Optical Sources

March 15, 2011

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 Introduction

 Optical Source: the first active component of an optical fiber link

which converts the electrical message signal into light signal.
signal

 Optical Tx - consists of electrical drive circuits, optical sources and

optical coupling devices.

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 Introduction (cont’d)

 Types of Optical Sources

- Incandescent Lamps – wideband, continuous spectra
- Semiconductor pn-junction diodes – the principal light sources in
fiber optic communication:
• Light-emitting diodes (LED) – monochromatic, incoherent
• LASER diode – monochromatic, coherent
 The choice of an optic source depends on the geometrical and
transmission characteristics of the optical fiber:
− shape and radius of core
− attenuation
tt ti and
d di
dispersion
i
− number of modes
 Specifications: output power, spectral width, radiation pattern,
modulation capability.
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 Introduction (cont’d)

 Desired Specifications of an Optical Source

− Directional light output – for efficient coupling into optical fiber
cable

− Output light linearly related to the input current – the output

light must accurately track the information signal.

− Wavelength of the output light must match with the minimum

attenuation and minimum dispersion wavelength of the fiber
cable.

− Sufficient output power

− Narrow spectral width - to reduce dispersion

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− Minimized cost of manufacturing and coupling devices
 Semiconductor Physics

How do semiconductor diodes emit or absorb radiation?

 Electrons in atoms/molecules exist only in certain discrete energy
levels.
 Energy levels are separated by BAND GAP energies.
 The electrical and stability properties of materials are highly affected
by the two outermost energy levels:
− Conduction band – contains free electrons
− Valence band – contains bound outermost electrons

 At absolute zero temperature,

temperature electrons reside in
the valence band.

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 Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)

Fig.
g Pure-crystal
y energy-band
gy diagram
g

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 Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)

 When an electron gains energy ≥ bandgap energy, due to thermal

eexcitation,
c tat o , external
e te a electric
e ect c field,
e d, o
or co
collision
s o with
t ap
photon,
oto , itt ju
jumps
ps
to the conduction band.

 When an electron losses energy

gy = bandgap
g p energy,
gy, due to interaction
with a photon, or spontaneous recombination with a hole, it emits a
radiation with energy = band gap energy.

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 Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)

Two types of Emission

• Without any external stimulation • A photon of energy E ≥ EC - EV

• Isotropic, random phase impinges on an electron
radiation • Emitted photon in phase with
i id photon
incident h
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 Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)

Semiconductors – group IV elements, e.g., Silicon and Germanium

 Doping: the conductivity in semiconductors can be improved by adding a small
amount of group III (p-type) or group V (n-type) atoms – to excite more electrons to
the conduction band

 Two types of charge carrier

• Majority carriers- electrons in an n-type material
- holes in a p-type
p type material
• Minority carriers - holes in an n-type material
- holes in a p-type material

 The operation of semiconductor devices is based on the injection and

extraction of minorityy carriers.

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 Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)

Energy-band diagram of an n-type semiconductor

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 Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)

Energy-band diagram of a p-type semiconductor

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 Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)

pn-Junction: a junction between n-type and p-type materials

 Minority carriers diffuse to the other side and recombine with the majority carriers.

Barrier potential prevents further

diffusion of minority carriers

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 Semiconductor Physics (cont’d)

 Electron-hole recombination releases a photon. To get a continuous

radiation i.e.,
radiation, i e to sustain the electron-hole
electron hole recombination,
recombination the barrier
potential must be overcome by an external forward-biasing voltage.

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 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

 LEDs – the primary source for low cost, short distance, and low bit rate
optical
p fiber links

 The forward current injects electrons into the active region, where they
recombine with holes and emit photos with energy = bandgap energy.
• Spontaneous
S emission
i i
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 LEDs (cont’d)

LED Performance parameters

 Radiance – measure of the optical power radiated into a unit solid angle
per unit area of the emitting surface.
 Response time – time delay between the application of input and the
onset of the corresponding emission.
– Limits the modulation bandwidth
 Quantum efficiency – measure of the number of electron-hole
recombinations that produce photon emission.

Required Specifications for optical communication sources

• High radiance
• Fast response time
• High quantum efficiency
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 LEDs (cont’d)

Characteristics of LEDs
 Low speed ( < 100-200 Mb/s) data rates
 Easy to couple with multimode fiber
 Medium optical power output, in tens of microwatts
 Require less complex drive circuitry
 No thermal or optical stabilization circuits needed;
 Fabricated less expensively with higher yields.

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 LED Structures

LED Structures
 For an LED to have high radiance and high quantum efficiency, the LED
structure must:
– confine the charge carriers into the active region – Carrier confinement
– Radiate the light output in a narrow direction – optical confinement
Carrier Confinement – Heterostructure
 To
T achieve
hi hi
high
h rate
t off radiative
di ti recombinations,
bi ti the
h active
ti region
i iis
sandwiched between semiconductor layers of higher bandgap energies.
 Optical Confinement – to confine the optical field into the active region, the
active
ti region
i iis made
d to
t have
h hi
higher
h refractive
f ti iindexd
• Increases radiance in the direction of the fiber input
• Reduces absorption by the LED material

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 LED Structures (cont’d)

guration
ouble-heterostructure config
Do

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 Surface Emitting LEDs (SLEDs)

Fig. Schematic of a high-radiance surface-emitting LED. The active

region is limited to a circular section that has an area compatible
with the fiber-core
fiber core end face
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 SLEDs (cont’d)

 A well is etched through the substrate of the device, into which a fiber is
cemented to accept the light emitted from the active region.
region
• The plane of the active region is perpendicular to the fiber axis
 The circular active area is nominallyy 50 mm in diameter and 2.5 mm thick.
 The emission pattern from the active region is essentially isotropic.

 The external emission pattern is Lambertian,

with 120o half-power beam width.
  = 850 nm and 1300 nm

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 Edge Emitter LEDs (ELEDs)

Figure: Edge-emitting double-hetero-junction LED.

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 ELEDs (cont’d)

 A stripe-shaped double heterjunction ELED has improved radiance

 Active region confined between two layers of higher bandgap energy
• Improves radiative recombinations
 External to the carrier confinement layers
y are two transparent
p optical
p
guiding layers of, which have refractive index lower than that of the active
region but higher than that of the external material.
• Directs the optical
p radiation towards the fiber core
 The stripe geometry allows high carrier injection rate for a given input
current
 To match the typical fiber-core diameters (50-100 mm), the contact stripes
for the edge emitter are 50-70 mm wide. Lengths of the active regions
usually range from 100 to 150 mm.

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 ELEDs (cont’d)

 The output beam is Lambertian in

plane of the pn-junction
pn junction (q||=120o) and
highly directional perpendicular to the
pn-junction

  = 1300 nm and 1550 nm

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 Light Source Materials

 Semiconductor materials: group IV elements (Silicon and Germanium)

doped with
t elements
e e e ts from
o ggroup
oup III ((Al,, Ga, In,, Br)) or
o group
g oup V (P,
( , As,
s, Sb)
 Ternary alloy: Ga1-xAlxAs, spectrum at 800 – 900 nm
 Quaternary alloy: In1-xGaxAsyP1-y , spectrum at 1.0 – 1.7 μm
 x, y: Lattice constant
 Direct bandgap materials: minimum conduction band energy and
maximum valence band occur at the same electron wave function, k.
 Electron-hole recombination takes place spontaneously
 Improved quantum efficiency
 Indirect bandgap: minimum conduction band energy and maximum
valence band energy occur at different wave vectors.
 Low recombination probability, and requires a 3rd low energy particle
(Ph
(Phonon)
) to
t conserve momentumt
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 Light Source Materials (cont’d)

Direct and indirect bandgap materials

hc 1.24
Emission wavelength g p  (μm) 
g for direct bandgap: 
Eg Eg (eV
V)
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 LED Power and Efficiency

 The output optical power of an LED depends on the number of excess

minority carriers (holes in n-type
n type and electrons in p-type
p type regions)
 When an LED is forward-biased, carriers are injected into the active region
through the device contacts
• Excess density of electrons n = p, the excess density of holes
 electrons and holes are injected and recombined in pairs.
 The excess minorityy carrier densityy decays
y exponentially
p y with time
according to the relation:
n = no e-t/
where n0 = initial injected electron density and
 = carrier lifetime (from injection to recombination)

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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

 Total number of carriers = Injected carriers + Thermally generated

 The total rate at which carriers are generated is the sum of the externally
supplied and the thermally generated rates.
 Injected carrier rate = J/qd; J = current density (A/m2), q = electron
charge, and d = thickness of the recombination region
 Thermal generation rate = n/

 Total recombination rate equation

dn J n
 
dt qd 

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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

 If there is a constant current flow into the LED, and equilibrium

condition is maintained
maintained.
 Steady state electron density , n
dn J n J
   0 
n
dt qd  qd
 Internal quantum efficiency in the active region is the fraction of
the electron-hole pairs that recombine radiatively.

 If the radiative recombination rate is Rr and the nonradiative

recombination rate is Rnr, then the internal quantum efficiency int
is the ratio of the radiative recombination rate to the total
recombination rate:
int = Rr / (Rr + Rnr )
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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

 For exponential decay of excess carriers,

the radiative recombination lifetime is r = n/Rr
and the nonradiative recombination lifetime is
nr = n/Rnr.
 Thus, the internal quantum efficiency can be expressed as
int = 1/[1+(
[ ( r/nr)] = /r
where the total recombination lifetime  is
((1/)) = (1/
( r) + (1/
( nr)

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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

 Injected current:
I  Rt q  ( Rr  Rnr )q
I
 Rt 
q
Rr Rr q q
  int   and Rr   int .
Rt I I

 No of photons generated = Rr
 Internally generated LED optical power
hc
pint  Rr E g   int


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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

Example:
The radiative and non-radiative recombination rates of an LED are r
= 60 ns and nr = 100 ns. If the drive current is 40 mA and the peak
emission wavelength is 0.87 m.
a)Find the total recombination lifetime.
b)Determine
) the optical
p p
power ggenerated internally.
y
Ans:
 = r.nr/(r + nr) = 37.5 ns,
int = // r = 0.625,
0 625 and
d
pint = 35.6 mW

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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

 External Quantum Efficiency – a measure of the optical power

output
t t th
thatt escapes ffrom th
the LED

number of photons emitted from the LED

 ext 
total number of inetrnally generated photons
 Internally generated photons may be lost due to reflection or
absorption
 Only the fraction of light falling on a cone defined by the critical
angel c will be emitted from an optical source

 c  sin
i 1 ( n2 / n1 )
n1 = refractive index of the semiconductor material and
n2 = refractive index of the outside material.

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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

Fig. Only light falling a cone defined by the critical angel will be
emitted from an optical source.

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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

 External quantum efficiency


1 c
 ext  
4 0
T ( )( 2 sin  )d

where where T() is the Fresnel transmissivity.

ext 
 T() for normal incidence
4n1 n2
T ( 0) 
( n1  n2 ) 2
 For n2 = 1.0
1 0 (outside medium is air) and n1 = n,
n
1
ext  and pext  ext pint
n( n  1) 2

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 LED Power and Efficiency (cont’d)

 Example: Assume the typical value of the refractive index of an

LED material
t i l is
i n = 3.5.
35
1
ext   0.014
3.5( 3.5  1) 2

 Power emitted from the LED

pext  1.4% pint
 Only a small fraction of the internally generated optical power is
emitted
itt d ffrom th
the LED
LED.

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 LED Modulation Bandwidth

 The frequency response of an LED is determined by

- The doping level in the active region,
- The injected carrier lifetime i in the recombination region,
- The p
parasitic capacitance
p of the LED – causes delay
y of carrier
injection into the active region.
 For a drive current modulated at frequency , the output optical
power is ggiven by
p y
p(0)
p( ) 
1  ( i ) 2

p(0)
(0) = Emitted
E itt d optical
ti l power att DC d
drive
i currentt
 = Modulation frequency
i = Injected carrier lifetime

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 LED Modulation(cont’d)

 Optical 3 dB Modulation Bandwidth – a range of frequencies used

t modulate
to d l t ththe ddrive
i currentt ffor which
hi h th
the d
detected
t t d optical
ti l power
drops by 3 dB with respect to the optical power emitted with DC
drive current.
1
 3 dB : p( 3 dB )  p(0)
2
 Optical power linearly proportional to drive current
p( ) I ( ) 1
  
p( 0 ) I ( 0 ) 2

 p( 3 dB )   I ( 3dB ) 
 10log   10 log   10 log( 0.5)
 p( 0 )   I ( 0 ) 

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 LED Modulation(cont’d)

 3-dB Electrical modulation bandwidt

 Electrical power: pe() = I2()R

I 2 (3dB ) 1 I((3dB ) 1
 or   0.707
I 2 (0) 2 I(0) 2

The optical 3-dB point occurs at that frequency where the ratio
of the currents is equal to 1/2. This corresponds to an electrical
power attenuation of 6 dB.

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 LED Modulation(cont’d)

Fig. Frequency response of an optical source showing the electrical

and optical 3-dB bandwidth points

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 LED Modulation(cont’d)

 LED Spectral Patterns

 Spectral width = full width at half maximum power

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 LASER Diodes

 In LEDs, light emission occurs spontaneously and the output is

characterized
h t i db by
− wide spectral width,
− Low intensity,
− Low directionality i.e., Lambertian pattern and
− Incoherent radiation

 LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission Radiation)

− A more efficient light source for optical communication
• Highly directional and coherent optical sources
 LASER action is a result of 3 processes: Photon Absorption,
spontaneous emission and stimulated emission

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 LASER Diode (cont’d)

 Photon Absorption:
p When a p photon of energy
gy h12 impinges
p g on the
system, an electron in state E1 can absorb the photon energy and be
excited to state E2.
 Spontaneous Emission: the electron will shortly return to the
ground state, thereby emitting a photon of energy h12 = E2 – E1.
• Isotropic emission
• Random phase

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 LASER Diode (cont’d)

 Stimulated Emission: If a photon of energy h12 impinges on the

system
t while
hil the
th electron
l t is
i still
till in
i its
it excited
it d state,
t t the
th electron
l t iis
immediately stimulated to drop to the ground state and give off a
photon of energy h12.
• Stimulated
Sti l t d emission
i i isi in
i phase
h with
ith the
th iincident
id t photon
h t

 In thermal equilibrium, density of excited electrons is very small.

 Population Inversion:
Depletion of conduction band occurs at a faster rate. To sustain
lasing, i.e., stimulated emission > absorption, the density of
electrons in the conduction band must exceed the density of
electrons in the valence band -> Population Inversion
• By passing high forward current through the active area

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 LASER Diode (cont’d)

 Positive Feedback: to generate sufficiently high optical power, a

l
large number
b off photons
h t are generated
t d using
i an optical
ti l cavity
it with
ith
reflecting end mirrors.

Fig. A Cavity resonator.

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 LASER Diode (cont’d)

 Stimulated multiplication of photons - > Positive feedback

• Spontaneously emitted photons are partially reflected by the
mirrors and directed to the active layer. These photons
stimulate the emission of other photons.
 Losses in laser diode:
• Absorption by the semiconductor material
• Scattering
g of light
g in the cavityy
• Transmission through the mirrors - a fraction of the stimulated
optical power leaves the cavity.
 Diode loss is constant
constant.
 Gain can be increased by increasing the forward current
 Laser action occurs when gain > loss

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 LASER Diode (cont’d)

Gain and loss coefficients along the

active layer.
layer

Optical output vs. drive current

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 LASER Diode (cont’d)

 The forward current for which gain = loss is called the lasing
th h ld current.
threshold t
 After the threshold, a small increase in biasing current results in
fast increase in the output light.

Characteristics of LDs:
 Suitable for systems of bandwidth > 200-MHz;
 Typically have response times less than 1-ns;
 Having optical bandwidths of 2-nm or less;
 Capable of coupling several tens of milliwatts of luminescent power;
 Can couple with optical fibers with small cores and small mode-
field diameters.

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 Fabry-Perot resonator cavity

Fig. Fabry-Perot resonator cavity.

The rear facet can be coated with a dielectric reflector to
p
reduce optical loss in the cavity.
y

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 distributed-feedback (DFB) laser

The lasing action is obtained from the incorporated Bragg

reflectors or distributed-feedback corrugations along the length of
the diode.
diode
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 Modes and Threshold Conditions

 The optical radiation within the resonance cavity of a laser diode

sets up a pattern of electric and magnetic field lines called the
modes of the cavity.
 Th
The modes
d off the
th cavity
it can b
be separated
t d iinto
t ttwo iindependent
d d t sets
t
of transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes.
 The longitudinal modes are related to the length L of the cavity and
determine the principal structure of the frequency spectrum of the
emitted optical radiation.
1 m, many
 Since L is much larger than the lasing wavelength of ~1
longitudinal modes can exist.

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 Modes and Threshold Conditions (cont’d)

 L
Lateral
t l modes
d lie in the plane of the pn junction.
j nction These modes
depend on the side wall preparation and the width of the cavity,
and determine the shape of the lateral profile of the laser beam.

 Transverse modes are associated with the EM field and beam profile
in the direction p
perpendicular
p to the p
plane of the p
pn jjunction.

 These modes largely determine such laser characteristics as the

radiation pattern and the threshold current density.

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 Modes and Threshold Conditions (cont’d)

Lasing and Resonance frequencies

 The optical radiation intensity along the lasing cavity (longitudinal)
varies exponentially with distance z.
 Longitudinal
Longit dinal electric field phasor:

E ( z , t )  I ( z )e j (t  z )

I(z) = optical field intensity

 = Optical radian frequency
 = propagation constant

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 Modes and Threshold Conditions (cont’d)

 The fractional optical power loss during a trip through the cavity of
l
length
th L,
L (z
( = 2L) is
i given
i by
b

R1 R2 e 2 L
R1 = fraction of optical power reflected by mirror 1
R2 = fraction of optical power reflected by mirror 2
 Fresnel coefficient:
2
 n1  n2 
R   
 n1  n2 
 Fractional round trip gain: e 2 g L

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 Modes and Threshold Conditions (cont’d)

 Laser action occurs when fractional gain = fractional loss

A steady-state oscillation takes place, and the magnitude and phase
of the returned wave must be equal to those of the original wave:
• Amplitude condition :
I(0) = I(2L)

 
I ( 2 L)  I (0) e 2 gL  R1 R2 e 2 L  I (0)
• Taking Log:
1  1 
g th    ln      end
2 L  R1 R2 
The pumping source that maintains the population inversion must be
sufficiently strong to support or exceed all the energy-consuming mechanisms
within the lasing cavity.
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 Modes and Threshold Conditions (cont’d)

 Phase Condition:

e  j 2 L  1
at z  0,  ((0))  0
At z  2 L,  ( 2 L)  2  L
 ( 2 L)   ((0))  2 L  2m

 Propagation Constant:
2n



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 Modes and Threshold Conditions (cont’d)

 Oscillation frequency

4nL 2nL 2nLf

2 L   2m  m  
  c

Lm
2n

 L
Laser oscillation
ill ti att a wavelength
l th  occurs when
h ththe cavity
it llength
th iis
an integer multiple of half the wavelength.

 How many longitudinal modes can the laser support?

• An infinite number of wavelength can satisfy the 2m condition.

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 Modes and Threshold Conditions (cont’d)

 However, the active region provides sufficient gain only for small
range off wavelengths,
l th which
hi h can b
be radiated.
di t d

 The gain in the active region is approximately Gaussian

 (   0 ) 2

g( )  g (0)e 2 2

 where  = spectral width

 Frequency spacing between successive modes

2nLf m 2nLf m 1
m and m  1 
c c
c
f m  f m 1  f 
2 Ln
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 Modes and Threshold Conditions (cont’d)

 Fabry-Perot laser spectrum

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 LD Rate Equations

 For a laser diode in a lasing mode (IF > Ith), relationship between
d i currentt and
drive d output
t t optical
ti l power can beb ddetermined
t i d using
i
two rate equations: photon density and electron density.
 Photon density: (Stimulated+ Spontaneous) emission + photon loss
d 
 Cn  Rsp 
dt  ph
Φ = photon
h t d density
it
C = coefficient for optical absorption and emission interactions
Rspp = rate of spontaneous emission into lasing mode
τph = photon lifetime

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 LD Rate Equations (cont’d)

 Photon density should be in increasing mode towards lasing and

spontaneous emission is relatively negligible.

d 
 0 and with Rsp   0, Cn  0
dt  ph
1
n  nth 
C ph

 Electron density must exceed a threshold value in order for photon

d i to increase
density i

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 LD Rate Equations (cont’d)

 Electron Density: Injection +Spontaneous Recombination

+ Stimulated
Sti l t d emission
i i
dn J n
   Cn
dt qd
q  sp

 J = Injection current density, sp = spontaneous recombination life

time,, and d = thickness of the carrier confinement region.
g
 If electron density is at threshold level, injected electrons are just fully
consumed by spontaneous recombination without light emission
dn
 0, and
dt
J th nth
with   0, 
d
dq  sp
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 LD Rate Equations (cont’d)

 Steady state solution of Rate Equations at lasing threshold

d s s
 Cnth  s  Rsp  0
dt  ph

dnth J nth
   Cnth  s  0
dt qd  sp

where
h s = steady
t d state
t t photon
h t d density
it
J th nth
 Using 
dq  sp and adding the above equations, we have
 ph Stimulated Emission
s  ( J  J th )   ph Rsp
qd
q + Spontaneous
p emission

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 LD Rate Equations (cont’d)

 Internal Quantum Efficiency

number of photons prodced in the cavity

 int 
number of injected electrons above threshold

ηi ~ 0.6-0.7 at room temperature

 Total
T t l Quantum
Q t Efficiency
Effi i
number of photons that escape from in the cavity
 ext 
total number of injected electrons above threshold
   dP ( mW )
 ext   int  1    0.8065 ( m ) 0 From the straight-line
 g th  dI ( mA ) portion of the emitted optical
ppower vs drive current
I = drive current
current, P0 = output optical power
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 Laser Modulation

 Two methods of laser modulation

1. Direct modulation 2. External Modulation

Direct (current) Modulation: varying the

drive current with the information signal to
vary the output optical power.
• Photon lifetime limits the upper
modulation bandwidth
• Photon lifetime is much smaller than
carrier lifetime
• Non-linear effects during fast switching
input pulses

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 Laser Modulation (cont’d)

 External Modulation:
o External modulator is used to vary a steady optical power
level emitted by the laser diode.
o Required for high-speed systems (> 2.5 Gbps) to avoid non-
linear effects such as chirping
o External modulators can be operated at much higher
frequencies than directly modulated lasers
 Types of commercially available external modulators:
• Mach-Zehnder electro-optic modulators using waveguides that
have been laid down in LiNbO3
• Semiconductor-based electro-absorption modulators
 Eternal modulators have the property that their refractive index
and bandgap energies
i vary with
i the applied
i voltage.
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 Laser Diode Structures

Desired LD characteristics
• Low threshold current
• Stable gain and efficiency
• Reduced spectral
p ggain
• High output power and efficiency
Different structures
1. Fabry Perot Homojunction laser diode
2. Double heterostructure laser diode
3. Quantum well laser diode
4. Distributed Feedback (DFB) Lasers
5. Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser diodes (VCSELs)

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 Assignment

No Group Title Focus points

1 G2 A
G2-A Q
Quantum
t well
ll laser
l diode
di d • Basic
B i structure
t t
• pple of operation
•Radiation pattern
•applications
2 G2-B Distributed Feedback (DFB)
>>
Lasers
3 G1-A Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting
>>
Laser diodes (VCSELs)
4 G1-B Single mode lasers • Need for single mode lasers
• How to make single mode lasers
• Typical Single mode laser
structures
t t andd applications
li ti

Dates
Paper Submission deadline: Tuesday 31-05-2011 at 4:30
Presentation: Wednesday 01 -06 -2011 2:05 PM – 3:30 PM
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