SMMRE,USM

EBB 424E Semiconductor Devices

and Optoelectronics
Part II - Optoelectronics
Dr Zainovia Lockman
 EBB 424:
Semiconductor Devices and Optoelectronics

Part 1: Part 2:
Semiconductor Devices Optoelectronics
Dr. Sabar D. Hutagalung Devices
Dr Zainovia Lockman

70% Exam
30% Coursework
 Contents of the Course

Optoelectronics

Light sources Light Detectors

LED Photodetector

LASERS Photoconductor

Photovoltaic
Scope of the Course

 By the end of the course you will be able to

describe various optoelectronics devices.
 In particular you need to be able to describe:
1. The device configuration
2. Materials requirements
3. Materials selection
4. Materials issues
What is Optoelectronics?

"Optoelectronics, the alliance of optics and electronics, [is] one of the most
exciting and dynamic industries of the information age. As a strategic
enabling technology, the applications of optoelectronics extend throughout
our everyday lives, including the fields of computing, communication,
entertainment, education, electronic commerce, health care and
transportation. Defense applications include military command and control
functions, imaging, radar, aviation sensors, and optically guided weapons.

Optoelectronics businesses manufacture components such as lasers, optical

discs, image sensors, or optical fibers, and all sorts of equipment and
systems that are critically dependent on optoelectronics components.
Optoelectronics technology is a key enabler of the USD$1.5 Trillion global
information industry."
Light- Emitting Diodes

LEDs

Red LED White LED

LED for displays Blue LED LED for traffic light

DIODE LASERS

Diode lasers have been used for cutting,

surgery, communication (optical fibre),
CD writing and reading etc
Producing Laser in the Lab
Optoelectronic devices for Photovoltaic
Applications
Solar Cells
Fibre optics Communication

Transmitter  Channel  Receiver

IR - Lasers

Fibr
e Op
tics IR-
Photodetector

Tran
s m it
ter
Cha
nn el
Rec
eive
r
Head Mounted Display  Applications: Next
generation head mounted display and virtual
reality training
What is expected of you?
Objectives of the Part II EBB424E

 To describe the fundamentals of photon-electron

interaction in solid and to relate such
understanding with the optoelectronics devices
 To develop an appreciation of intrinsic properties
of semiconductors focusing on the optical
properties of the material
 To familiarise with the basic principles of
optoelectronic devices (light emitting diode, laser,
photodetector and photovoltaic).
 To state the materials issues, requirements and
selection for a given optoelectronic devices
Introduction to Optoelectronics - Lights

Lecture 1
 Lights- Newton and Huygens
 Lights as wave?
 Lights as particles?

Huygens

They did not agree

with each other!

Newton
Lights – Einstein and Planck

 1905 Einstein –related wave and

particle properties of light

 Planck - WAVE-PARTICLES DUALITY

E = h
Total E of the Photon Frequency (wave side)
(particle side)

 Light is emitted in multiples of a certain minimum energy unit. The size

e of the unit – photon.
 Explain the photoelectric effect - electron can be emitted if light is
shone on a piece of metal
 Energy of the light beam is not spread but propagate like particles
Photons
 When dealing with events at an atomic scale it is
often best to regard light as composed of particles
– photon. Forget it being wave.
 A quanta of light
 Electromagnetic radiation quantized and occurs
in finite "bundles" of energy = photons
 The energy of a single photon is given, in terms
of its frequency, f, or wavelength, , as,

Eph = hf = hc/
Maxwell – Electromagnetic wave
Light as Electromagnetic Wave
 Light as an electromagnetic wave is characterised
by a combinations of time-varying electric field ()
and magnetic field (H) propagating through space.
 Maxwell showed both  and H satisfy the same
partial differential equation:

1  2
 , H   2  2 , H 
2

c  t 
Changes in the fields propagate through
space with speed c.
 Speed of Light, c
 Frequency of oscillation, of the fields and their
wavelength, o in vacuum are related by;
 c = o
 In any other medium the speed, v is given by;
 v= c/n = 
 n = refractive index of the medium
  = wavelength in the medium
 And, n   
r r

 r = relative magnetic permeability of the medium

 r = relative electric permittivity of the medium
The speed of light in a medium is related to the
electric and magnetic properties of the medium, and
the speed of light can be expressed
 Question 1

 Relate Planck’s Equation (E = h) with the

Speed of Light in a medium (c = )
h = Planck’s constant = eV
c = Speed of light = 2.998 x 108 ms-1
 Why do you think this equation is important
when designing a light transmission devices
based on semiconductor diodes?
 Relate this with Photon Energy.
Answer 1
E = hc

Particles: photon energy Wave-like properties
Answer 1

= 1.24x 10-6 /E

Wavelength Energy
Associated with Each colour has energy
colours associated with it
Question 2
 Based on the equation you have produced in
question 1, calculate the photon energy of
violet, blue, green, orange and red lights.


 Electromagnetic Spectrum
Shorter wavelength

Larger Photon
Energy (eV)
Answer 2:

V ~ 3.17eV
B ~ 2.73eV
G ~ 2.52eV
Y ~ 2.15eV
O ~ 2.08eV
R ~ 1.62eV

Longer wavelength
 Visible Lights

 Lights of wavelength detected by human eyes ~ 450nm to

650nm is called visible light:

3.1eV 1.8eV
 Human eyes can detect lights with different colours
 Each colour is detected with different efficiency.
Spectral Response of Human
Eyes
Efficiency, 100%

400nm 500nm 600nm 700nm

 Interaction Between Light and Bulk
Material
3c
Semi-transparent
material
Incident light
4
1- Refraction
1
2- Transmission
3a – Specular reflection
3a
3b 3b – Total internal
reflection
3c – Diffused reflection
2
4 – Scattering
There is also dispersion –
where different colours
bend differently
 Appearance of insulator, metal and
semiconductor
 Appearance in term of colour depends on the interaction
between the light with the electronics configuration of the
material.
 Normally,
 High resistiviy material: insulator  transparent
 High conductivity material: metals  metallic luster and
opaque
 Semiconductors  coloured, opaque or transparent, colour
depending on the band gap of the material
 For semiconductors the energy band diagram can explain the
appearance of the material in terms of lustre and colouration
Question 3. Why is Silicon Black
and Shiny?
Answer 3.
 Need to know, the energy gap of Si
 Egap = 1.2eV
 Need to know visible light photon energy
 Evis ~ 1.8 – 3.1eV
 Evis is larger than Silicon Egap
 All visible light will be absorbed
 Silicon appears black
 Why is Si shiny?
 A lot of photons absorption occurs in silicon, there are
significant amount of electrons on the conduction
band. These electrons are delocalized which induce
the lustre and shines.
Question 4. Why is GaP yellow?
Answer 4
 Need to know the Egap of GaP
E
gap = 2.26eV
 Equivalent to  = 549nm.
 E photons with h > 2.26ev absorb light (i.e.
green, blue and violet)
 E photons with h < 2.26eV transmit light
(i.e. yellow, orange and red).
 Sensitivity of human eye is greater for yellow
than red therefore GaP appears
yellow/orange.
 Colours of Semiconductors
Evis= 1.8eV 3.1eV

I B G Y O R

•If Photon Energy, Evis > Egap  Photons will be absorbed

•If Photon Energy, Evis < Egap  Photons will transmitted
•If Photon Energy is in the range of Egap ;
•Those with higher energy than Egap will be absorbed.
•We see the colour of the light being transmitted
•If all colours are transmitted = White
 Why do you think glass is
transparent?
 Glass is insulator (huge band gap)
 The electrons find it hard to jump across a big energy gap (Egap >> 5eV)
 Egap >> E visible spectrum ~2.7- 1.6eV
 All colored photon are transmitted, no absorption hence light transmit –
transparent.
 Defined transmission and absorption by Lambert’s law:
 I = Io exp (- l)
 I = incident beam
 Io = transmitted beam
  = total linear absorption coefficient (m -1)
  = takes into account the loss of intensity from both scattering centers and absorption
centers.
  = approaching zero for pure insulator.
What happens during photon
absorption process?
Photon interacts with the lattice
Photon interacts with defects
Photon interacts with valance electrons
Absorption Process of Semiconductors

Wavelength (m)
Vis
Absorption coefficient (), cm-1

UV IR
Important region:

Eg ~ vis

Photon energy (eV)

Absorption spectrum of a semiconductor.
 Absorption – an important phenomena in
describing optical properties of
semiconductors

 Light, being a form of electromagnetic radiation, interacts with the

electronic structure of atoms of a material.
 The initial interaction is one of absorption; that is, the electrons of
atoms on the surface of a material will absorb the energy of the
colliding photons of light and move to the higher-energy states.
 The degree of absorption depends, among other things, on the
number of free electrons capable of receiving this photon energy.
Absorption Process of Semiconductors
 The interaction process is a characteristic of a photon and
depends on the energy of the photon (see the pervious slide
– the x-axis).
 Low-energy photons interact principally by ionization or
excitation of the outer orbitals in solids’ atoms.
 Light is composed of low-energy photons (< 10 eV)
represented by infrared (IR), visible light, and ultraviolet
(UV) in the electromagnetic spectrum.
 High-energy protons (> 104 eV) are produced by x-rays and
gamma rays.
 The minimum photon energy required to excite and/or ionize
the component atoms of a solid is called the absorption
edge or threshold.
 Valance-Conduction-Absorption

Process requires the lowest

E of photon to initiate
electron jumping (excitation)
Conduction band, EC
• EC-EV = h
• EC-EV = Egap
•If h > Egap then transition
happens Egap h Ephoton
•Electrons
in the conduction
band and excited.

Valance band, EV
After the absorption then what?
 Types  Direct and Indirect photon absorption
 For all absorption process there must be:
 Conservation of energy
 Conservation of momentum or the wavevector

 The production of e-h pairs is very important

for various electronics devices especially the
photovoltaic and photodetectors devices.
 The absorbed light can be transformed to
current in these devices
 Direct Band Gap
E

Direct Conservation of E
vertical
h = EC(min) - Ev (max) = Egap
transition

K (wave number)
h
Momentum Conservation of
of photon is wavevector
negligible
Kvmax + photon = kc
 Indirect Band Gap
E

K (wave number)
h
Question 5.

 Forindirect band gap transition,

how do the energy and
momentum or the wavevector
are being conserved?
Answer Question 5 yourself
 Refraction, Reflection and Dispersion

Light when it travels High n

in a medium can be Small n
absorbed and
reemitted by every
atom in its path. n1 = refractive index of material 1
Defines by n2 = refractive index of material 2
refractive index; n
 Total Internal Reflection
Transmitted
(refracted) light
kt
t n2 Evanescent wave
n 1 > n2
ki i i kr c c i >c
TIR
Incident Reflected
light light
(a) (b ) (c )

Light wave travelling in a more dense medium strikes a less dense medium. Depending on
the incidence angle with respect to  c, which is determined by the ratio of the refractive
indices, the wave may be transmitted (refracted) or reflected. (a)i < c (b)  i = c (c) i
>  c and total internal reflection (TIR).

© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

 Mechanism and Application of TIR
Optical fibre for
communication

What sort of materials do you

think are suitable for fibre
optics cables?
 End
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