BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

K. R. Road, V. V. Pura, Bangalore – 560004

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

VII SEMESTER
Optical Communication and Optical Networks (21TC72)
M-2-Part-A
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER-2024
Faculty: Prof. Sudha. B, Dept of ETE, BIT
COURSE:Optical Communication and Optical Networks SUB CODE: 21TC72

SEMESTER: VII CIE MARKS: 50

TOTAL NO. OF LECTURE HOURS: 2 HOURS +1HOUR(S SEE MARKS: 50

 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
VISION
To establish and develop the Institute as a center of higher learning, ever abreast with expanding horizon

of knowledge in the field of engineering and technology, with entrepreneurial thinking, leadership

excellence for life-long success and solve societal problem.

MISSION
1. Provide high quality education in the engineering disciplines from the undergraduate through
doctoral levels with creative academic and professional programs.
2. Develop the Institute as a leader in Science, Engineering, Technology and management, Research
and apply knowledge for the benefit of society.
3. Establish mutual beneficial partnerships with industry, alumni, local, state and central governments
by public service assistance and collaborative research.
4. Inculcate personality development through sports, cultural and extracurricular activities and engage
in the social, economic and professional challenges.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

VISION
Empower every student to be creative and productive in the field of
Telecommunication Engineering, by imparting excellent Technical Education and
inculcating Human Values
MISSION
M1. To make our Students acquaint with the Global requirements such as Problem Solving
Skills, Cultural Sensitivity, Ethical behavior and Social Responsibility.

M2. To motivate our Students to pursue Higher Education and engage in continuous
upgradation of their Professional Skills.

M3. To encourage students to develop Communication Skills, Professional Values and Positive
Attitude that in turn leads to fostering Leadership Qualities.
 Program specific Outcomes(PSO)
• PSO1: : Analyze and Design Analog & Digital modules for a
given Specification and Function
• PSO2: Implement Functional Blocks of Hardware-Software Co-
Designs for Embedded Systems, Signal Processing,
Communication and Networking applications
 COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This course will enable students to:
• Learn the basic principle of optical fiber for overall design
considerations.
• Identify the client layers of the optical network.
• Attain knowledge of different network elements and optical
communication with different modes of light propagation.
• Understand the transmission characteristics and losses in optical
fiber.
• Study of optical components and its applications in optical
communication networks.
• To study the transmission characteristics layer services.
 COURSE OUTCOMES
At the end of the course the students will be able to:
• Understand the Classification and characterization of optical fibers with different modes
of signal propagation.
• Discuss the constructional features and the characteristics of optical fiber and optical
devices used for signal transmission and reception.
• Identify the transmission characteristics for overall design considerations.
• Explain the client layers of the optical network.
• Attain knowledge of different network elements and optical layer services.
• Make use of Modern Simulation tools to Estimate the Optical fiber losses and
Demonstrate communication skills / ability to work as a team.
CONTENTS:-
• Optical Sources and detectors:
• 4.2 Light Emitting Diode:
• 4.2.1 LED Structures,
• 4.2.2 Light source materials,
• 4.2.3 Quantum efficiency and LED power,
• 4.3 Laser Diodes (Basics).
• 4.3.1 Laser diode Modes and Threshold Condition
• Photodetectors:
• 6.1.1 The pin Photodetector,
• 6.1.2 Avalanche Photodiodes.

• [Text1: 4.2 [4.2.1,4.2.2,4.2.3] ,4.3[4.3.1], 6.1[6.1.1,6.1.2],

 3.1.INTRODUCTION: Optical Source
Optical source:

Primary function: Optical sources Convert electrical energy in the form of current into
optical energy which is coupled with optical fiber.

Two Types of light source for fiber optic communication applications are:

1. Heterojunction structure semiconductor laser diode &(Injected laser ILD).

2. Light Emitting Diode (LED).

• A heterojunction consists of two adjoining semiconductor materials with different bandgap

energies.

• These devices are suitable for fiber transmission systems because they have adequate output
power for a wide range of applications.
• The light emitting region of both LED and laser diodes consists of p-n
junction constructed of Direct band gap III- V semiconductor materials.

• When this junction is forward biased, electrons and holes are injected
into the p and n regions, respectively.

• These injected minority carriers can recombine either radiatively, in

which case a photon of energy hv is emitted, or

• nonradiatively, whereupon the recombination energy is dissipated in

the form of heat.

• This pn junction is thus known as the active or recombination region.

• Spontaneous Emission:
• Spontaneous emission occurs without any external
stimulation in which the atom returns to the lower energy
state in an entirely random manner, gives incoherent
radiation.
• This is the basic mechanism for light generation within the
LED
• Stimulated emission : When an electron is in higher energy
state E2, it can make a transition to lower energy state E1 by
external stimulation.
• If a photon of energy hv12 is applied on the system when the
electron is still in its excited state ‘E2’, this electron is
immediately stimulated to drop to the ground state and give
off a photon of energy hv12.
• This emitted photon is in phase with the incident photon, and
the resultant emission is known “Stimulated emission”.
• This is used in laser diode.
• Quantum efficiency : It is related to the fraction of injected
electron- hole pairs that recombine radiatively.
 VII SEMESTER
Optical Communication and Optical Networks
(21TC72)
September-December-2024

Page22 to till end

Q1) Explain the structure of double hetero(DH) structure light emitter showing
energy diagram and refractive index profile. (6)

Q2. Draw the cross section of GaAlAS double hetero(DH) structure LED energy
band diagram and refractive index variation. Explain their importance. (7)

Q3) Draw the diagram of a typical GaAlAS double hetero(DH) structure LED along
with energy band diagram and refractive index profile and explain (10)

Q4) Explain the GaAlAs double –heterojunction(DH) LED structure. (7)

LED STRUCTURE: GaAlAs double-heterostructure (DH) light emitting diode.

• Semiconductor light emitting diodes are usually used as the light

source or optical source.Normally used with bit rates less than a 100 to
200 Mbp/sec.

• Multimode Fiber is used with LED

For fiber transmission applications LED’s must have the following feature
a) A high radiance output.
B) A fast emission response time
C) A high quantum efficiency.
1. Radiance: Radiance( or Brightness) is the measure(in Watts) of the optical power
radiated into unit solid angle per unit area of the emitting surface. High radiances
are necessary to couple sufficiently high optical power levels into a fiber.

2. Emission response time : It is a time delay between the application of the current
pulse and onset of optical emission. This time dealy is the factor limiting the
bandwidth which the source can be modulated directly by varying the injected
current.

3. Quantum efficiency : It is related to the fraction of injected electron- hole pairs

that recombine radiatively.
• To achieve a higher radiance and a high quantum efficiency, the LED structure
must provide a means of confining the charge carriers and optical emission to the
active region of the P-N junction where radiative recombination takes place.

• Carrier confinement is used to achieve a high level of radiative recombination in

the active region of the device, which yields a high quantum efficiency.

• Optical confinement is of importance for preventing absorption of the emitted

radiation by the material surrounded by the PN Junction.

• To achieve carrier and optical confinement, LED configuration such as double

heterojunction structures are used( DH Structure).
• The diagram of a typical GaAlAS double hetero structure LED along with
energy band diagram and refractive index profile is shown in Figure a;b and c.

• This is referred to as a double heterojunction device because of the two

different alloy layers on each side of the active region. By means of this
sandwich structure, both the carriers and optical field are confined in the
central active layer.

• The bandgap differences of adjacent layers(Fig b) confine the charge carriers.

• The differences in the indices of refraction (Fig c) of adjoining layer confine the
optical field to the central active layer. This dual confinement leads to both high
efficiency and high radiance.
 (a)

(b)

(c)

(a) Cross-sectional drawing (not to scale) of a typical GaAlAs double-heterostructurelight emitter. In this structure, x > y to
provide for both carrier confi nement and optical guiding;
(b) energy band diagram showing the active region, and the electron and hole barriers that confi ne the charge carriers to the
active layer;
(c) Variations in the refractive index; the lower index of refraction of the material in regions 1 and5 creates an optical barrier
around the waveguide region.
LED CONFIGURATIONS (Types of Light emitting diodes):
Q1) With the help of a diagram describe the operation of DH surface emitter LED(8)

Q2) What are the characteristic requirements of an optical source? With a neat diagram ,
describe the operation of surface emitting LED (8)

Q3) With a neat diagram , explain the high radiance surface emitting and Edge emitting LED (8)

Two basic LED configurations used are(double hetero(DH) structure):

1. Surface emitter LED
2. Edge emitter LED
 DH-High radiance surface emitting LED
• In the surface emitter, the plane of the active
light-emitting region is oriented
perpendicularly to the axis of the fiber.
• In this configuration, a well is etched through
the substrate of the device, into which a fiber
is then cemented in order to accept the
emitted light.
• The circular active area in practical surface
emitters is nominally 50 mm in diameter and
Figure: of a high-radiance surface-emitting LED. The
active region is limited to a circular section having an area
up to 2.5 mm thick. compatible with the fiber-core end face.
• The emission pattern is essentially isotropic with a 120° half-power beam
width.

• This isotropic pattern from such a surface emitter is called a Lambertian

pattern.

• In this pattern, the source is equally bright when viewed from any direction,
but the power diminishes as cos 𝜃, where ′𝜃’ is the angle between the
viewing direction and the normal to the surface (this is because the
projected area one sees decreases as cos 𝜃).

• Thus, the power is down to 50 percent of its peak when 𝜃 = 60°, so that the
total half-power beam width is 120°.
 DH - Edge emitting LED
Q1) Explain working of Edge emitter DH LED structure.
Q2) With the help of schematic diagrams, explain the design features of an edge emitting LED.

• Diagram of an edge-emitting double-heterojunction LED is shown.

• The edge emitter consists of an active junction region, which is the source of the incoherent
light, and two guiding layers.

• The guiding layers both have a refractive index lower than that of the active region but higher
than the index of the surrounding material.

• This structure forms a waveguide channel that directs the optical radiation toward the fiber
core.
• To match the typical fiber-core diameters (50–100 µm), the contact stripes for the edge emitter
are 50–70 µm wide.
• Lengths of the active regions usually range from 100 to 150 µm.
• The emission pattern of the edge emitter is
more directional than that of the surface
emitter.
• In the plane parallel to the junction, where
there is no waveguide effect, the emitted
beam is lambertian (varying as cos𝜃) with
a half-power width of𝜃|| = 120°.
• In the plane perpendicular to the junction,
the half-power beam 𝜃 ⫠ has been made
as small as 25–35° by a proper choice of
the waveguide thickness.
• Q:Derive the expression for Internal power generated,

External power generated and Quantum Efficiency of LED

• The semiconductor material that is used for the active layer of an optical source must have a direct
bandgap.

• Only in direct-bandgap material the radiative recombination is sufficiently high to produce an

adequate level of optical emission.

• An excess of electrons and holes in p- and n-type material (minority carriers) is created in a
semiconductor light source(LED) by carrier injection at the device contacts.

• When carrier injection stops, the carrier density returns to the equilibrium value.

• In general, the excess carrier density decays exponentially with time according to the relation .

------------------ 1
• ‘n0’ is the initial injected excess electron density.

• time constant ‘𝜏’ is the carrier lifetime

• The excess carriers can recombine either radiatively or non-
radiatively.

• In radiative recombination a photon of energy hV which is

approximately equal to the bandgap energy is emitted.

• Non radiative recombination effects include optical absorption in the

active region (self-absorption), carrier recombination at the
heterostructure interfaces, generation of heat etc.
• The total rate at which carriers are generated is the sum of the externally supplied and the
thermally generated rates. The externally supplied rate is given by J/qd, where ‘J’ is the
current density in A/cm2 , ‘q’ is the electron charge, and ‘d’ is the thickness of the
recombination region.

• Hence, the rate equation for carrier recombination in an LED can be written as

------------------ 2

• When there is a constant current flow into an LED, an equilibrium condition is established.
The equilibrium condition is found by setting Eq. (2) equal to zero, which gives

------------------ 3

• This relationship gives the steady-state electron density in the active region when a
constant current is flowing through it
• Internal Quantum efficiency:
• If the radiative recombination rate is Rr and the nonradiative
recombination rate is Rnr, then the internal quantum efficiency ƞint is the
ratio of the radiative recombination rate to the total recombination rate:

• ------------- 4

• For exponential decay of excess carriers, the radiative recombination

lifetime is and

• the nonradiative recombination lifetime is .

• Thus the internal quantum efficiency can be expressed as

and
• LEDs having double-heterojunction structures can have quantum
efficiencies of 60–80 percent. This high efficiency is achieved
because the thin active regions of these devices reduces the
nonradiative recombination rate.

• If the current injected into the LED is I, then the total number of
recombination's per second is

• ------------- 5

• Substitute Eq-5 in Eq-4 gives

Rr = ƞint I/q
• Where Rr is the total number of photons generated per second and that each photon has
an energy hV, the optical power generated internally to the LED is

Optical Power generated Internally by the LED is Pint :

--------------6

• Not all internally generated photons will exit the device. To find the emitted output power from
LED, we have to consider the external quantum efficiency ƞext.

• This is defined as the ratio of the photons emitted from the LED to the number of internally
generated photons. To find the external quantum efficiency, we need to take into account reflection
effects at the surface of the LED.
 • At the interface of a material boundary only that fraction of light falling within a cone
defined by the critical angle ɸc will cross the interface as shown in figure.
• Here, n1 is the refractive index of the semiconductor material and n2 is the refractive
index of the outside material, which nominally is air with n2 = 1.0. The external
quantum efficiency ƞext can be calculated from the equation

----------7

∴ 𝐓he optical power emitted from the LED is

------------8
A double-heterojunction InGaAsP LED emitting at a peak wavelength
of 1310 nm has radiative and non-radiative recombination times of 30
and 100 ns, respectively. The drive current is 40 mA. Determine (a)
The bulk recombination time; (b) The internal quantum efficiency;
and (c) The internal power level.

Solution: a)bulk recombination lifetime is

b) the internal quantum efficiency is

c) Internal power level :

• Assume a typical of n = 3.5 Solution:
for the refractive index of Taking the condition for normal incidence, then from
an LED material. What Equation external efficiency, the percent of the
percent of the internally optical power that is generated internally in the
generated optical power is device that is emitted into an air medium is
emitted into an air 1 1
ƞext = = = 1.41 %
medium? 𝑛 𝑛+1 2 3.5 (3.5+1)2

Conclusion: This shows that only a small fraction of

the internally generated optical power is emitted
from the device.
The three key transition processes involved in laser action. The open circle represents the
initial state of the electron and the heavy dot represents the fi nal state; incident photons are
shown on the left of each diagram and emitted photons are shown on the right.
Q: Explain the three key transition process involved in laser action
Q: With a neat figure of a LASER diode explain its characteristics, Also mention the condition
for Lasing
• LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is an optical
source which amplifies light.
• For optical fiber communication systems, Laser diodes are used as optical source which emits a
highly Monochromatic and directional beam.
• Laser action is the result of three key processes:
• Photon absorption,
• Spontaneous emission and
• Stimulated emission
• It is the stimulated emission process which gives the Laser its special properties as an optical Source.
• In order to produce a Coherent optical source and amplification of light beam the rate of stimulated
emission must be increased.
• For this, the radiation density and the population density of the upper energy level N2 must be
increased in relation to the population density of the lower energy level N1.
Population Inversion:
• It is to create non equilibrium distribution of atoms such that population of upper
energy level is greater than that of lower energy level (N2 >N1).This condition is
known as Population Inversion.
• Stimulated emission will exceed absorption only if the population of the excited
states is greater than that of the ground state.
• Population Inversion is achieved by various pumping technique.
LASER DIODE MODES AND THRESHOLD CONDITIONS :
Explain Fabry-Perot resonator cavity of LASER with a neat diagram. (6)
• For optical fiber communication systems requiring bandwidths greater than approximately
200 MHz, the semiconductor injection laser diode is preferred over the LED.

• Laser diodes typically have response times less than 1 ns, can have spectral widths of 2 nm
or less, and are capable of coupling from tens to hundreds of milliwatts of useful luminescent
power into optical fibers

• Stimulated emission in semiconductor lasers arises from optical transitions between

distributions of energy states in the valence and conduction bands. The radiation in laser
diode is generated within a Fabry-Perot resonator cavity, Here the cavity is approximately
250–500 µm long, 5–15 µm wide, and 0.1–0.2 µm thick. These dimensions commonly are
referred to as the longitudinal, lateral, and transverse dimensions of the cavity, respectively.
 Fabry-Perot resonator cavity for a laser diode.
• The cleaved crystal ends function as partially reflecting mirrors.
• The unused end (the rear facet) can be coated with a dielectric reflector to reduce
optical loss in the cavity.
 Fabry-Perot resonator cavity :
• Two flat, partially reflecting mirrors are directed toward each
other to enclose the Fabry-Perot resonator cavity.
• The purpose of the mirrors is to establish a strong optical
feedback in the longitudinal direction.
• This feedback mechanism converts the device into an
oscillator (and hence a light emitter) with a gain mechanism
that compensates for optical losses in the cavity at certain
resonant optical frequencies.
WORKING :
• As the light reflects back and forth within the Fabry-Perot
cavity, the electric fields of the light interfere on successive
Two parallel light-reflecting
round trips.
mirrored surfaces define a Fabry-
Perot resonator cavity.
• Those wavelengths that are integer multiples of the cavity
length interfere constructively so that their amplitudes add
when they exit the device through the righthand facet.
• All other wavelengths interfere destructively and thus cancel themselves out.

• The optical frequencies at which constructive interference occurs are the resonant
frequencies of the cavity.

• The resonant wavelengths are called the longitudinal modes of the cavity because they
resonate along the length of the cavity.
• The plots give the relative intensity as a function
of the wavelength relative to the cavity length.
• the width of the resonances depends on the value
of the reflectivity. That is, the resonances become
sharper as the reflectivity increases.
Compare LED and Laser diode
s. no Parameter LED LASER
Through spontaneous Through stimulated
1 Emission of light
(Incoherent) emission (coherent)
2 o/p power emitted Low/medium High
3 Response time slow Fast response time
4 Spectral width broad Narrow
5 Need for resonant chamber No Yes
6 Counter efficient low High
Long distance
Short distance using
7 application Long haul optical
multi mode fibers
communication system

8 Types of fabrication multimode Single mode/multimode

9 Modulation BW low High
Simpler fabrication
10 Fabrication Complex
(No resonant chamber)
11 cost low High
12 Temperature dependence Linear out put
13 simpler complex
• PIN photodetector and

• Avalanche photodiode (APD).

• At the output end of an optical transmission line,the first element of this receiver is a
photodetector.

• The photodetector senses the optical power falling upon it and converts the variation of
this optical power into a correspondingly varying electric current.

• The two types of photodiodes used are:

1) PIN photodetector and

2) Avalanche photodiode (APD).

These photo diodes are used because of its small size, suitable material, high
sensitivity, and fast response time.
 Physical Principles of Photodiodes :
Q:With relevant diagrams, explain the principles of conversion of optical signal to electrical signal
by a PIN photodetector. (8)
With schematic explain reverse biased pin photodiode
Explain the physical principles of photodiode with suitable diagram. (6)

• The device structure consists of p and n regions separated by a very lightly n-doped intrinsic (i) region.
In normal operation a sufficiently large reverse-bias voltage is applied across the device so that the
intrinsic region is fully depleted of carriers.

• That is, the intrinsic n and p carrier concentrations are negligibly small in comparison with the impurity
concentration in this region. When an incident photon has an energy greater than or equal to the
bandgap energy of the semiconductor material, the photon can give up its energy and excite an
electron from the valence band to the conduction band.
 • This absorption process generates mobile electron–hole
pairs.

• These electrons and holes are known as photocarriers, since

they are photon-generated charge carriers that are available
to produce a current flow when a bias voltage is applied
across the device.

• The number of charge carriers is controlled by the

concentration level of impurity elements that are
intentionally added to the material.
Representation of a pin photodiode
circuit with an applied reverse bias.
An incident optical power level decays • This gives rise to a current flow in an external circuit, with
exponentially inside the device.
one electron flowing for every carrier pair generated. This
current flow is known as the photocurrent.
• On the average, the charge carriers move a distance Ln or Lp for electrons and holes,
respectively.
• This distance is known as the diffusion length. The time it takes for an electron or
hole to recombine is known as the carrier lifetime.
The lifetimes and the diffusion lengths are related by the expressions

• where Dn and Dp are the electron and hole diffusion coefficients (or constants), respectively, which are
expressed in units of centimeters squared per second.
• The quantum efficiency 𝜼 is the number of the electron–hole carrier pairs generated per incident–
absorbed photon of energy hV and is given by

• Here, Ip is the photocurrent generated by a steady-state optical power Pin incident on the photodetector.
• To achieve a high quantum efficiency, the depletion layer must be thick enough to permit a large fraction
of the incident light to be absorbed. However, the thicker the depletion layer, the longer it takes for the
photogenerated carriers to drift across the reverse biased junction.
 Responsivity :
• The performance of a photodiode is often characterized by the responsivity R. This is related to the
quantum efficiency by

• The upper wavelength cutoff λc is determined by the bandgap energy Eg of the material. If Eg is expressed
in units of electron volts (eV), then λc is given in units of micrometers (µm) by
Q) GaAs has a band gap energy of 1.3V at 300K. Determine the wavelength above which an intrinsic
photodetector fabricated from this terminal will cease to operate.
Ans: The long wavelength cutoff is
ℎ𝑐 6.626 ×10−34 ×3×108 6.626 ×10−34 ×3×108
λc = = =
ϵ𝑔 1.43 𝑒𝑉 1.43×1.6×10−19
= 0.869 µm
= 869 nm
This GaAs photodiode will not operate for photon of wavelength greater than 869 nm.

Q) In a 100ns pulse, 𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 photons at a wavelength of 1300 nm fall as an InGaAs photodetector on

the average 𝟓. 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 e-hole pairs are generated. Find the quantum efficiency of the diode.
𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑒−ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 5.4×106
Ans :The quantum efficiency = ƞ = = = 0.90 = 90%
𝑛𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑠 6×106
2. Avalanche Photodiodes

Q: In detail provide the relevant explanation, diagram and expression for

a reach through Avalanche photodiode

Q: Explain the structure of RAPD and its working. (8)

 2. Avalanche Photodiodes
• Avalanche photodiodes (APDs) internally multiply the primary signal photocurrent before it
enters the input circuitry of the following amplifier.
• This increases receiver sensitivity, since the photocurrent is multiplied before encountering
the thermal noise associated with the receiver circuit. In order for carrier multiplication to
take place, the photogenerated carriers must traverse a region where a very high electric
field is present.
• In this high-field region, a photogenerated electron or hole can gain enough energy so that it
ionizes bound electrons in the valence band upon colliding with them. This carrier
multiplication mechanism is known as impact ionization.
• The newly created carriers are also accelerated by the high electric field, thus gaining enough
energy to cause further impact ionization. This phenomenon is the avalanche effect.
• The reach-through avalanche photodiode (RAPD) is composed of a high-resistivity p-type
material deposited as an epitaxial layer on a p+ (heavily doped p-type) substrate.
• A p-type diffusion or ion implant is then made in the high-resistivity material, followed by
the construction of an n+ (heavily doped n-type) layer. For silicon, the dopants used to form
these layers are normally boron and phosphorus, respectively.
• When a low reverse-bias voltage is applied, most of the potential drop is across the pn+ junction. The
depletion layer widens with increasing bias until a certain voltage is reached at which the peak electric
field at the pn+ junction is about 5–10 percent below that needed to cause avalanche breakdown. At this
point, the depletion layer just “reaches through” to the nearly intrinsic π region.

• Light enters the device through the 𝑝+ region and is absorbed in the π material, which acts as the
collection region for the photogenerated carriers. Upon being absorbed, the photon gives up its energy,
thereby creating electron–hole pairs, which are then separated by the electric field in the π region.

• The photogenerated electrons drift

through the π region in the pn+ junction,
where a high electric field exists. It is in
this high-fi eld region that carrier
multiplication takes place.
Ionization rate :
• The average number of electron–hole pairs created by a carrier per unit distance traveled is called the
ionization rate.
• Most materials exhibit different electron ionization rates α and hole ionization rates β.
• The ratio k = β / α of the two ionization rates is a measure of the photodetector performance.
Multiplication factor (M) :
• The multiplication M for all carriers generated in the photodiode is defined by

• where IM is the average value of the total multiplied output current and Ip is the primary unmultiplied
photocurrent.
• In practice, the avalanche mechanism is a statistical process, since not every carrier pair generated in the
diode experiences the same multiplication. Thus, the measured value of M is expressed as an average
quantity.
Q) The quantum efficiency of a silicon RAPD is 80%. For the detection of radiation at a
wavelength of 0.9µm. When the incident optical power is 0.5µW, the multiplied current
from the device( after avalanche gain) is 11µA. Determine the multiplication factor ‘M’
of the photodiode. 𝐼𝑀
Multiplication factor M =
Ans :Given, 𝐼𝑃
11×10−6
Incident optical power=Pin= 0.5µW =
0.291×10−6
Wavelength=λ=0.9µm M = 37.8 ≅ 38
ƞ=0.8, Im=11µA, Ip=
ƞ×𝑒×λ 0.8×1.602×10−19 ×0.9×10−6
Responsivity=R= = −34 8
ℎ𝑐 6.626×10 ×3×10
R= 0.58 A/W
Ip = 𝑅 × 𝑃𝑖𝑛 = 0.5 × 10−6 × 0.581
Ip = 0.291µA