Chapter 3

OPTICAL SOURCES AND

DETECTORS
 Contents

• Review of Semiconductor Physics

• Light Emitting Diode (LED)
- Structure, Material,Quantum efficiency, LED Power,
Modulation
• Laser Diodes
- structure, Modes, Rate Equation,Quantum efficiency,
Resonant frequencies, Radiation pattern
• Single-Mode Lasers
- DFB (Distributed-FeedBack) laser, Distributed-Bragg Reflector,
Modulation
• Light-source Linearity
• Noise in Lasers
 Review of Semiconductor Physics

k B  1.38 10 23 JK -1

a) Energy level diagrams showing the excitation of an electron from the valence band to the conduction band.
The resultant free electron can freely move under the application of electric field.
b) Equal electron & hole concentrations in an intrinsic semiconductor created by the thermal excitation of
electrons across the band gap
Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000
 n-Type Semiconductor

a) Donor level in an n-type semiconductor.

b) The ionization of donor impurities creates an increased electron concentration distribution.

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 p-Type Semiconductor

a) Acceptor level in an p-type semiconductor.

b) The ionization of acceptor impurities creates an increased hole concentration distribution

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Intrinsic & Extrinsic Materials
• Intrinsic material: A perfect material with no impurities.
Eg
n  p  ni  exp( ) [4-1]
2 k BT
n & p & ni are the electron, hole & intrinsic concentrations respectively.

E g is the gap energy, T is Temperatur e.

• Extrinsic material: donor or acceptor type semiconductors.

2
pn  ni [4-2]

• Majority carriers: electrons in n-type or holes in p-type.

• Minority carriers: holes in n-type or electrons in p-type.
• The operation of semiconductor devices is essentially based on
the injection and extraction of minority carriers.
 The pn Junction

Electron diffusion across a pn junction

creates a barrier potential (electric field)
in the depletion region.

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Reverse-biased pn Junction

A reverse bias widens the depletion region, but allows minority carriers to move freely with the applied field.

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Forward-biased pn Junction

Lowering the barrier potential with a forward bias allows majority carriers to diffuse across the junction.

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Direct Band Gap Semiconductors

The E-k Diagram The Energy Band

Ek Diagram

CB
Conduction
Empty k e-
Band (CB) e-
Ec Ec
Eg h h

Valence
Ev Ev
Band (VB) h+ Occupied k h+

VB

k
–š /a š /a
The E-k diagram of a direct bandgap semiconductor such as GaAs. The E-k
curve consists of many discrete points with each point corresponding to a
possible state, wavefunction k(x), that is allowed to exist in the crystal.
The points are so close that we normally draw the E-k relationship as a
continuous curve. In the energy range Ev to Ec there are no points (k(x)
solutions).
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
 Indirect Band Gap Semiconductors

E E E

CB
Indirect Bandgap, Eg
Ec CB
Direct Bandgap Eg Photon CB Ec Er Ec
Ev kcb Phonon
Ev Ev
VB
VB kvb VB
–k k –k k –k k
(a) GaAs (b) Si (c) Si with a recombination center

(a) In GaAs the minimum of the CB is directly above the maximum of the VB. GaAs is
therefore a direct bandgap semiconductor. (b) In Si, the minimum of the CB is displaced from
the maximum of the VB and Si is an indirect bandgap semiconductor. (c) Recombination of
an electron and a hole in Si involves a recombination center .
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)
 Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

• For photonic communications requiring data rate 100-200 Mb/s

with multimode fiber with tens of microwatts, LEDs are usually
the best choice.
• LED configurations being used in photonic communications:
1- Surface Emitters (Front Emitters)
2- Edge Emitters
Cross-section drawing of a typical
GaAlAs double heterostructure light
emitter. In this structure, x>y to provide
for both carrier confinement and optical
guiding.
b) Energy-band diagram showing the
active region, the electron & hole
barriers which confine the charge carriers
to the active layer.
c) Variations in the refractive index; the
lower refractive index of the material in
regions 1 and 5 creates an optical barrier
around the waveguide because of the higher
band-gap energy of this material.

1.240
 ( m)  [4-3]
E g (eV)

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Surface-Emitting LED

Schematic of high-radiance surface-emitting LED. The active region is limitted

to a circular cross section that has an area compatible with the fiber-core end face.

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Edge-Emitting LED

Schematic of an edge-emitting double heterojunction LED. The output beam is

lambertian in the plane of junction and highly directional perpendicular to pn junction.
They have high quantum efficiency & fast response.
Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000
 Light Source Material
• Most of the light sources contain III-V ternary & quaternary
compounds.
• Ga 1 x Al x As by varying x it is possible to control the band-gap
energy and thereby the emission wavelength over the range of
800 nm to 900 nm. The spectral width is around 20 to 40 nm.
• In1 x Ga x As y P1 y By changing 0<x<0.47; y is approximately 2.2x,
the emission wavelength can be controlled over the range of
920 nm to 1600 nm. The spectral width varies from 70 nm to
180 nm when the wavelength changes from 1300 nm to 1600
nm. These materials are lattice matched.
Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000
Spectral width of LED types

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

Rate equations, Quantum Efficiency & Power of
LEDs
• When there is no external carrier injection, the excess density
decays exponentially due to electron-hole recombination.

n(t )  n0 e  t / [4-4]

• n is the excess carrier density,

n0 : initial injected excess electron density

 : carrier lifetime.
• Bulk recombination rate R:

dn n
R  [4-5]

dt 
• Bulk recombination rate (R)=Radiative recombination rate +
nonradiative recombination rate
bulk recombination rate ( R  1/τ ) 
radiative recombinat ion rate ( Rr  1/τ r )  nonradiati ve recombination rate( Rnr  1/τ nr )

With an external supplied current density of J the rate equation for the electron-hole
recombination is:

dn(t ) J n
  [4-6]
dt qd 
q : charge of the electron; d : thickness of recombination region
In equilibrium condition: dn/dt=0

J
n [4-7]
qd
Internal Quantum Efficiency & Optical Power

Rr  nr 
int    [4-8]
Rr  Rnr  r   nr  r
int : internal quantum efficiency in the active region

Optical power generated internally in the active region in the LED is:

I hcI
Pint  int h  int [4-9]
q q
Pint : Internal optical power,
I : Injected current to active region
 External Quantum Eficiency

# of photons emitted from LED

ext  [4-10]
# of LED internally generated photons

• In order to calculate the external quantum efficiency, we need to

consider the reflection effects at the surface of the LED. If we
consider the LED structure as a simple 2D slab waveguide, only
light falling within a cone defined by critical angle will be emitted
from an LED.
 c
1
ext  
4 0
T ( )(2 sin  )d [4-11]

4n1n2
T ( ) : Fresnel Transmissi on Coefficient  T (0)  [4-12]

(n1  n2 ) 2
1
If n2  1  ext  [4-13]
n1 (n1  1) 2
Pint
LED emitted optical powr, P  ext Pint  [4-14]
n1 (n1  1) 2
 Modulation of LED
• The frequency response of an LED depends on:
1- Doping level in the active region
2- Injected carrier lifetime in the recombination region, i .
3- Parasitic capacitance of the LED
• If the drive current of an LED is modulated at a frequency of 
the output optical power of the device will vary as:
P0
P ( )  [4-15]

1  ( i ) 2
• Electrical current is directly proportional to the optical power,
thus we can define electrical bandwidth and optical bandwidth,
separately.
 p()   I() 
Electrical BW  10log    20 log  I ( 0) 
[4-16]

 p ( 0)   
p : electrical power, I : electrical current
  P( )   I ( ) 
Optical BW  10 log    10 log   [4-17]

 P ( 0)   I ( 0) 

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 LASER
(Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation)

• Laser is an optical oscillator. It comprises a resonant optical

amplifier whose output is fed back into its input with matching
phase. Any oscillator contains:
1- An amplifier with a gain-saturated mechanism
2- A feedback system
3- A frequency selection mechanism
4- An output coupling scheme
• In laser the amplifier is the pumped active medium, such as biased
semiconductor region, feedback can be obtained by placing active
medium in an optical resonator, such as Fabry-Perot structure, two
mirrors separated by a prescribed distance. Frequency selection is
achieved by resonant amplifier and by the resonators, which
admits certain modes. Output coupling is accomplished by making
one of the resonator mirrors partially transmitting.
 Pumped active medium
• Three main process for laser action:
1- Photon absorption
2- Spontaneous emission
3- Stimulated emission

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Lasing in a pumped active medium

• In thermal equilibrium the stimulated emission is essentially

negligible, since the density of electrons in the excited state is
very small, and optical emission is mainly because of the
spontaneous emission. Stimulated emission will exceed
absorption only if the population of the excited states is greater
than that of the ground state. This condition is known as
Population Inversion. Population inversion is achieved by
various pumping techniques.

• In a semiconductor laser, population inversion is accomplished

by injecting electrons into the material to fill the lower energy
states of the conduction band.
 Fabry-Perot Resonator
Relative intensity
M1 M2 m=1
A 1 f R ~ 0.8
m=2 R ~ 0.4
 m
B
L m=8 
m - 1 m m + 1
(a) (b) (c)
Resonant modes : kL  m m  1,2,3,..
Schematic illustration of the Fabry-Perot optical cavity and its properties. (a) Reflected
waves interfere. (b) Only standing EM waves, modes, of certain wavelengths are allowed
in the cavity. (c) Intensity vs. frequency for various modes. R is mirror reflectance and
lower R means higher loss from the cavity.

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

(1  R) 2
I trans  I inc [4-18]
(1  R ) 2  4 R sin 2 (kL)
R: reflectance of the optical intensity, k: optical wavenumber
 Laser Diode
• Laser diode is an improved LED, in the sense that uses stimulated
emission in semiconductor from optical transitions between distribution
energy states of the valence and conduction bands with optical
resonator structure such as Fabry-Perot resonator with both optical
and carrier confinements.

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Laser Diode Characteristics

• Nanosecond & even picosecond response time (GHz BW)

• Spectral width of the order of nm or less
• High output power (tens of mW)
• Narrow beam (good coupling to single mode fibers)

• Laser diodes have three distinct radiation modes namely,

longitudinal, lateral and transverse modes.

• In laser diodes, end mirrors provide strong optical feedback in

longitudinal direction, so by roughening the edges and cleaving
the facets, the radiation can be achieved in longitudinal direction
rather than lateral direction.
 DFB(Distributed FeedBack) Lasers
• In DFB lasers, the optical resonator structure is due to the incorporation
of Bragg grating or periodic variations of the refractive index into
multilayer structure along the length of the diode.

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Laser Operation & Lasing Condition
• To determine the lasing condition and resonant frequencies, we
should focus on the optical wave propagation along the
longitudinal direction, z-axis. The optical field intensity, I, can be
written as:
I ( z , t )  I ( z )e j (t  z ) [4-19]

• Lasing is the condition at which light amplification becomes

possible by virtue of population inversion. Then, stimulated
emission rate into a given EM mode is proportional to the
intensity of the optical radiation in that mode. In this case, the
loss and gain of the optical field in the optical path determine the
lasing condition. The radiation intensity of a photon at energy h
varies exponentially with a distance z amplified by factor g,

and attenuated by factor according to the following
relationship:
 I ( z )  I (0) exp  g (h )   (h )  z  [4-20]

R1 n1 R2

Z=0 n2 Z=L

I (2 L)  I (0) R1 R2 exp  g (h )   (h )  (2 L) [4-21]

 : Optical confinement factor, g : gain coefficient

2
 n1  n2 
α : effective absorption coefficient, R   
 n1  n2 
Lasing Conditions:
I (2 L)  I (0)
[4-22]

exp( j 2 L)  1
 Threshold gain & current density

1  1 
g th    ln  [4-23]
2 L  R1 R2 

Laser starts to " lase" iff : g  g th

For laser structure with strong carrier confinement, the threshold current
Density for stimulated emission can be well approximated by:

g th  J th [4-24]

 : constant depends on specific device construction

Optical output vs. drive current

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,[Link],McGrawHill, 2000

 Semiconductor laser rate equations
• Rate equations relate the optical output power, or # of photons per unit
volume,  , to the diode drive current or # of injected electrons per
unit volume, n. For active (carrier confinement) region of depth d, the
rate equations are:
d 
 Cn  Rsp 
dt  ph
Photon rate  stimulated emission  spontaneou s emission  photon loss [4-25]

dn J n
   Cn
dt qd  sp
electron rate  injection  spontaneou s recombination  stimulated emission

C : Coefficient expressing the intensity of the optical emission & absorption process
Rsp :rate of spontaneous emission into the lasing mode
 ph : photon life time
J : Injection current density
 Threshold current Density & excess electron density

• At the threshold of lasing:   0, d / dt  0, Rsp  0

1
from eq. [4 - 25]  Cn   /  ph 0n  nth [4-26]
C ph

• The threshold current needed to maintain a steady state threshold

concentration of the excess electron, is found from electron rate
equation under steady state condition dn/dt=0 when the laser is just
about to lase:
J th nth nth
0   J th  qd [4-27]

qd  sp  sp
 Laser operation beyond the threshold
J  J th

• The solution of the rate equations [4-25] gives the steady state
photon density, resulting from stimulated emission and
spontaneous emission as follows:

 ph
s  ( J  J th )   ph Rsp [4-28]

qd
 External quantum efficiency

• Number of photons emitted per radiative electron-hole pair

recombination above threshold, gives us the external quantum
efficiency.

i ( g th   )
ext 
g th
q dP dP (mW )
  0.8065[ m] [4-29]

E g dI dI (mA)

• Note that: i  60%  70%; ext  15%  40%

 Laser Resonant Frequencies
• Lasing condition, namely eq. [4-22]:

exp( j 2 L)  1  2 L  2m , m  1,2,3,...

2n
• Assuming  the resonant frequency of the mth
mode is: 
mc
m  m  1,2,3,... [4-30]
2 Ln

c 2
   m   m 1     [4-31]

2 Ln 2 Ln
 Spectrum from a laser Diode

 (  0 ) 
g ( )  g (0) exp    : spectral width [4-32]
 2 
2
Laser Diode Structure & Radiation Pattern

• Efficient operation of a laser diode requires reducing the # of

lateral modes, stabilizing the gain for lateral modes as well as
lowering the threshold current. These are met by structures that
confine the optical wave, carrier concentration and current flow
in the lateral direction. The important types of laser diodes are:
gain-induced, positive index guided, and negative index
guided.
(a) gain-induced guide (b)positive-index waveguide (c)negative-index waveguide
Laser Diode with buried heterostructure (BH)
 Single Mode Laser
• Single mode laser is mostly based on the index-guided
structure that supports only the fundamental transverse
mode and the fundamental longitudinal mode. In order
to make single mode laser we have four options:
1- Reducing the length of the cavity to the point where
the frequency separation given in eq[4-31] of the
adjacent modes is larger than the laser transition line
width. This is hard to handle for fabrication and results
in low output power.
2- Vertical-Cavity Surface Emitting laser (VCSEL)
3- Structures with built-in frequency selective grating
4- tunable laser diodes
.
VCSEL
Frequency-Selective laser Diodes:
Distributed Feedback (DFB) laser

2ne 
B  [4-33]

k
 Frequency-Selective laser Diodes:
Distributed Feedback Reflector (DBR) laser
 B
2
1
  B  (m  )
2ne Le 2
[4-35]

Output spectrum symmetrically distributed around Bragg wavelength in an idealized DFB laser diode
Frequency-Selective laser Diodes:
Distributed Reflector (DR) laser
 Modulation of Laser Diodes
• Internal Modulation: Simple but suffers from non-linear effects.
• External Modulation: for rates greater than 2 Gb/s, more
complex, higher performance.
• Most fundamental limit for the modulation rate is set by the
photon life time in the laser cavity:

1 c 1 1  c
   ln   g th
 ph
[4-36]
n 2 L R1 R2  n
• Another fundamental limit on modulation frequency is the
relaxation oscillation frequency given by:
1/ 2
1 1  I 
f    1 [4-37]
2  sp ph  I th 
Relaxation oscillation peak
 Pulse Modulated laser
• In a pulse modulated laser, if the laser is completely turned off
after each pulse, after onset of the current pulse, a time
t d delay,
given by:

 Ip 
t d   ln   [4-38]

 I p  ( I B  I th ) 

 : carrier life time I p : Current pulse amplitude

I B : Bias current
Temperature variation of the threshold
current
I th (T )  I z e T / T0
 Linearity of Laser

Information carrying LED or Laser diode

electrical signal s(t) modulator

Optical putput power:

P(t)=P[1+ms(t)]
 Nonlinearity

x(t) Nonlinear function y=f(x) y(t)

x(t )  A cos t
y (t )  A0  A1 cos t  A2 cos 2t  ...

Nth order harmonic distortion:

 An 
20 log 
 A1 
 Intermodulation Distortion

x(t )  A1 cos 1t  A2 cos  2 t 

y (t )   Bmn cos(m1  n 2 )t m,n  0,1,2,...
m,n

Harmonics:
n 1 , m 2
Intermodulated Terms:

1   2 ,21   2 , 1  2 2 ,...
 Laser Noise

• Modal (speckel) Noise: Fluctuations in the distribution of

energy among various modes.
• Mode partition Noise: Intensity fluctuations in the longitudinal
modes of a laser diode, main source of noise in single mode
fiber systems.
• Reflection Noise: Light output gets reflected back from the fiber
joints into the laser, couples with lasing modes, changing their
phase, and generate noise peaks. Isolators & index matching
fluids can eliminate these reflections.
 PN-junction diodes: Applications
• Diode applications:
– Rectifiers
– Switching diodes
– Zener diodes
– Varactor diodes (Varactor = Variable reactance)
• Photodiodes
– pn junction photodiodes
– p-i-n and avalanche photodiodes
• Solar Cells
• Light Emitting Diodes
• Lasers
 Rectifiers
• Low R in forward
direction: I
– p+-n-n+ structure preferred
– The p+ and n+ regions reduce
the parasitic resistance.
V
• Low I0 in reverse:
– Ge is worse than Si. Why?
• High voltage breakdown
in reverse:
– p+-n-n+ structure
– Higher bandgap materials
 Switching diodes

• Diodes can be used as switching devices

• Need to change from conducting to non-
conducting at high speed
• Storage time or turn-off transients should be
small
• Add recombination centers to reduce
minority carrier lifetimes
For example adding 1015cm–3 gold (Au) to Si reduces hole
lifetime to 0.01 s from 1 s!

• Use narrow-base diodes

 Zener diodes
•The breakdown characteristics of diodes
can be tailored by controlling the doping
concentration
•Heavily doped p+ and n+ regions result in
low breakdown voltage (Zener effect)
•Used as reference
I voltage in voltage
regulators
V
Region of
operation
 Varactor diodes (Variable
reactance diode)
•Voltage-controlled capacitance of a pn junction can be used
in tuning stage of a radio or TV receiver.
•CJ  (VA)–n , where n = 1/2 for an abrupt pn junction.
However, n can be made higher than 1/2 by suitably changing
the doping profile.

NA or ND
Linearly graded

Hyper abrupt abrupt

x
 Opto-electronic diodes
•Many of these diodes involve
semiconductors other than Si. Use direct
bandgap semiconductors.

•Devices to convert optical energy to

electrical energy
– photodetectors: generate electrical signal
– Solar cells: generate electrical power

•Devices to convert electrical energy to

optical energy
Optical spectrum correlated with
relative eye sensitivity
Photon energy Eph = h c / 
Inserting numerical values for h and c yields Eph = 1.24 eV m / 

Note: Our eye is very sensitive to green light

 Photodiodes
•Specifically designed for detector application
and light penetration
•IL = – q A (LN + W + LP) GL assuming uniform
photo-generation rate, GL
I
•I = Idark + IL VA I
V

P n
Increasing
Ln W Lp light intensity
 Photodiodes
•If the depletion width is negligible
compared to Ln + Lp, then IL is proportional
to light intensity.

•Spectral response - an important

characteristic of any photo-detector.
Measures how the photocurrent, IL varies
with the wavelength of incident light.

•Frequency response - measures how

rapidly the detector can respond to a time
 p-i-n photodiodes
•The i-region is very lightly doped (it is
effectively intrinsic). The diode is designed
such that most of the light is absorbed in the
i-region. Under small reverse bias, the i-
region is depleted,1and the carriers 1
f
generated  in the i-region 
time acrossare
Wi collected
Wi / vsat  rapidly
max
carrier transit
due to the strong electric field. If Wi is the
thickness of i-region,
 p-i-n photodiodes
•p-i-n photodiodes operating at 1.55 m are
made on In0.53Ga0.47As deposited on InP
substrate.
Contact metal
Silicon nitride
p+ InGaAs
i-InGaAs
n-InP buffer

n+-InP substrate
Back contact
metal
h
Bandgap energy versus lattice
constant of selected III-V
compounds and alloys
 Solar cells

•Solar cells are large area pn-

junction diodes designed I
specifically to avoid energy Vm
Voc
losses.
VA
–Im

•Voc= the open circuit voltage – Isc

•Isc = current when device is

short circuited
Solar spectral irradiance
 Light-emitting diodes

•When pn junction is
forward biased, large
number of carriers are
injected across the
junctions. These carriers
recombine and emit light if
the semiconductor has a
direct bandgap.
Characteristics of commercial
LEDs
LED cross section