UNIT - 1

CLASSIFICATION OF PHOTONIC DEVICES

1. Energy Band Diagrams of Semiconductors

(a). The electron energies in a semiconductor crysta are distinctly different from that
for metals. The interactions between the semiconductor atoms and their valence
electrons result in the electron energy falling into two distinct energy bands called the
valence band (VB) and conduction band (CB) that are separated by an energy gap,
bandgap (Eg).

(b). The band gap represents the forbidden electron energies in the crystal.
Electrons that occupy the valence band are the valence electrons.

(c).Since at absolute zero temperature, all the bonds are occupied by valence
electrons, and thus all the energy levels in the VB are normally filled with these
electrons. The CB represents electrons that have higher energies than those in the
VB and are normally empty at zero Kelvin. The top of the VB is labelled Ev, bottom of
conduction band Ec, so that Eg = Ec- Ev is the bandgap.

(d). Since the only empty states are in the CB, the excitation of an electron from the
VB requires a minimum energy of Eg. Eg interacts with an electron in the VB. This
electron absorbs the incident photon and gains sufficient energy to surmount the
energy gap and reach the CB. Consequently, a free electron in the CB and a “hole,”
corresponding to a missing electron in the VB, are created.

(e). Conduction in semiconductors occurs by both electrons and holes with charges
-e and +e. When a wandering electron in the CB meets a hole in the VB, it has found
an empty electronic state of lower energy and it therefore occupies it. The electron
falls from the CB to the VB to fill the hole. This is called recombination.

(f). The excess energy of the electron falling from CB to VB in certain

semiconductors such as GaAs and InP is emitted as a photon. In Si and Ge the
excess energy is lost as lattice vibrations (heat), that is, as phonons.

2. Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

(a). The LED is a forward-biased P-N junction diode made from a direct band gap
material such as GaAs in which the recombination of electrons from the N-side and
the holes from the P-side results in the emission of photons (light).

In simple words, LED is an optoelectronic device which emits light when current
flows through it.
(b). LED allows the flow of current in the forward direction and blocks the current in
the reverse direction.

(c).

(d). Construction of LED

LED is made of three layers:- P-type semiconductor layer, N-type semiconductor

layer and active region(depletion region). The P-type region includes the holes; the
N-type region includes elections whereas the active region includes both holes and
electrons. Since carrier recombination takes place in the P-layer, it is kept upper
most.

When the voltage is not applied to the LED, then there is no flow of electrons and
holes so they are stable. Once the voltage is applied then the LED will be forward
biased, so the electrons in the N-region and holes from P-region will move to the
active region. This region is also known as the depletion region.

The metal film is used on the P-type layer to provide anode connection to the diode.
Similarly, Gold-film layer is coated on N-type to provide cathode connection.

A metal (gold) film is applied for reflecting as much light as possible to the surface of
the device. If any significant part of radiated light tends to hit the bottom surface then
that will be reflected from the bottom surface to the device top surface. This
increases LED’s efficiency.
(e). Working or Operation Of LED

The working of the LED depends on quantum theory. The quantum theory states that
when the energy of electrons decreases from the higher level to lower level, it emits
energy in the form of photons. The energy of the photons is equal to the band gap
energy.

LED operates in forward bias i.e. the anode is connected with the positive terminal
and the cathode is connected with the negative terminal of the battery. The n region
has electrons as majority charge carriers while the p region has holes. Also, the
n-type layer is heavily doped as compared to p-type layer.
When the LED is forward biased, the depletion layer starts to shrink. Therefore
electrons from n region and holes from p region start passing through the junction. It
starts to recombine in the depletion region.

During its recombination, the electrons from the higher band (conduction band) fall
into the lower energy band (valence band) and recombine with the holes in the
valence band resulting in the release of the energy in the form of light. The emitted
light tends to be monochromatic (one color) that depends on the band gap.

The property of conversion of electricity into light energy is called electroluminance.

(f). Wavelength of emitted photon = hc/Eg = 1.24/Eg in Ev (mm)

(g).

The fabrication of an actual LED would require that the doped crystal layers with the
required bandgap can be grown on a suitable substrate crystal. The substrate crystal
and the LED material will have to have the same crystal structure and very close
lattice parameters.

Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) – infra-red (invisible)

Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (GaAsP) – red to infra-red, orange
Gallium Phosphide (GaP) – red, yellow and green
3. LASER
(a). When an electron in an atom undergoes transitions between two energy levels it
either emits or absorbs a photon-

E2 - E1 = hv

E2 - E1 being the energy difference between two levels.

Consider the electron transitions in which the electron is in the lower E1, then in the
presence of photons of energy (E2 - E1), it may be excited to the upper level E2 by
absorbing a photon. Alternatively if the electron is in the E2, it may return to the
ground state with the emission of a photon.

The emission may occur in two different ways:

1. The spontaneous emission in which the electron drops to the lower level in an
entirely random way
2. The stimulated emission in which the electron is triggered to undergo the
transition by the presence of photons of energy E2 - E1
(b). The stimulated process is not observed under normal circumstances because
the probability of the spontaneous process occurring is much higher.
(b). Condition for amplification

Stimulated emission is the basis for obtaining photon amplification since one
incoming photon results in two outgoing photons which are in phase. To obtain
stimulated emission, the incoming photon should not be absorbed by another atom
at E1. When we are considering a collection of atoms to amplify light, we must
therefore have the majority of the atoms at the energy level E2. If this were not the
case, the incoming photons would be absorbed by the atoms at E1. When there are
more atoms at E2 than at E1, we have what is called a population inversion.

(c). Stimulated emission and einstein coefficient

Consider a medium that has N1 atoms per unit volume at the energy E1 and N2
atoms per unit volume at the energy E2. Then the rate of upward transitions from E1
to E2 by photon absorption will be proportional to the concentration of atoms N1, and
also to the number of photons per unit volume with energy hv = E2- E1.

Put differently, this rate will depend on the energy density in the radiation. Thus, the
upward transition rate R12 is

Upward transitions: R12 = B12N1r(y)

where B12 is a proportionality constant termed the Einstein B12 coefficient, and
r(y) is the photon energy density per unit frequency.

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