EXCEL ENGINEERING COLLEGE

(Autonomous)
Electronics and Communication Engineering
VII semester
EC8751- OPTICAL COMMUNICATION
Regulations 2017
Questions and Answers
UNIT – 5 (OPTICAL SOURCES AND DETECTORS AND MEASUREMENT)
PART- A
[Link] Questions
Compare optical sources: LASER and LED.

S.N LASER LED

1 o
1 Coherent Source Incoherent source
2 Stimulated Emission Spontaneous
Emission
3 Both MMF and SMF MMF fibre only
State the responsivity of a photo detector
Responsivity is defined as the ratio of output photo current to the incident optical
power.
R=Ip/Po = ὴq/hᵞ
2
where, R=Responsivity.
Ip=Output photo current
Po=Incident optical power

Distinguish between direct and indirect band gap materials..

[Link] Direct bandgap material Indirect bandgap material

1 The electron and hole have the The conduction band minimum and the
3 same momentum value valence band maximum energy level occur
at different values of momentum.
2 Direct transition is possible from Direct transition is not possible from
valence band to conduction band valence band to conduction band
3 [Link] Si and Ge
What is heterojunction?
 A heterojunction is an interface between two adjoining single crystal semiconductors with different
4
bandgap energies.
 Devices that are fabricated with heterojunction are said to have hetrostructure.
List out the applications of heterojunction
 Carrier and optical confinement
5
 High output power
 High coherence and stability
Define Quantum Efficiency.
 Quantum efficiency is defined as the number of the electron-hole carrier pairs
generated per incident photon of energy ℎ𝑣,
= (number of electron−hole pairs generated/number of incident photons)
6 =(Ip/q)/(Po/h v)
where Ip is the photon current
q is the charge of the electron
Po is the optical output power
h is the Planck’s constant
 v is the frequency of the optical signal
State the necessary features of a photodetector.
 High Quantum efficiency
7
 Low rise time or fast response
 Low dark current.
Mention the advantages of LED
 Less expensive
8  Less complex
 Long life time
 Used for short distance communication
When an LED has 2V applied to its terminals, it draws 100mA and produces 2mW of optical power. Determine
conversion efficiency of the LED from electrical to optical power.
Given Data: Vin = 2 V, Iin = 100×10 -3
A, Pout = 2×10-3
9 Formula: LED conversion efficiency =Pout/Pin
Solution:
Pin = Vin × Iin = 2 × 100×10-3
Conversion Efficiency = 2×10−3
2×100×10−3 = 0.01
Compare DFB LASER from other types of LASER.
 In DFB Laser, the lasing action is obtained by periodic variations of refractive index, which are
10
incorporated into multilayer structure along the length of the diode.
 DFB LASER does not require optical feedback unlike the other LASERs.
Recite the term direct band gap material.
 A direct band-gap (DBG) semiconductor is one in which the maximum energy level of the valence band
aligns with the minimum energy level of the conduction band with respect to momentum.
11  In a DBG semiconductor, a direct recombination takes place with the release of the energy equal to the
energy difference between the recombining particles.
 The probability of a radiative recombination is high.
 The efficiency factor of a DBG semiconductor is higher.E.g GaAs
List any four disadvantages of PIN diode.

 Less sensitivity
12  No internal gain
 Slow response time
 High reverse recovery time due to power loss are significant

What is intrinsic semiconductor?

13  Intrinsic semiconductors are pure semiconductor materials.

State the Define lambertian pattern.

14
A surface emitting Burrus type LED emits power with an isotropic emission pattern known as lambertian pattern.
Give the dimensions of spectral pattern of Edge emitting LED.

15  The width of the contact stripe of ELED varies in the range of 50-70 mm so as to match the diameter of
standard multimode fibers of the order of 50-100 mm.
 The radiation pattern of an ELED source is comparatively better than that of an SLED source.
Recognize the term light emitting diode
 A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through it.
16  Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons.
 The color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photons) is determined by the energy required for
electrons to cross the band gap of the semiconductor.
Recite the term LASER
17
 LASER is the acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
  Lasers can be obtained in a variety of media such as gas, liquid, plasma and solid.
Recall population inversion.
18  It is necessary to create a situation such that the population in the higher energy level is more than at the
lower (ground)stable energy level(n2>n1).
List any four advantages of PIN diode.

 Low noise
19  Low dark current
 High-speed response
 Higher reverse voltages to be tolerated.

Define single mode laser.

 For single-mode operation, the optical output from a laser must contain only a single longitudinal and single
20 transverse mode.
 the spectral width of the emission from the single-mode device is far smaller than the broadened transition
line width.

PART- B
[Link] Questions
1 Illustrate the working principle of surface emitting LED with a neat diagram .
Surface-emitting LED (SLED):

 A high radiance surface emitting LED particularly suitable for optical fiber communication system.
 In a surface emitting LED the light is emitted in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the pn-junction.
 The surface emitting LEDs are often referred to as Burrus type.
 A surface emitting Burrus type LED emits power with an isotropic emission pattern known as lambertian
pattern.
 Such a source looks equally bright when viewed from any direction.
 The power however,diminishes by a factor equal to the cosine of the viewing angle measured with respect to
the normal drawn on the emitting surface.
 This means that the power emitted in a direction reduces to 50 percent when the viewing angle becomes 60°
(cos 60° = 0.5).
 The half power beam width of a surface emitting LED is thus 120°. The coupling schematic cross-section of a
Burrus type DH-LED with a piece of optical fiber bonded on the emitting surface is shown in Fig.

Fig.A cross sectional view of surface emiting LED

 The coupling of light from the non-coherent source to the optical fiber depends on the numerical aperture of
the light receiving fiber.
 SLEDs generally suffer from the problem of lateral current spreading when the contact area is less than 25
mm.
 The effective emission area is much less than the contact area which results in coupling loss.
 Advantages: The coupling can be increased by making use of a multimode fiber with a relatively large value
 of numerical aperture. The coupling efficiency can also be improved by making use of micro-lensing
arrangement.

2 Explain the working the function of a edge emitting LED with a block diagram
EDGE EMITTING LED
 A double-hetero structure Edge-emitting Light Emitting Diode (ELED) uses stripe geometry similar to that
used in an injection laser diode to restrict the current spreading in the lateral direction.
 It consists of an active region which is made of a suitable material to emit light in the desired wavelength
region and is sandwiched between two guiding layers.
 Both the guiding regions have the same refractive index value which is lower than the refractive index of the
active region but higher than the refractive index of the surrounding material.
 The stripe geometry forms a complex waveguide that channelize the emitted optical power toward the core of
the receiving fiber whose axis is parallel to the plane of the pn-junction as shown in Fig.

[Link] of an edge emitting LED

The light usually is collected from one end by making the rear facet reflective.
 The width of the contact stripe of ELED varies in the range of 50-70 mm so as to match the diameter of
standard multimode fibers of the order of 50-100 mm.
 The radiation pattern of an ELED source is comparatively better than that of an SLED source.
3 Discuss the laser diode structure with an neat diagram
LASER DIODES-MODES AND THRESHOLD CONDITIONS
LASER is the acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Lasers can be
obtained in a variety of media such as gas, liquid, plasma and solid.
It is necessary to create a situation such that the population in the higher energy level is more than at the lower
(ground)stable energy level. This situation is called population [Link] Heterostructure Laser Diode

 A simple homojuction laser diode generally requires a high threshold current for lasing to occur.
 The injection laser diodes are generally fabricated with double heterostructure configuration to have a better
carrier and photon confinements that lead to a smaller threshold current for lasing.
 In the double heterostructure configuration a narrow bandgap material forming the active region is generally
sandwiched between two layers of wider bandgap materials.
 A typical GaAs/AlGaAs double heterostructure injection laser diode .
  The wave propagating through the cavity along the longitudinal direction (say, z-axis). The electric field can
be expressed as

where, I(z) is the optical field intensity, ω is the angular frequency of the radiation field and b is the
propagation constant.

Gain-Guided Structure
 The gain-guided structure is obtained by introducing stripe geometry to the structure.
 In this case the current injection is restricted to narrow region beneath the stripe. Lasing occurs in the limited
region defined by the stripe electrode of small width that runs along the length of the cavity.
 Injection of high density current beneath the stripe creates population inversion resulting into a small
variation in the refractive index below the stripe.
 A weak complex waveguide structure is thus created in the process.

Index-Guided Structure
 Index-guided structures make use of dielectric waveguide structure in the lateral direction running along the
length of the cavity.
 The light in index-guided structures is guided by the variations in the refractive index of different regions.
 The index-guided structure provides only one fundamental transverse mode and when operated with a
single longitudinal mode it emits a well collimated beam with a Bell shaped intensity distribution as shown in
Fig.

4. Express about the modulation of LED with a neat diagram .

 The absence of optical amplification through stimulated emission in the LED tends to limit the internal
quantum efficiency (ratio of photons generated to injected electrons) of the device.
 Reliance on spontaneous emission allows nonradiative recombination to take place within the structure due
to crystalline imperfections and impurities giving, at best, an internal quantum efficiency of 50% for simple
homojunction devices.
LIGHT SOURCE MATERIALS
 The Near InfraRed (NIR) region of the optical spectrum ranging approximately from 0.8 mm to 1.65 mm is
used in optical fiber based communication system.
 The reason behind this is that optical fibers are primarily made of silica glass and silica fibers offer minimum
loss in this wavelength region.
 The intrinsic loss of silica fiber is very high both in the ultraviolet region and infrared region (beyond 2 mm).
 Further, we have learnt that the emission wavelength of a semiconductor material depends on the direct
energy bandgap of the material.
 Many ternary and quaternary III-V semiconductor alloys of binary compounds are direct bandgap materials.
MODULATION OF LED
 The modulation bandwidth in optical communications may be defined in either electrical or optical terms.
 It is often more useful when considering the associated electrical circuitry in an optical fiber communication
system to use the electrical definition where the electrical signal power has dropped to half its constant value
 due to the modulated portion of the optical signal.
 This corresponds to the electrical 3 dB point or the frequency at which the output electric power is reduced by
3 dB with respect to the input electric power.
 As optical sources operate down to d.c. level we only consider the high-frequency 3 dB point, the modulation
bandwidth being the frequency range between zero and this high-frequency 3 dB [Link] is shown in Fig.

Frequency response for optical power system and optical bandwidth.

5. Derive the equation for Derive laser diode rate equations

Laser Diode Rate Equations
 A laser diode essentially converts an electrical signal to an optical signal.
 The relation between the optical output power of a laser diode and the drive current, can be obtained by
considering the rate equations for electron concentration and photon density in the active region of the laser
diode.
 A simplified relationship between the drive-current and optical power can be derived by assuming that the
modulating frequency is much less than the cut-off frequency decided by the transit time of the optical wave
in the cavity.
 The two rate equations that govern the electron concentration and photon density are given by

---------------(1)
where, δ is the photon flux density, N is the electron concentration (per unit volume), tsp is the spontaneous lifetime
of the carriers and tph is the photon lifetime, J is the conduction, d is the thickness of the active region, q is the
electronic charge and d is a small fractional value.

 Under steady-state condition, the photon flux density and electron concentration values do not change with
time.

Thus in the steady-state we may write

------(2)
  find that the contribution of the second term on the left hand side arising from spontaneous emission is very
small and can be neglected. Further in order that the photon flux density ,

-------(3)

 The threshold value of the electron concentration, nth can be obtained from equation

------(4)
 The steady-state photon flux density can be obtained

-----(5)

6 (i)Explain the external quantum efficiency

. External Quantum Efficiency

The external quantum efficiency of a laser diode is defined as the number of photons emitted per radiative
recombination of electron-hole pair above threshold. It may be noted here that above threshold the radiative
recombination takes place through stimulated emission because the lifetime of the carriers is much shorter for
stimulated emission (~10 ps) as compared to that for spontaneous emission (typically ~1ns). Assuming that above the
threshold region, the gain coefficient remains same as gth and the external quantum efficiency of the laser diode can
be expressed as

where, hi is the internal quantum efficiency. The internal quantum efficiency is defined as

The value of internal quantum efficiency is very high ranging between 50 and 100 per cent. The external quantum
efficiency of the laser diode can also be estimated from the slope of the optical power versus bias current
characteristic in the lasing region and is often called differential quantum efficiency. The external differential quantum
efficiency can be written as

(ii) Discuss the operation of single mode laser

SINGLE MODE LASER
For single-mode operation, the optical output from a laser must contain only a single longitudinal and single transverse
mode. Hence the spectral width of the emission from the single-mode device is far smaller than the broadened
transition linewidth. It was indicated that an inhomogeneously broadened laser can support a number of longitudinal
and transverse modes simultaneously, giving a multimode output. Single transverse mode operation, however, may
be obtained by reducing the aperture of the resonant cavity such that only the TEM00 mode is supported. To obtain
single-mode operation it is then necessary to eliminate all but one of the longitudinal modes.
One method of achieving single longitudinal mode operation is to reduce the length L of the cavity until the frequency
separation of the adjacent modes.
Then only the single mode which falls within the transition linewidth can oscillate within the laser cavity. However, it is
 clear that rigid control of the cavity parameters is essential to provide the mode stabilization necessary to achieve and
maintain this single-mode operation.
The structures required to give mode stability are discussed with regard to the multimode injection [Link] similar
techniques can be employed to produce a laser emitting a single longitudinal and transverse mode. For example, the
correct DH structure will restrict the vertical width of the waveguiding region to less than 0.4µm allowing only the
fundamental transverse mode to be supported and removing any interference of the higher order transverse modes on
the emitted longitudinal [Link] is shown in fig.

Fig. Single longitudinal output spectrum in a single mode laser

External Modulation:
External modulation occurs when the laser chirp exceeds half the desired channel spacing in the communication
system. Chirp occurs due to changes in the refractive index, and hence the optical phase, during modulation. This
dynamic phase shift then results in an instantaneous frequency shift. For direct modulation we have instantaneous
wavelength.
7 Illustrate the working principle of PIN photo diode with a neat diagram.
PIN PHOTO DETECTOR
 It consists of an intrinsic undoped i-region (usually lightly doped n-type, denoted by n or a lightly doped p-
region denoted by p) sandwiched between heavily doped p- and n-regions.
 The number of free carriers available in the i-region is very small and as a result the whole region gets
depleted even at a low reverse voltage.
 Absorption of light in the semiconductor produces electron-hole pairs in the depletion region or within a
diffusion length of it contribute to external photocurrent.
 In order to facilitate the entry of light into the semiconductor in practical p-i-n detector an etched opening is
either created in the top contact (front illumination)
 An etched hole is created at the rear substrate end (back illumination).
 The schematic of a p-i-n detector is shown in Fig. along with the energy band diagram.

Fig. The schematic of a p-i-n detector and Energy band diagram

 -----------------(1)
where, Jdr is the drift current due to carriers generated in the depletion region and Jdiff is the diffusion current due to
carriers generated in the neutral bulk region of the semiconductor and diffusing into the depletion region.
Advantages of PIN diode :

 Low noise
 Low dark current
 Low bias voltage
 Higher reverse voltages to be tolerated
 High-speed response
 Low junction capacitance
 Large depletion region

Disadvantages of PIN diode :

 Less sensitivity
 No internal gain
 Small area
 Slow response time
 High reverse recovery time due to power loss are significant.

8 Explain the operation of avalanche photo diode with a necessary diagram.

 Avalanche photodiode is a specially designed photodetector that can internally multiply the primary signal
photocurrent before it is delivered to the input circuitry of the following stage pre-amplifier.
 This increases the receiver sensitivity because the signal current is multiplied before encountering the
thermal noise associated with the receiver circuit.
 An avalanche photodiode is more complex and sophisticated structure than a non-multiplying p-i-n
photodetector.
 In order that the photogenerated carriers can get multiplied, they must travel through a high electric field
region (2 – 5 × 107 V/m) where they may gain sufficient energy to ionize bound electrons in the valence band
upon colliding with the lattice.
 This carrier multiplication mechanism is known as impact ionization.
 The primary carriers thus produce secondary carriers which again gain energy from the high field to produce
tertiary carriers and the process of carrier generation build up continuously.
 This phenomenon is known as the avalanche effect. The most commonly used structure for achieving carrier
multiplication process with minimal amount of excess noise is the reach-trough [Link] schematic
diagram is shown in Fig.
 The structure consists of a high resistivity p-type material layer grown epitaxially on a heavily doped p +
substrate. The lightly doped p-type (P) layer is followed by a moderately doped p-region and a heavily doped
n-region.
 This structure is referred to as p+-π-p-n+ RAPD. The p region is essentially an intrinsic region which
unintentionally has some p-type doping because of improper purification during processing. When the
reverse voltage applied across the structure increases the depletion layer widens across the p-region.
 [Link] through Avanache Photo diode a).Structure b).Electric field Profile.

PHOTO DETECTOR NOISE

 In a direct detection receiver the intensity modulated light received by the detector experiences random
arrival of photons which give rise to random generation of electron-hole pairs in the photodetector.
 This random generation of electrons and holes due to absorption of photons manifests in the form of
quantum (or shot) noise.
 The quantum or shot-noise produced in the process depends on the photogenerated current.
 For a non-multiplying photo detectors such as a p-i-n diode, the photogenerated carriers produce the
photocurrent without any multiplication gain (M = 1).

9 (i)Discuss the various noise sources in photo detectors

NOISESOURCES:
In communication systems, noise is generally viewed as undesired electrical disturbance signals that tend to affect
adversely the transmission and processing of the desired information signal.
The noise may be either external (atmospheric or man-made) in nature or may be internal to the system. For example,
consider the processing of a signal by an electronic circuit comprising different active and passive components.
The active components consisting of transistors or other devices give rise to shot-noise1 and other passive
components give rise to thermal noise.
The shot-noise is generally due to discrete nature of current flow which for example, may arise out of random injection
of carriers across the pn-junction in the case of BJT.
The thermal noise also known as White or Johnson noise arises from the random motion of carriers through
conductors due to temperature effect.

The excess noise introduced by an APD is measured in terms of excess noise factor F (M) which is a function of the
multiplication gain, M. The excess noise factor is defined as the ratio of the mean-square gain divided by the square of
the mean gain, given by

---------(1)

The excess-noise factor, F (M), depends on the ionization rate ratio and the type of the carrier (electron or hole)
initiating the ionization. For electron initiated ionization the excess noise factor can be expressed in terms of
multiplication gain, M as

------(2)
QUANTUM NOISE
The discrete nature of arrival of photons and their subsequent creation of electron-hole pairs randomly in the
photodetector give rise to a form of noise called quantum noise.
(ii) The radiative and non radiative recombination lifetimes of the minority carriers in theactive region of a double-
heterojunction LED are 60 ns and 100 ns respectively. Determine the total carrier recombination lifetime and the
power internally generated within the device when the peak emission wavelength is 0.87 µm at a drive current of 40
mA.
Solution: The total carrier recombination lifetime is given

To calculate the power internally generated it is necessary to obtain the internalquantum efficiency of the device.
 The LED which has an internal quantum efficiency of 62.5% generates 35.6 mW of optical power, internally. It should
be noted, however, that this power level will not be readily emitted from the device.
10 Explain Attenuation measurement of optical Fiber.
 Fiber Attenuation Measurements Fiber attenuation measurement techniques have been developed in order
to determine the total fiber attenuation of the relative contributions to this total from both absorption losses
and scattering losses.
 The overall fiber attenuation is of greatest interest to the system designer, but the relative magnitude of the
different loss mechanisms is important in the development and fabrication of low-loss fibers. Measurement
techniques to obtain the total fiber attenuation give either the spectral loss characteristic or the loss at a
single wavelength (spot measurement).
 A commonly used technique for determining the total fiber attenuation per unit length is the cut-back or
differential method.
 the typical experimental setup for measurement of the spectral loss to obtain the overall attenuation spectrum
for the fiber. It consists of a ‘white’ light source, usually a tungsten halogen or xenon are lamp. The focused
light is mechanically chopped at a low frequency of a few hundred hertz.
 This enables the lock-in amplifier at the receiver to perform phase-sensitive detection. The chopped light is
then fed through a monochromator which utilizes a prism or diffraction grating arrangement to select the
required wavelength at which the attenuation is to be measured. Hence the light is filtered before being
focused onto the fiber by means of a microscope objective lens.
 A beam splitter may be incorporated before the fiber to provide light for viewing optics and a reference signal
used to compensate for output power fluctuations When the measurement is performed on multimode fibers
it is very dependent on the optical launch conditions.
 Therefore unless the launch optics are arranged to give the steady-state mode distribution at the fiber input,
or a dummy fiber is used, then a mode scrambling device is attached to the fiber within the first meter.

 The fiber is also usually put through a cladding mode stripper, which may consist of an S-shaped groove cut
in the Teflon and filled with glycerine.
 This device removes light launched into the fiber cladding through radiation into the index-matched (or
slightly higher refractive index) glycerine.
 A mode stripper can also be included at the fiber output end to remove any optical power which is scattered
from the core into the cladding down the fiber length.
 This tends to be pronounced when the fiber cladding consists of a low refractive-index silicone resin. The
 optical power at the receiving end of the fiber is detected using a p–i–n or avalanche photodiode.
 In order to obtain reproducible results the photodetector surface is usually index matched to the fiber output
end face using epoxy resin or an index-matching gell.
 Finally, the electrical output from the photo detector is fed to a lock-in amplifier, the output of which is
recorded. The cut-back method* involves taking a set of optical output power measurements over the
required spectrum using a long length of fiber (usually at least a kilometer).
 This fiber is generally uncabled having only a primary protective coating. Increased losses due to cabling do
not tend to change the shape of the attenuation spectrum as they are entirely radiative, and for multimode
fibers are almost wavelength independent.
 The fiber is then cut back to a point 2 m from the input end and, maintaining the same launch conditions,

another set of power output measurements is taken.

 L1 and L2 are the original and cut-back fiber lengths respectively, and P01 and P02 are the corresponding
output optical powers at a specific wavelength from the original and cut-back fiber lengths. Hence when L1
and L2 are measured in kilometers, αdB has units of dB km−1.

(Note:*Blooms Level (R – Remember, U – Understand, AP – Apply, AZ – Analyze, E – Evaluate, C – Create)

PART A- Blooms Level : Remember, Understand, Apply
PART B- Blooms Level: Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate(if possible)
Marks: 16 Marks, 8+8 Marks, 10+6 Marks)

Subject In charge Course Coordinator HOD IQAC

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