Introduction

Contents

A. Objectives C. Devices
B. Introduction 1. Photoconductive cell
1. Photoconductive effect 2. Phototransistor
2. Radiative recombination 3. Optocoupler: Characteristics
3. Examples of Optoelectronic 4. Optocoupler: Application
Devices 5. Solar cell

A. Objectives

You will be able to understand and measure the characteristics of various

Optoelectronic devices such as photoconductive cell, phototransistor, solar cell etc.

B. Introduction

Optoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices that interact

with light. In this context, light often includes invisible forms of radiation such as
gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet and infrared. Optoelectronic devices are electrical-to-
optical or optical-to-electrical transducers, or instruments that use such devices in
their operation. Optoelectronics is based on the quantum mechanical effects of light
on semiconducting materials, sometimes in the presence of electric fields.
Optoelectronic devices can be classified according to the physical phenomena used in
various devices as shown in Fig. 1. Combination of both electrical-to-optical/optical- to-
electrical devices in a system can be found in many applications such as
optocouple, fiber optical communications etc.

Optoelectronic
Devices

Electrical-to-optical Optical-to-Electrical
transducer transducer

Spontaneous Stimulation Photoelectric Photoconductive

Emission Emission effect effect

• • Las • Photo • LDR

ers tube • Photo
diode
• Photo

Fig. 1 Classification of optoelectronic devices with examples

1. Photoconductive Effect

The photoconductive effect is an optical and electrical phenomena, in which

the electrical conductivity of a semiconductor material increases when exposure to
light or an electromagnetic radiation. Consider a semiconductor material is under an
optical excitation as shown in Fig. 2. If the photon energy is greater than the energy
gap, Eg of the semiconductor, Incident photons become absorbed in the
semiconductor, and the electron hole pairs (EHP) will be generated. Here, the relation
between photon energy and wavelength, λ is
E = hc / λ = 1.24 / λ(in nm)
where E is the electrical conductivity at thermal equilibrium
h is the Plank’s constant = 6.63 x 10-34 J s
c is the speed of light in free space ~ 3 x 108 m/s
λ and p are the electron and hole concentration at normal condition, respectively

Δn and Δp are the electron and hole concentration due to the photogeneration,
respectively

Therefore, the considerable absorption will occur under the condition Eg > E. The
band gap energies of some common semiconductor are given here, e.g. Si ~ 1.1 eV,
GaAs ~ 1.43 eV, and CdS ~ 2.4 eV. The generation of EHP by the optical excitation,
thus increases the conductivity of the semiconductor as follows

σ + Δσ = (n + Δn)qµn + ( p + Δp)qµp (2)

where σ is the electrical conductivity at thermal equilibrium
Δσ is the increment of conductivity due to the optical excitation
q is the electron charge = 1.6 x 10-19 Coulomb
n and p are the electron and hole concentration at normal condition,
respectively

Δn and Δp are the electron and hole concentration due to the photogeneration,
respectively
µn and µn are the mobility of electron and hole, respectively.

light
Photoconductive
material
electrode
w

d l

Fig. 2 A semiconductor is illuminated with light of wavelength λ.

2
2. Radiative Recombination: Spontaneous Emission

In physics, it is well known that when an atom, molecule or nucleus in an

excited state drops to a lower-energy state, this results in the creation of a photon. In
case of semiconductor, the electrons in the conduction band may make transitions to
1
the valence band (i.e. recombine with holes in the valence band) . Energy lost by an
electron in making transition is given up as a photon. In a device, there are many
ways by which electrical energy can be used to generate photon. For example, in
LEDs an electric current causes the injection of minority carriers (electron or hole)
into regions of the crystal where there are recombine with majority carriers (electron
or hole), resulting in the emission of recombination radiation.

3. Examples of Optoelectronic Devices

1) Photoconductive cell or Light Detector Resistor (LDR)

Photoconductive cell is the simplest device that uses the photoconductive
effect in its operation. The device structure is a resistor as shown in Fig. 2. The
device conductivity, therefore is a function of the incident electromagnetic radiation.
Many semiconductor materials can be used as photoconductive cells, but the
commercially important ones are cdS, Ge and Si. The spectral response of CdS
closely matches that of human eyes, and the cell is therefore used in applications
where human vision is a factor, such as street light control or automatic iris control for
cameras.

2) Photodiode
As we saw that bulk semiconductor samples can be sued as photoconductors
by providing a change in conductivity proportional to an optical intensity. Junction
devices can be used to improve the speed of response and sensitivity of the devices. If
a pn junction is exposed to light of proper wavelength, the current flow across the
junction will tend to increase as shown in Fig. 3. If the junction is forward-biased, the
net current will be relatively insignificant. However, if the junction is reversed-biased,
the change will be quite appreciable. With the electric field at the depletion region,
electron generated in the p-side conduction will flow down the potential hill at the
junction into the n-side and from there to the external circuit. Likewise, holes
generated in the valence band of the n-side where they will add to the external circuit.
qV
I = Io (exp[ ] −1) − I (3)
op
kT

3) Phototransistor

The phototransistor is a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) that operates as a

photodiode with a photocurrent gain. Normally, the base terminal is left floating. The
photo-induced current is the transistor base current. The current gain of the transistor
will thus result in a significant increase in collector current as follows

1
There are two kinds of recombination: direct and indirection recombination, the energy given by the
direct recombination as a photon of light, while the indirect recombination, the energy is generally
given up as heat rather than an emitted photon.

3
 IC = (hfe +1)Iop (4)
where IC is the collector current,
hfe is the forward current gain and
Iop is the photo-generated base current

hν
Voc
p n
Isc
W Light
intensity
Photodiode Solar cell
mode mode
V R
s

(a) (b)

Fig. 3 (a) Device operation and (b) I-V characteristics

3) Phototransistor
The phototransistor is a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) that operates as a
photodiode with a photocurrent gain. Normally, the base terminal is left floating. The
photo-induced current is the transistor base current. The current gain of the transistor will
thus result in a significant increase in collector current as follows

IC = (hfe +1)Iop (5)

where IC is the collector current,
hfe is the forward current gain and
Iop is the photo-generated base current

4) Solar Cell
Photovoltaic cells or solar cells convert the incident solar radiation energy into
electrical energy. A typical solar cell is a pn diode with a large surface area and very
shallow junction. Incident photons are absorbed to photogenerate charge carriers that
pass through an external load without an external voltage source. Without an external
load, EHP photogenerated in the depletion region are separated them apart by the built-
in electric field. The electrons drift and reach n-side, therefore they make this region
negative. Similarly the holes drift and reach the p-side and thereby make this side
positive. Consequently an open circuit voltage develops between the device terminals.
If an external load is connected then the excess electrons in the n-side can travel around
the external circuit, and reach the p-side to recombine with the excess holes here. On the
extreme case, a short circuit current obtains when the device terminals are short
together. Fig. 4(a) shows a typical current-voltage characteristic of a solar cell, as well as
its equivalent circuit.

4
 IOUT

ISC
Pmax
Im
RS

Id Ish IL
Iph VOUT RL
VOUT
Vm VOC

(a) (b)

Fig. 4 (a) the typical current-voltage characteristic and (b) equivalent circuit of a
common solar cell.

Here Iph is the photogenerated current,

ID is the diode reverse saturation current,
Ish is the current flow through shunt resistor, and
Rsh and Rs are the shunt and series resistance, respectively.

The power delivered to the load is Pout = IV, which is the area of the rectangle
bound by I and V axes and the dashed lines shown in Fig. 4(b). Maximum power is
delivered to the load when this rectangular area is maximum ImVm . Since the
maximum possible current is Isc and the maximum possible voltage is Voc, IscVoc,
represents the desirable goal in power deliver for a given solar cell. Here, we define
the fill factor, FF, which is a figure of merit for a solar cell as
IV
FF =
m m
(6)
I V
sc oc
FF is a measure of the closeness of the solar cell I-V curve to the rectangular shape
(Ideal-shape). Typically FF values are in the range of 0.7-0.85 and depend on the
device material and structure. We alsoI the
V efficiency IofVa solar cell as follows
m m sc oc (7)
η= ×100% = FF×100%

W W
input input

5) Light Emitting Diodes (LED)

An LED is essentially a pn junction diode typically made from a direct band
gap semiconductor, for example GaAs, in which EHP recombination results in the
emission of a photon. The emitted photon energy is therefore approximately equal to
the band gap energy, hν ≈ Eg Fig shows the energy band diagram of an unbiased pn+
junction device in which the n-side is more heavily doped than the p-side. Fig. 5
shows the energy band diagram under biased condition, the recombination of the
injected carriers (electrons and holes) around the junction and the adjacent region within
the carrier diffusion length leads to photon emission.

5
 (a) (b)
Fig. 5 The energy band diagram of an LED under (a) unbiased and (b) biased
conditions.

6) Optical coupler
Optical coupler combines both electrical-to-optical and optical-to-electrical
transducers into a single package. Both devices are coupling together using optical
signals. Some examples of optical couplers are shown in Fig.6

Transistor output Darlington output

SCR output TRIAC output

Fig. 6 Examples of Optocouplers

6
Photoconductive cell: The relation between device resistance and light intensity

Find the relation between resistance, R of a photoconductive cell and light

intensity, P. The intensity from a given source can be adjusted by changing 1 the
distance, L between the light source and the photoconductive cell. (Assume Pα ).
2
L
Phototransistor: The relation between photogenerated current and light intensity

Connect the test circuit as shown in Fig. 8, set the voltage of DC supply to 10
V. Find the relation between collector current, IC of phototransistor and light intensity,
P

VCC = 10V

mA

Fig. 8 Circuit diagram used to measure IC of a phototransistor under illumination.

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Optocoupler: Device Characteristic

Use a curve tracer and oscilloscope to measure the characteristic of

optocoupler. Here, the optocoupler used in the experiment, consists of an LED and
phototransistor. Connect the circuit as shown in Fig. 9 (don’t forget to make a short
circuit between LED cathode and phototransistor emitter). Use LED anode as the base
terminal of the phototransistor. Set the curve tracer to inject with the step of 2 mA
into LED anode. Plot the output characteristic IC-VCE as a function of the LED
current.

K E

Fig. 9 The measurement of the output characteristic of an optocoupler.

Optocoupler: Application

Connect the test circuit as shown in Fig. 10. Set the DC supply of the
phototransistor to be 10 V, adjust the DC supply of the LED circuit until the LED
current equals to 6 mA (read from the ammeter). Apply square wave with amplitude
1.5 Vp-p and frequency 1 kHz from a function generator to modulate the light intensity
of LED. Use an oscilloscope to capture the waveform at the phototransistor collector
compare to the square wave from the generator. Record the waveforms in AC and DC
mode.
VCC = 10V
22 µF 1 kΩ

1 kΩ
6 mA
1.5 Vpp 1 kΩ
CRO mA
Ch1 A C
CRO
Ch2
K E

Fig. 10 Circuit diagram for signal transmission using an optocoupler.

8
Solar Cell: I-V characteristic

1) use a multimeter to the device resistance under dark condition, change the
terminal connections. From the results, determine the terminals of n-side
and p-side?
2) Connect the circuit in Fig. 11, apply the solar cell with a constant light
source. Vary the value the adjustable resistor to find Isc, Voc and other data with the
digital voltmeter and ammeter.
I
mA

light R
V

Fig. 11 Circuit diagram for measuring I-V characteristic of a solar cell.