UNIT3-S3

LIGHT SOURCE
MATERIALS
 Materials
Aluminum gallium arsenide

Aluminum gallium indium

phosphide
Aluminum gallium nitride

Aluminum nitride

Gallium arsenide

Gallium arsenide phosphide

Gallium phosphide

Indium gallium nitride

Indium gallium phosphide

• LEDs can be made up from group III and
V elements from the periodic table.
• III-Nitride semiconductors(AlN, InN,
GaN): Can create LEDs to cover the
ultraviolet to the entire visible spectrum.
GALLIUM ARSENIDE (GaAs)

This is a direct bandgap semiconductor with £g = 1.443 eV

suitable p-n junctions may be made by diffusing zinc into
crystals of n-type GaAs .The resulting radiation arises from
band-to-band transitions, however, and is consequently
subject to heavy reabsorption; this reduces the device
efficiency and shifts the peak emission wavelength to about
870 nm.
More efficient diodes may be made by using silicon as a
dopant, where, depending on the growth conditions, either p
or n material is obtained. Complex acceptor levels are also
formed about 0.1 eV above the valance band. Transitions
between these and the conduction band give rise to radiation
with a peak emission wavelength of about 1000 nm which is
not subject to reabsorption.
GALLIUM PHOSPHIDE (GaP)

This is an indirect bandgap semiconductor with £g = 2.26 eV (WAVELENGTH = 549

nm) and hence band- to-band transitions are rare. Group V elements such as N
and Bi may be used as dopants to assist radiative transitions. These replace the
phosphorus atoms and form recombination centers called isoelectronic traps. In
the case of nitrogen the effective trap depth below the conduction band is small
(8 meV) and the subsequent radiation has a peak wavelength only slightly less
than \. Using increased levels of nitrogen doping and also doping with zinc and
oxygen simultaneously give rise to deeper traps and consequently higher
emission wavelengths.

GALLIUM ARSENIDE PHOSPHIDE (GaAsP)

The energy gap of this ternary alloy depends on the value of .v and furthermore it
changes from being a direct bandgap when ,v< 0.45 to an indirect bandgap
when ,v > 0.45. Using diodes with .v = 0.4 results in red emission (Fig. 4. 16). The
indirect bandgap material can also be used in conjunction with the same radiative
GALLIUM ALUMINIUM ARSENIDE (Ga x AI As)
Highly efficient red- and near-infrared-emitting LEDs can be made from this material. If a
heterojunction is formed between n-type Ga(UAl<)7 As and p-type Ga<UlAl(U As, electrons
injected from the n surface layer into the p material recombine radiatively via acceptor
levels and result in radiation of 650 nm wavelength. This can pass through the surface layer
with
little attenuation because of the relative large bandgap of the latter.
III-V NITRIDES (E.G. GAN AND AIN)
These materials have energy gaps that correspond to emission wavelengths from green all
the way into the ultraviolet. A number of problems frustrated the early development of
these materials; for example, until recently there was a lack of suitable substrate materials
with matching lattice constants and thermal expansion coefficients. It also proved difficult to
dope the materials p-type. It was not until the early 1980s that these problems were
overcome, when it was found that the deposition of buffer layers allowed growth on readily
available substrates such as sapphire and silicon carbide. In addition new growth and
irradiation techniques have enabled p-type layers to be fabricated.
INDIUM GALLIUM ARSENIDE
High brightness LEDs are now commercially available based on InGaAs, although the
structures (e.g. 'double heterostructures are somewhat more complicated than those
discussed so far. By increasing the indium content the emission wavelength increases, and
radiation in the green can also be obtained with reasonably high efficiency.
 INJECTION LUMINESCENCE

• If a p-n junction diode is forward biased, the majority

carriers from both sides cross the junction and enter the
opposite sides.
• This results in an increase in the minority carrier
concentration on the two sides.
• The excess minority carrier concentration, of course,
depends on the impurity levels on the two sides.
• This process is known as minority carrier injection.
• The injected carriers diffuse away from the junction,
recombining with majority carriers as they do so.
• This recombination process of electrons with holes may be
either nonradiative, in which the energy difference of the
two carriers is released into the lattice as thermal energy, or
radiative, in which a photon of energy equal to or less than
the energy difference of the carriers is radiated.
• The phenomenon of emission of radiation by the
recombination of injected carriers is called injection
luminescence. A p-n junction diode exhibiting this
phenomenon is referred to as a light-emitting diode.
• The spectral distribution of the
radiated power P as a function of
Eph is given by the following
expression:

• where α is a constant. The

theoretical plot of relative power
versus Eph is shown in Fig
• Radiation may be emitted via
i)The recombination of an
electron in the CB with a hole in
the VB .
ii)The downward transition of an
electron in the CB to an empty
acceptor level, shown in Fig.
iii) The transition of an electron
from a filled donor level to a hole
in the VB, shown in Fig.
Spectrum of Injection Luminescence
• If the transition takes place from the
electron level at the bottom of the CB to the
hole level at the top of the VB, the emitted
photon will have energy

• where h is Planck’s constant, c is the speed

of light, and l is the wavelength of emitted
radiation.
• However, there is a distribution of electron
energy levels in the CB and that of holes in
the VB.
• Thus, depending on the energy levels
involved, there will be a range of photon
energies that are emitted by the LED
4
 Electro-luminescence
• Electro-luminescence occurs in devices with p-n
rectifying junctions which are stimulated by an
externally applied voltage.
• When a forward biased voltage is applied across
the device, electrons and holes recombine at the
junction and emit photons in the visible range
(mono-chromatic light i.e. singe color). These
diodes are called light emitting diodes (LEDs).
• LEDs emit light of many colors, from red to
violet, depending on the composition of the
semiconductor material used. Ex.: GaAs, GaP,
GaAlAs, and GaAsP are typical materials for
LEDs.
 Electro luminescence

• Electroluminescence (EL) is an optical

phenomenon and electrical phenomenon in which a material
emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a
strong electric field.
• Electroluminescence is the result of radiative
recombination of electrons & holes in a material, usually
a semiconductor.
• The excited electrons release their energy as photons - light. Prior
to recombination, electrons and holes may be separated either
by doping the material to form a p-n junction (in semiconductor
electroluminescent devices such as light-emitting diodes) or
through excitation by impact of high-energy electrons accelerated
by a strong electric field (as with
the phosphors in electroluminescent displays).
• Electroluminescent devices are fabricated using either
organic or inorganic electroluminescent materials. The
active materials are generally semiconductors of wide
enough bandwidth to allow the exit of the light.
• The most typical inorganic thin-film EL (TFEL) is
ZnS:Mn with yellow-orange emission. Examples of the
range of EL material include:
• Powdered zinc sulfide doped with copper (producing
greenish light) or silver (producing bright blue light)
• Thin-film zinc sulfide doped
with manganese (producing orange-red color)
• Naturally blue diamond, which includes a trace
of boron that acts as a dopant.
• Semiconductors containing Group III and Group V
elements, such as indium phosphide (InP), gallium
arsenide (GaAs), and gallium nitride (GaN) (Light-
emitting diodes)
 Review of Semiconductor Physics

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 concentrationsOptical
in an intrinsic
Fiber semiconductor
communications, 3 rd created by
ed.,G.Keiser,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, 3 rd

ed.,G.Keiser,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, 3 rd

ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000
 Intrinsic & Extrinsic Materials
• Intrinsic material: A perfect material with no impurities.

[4-
1]

• Extrinsic material: donor or acceptor type

semiconductors.

[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, 3 rd

ed.,G.Keiser,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, 3 rd

ed.,G.Keiser,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, 3 rd

ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000
Direct Band Gap Semiconductors
Indirect Band Gap Semiconductors
 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
[4-
index; the 3]
lower refractive index of the
material in
regions 1 and 5 creates an
optical barrier
around the waveguide because Optical Fiber communications, 3 rd
ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000
 Light-Emitting Diodes
(LEDs)
• For optical communication systems requiring
bit rates less than approximately 100–200
Mb/s together with multimode fiber-coupled
optical power in the tens of microwatts,
semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are
usually the best light source choice.
• These LEDs require
• Less complex drive circuitry than laser diodes
• No thermal or optical stabilization circuits are
needed
• They can be fabricated less expensively with
higher yields.
 LED Structures
• To be useful in fiber transmission applications, an LED
must have a high radiance output, a fast emission
response time, and a high quantum efficiency.
• Its radiance (or brightness) is a measure, in watts, of
the optical power radiated into a unit solid angle per
unit area of the emitting surface.
• High radiances are necessary to couple sufficiently
high optical power levels into a fiber.
• The emission response time is the time delay between
the application of a current pulse and the onset of
optical emission.
• This time delay is the factor limiting the bandwidth
with which the source can be modulated directly by
varying the injected current.
• The quantum efficiency is related to the fraction of
injected electron–hole pairs that recombine
radiatively.
• To achieve a high radiance and a high quantum
efficiency, the LED structure must provide a
means of confining the charge carriers and the
stimulated optical emission to the active region
of the pn junction where radiative
recombination takes place.
• Carrier confinement is used to achieve a high
level of radiative recombination in the active
region of the device, which yields a high
quantum efficiency.
• Optical confinement is of importance for
preventing absorption of the emitted radiation
by the material surrounding the pn junction.
 LED DESIGNS
• Two basic structures of LED are in use.
These are (i) surface-emitting LED (SLED)
and (ii) edge-emitting LED (ELED).
• Configurations based on GaAs/ GaAlAs
have been used in short-haul applications,
whereas those based on InGaAsP/ InP have
been employed in medium-range fiber
links.
• Relatively recently, a third device known as
a super luminescent diode (SLD) has also
been increasingly used in communications.
 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, 3 rd

ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000
 Light Source Material
• Most of the light sources contain III-V ternary &
quaternary compounds.
• 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.
• 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, 3 rd
ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000
Spectral width of LED types

Optical Fiber communications, 3 rd

ed.,G.Keiser,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.
[4-
4]

• n is the excess carrier density,

• Bulk recombination rate R:

[4-
5]

• Bulk recombination rate (R)=Radiative recombination

rate + nonradiative recombination rate
Internal Quantum Efficiency & Optical
Power

[4-
8]

Optical power generated internally in the active

region in the LED is:

[4-
9]
With an external supplied current density of J the rate
equation for the electron-hole
recombination is:

[4-
6]

In equilibrium
condition: dn/dt=0

[4-
7]
 Light-Emitting Diodes
(LEDs)
• For optical communication systems requiring
bit rates less than approximately 100–200
Mb/s together with multimode fiber-coupled
optical power in the tens of microwatts,
semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are
usually the best light source choice.
• These LEDs require
• Less complex drive circuitry than laser diodes
• No thermal or optical stabilization circuits are
needed
• They can be fabricated less expensively with
higher yields.
 LED Structures
• To be useful in fiber transmission applications, an LED
must have a high radiance output, a fast emission
response time, and a high quantum efficiency.
• Its radiance (or brightness) is a measure, in watts, of
the optical power radiated into a unit solid angle per
unit area of the emitting surface.
• High radiances are necessary to couple sufficiently
high optical power levels into a fiber.
• The emission response time is the time delay between
the application of a current pulse and the onset of
optical emission.
• This time delay is the factor limiting the bandwidth
with which the source can be modulated directly by
varying the injected current.
• The quantum efficiency is related to the fraction of
injected electron–hole pairs that recombine
radiatively.
• To achieve a high radiance and a high quantum
efficiency, the LED structure must provide a
means of confining the charge carriers and the
stimulated optical emission to the active region
of the pn junction where radiative
recombination takes place.
• Carrier confinement is used to achieve a high
level of radiative recombination in the active
region of the device, which yields a high
quantum efficiency.
• Optical confinement is of importance for
preventing absorption of the emitted radiation
by the material surrounding the pn junction.
 LED DESIGNS
• Two basic structures of LED are in use.
These are (i) surface-emitting LED (SLED)
and (ii) edge-emitting LED (ELED).
• Configurations based on GaAs/ GaAlAs
have been used in short-haul applications,
whereas those based on InGaAsP/ InP have
been employed in medium-range fiber
links.
• Relatively recently, a third device known as
a super luminescent diode (SLD) has also
been increasingly used in communications.
 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.
Optical Fiber communications, 3
rd
They have high quantum efficiency & fast2000
ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, response.
 • It is widely used in optical fiber communication system.
• Here collimated light from LED is required to be fed into the
fiber
with high coupling efficiency.
• The figure depicts multilayer structure of InP based edge
•emitting LED.
Modern epitaxial growth techniques such as Molecular
• ItBeam
is usedEpitaxy
for long(MBE),
wavelengthMetal-Organic
optical communication approx.
Chemical
between
Vapor1.33 to 1.55 µm. (MOCVD) are used in order to
Deposition
design such complex LED structures.
• The structure consists of five epitaxial layers.
• Central active layer is made using InGaAs having
narrow bandgap.
• It is bounded by wide bandgap layers such as p+
InGaAsP and n+ InP cladding layers.
• The positive contact is in the form of a stripe (the rest
of the contact being isolated by the SiO2 layer).
• These two cladding layers help in confining injected
electrons and holes into the middle layer.
• It also helps emitted photons to travel along LED axis
as per optical properties.
• Due to above, light is emitted from the edge of the LED.
Hence it is known by the name edge emitting LED.
• The rear-end facet is made reflecting while the front-end
facet is coated with an antireflection coating, so that the
laser action due to optical feedback is suppressed.
• The self-absorption of radiation in the active layer is
reduced because its thickness is made very small.
• Much of the guided radiation propagates through the
confining layers, which have a wider band gap. Therefore,
they do not absorb this radiation.
• The recombination radiation generated in the active region is
guided by internal reflection at the heterojunctions and is
brought out at the front-end facet of the diode.
• An important effect of the optical guidance of emitted
radiation is that the output beam has low divergence
(typically ~30°) in the vertical direction.
• This increases the efficiency of coupling the LED with the
optical fiber.
• Stripe geometry ELEDs based on InP/In GaAsP materials
and with improved designs for coupling to single-mode
fibers have also been made.
• The optical power obtained from such a structure is 2 to 6 times
smaller than that of a Surface emitting LED but more efficient
coupling due to narrow band width.
 Advantages of Edge Emitting LED

Following are the benefits or advantages of Edge Emitting

LED:
➨It has superior beam collimation property which offers
greater coupling efficiency with fiber optic cable compare to
surface emitting LED.
➨It offers higher efficiency with low to high radiance. It
fulfills high brightness LED requirements of the lighting
industry.
➨It radiates less power to the air compare to surface emitting
LED due to reabsorption and interfacial recombination.
➨It offers better modulation bandwidth and more directional
emission pattern.
➨It offers 5-6 times more coupled power into NA (Numerical
Aperture) of step/graded index fibers. This is due to small
beam divergence.
➨It offers high data rates (> 20 Mbps) than surface emitting
LED.
 Disadvantages of Edge Emitting
LED

Following are the drawbacks or disadvantages

of Edge Emitting LED:
➨Its structure is complex.
➨It is difficult to design heat sink.
➨It is expensive compare to other LED types.
➨There are many issues to be handled during
mechanical mounting and installation.
 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, 3 rd

ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000
LASER DIODES
LASER DIODES
 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 varies exponentially with a
distance z amplified by factor g, and attenuated by factor h
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.,G.Keiser,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 delay,t d 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
T / T0
I th (T )  I z e
 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 ,...