OPTICAL SOURCES

Emission of light (Optical Source)

 Emission of light, (in the form of a photon) can take

place either spontaneously or it can be stimulated by
the presence of another photon of the right energy
level.

 For spontaneous or stimulated emission to occur,

energy must be supplied to boost the electron from its
low energy state to a higher energy state.

 The energy can come from many sources: Heat

(Incandescent light), Electrical Discharge (D2, Hg, Na
lamps), Electrical Current (LED, LD), Bioluminescence
(Fire fly- luciferase enzyme)
OPTICAL SOURCES:
Optical Source find applications in the area of medical,
automotive, analytical equipments, communications and
industry.
Types of Optical Source
Tungsten, Deuterium, Mercury, Hollow Cathode Lamp

Optical Source specifically suited to FO systems are:

 Light Emitting Diode (SLED, ELED, SLD)
 Laser Diode (DFB, DBR)
Optical Source Requirement for Performance (For Fiber Optics)

• Physical dimensions to suit the optical fiber

• Narrow radiation pattern (beam width)

• Linearity (output light power proportional to driving current)

• Ability to be directly modulated by varying driving current

• Fast response time

• Adequate output power into the fiber

• Narrow spectral width (or line width)

• Stability and efficiency

• Driving circuit issues

• Reliability and cost

 Basic LED operation
• A PN junction acts as the active or recombination region.
• When the PN junction is forward biased, electrons and holes
recombine either radiatively (emitting photons) or non-radiatively
(emitting heat). This is simple LED operation.

• Emitted wavelength depends on bandgap energy

• Transitions can take place from any energy state in either band to
any state in the other band. This results in a range of different
wavelengths produced in this spontaneous emission. This accounts
for the fact that LEDs produce a range of wavelengths. Typically the
range is about 80 nm or so.
Light Emitting Semiconductors

Table 6-1: Light-Emitting Semiconductors

Material Wavelength Range Bandgap Energy
(µm) (eV)
AlGaInP 0.61 - 0.68 1.82 - 1.94
GaAs 0.9 1.4
AlGaAs 0.8 - 0.9 1.4 - 1.55
InGaAs 1.0 - 1.3 0.95 - 1.24
InGaAsP 0.9 - 1.7 0.73 - 1.35
Working of LED
 Light is emitted at site of carrier recombination which is primarily
close to the junction.
 However, the amount of radiative recombination and the emission
area within the structure is dependent upon the semiconductor
materials used and the fabrication of the device.

 Emits incoherent light

through spontaneous
emission.
 Used for Multimode
systems with 100-200
Mb/s rates.
 Broad spectral width and
wide output pattern.
 850nm region: GaAs and
AlGaAs
 1300–1550nm region:
InGaAsP and InP
 Homojunctions: P- type and N-type from same material

GaAs GaAs
P N

 Carriers are not confined Structure and index of refraction n

 Light is not confined in gallium arsenide with a junction
width d

 LED should have a high radiance (light intensity), fast response time
and a high quantum efficiency for FO system
 Heterojunction
 Heterojunction is the advanced junction design to reduce
diffraction loss in the optical cavity.
 This is accomplished by modification in the material to control the
index of refraction of the cavity and the width of the junction.
 The index of refraction of the material depends upon the impurity
used and the doping level.
 The Heterojunction region is actually lightly doped with p-type
material and has the highest index of refraction.
 The n-type material and the more heavily doped p-type material
both have lower indices of refraction.
 This produces a light pipe effect that helps to confine the light to
the active junction region. In the homojunction, however, this
index difference is low and much light is lost.
 Double or single hetero-structure junction with better light output
Heterojunctions: Different p- and n- materials
• Carriers are confined
• Light is also confined
• Single Heterojunction, Double Heterojunction.

 A heterojunction is a junction between two different

semiconductors with different bandgap energies.

 The difference in bandgap energies creates a one-way barrier.

Charge carriers (electrons or holes) are attracted over the barrier
from the material of higher bandgap energy to the one of lower
bandgap energy.

Gallium Arsenide-Aluminum Gallium

Arsenide single heterojunction
 Double Heterojunction
 When a layer of material with a lower bandgap energy is
sandwiched between layers of material with a higher energy
bandgap a double heterojunction is formed. This is called a
double heterojunction because there are two heterojunctions
present - one on each side of the active material.

 The double heterojunction forms a barrier which restricts the

region of electron-hole recombination to the lower bandgap
material. This region is then called the “active” region
 Double Heterojunction

 The valence band of

n-InGaAsP is at a
higher energy than
the valence band of
the adjacent n-InP.
The conduction band
is at a lower energy
level.

 p-InP has higher

energy levels than n-
InP but the bandgap
is the same
 Electrons are attracted across the left-hand junction from the
n-InP to n-InGaAsP.
 Holes are attracted across the right-hand junction from the p-InP
into the n-InGaAsP.
 Recombination takes place in the n-InGaAsP and spontaneous
emission occurs.
 The heterojunction allows to have a small active region where the
light is produced.
 The material in the active region has a higher refractive index than
that of the material surrounding it. This means that a mirror
surface effect is created at the junction which helps to confine
and direct the light emitted.
Double Heterojunction Confining and Guiding
the Light within the
Device
Within the device the light
must be confined and
directed to the exit aperture
so that it can be directed
into the fiber which is done
using insulating materials
SiO2 to confine the active
region and the current path.

The active layer in a

heterostructure has a higher
refractive index.

This junction forms a

mirror layer and helps to
confine the light to the active
layer. For this reason, the
outer layers are often called
“confinement layers”
Coupling light output to a fiber is
the most difficult and costly part of
manufacturing a real LED or laser
device.

Four common methods are used:

 Use of a Graded Index Lens (GRIN lens) is fairly common. The lens collects
and focuses the light onto the end of the fiber.
 A Ball lens is also often used. This is bonded to the surface of the LED with
an epoxy resin that has a specific refractive index. However, the RI of the
epoxy can’t match to both the RI of the fibre and the RI of the semiconductor
since the semiconductor will have an RI of around 3.5 and the fiber of
around 1.45.
 The Direct Coupling method is to mount the fiber end so that it touches the
LED directly i.e. to mount the LED inside a connector so that when a fiber is
plugged in (mounted in the other half of the connector) one get firm
mounting in good position.
 To fix a ball lens to the end of the fiber
 Types of LED Structures

– Surface Emitting LED’s (SLED)

– Edge Emitting LED’s (EELED)

– Superluminescent LED’s (SLD)

Confining and Guiding the Light within the Device

In both types of LED (SLED and ELED) a combination of insulating
materials and junctions is used to:
1. Guide the current flow to a small “active region” and
2. Guide the light produced out of the device and into an easy
position for coupling to a fiber.
 Surface Emitting LED (SLED)
 Method for obtaining high radiance is to restrict the emission to a
small active region within the device – Burrus & Dawson (1970)

 Power coupled into the

fiber is dependent on many
factors; distance and
alignment between
emission area and fiber,
emission pattern and
interfacing medium
 More Power
 Poor Radiance

 Coupling lens used to increase efficiency.

 Short optical Links with Large NA fibers.
 Data rates less than 20 Mbps.
 Surface-emitting LED

The active region is limited to a circular section that has an

area compatible with the fiber-core end face.
Surface Emitting LED
• The surface-emitting LED is also known as the Burrus
LED in honor of C. A. Burrus, its developer.
• In SLEDs, the size of the primary active region is limited
to a small circular area of 20micron to 50micron in
diameter.
• The primary active region is below the surface of the
semiconductor substrate perpendicular to the axis of the
fiber.
• A well is etched into the substrate to allow direct
coupling of the emitted light to the optical fiber. The
etched well allows the optical fiber to come into close
contact with the emitting surface.
 Edge-emitting LED

Edge-emitting double-heterojunction LED. The output beam is

lambertian in the plane of the pn-junction (||) and highly directional
perpendicular to the pn-junction
Edge-emitting LED

 Have advantage of transparent guiding layers with a very thin

active layer (50 to 100m). This reduces self absorption and
narrows the beam divergence.
 Light is emitted at one end face only.
 Couple more power to small NA fibers
 Higher data rates>100Mbps, better modulation

 Multimode and Single Mode fibers

 ELEDs provide narrower linewidth than SLED
 High radiance
Superluminescent LEDs
Significant benefits over both SLEDs and ELEDs for OFS

SLDs Provide
• High output power
• Directional output beam
• Narrow spectral linewidth

 One end is made optically lossy to prevent reflections and thus

suppress lasing.
 Injection current increased until stimulated emission i.e.
amplification occurs without feedback.
 Superluminescent Diode (SLD)
 A superluminescent diode (SLED or SLD) is an edge-emitting
semiconductor light source based on superluminnescence.

 It combines the high power and brightness of laser diodes with the
low coherence of conventional LED.

 Its emission band is 5–100 nm wide.

 Comparision : SLEDs Vs ELEDs

 SLED’s generally radiate more power into air (2.5 to 3 times) than ELED’s
since the emitted light is less affected by re-absorption.

 SLED’s couples more optical power into large NA (greater than 0.3) than
ELED where as the opposite is true for low NA’s.

 Less coupling efficiency in SLED’s as compare to ELED’s.

 ELED’s have better modulation bandwidth than SLED’s

 ELEDs have narrower bandwidth than SLED’s.

LED Characteristics

 LED is forward biased, its current increases rapidly and must be

controlled to prevent destruction of the device.
 The light output is quite linearly proportional to the current, so it
can be precisely modulated.
 Full Width Half Max, Peak Wavelength, Forward current, Rise time,
Luminous intensity (Flux(lm)), LED radiation pattern
 LED Power & Efficiency
 Spontaneous emission allows nonradiative recombination to take
place within the structure due to imperfections and impurities

 Internal Quantum Efficiency

• 50% for simple homojunctions
• 60 to 80% with DH structures

 Internal quantum efficiency : Ratio of radiative recombination rate

to the total recombination rate
rr rr Rr
int   
rt rr  rnr R t
Rr is the total number of radiative recombination per second

i
R r  int R t  int i - forward biased current to the p-n
e junction
 Rr is equivalent to number of photons generated per second and
each photon has an energy equal to h, then optical power
generated internally by the LED is
i
Pint  R r h  int h
e

h W 
ic
In terms of wavelength Pint  int
e
 A linear relationship between the optical power generated in the
LED and the drive current into the device
 Light Output Power

 Surface emitter
radiates significantly
more optical power
into air than the
edge emitter

 Both are reasonably

linear at moderate
drive currents

Light ouput (power) into air against d.c. drive

current for LED: a) An AlGaAs surface emitter; b)
An AlGaAs edge emitter.
 Temperature Dependence
 Characteristics show the variation in output at a specific drive
current over the temperature range for all the devices.

 Edge emitting device

exhibits a greater
temperature dependence
than the surface emitter and
that the output of SLD is
strongly dependent on the
junction temperature.

 To utilize the high power

potential of such devices at
Light output temperature dependence for the elevated temperatures, the
three LED structure emitting at a wavelength use of thermoelectric
of 1300 nm
coolers may be necessary.
Temperature dependence

 Spectra tend to broaden

with increase in
temperature due to
greater energy spread in
carrier distributions at
higher temperatures.

 Increase in temperature
affect the peak emission Spectral variation with temperature for AlGaAs SLED

wavelength as well.
LED: Output Spectrum

LED Output Spectra:

a) An AlGaAs SLED with doped
active region
b) InGaAsP SLED with lightly
doped and heavily doped cases

 Spectral line width of an LED

operating at room temperature at
0.85m is between 25 and 40 nm
(FWHM), but vary to 50 to 100 nm in
1550 region.

 Increased doping levels leads to

increased linewidth also.
Spectral Linewidth

Typical spectral patterns for edge- and

surface-emitting LEDs at 1310 nm.
 FWHM about 1.6 times smaller for ELED than SLED.
 Further narrowed by the Superluminescent operation; linewidth
far smaller  30 nm
 The patterns broaden with increasing wavelength and are wider
for surface emitters.
Analog LED Drive Circuit

34
LASER DIODE
LASER is an acronym for “Light Amplification by the Stimulated
Emission of Radiation”.
•Coherent light
•Narrow beam width
• Lasers can produce high output power. In communication
applications, semiconductor lasers of power up to about 20
milliwatts are available.
•Because laser light is Coherent, a high percentage (50% to 80%)
can be coupled into the fiber.
LASER: Basic Operation
Laser Transition Processes
(Stimulated and Spontaneous Emission)

Energy absorbed from the Random Coherent release of

incoming photon release of energy energy
 Conditions for Large Stimulated Emissions
All three processes occur together with a balance between absorption
and emission.

Absorption and Emission process in steady state of material

 Two conditions to be satisfied for stimulated emissions to

overwhelm the spontaneous emissions are:

 The population of excited level should be greater that that

at the lower energy level and
 The radiation density in the medium should be very large.
 Population Inversion
• At thermal equilibrium : Photon absorption and emission
processes take place side by side, but because N1>N2 ; absorption
dominates.
• Laser operation requires stimulated emission exclusively.
• To achieve a high percentage of stimulated emission, a majority of
atoms should be at the higher energy level than at the lower level.

• Energy is to be supplied somehow to the laser medium to raise

atoms from the lower level to the excited level

• The process by which atoms are raised from the lower level to the
upper level is called pumping.
 In Stimulated Emission incident and
stimulated photons will have

• Identical energy  Identical wavelength

 Narrow linewidth
• Identical direction  Narrow beam width
• Identical phase  Coherence and
• Identical polarization
 Basic Structure
 Homojunction device with cleaved ends demand for high
threshold current density ( >104 A cm-2) due to lack of carrier
containment - inefficient light sources

Schematic diagram of a
GaAs homojunction
injection laser with a
Fabry-Perot cavity
How a Laser Works
Fabry-Perot Laser (resonator)
cavity
Mirror Reflections
Laser Output Spectrum
(Center Wavelength)

Mode
Separation g(λ)

Longitudinal
Modes
 Heterojunction structures : Improved carrier
confinement and thus lower current densities ( 103 A cm-2 )
 DH ILD fabricated from lattice matched III-V alloys provided both
carrier and optical confinement on both sides of the p-n junction,
giving the injection laser a greatly enhanced performance.
Stripe Geometry
DH laser structure provides optical confinement in the vertical
direction through the refractive index step at the heterojunction
interfaces, but lasing takes place across the whole width of the
device.
Broad Area DH laser
Sides of cavity simply
formed by roughening the
edges of the device
Reduce unwanted
emission in these
directions
Limit the number of
horizontal transverse broad area GaAs/AlGaAs DH injection laser
modes

 Broad emission area creates several problems including difficult

heat sinking, relatively wide active area, unsuitable light output
geometry for efficient coupling to fibers etc.
 DH Stripe Contact Laser
 To overcome broad emission problems whilst also reducing the
required threshold currents
 laser structures in which active region does not extend to the
edges of the device were developed.

• In this structure, the major

current flow through the
device and hence the active
region is within the stripe.

• Generally, stripe is formed

by creation of high
resistance areas on either
side by techniques such as
Proton Bombardment or Schematic representation of an oxide stripe
AlGaAs DH injection laser.
Oxide Isolation.
The stripe therefore acts as a guiding mechanism which
overcomes the major problems of the broad area device.
 Distributed Feedback Laser
 A distributed feedback laser (DFB) is a type of laser diode where the
active region of the device is periodically structured as a diffraction
grating.

 The structure builds a one-dimensional interference grating (Bragg

Scattering) and the grating provides optical feedback for the laser.

 DFB laser diodes do not use two discrete mirrors to form the optical
cavity (as they are used in conventional laser designs).

 The grating acts as the wavelength selective element for at least one
of the mirrors and provides the feedback, reflecting light back into
the cavity to form the resonator.

 The grating is constructed so as to reflect only a narrow band of

wavelength, and thus produce a single longitudinal lasing mode.

 This is in contrast to a Fabry-Perot Laser, where the facets of the

chip form the two mirrors and provide the feedback.
 Altering the temperature of the device causes the pitch of the
grating to change due to the dependence of refractive index on
temperature. This dependence is caused by a change in the
semiconductor laser's bandgap with temperature and thermal
expansion.
 A change in the refractive index alters the wavelength selection of
the grating structure and thus the wavelength of the laser output,
producing a Tunable Diode Laser.
 DFBs are antireflection coated on one side of the cavity and
coated for high reflectivity on the other side (AR/HR).
 In this case the grating forms the distributed mirror on the
antireflection coated side, while the semiconductor facet on the
high reflectivity side forms the other mirror.
 These lasers generally have higher output power since the light is
taken from the AR side, and the HR side prevents power being lost
from the back side.
 DFB and DBR lasers
AR coating
HR coating

DFB DBR
Optical output vs. drive current of a laser

External Efficiency
Depends on the slope

Threshold Current
Laser threshold depends on Temperature
 Analog Modulation
LED LASER
Laser Digital Modulation
 Commercial DFB
 Components
Symbo
Parameters
l
Min Typ Max Unit  DFB diode
CW Output power(25C) Pf 10 --- 30 mW  Thermoelectric cooler
Threshold current It h -- 25 60 mA
 Thermistor
Operating current If -- 300 -- mA
Forward voltage Vf -- 2.0 3.0 V
 Photodiode
Center Wavelength λc 1540 1550 1570 nm  Optical isolator
Linewidth Δλ -- 2 -- MHz
 Fiber-coupled lens
Monitor Current Im -- 200 -- μA
Monitor dark current(Vr=-
Id -- -- 100 nA
5V)
Isolation(Optional) Iso -30 -- -- dB
TEC current ITEC -- 1.2 -- A
TEC voltage VTEC -- 3.2 -- V
Thermistor resistance(at
Rt h 9.5 10 10.5 kΩ
25℃)
Operating Temperature
To -20 -- 65 C
Range
Storage temperature Tst g -40 -- 85 C
Comparison between LED and LASER
PHOTODETECTORS:
Photodetectors find applications in the area of medical,
automotive, safety and analytical equipments, cameras,
communications, astronomy and industry.
Types of Photodetectors
 Photodiode, Photodiode Array, Light Dependent Resistor
 Avalanche Photodiode
 Photomultiplier Tube, Microchannel Plate, Image Intensifier
 Position Sensitive Detector
 CCD
 Photodetector Requirements for Performance

 High sensitivity at the operating wavelength of the source

 Short response time to obtain a desirable bandwidth

 Minimum noise contribution

 Compatible size for efficient coupling and packaging

 Linear response over a wide range of light intensity

 Stability of performance characteristics

 Low bias voltage

 Low cost
Photodetection Mechanisms
Photodetector converts light (power) into electrical signals (photocurrent)

There are two distinct photodetection mechanisms

1 External photoelectric effect :

 Photomultiplier Tubes (PMT)

2 Internal photoelectric effect :

 PN junction photodiodes
 PIN photodiodes
 Avalanche photodiodes
 Principle of Photodetection (In Semiconductor)

 In semiconductors, conduction band and valence band are

separated by a forbidden band gap.
 Electrons at the valance band are bound. The electrons in the
conduction band are free and when small voltage is applied they
move and causes current flow
 Populating the conduction band with electrons causes the
semiconductor to conduct current.
 The value of band gap Eg determines the conductive properties of
semiconductor
 Photodetection

p–n junction in thermal equilibrium with

zero bias voltage

A PN junction can be formed by diffusing either a P-type impurity such as

Boron, into a N-type bulk silicon wafer, or a N-type impurity, such as
Phosphorous, into a P-type bulk silicon wafer.
 Photodetection

(a) Photogeneration of e-h pair

(b) Reverse biased p-n junction with carrier drift in depletion region
(c) Energy band diagram showing photogeneration and separation of e-h pair
 All semiconductor photodetectors use photon absorption in
depletion region to convert photons into electron hole pairs, and
then sense them.

 When a semiconductor is illuminated by light having an energy

E = hγ greater than its band gap energy Eg the light is absorbed in
the semiconductor and electron hole pairs are generated. γ is the
frequency of light.

 Incident photon after passing through p-region will be absorbed in

the depletion layer. The absorbed energy creates EHP, Electron
raises to conduction band and hole fall to valance band. The free
electron travel down the barrier and the free hole will travel up the
barrier to constitute current flow.

 The photon absorbed in the neutral p or n regions, outside the

depletion region create EHP, but these free charges will not move
quickly due to lack of strong electric field. Most of the free charges
will diffuse slowly through the diode and may recombine before
reaching the junction. These charges produce negligible current,
thus reducing the detector’s responsivity.
 EHP created close to the depletion layer can diffuse and subsequently be
swept across the junction by the large electric field due to applied reverse
biased voltage. An external current is produced but it is delayed with
respect to variations in the incident optical power

 It is desirable that photon be absorbed in the depletion layer so that it can

contribute maximum in generation of photocurrent.

 Typical pn photodiodes have a rise time of the order of microseconds

making them unsuitable for high speed optical systems.

 The existence of electric field across the junction facilitate the rise of
photocurrent

 The primary operating wavelength regions for FO communication

systems are 850nm, 1310nm and 1550 nm. The photodetectors which are
used in these systems are :
- PN junction photodiodes
- PIN photodiodes
- Avalanche photodiode
Photodetector I-V curve under Illumination
The I-V characteristic of a photodiode with no incident light is similar to a
rectifying diode. When the photodiode is forward biased, there is an
exponential increase in the current. When a reverse bias is applied, a small
reverse saturation current appears. It is related to dark current as

where ID is the photodiode dark current, ISAT is the reverse saturation

current representing thermally generated free carriers which flow through
the junction, q is the electron charge, VA is the applied bias voltage,
kB=1.38x10-23J/K, is the Boltzmann Constant and T is the absolute
temperature (273 K= 0oC)

V Illuminating the photodiode with

optical radiation, shifts the I-V
curve by the amount of
photocurrent (IP)
 Photodiode Characteristics (Electrical)

A silicon photodiode can be represented by a current source in

parallel with an ideal diode. The diode represents the p-n
junction, Cj junction capacitance, RSH shunt resistance, RS
Series resistance, RL load resistance
Shunt resistance: An ideal photodiode should have an infinite RSH,
but actual values range from 10’s to 1000’s of Mega ohms. RSH is used to
determine the noise current in the photodiode
Series resistance: RS of a photodiode arises from the resistance of
the contacts and the resistance of the undepleted silicon and its value
ranges from 10 to 1000 Ω’s. This is used to define the linearity of
photodiode.
Junction capacitance: The boundaries of the depletion region acts
as the plates of a parallel plate capacitor. The junction capacitance is
directly proportional to the diffused area and inversely proportional to
the width of the depletion region. Junction capacitance is used to
determine the speed of the response of the photodiode
Response Time: There are three factors defining the response time
of a photodiode:
1. tDRIFT, the charge collection time of the carriers in the depleted region
of the photodiode.
2. tDIFFUSED, the charge collection time of the carriers in the undepleted
region of the photodiode.
3. tRC, the RC time constant of the diode-circuit combination.
tRC=2.2RC, where R, is the sum of the diode series resistance and the
load resistance (RS + RL), and C, is the sum of the photodiode junction
and the stray capacitances (Cj+CS). Since the junction capacitance (Cj)
is dependent on the diffused area of the photodiode and the applied
reverse bias, faster rise times are obtained with smaller diffused area
photodiodes, and larger applied reverse biases.

The total rise time is determined by

Capacitance of Photoconductive Devices versus Reverse Bias Voltage

 Photodiode Characteristics (Optical)
Responsivity: The responsivity of a silicon photodiode is a measure of
the sensitivity to light, and is defined as the ratio of the photocurrent IP
to the incident light power P at a given wavelength.

It varies with the wavelength of the incident light as well as applied

reverse bias and temperature. It is a measure of the effectiveness of
the conversion of the light power into electrical current.

Temperature Coefficient of Responsivity Vs.

Wavelength For Silicon Photodiode
The responsivity variations due to change in temperature is due to decrease or
increase of the band gap, because of increase or decrease in the temperature
respectively
Quantum Efficiency (Q.E.)
Quantum efficiency is defined as the fraction of the incident photons
that contribute to photocurrent.

One of the major factor which determine the quantum efficiency is

the absorption coefficient of the semiconductor material used
within photodetector.  < 1 quoted as a percentage say 85% i.e. 85
electrons collected per 100 incident photons

It is related to responsivity by
 Responsivity & Quantum efficiency

 Quantum Efficiency is not

constant at all wavelengths-
varies according to photon
energy.
 For a given material, as the
wavelength of the incident
photon becomes larger, the
photon energy becomes less
than that required to excite
an electron from the valence
band to the conduction
Responsivity of
Comparison andthe
quantum efficiency
responsivity andasQE
a as a band.
function ofofwavelength
function wavelengthfor photodiodes
for photodiodes
constructed offrom different materials.
 Responsivity falls off rapidly
constructed different materials.
beyond cutoff wavelength.
Biasing Photodiode
Photovoltaic Mode
The photovoltaic mode of operation (unbiased) is preferred when a
photodiode is used in low frequency applications as well as ultra low light
level applications. The photocurrents in this mode have less variations in
responsivity with temperature.

For stability, select CF such that

Operating bandwidth after gain

peaking compensation is
Photoconductive Mode
Application of a reverse bias improves the speed of response.

Effect of reverse bias

Increase in the depletion region width
Decrease in junction capacitance.
Increase in the dark and noise currents.
Decrease in rise time (tr).

Where GBP is the Gain Bandwidth

Product of amplifier (A1) and CA is
the amplifier input capacitance.

A feedback capacitor (CF) will limit

the frequency response and avoids
gain peaking
Noise Sources in Photodiode:
Shot noise is related to the statistical fluctuation in both the
photocurrent and the dark current.

Where q=1.6x10-19C, is the electron charge, IP is the photogenerated

current, ID is the photodetector dark current and ∆f is the noise
measurement bandwidth. Shot noise is the dominating source when
operating in photoconductive (biased) mode.
Thermal or Johnson Noise The shunt resistance in a photodetector
has a Johnson noise associated with it. This is due to the thermal
generation of carriers.

Where k= 1.38x10-23 J/ºK, is the Boltzmann Constant, T, is the absolute

temperature in degrees Kelvin, ∆f is the noise measurement bandwidth
and RSH , is the shunt resistance of the photodiode. This type of noise
is the dominant current noise in photovoltaic (unbiased) operation
mode.
All resistors have a Johnson noise associated with them, including the
load resistor.
Various figure of merit parameters have been used to asses the
noise performance of optical detectors. most commonly used are Noise
equivalent power (NEP), Detectivity (D) and Specific detectivity (D*).

Noise Equivalent Power (NEP): The minimum input optical power

required to generate photocurrent, equal to the rms noise current in a
1Hz bandwidth. NEP is essentially the minimum detectable power.

Detectivity(D): The characteristic detectivity (D) is the inverse of NEP,

1/NEP.

Specific Detectivity (D*): It is detectivity multiplied by the square root

of the area (A) of the photodetector, (D*=D√A) for a 1Hz bandwidth.

D* allows different photodetectors to be compared independent of

sensor area and system bandwidth; a higher detectivity value indicates
a low-noise device
PIN Photodiode

The P-Intrinsic-N structure increases the distance between the P and

N conductive layers, decreasing capacitance, increasing speed. The
volume of the photo sensitive region also increases, enhancing
conversion efficiency. The bandwidth can extend to 10's of GHz. PIN
photodiodes are the preferred for high sensitivity, and high speed at
moderate cost.
P-i-N PHOTODIODE
 A typical P-i-N photodiode consists of a highly-doped
transparent p-type contact layer on top of an undoped absorbing
layer (i) and an n-type highly doped contact layer on the bottom.

 This diode is evolved mainly from one basic requirement: light

should be absorbed in the depletion region of the diode to ensure
that the electrons and holes are separated in the electric field and
contribute to the photocurrent, while the transit time must be
minimal.

 This implies that a depletion region larger than the absorption

length must exist in the detector. This is easily assured by
making the absorbing layer undoped. Only a very small voltage is
required to deplete the undoped region.

 An added advantage is that the recombination/generation time

constant is longest for undoped material, which provides a
minimal thermal generation current.
Avalanche Photodiodes (APD) – Photodetector with Internal
gain

Avalanche photodiode showing high electric field region

 Photodiode with Internal gain: Internally multiply the primary signal

photocurrent before it enters the input circuitry of the amplifier.
 Increases receiver sensitivity: the photocurrent is multiplied before
encountering the thermal noise associated with the receiver circuit.
 For carrier multiplication, the photogenerated carriers must traverse a region
where a very high electric field is present.
 In the high field region, a photogenerated electron or hole can gain
enough energy so that it ionizes bonds in the valence band upon
colliding with them. This is known as Impact Ionization

 The newly created carriers are also accelerated by the high electric
field, gaining enough energy to cause further impact ionization. This
phenomenon is the Avalanche Effect

 Create an extremely high electric field region (approximately 3 x 105

V/cm)

 Requires high reverse bias voltages (100 to 400 V) in order that the
new carriers created by impact ionization

 Carrier multiplication factors as great as 104 may be obtained

 When carriers are generated in undepleted material, they are collected
somewhat slowly by the diffusion process. This has the effect of
producing a long 'diffusion tail' on a short optical pulse.
 When the APD is fully depleted by employing high electric fields, all
the carriers drift at saturation-limited velocities.
 The response time for the device is limited by three factors:
 the transit time of the carriers across the absorption region (i.e.
the depletion width)
 the time taken by the carriers to perform the avalanche
multiplication process
 the RC time constant incurred by the junction capacitance of the
diode and its load
 At low gain the transit time and RC effects dominate giving a
definitive response time and hence constant bandwidth for the device
 At high gain the avalanche build-up time dominates and therefore the
device bandwidth decreases proportionately with increasing gain
 The rise time between 150-200ps and fall time of 1ns or more are quite
common and this limits the overall response of the device

 Multiplication factor M is a measure of the internal gain provided by

the APD and is defined as
M=IM/IP
where IM is the average value of the total multiplied output current and
IP is the primary photocurrent.

 The avalanche mechanism is a statistical process, and not every

carrier pair generated in the APD experiences the same multiplication.
Thus, the measured value of M is expressed as an average quantity
which is as great as 104 .
Advantages & Drawbacks of APDs
Advantages
- Provides an increase in sensitivity of between 5 dB to 15dB over p-
i-n photodiodes i.e. detection of very low level light signals.

- Wider dynamic range as a result of their gain variation with response

time and reverse bias

Drawbacks

- Fabrication difficulties due to their more complex structure and

hence increased cost.

- The random nature of the gain mechanism which gives an additional

noise contribution.

- Often high bias voltages required (50 to 400 V)

- The variation of the gain (multiplication factor) with temperature i.e.

temperature compensation is necessary to stabilize the operation of
the device.
 Photodetectors
 APD vs p-i-n diode

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