS) and cadmium
selenide (CdSe).
 Spectral response of CdS cell is similar to
the human eye, hence such cells are often
used to simulate the human eye.
 That is why they find use in light metering circuits in photographic
cameras.
 The construction of a typical photo
conductive cell and its two alternative
circuit symbols are shown in Fig. 53.11 (a)
and (b) respectively.
 As seen, a thin layer of photosensitive
semiconductor material is deposited in the
form of a long strip zig-zagged across a
disc-shaped ceramic base with protective
sides.
 For added protection, a glass lens or plastic cover is used.
 The two ends of the strip are brought out to connecting pins below the base.
 The terminal characteristic of a
photoconductive cell is shown in
Fig. 53.12.
 It depicts how the resistance of the
cell varies with light intensity.
 Typically, the dark resistance of the
cell is 1 MΩ or larger. Under
illumination, the cell resistance
drops to a value between 1 and 100
kΩ depending on surface
illumination.
(c) Applications
A photoconductive cell is an inexpensive and simple detector which is widely used
in OFF/ON circuits, light-measurement and light-detecting circuits.
 Photo transistor

• A semiconductor device like a

phototransistor includes three layers
with a light-sensitive base region. Here,
the base region detects the light &
changes it into the current
• The phototransistor construction can be
done like an ordinary transistor apart
from the base region. In this type of
transistor, the flow of current to the
base region is not provided, but the
light energy can be used as the input.
• Photo transistor changes directly from photons to
charge similar to a photodiode and also offers a
current gain.
• The phototransistor symbol is shown below that is
the same as an ordinary transistor, but the main
difference is that the two arrows on this will
explain the light incident on the base terminal of
the transistor.
 Working
• The light falls on the base terminal of a phototransistor then it will induce a little current then the current
amplified through the action of a normal transistor, which results in an extensively large.
• Generally, as compared with a related photodiode, a phototransistor generates 50 – 100 times of a
photodiode current
•As compared to the normal transistor, the area of the collector and base terminals in the phototransistor
is large. The best example of a phototransistor IC is the 2N5777 phototransistor.
• Before, it was designed with a single semiconductor material such as germanium or silicon.
• At present, these transistors are made up of Arsenic & Gallium to get high efficiency
• The area of the base
terminal can be increased to
enhance the amount of
produced current because
when more light drops on
this transistor then a huge
current will be generated
Characteristics
 When there is no incident light on the
CB junction, there is a small thermally-
generated collector-to-emitter leakage
current ICEO which, in this case, is called
dark current and is in the nA range.
 When light is incident on the CB
junction, a base current Ib is produced
which is directly proportional to the light
intensity.
 Hence, collector current IC = β Ib
 As seen, IC increases with light intensity.
 The phototransistor has applications similar to those of a photodiode. Their
main differences are in the current and response time.
 The photo-transistor has the advantages of greater sensitivity and current
capacity than photodiodes.
 However, photodiodes are faster of the two, switching in less than a
nanosecond.
 53.9. Photodarlington
 As shown in Fig. 53.15 a photodarlington consists
of a phototransistor in a Darlington arrangement
with a common transistor.
 It has a much greater sensitivity to incident radiant
energy than a phototransistor because of higher
current gain.
 However, its switching time of 50 μs is much longer
than the phototransistor (2 μs) or the photodiode (1
ns). Its circuit symbol is shown in Fig. 53.15.
• In the photodarlington transistor configuration, the first transistor acts as the photodetector, and its emitter
is coupled into the base of the second transistor.
• This gives a very much higher level of gain, but it is very much slower than the ordinary phototransistor, having a
maximum frequency of around 20 kHz.
• A Darlington transistor acts as a single transistor with high current gain, it means that a small amount of
current is used from a microcontroller or a sensor to run a larger load.

•Working of a Darlington Transistor

•A Darlington transistor acts as a single transistor with high current gain, it means that a small amount of
current is used from a microcontroller or a sensor to run a larger load. For instance, the following circuit is
explained below. The below Darlington circuit is built with two transistors shown in the circuit diagram.
 Application

•Darlington Transistor Applications

•This transistor is used in various
applications where a high gain is
required at a low frequency. Some
applications are

 Power Regulators
 Audio Amplifier o/p stages
 Controlling of motors
 Display drivers
 Controlling of Solenoid
 Light and touch sensors.
 53.12. Optical Disks
 The major application field for laser diodes is in optical disk equipment.
 This equipment is used for reading or recording information and it can be broadly divided
into two groups :
1. Reading-only and
2. Recording-and-reading type.
 The optical disk equipment of either type make use of a laser diode, lenses and
photodiodes.
 During recording, it changes electrical information into optical information and then
records the information on the optical disk.
 During reading (or playback), the head optically reads the recorded information and
changes the optical information into electrical information. Fig. 53.22 shows the different
types of optical disks used in practice.
 53.13. Read-only Optical Disks Equipment

 Fig. 53.24 shows an optical equipment for reading data from digital audio (compact) disks.
Compact disks (CDs) which are 120 mm in diameter are typical digital audio disks.

 Audio information (i.e. sound) is digitally recorded in stereo on the surface of a CD in the
form of microscopic “pits” and “flats”.

 As seen from Fig. 53.24, the light emitted from the laser diode passes through the lens
and is focussed to a diameter of about 1 µm on the surface of a disk.
 As the CD rotates, the lens and beam
follow the track under control of a
servo motor.
 The laser light which is altered by the
pits and flats along the recorded track
is reflected back from the track through
the lens and optical system to infrared
photodiodes.
 The signal from the photodiodes is then
used to reproduce the digitally
recorded sound.
 53.16. Laser Range Finder
 The laser diodes along with photodiodes can be used to measure the range (i.e. a
distance) of an object.
 Fig. 53.27 shows a simple schematic of a laser range finder. As seen, the laser diode
is modulated with high current pulses.
 The pulsed high-power beam is emitted in
the direction of an object. The beam is
reflected from the object.
 The reflected beam is detected with a
photo detector (or photodiode).
 The range is calculated as the difference between the time the light was emitted from
the laser diode and the time it was detected by the photodiode.
Let D = distance between the laser range finder and the object.
ΔT = Time difference between the instance when the light was
emitted
from the laser diode and the instance when it was detected by
1 × speed of light  T
2 the photodiode
Then D=
A 2-dimensional array of laser diodes and photodetectors can be constructed. Such a
system is used to obtain 3-D images of an object.