5 Photodetectors

CHAPTER 5
PHOTODETECTORS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photodiode
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INTRODUCTION
9 A detectors function is to convert the received
optical signal into an electrical signal, which is then
amplified before further processing.
9 Therefore when considering signal attenuation along
the link, the system performance is determined at the
detector.
9 Improvement of detector characteristics and
performance thus allows the installation of fewer
repeater stations and lowers both the capital
investment and maintenance costs.
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INTRODUCTION
Requirements:
(a) High sensitivity at the operating wavelength.
(b) High fidelity - to reproduce the received signal waveform
with fidelity (eg: for analog transmission the response of
the photodetector must be linear with regard to the optical
signal over a wide range.
(c) Large electrical response to the received optical signal the photodetector should produce a maximum electrical
signal for a given amount of optical power
(d) Short response time. (pn-msec, PIN/APD - nsec)
(e) Minimum noise.
(f) Stability.
(g) Small size
(h) Low bias voltage.
(i) High reliability.
(j) Low cost.
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CLASSIFICATION OF PHOTODETECTORS
Classify detectors by mechanism of response to incident light

detectors of photons
detectors of heat
Semiconductor detectors
e-h pairs are created by excitation with incident light
two types of semiconductor diode
bulk semiconductor - (LDR change resistance when illuminated)
junction diode - pn diode, pin diode, phototransistor
Photoemissive detectors
electrons ejected from a photosensitive material on irradiation by
light
photomultiplier tube (emits ellectrons when illuminated)
Thermal detectors
heating effect of light, raises the temperature of the irradiated
material
with the subsequent change in its electric properties
thermopile, pyroelectric detector
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OPTICAL DETECTION PRINCIPLES
A photon incident in or near the depletion region of this

device which has an energy greater than or equal to the
bandgap energy Eg of the fabricating material (i.e. hf >
Eg) will excite an electron from the valence band into the
conduction band. This process leaves an empty hole in
the valence band and is known as the photogeneration
of an electron-hole (carrier) pair Absorption
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Absorption
The absorption of photons in a
photodiode to produce carrier
pairs and thus a photocurrent:
is dependent on the
absorption coefficient 0 of
the light in the
semiconductor used to
fabricate the device.
0 strongly dependent on
wavelength as illustrated.
Light falling on a
photodiode - partially
absorbed and partially
transmitted.
Pabs = power absorbed and
Po = power incident.
d is the width of the
absorption region.
Pabs = Po (1 exp( o d )
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At a specific wavelength the photocurrent Ip produced by
incident light of optical power P0 is given by:
P 0 e (1 r )
[1 exp
=
hf
( 0 d )]
where :
e is the charge on electron, r is the Fresnel reflection coefficient
at the semiconductor-air interface and d is the width of the
absorption region.
When 0 goes to zero, Pabs goes to zero.
When 0 goes to infinity Po = Pabs.
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For a given semiconductor material, the photodiode can
detect only wavelengths
< c = hc/Eg
If Eg is specified in eV , then c can be written as
c = 1.24/Eg (m)
For wavelengths longer than c , the photons will travel
through the material without interaction.
Si 1100 nm and
InGaAs 1700 nm.
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PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
Spectral Response
All parameters vary with wavelength
Match peak emission wavelength of source with peak
response of detector
Quantum Efficiency ( , QE)
z is defined as the fraction of incident photons which are
absorbed by the photodetector (photogenerated carriers) and
generate electrons to incident photons.
= number of electrons collected

number of incident photons
The ratio of the number of

photogenerated carriers to
incident photons and thus a
unitless quantity.
= (re/rp) x 100%
re is the rate of photoelectron generation
rp is the incident photon rate
Values in the range 5% to 30% are typical

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Responsivity (R)
The responsivity is a useful parameter as it gives the transfer
characteristic of the detector (i.e. photocurrent per unit incident
optical power) and is defined as:
R =
P0
AW
where Ip is the output photocurrent in Amperes and P0 is the

incident optical power in Watts. Typical value ranges from 0.5 A/W
to 1.0 A/W
The relationship for R may be developed to include quantum
efficiency as follows:
R =
e
hf
AW
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Responsivity (R)
This equation may be developed a further stage to include the
wavelength of the incident light where is in nm.
R =
e
hc
1248
The ideal responsivity against

wavelength characteristic for a
silicon photodiode with unit
quantum efficiency is as shown.
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Response Time ( tr )
A measure of how long it takes a detector to respond to a
change in light power falling on it
usually measured with reference to a square input
pulse
both rise and fall times are often quoted
A good working rule is
choose detector with rise time of ~1/10 of shortest pulse
duration to be detected
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Noise Equivalent Power (NEP)
All detectors produce a small output signal in darkness
Sets a lower limit to the intensity of detected light
In photomultipliers and semiconductor devices, the background

signal is thermally generated
A few electrons are excited into the conduction energy levels to
produce a background current
the dark current
dark currents are typically in the picoamp to nanoamp region.
To be seen by the detector the incident light needs to produce an

output greater than that of the noise signal
NEP is defined as the radiant flux which produces

an output signal equal in magnitude to that
produced by the noise signal
The units of NEP are W/Hz
Depends on reciprocal of square root of bandwidth, detector area &
temperature
Good detectors have a NEP value of around 10-12 to 10-14 W/Hz
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EXAMPLE
Calculate the responsivity of a photosensitive
material with a quantum efficiency of 1% at 500 nm.
Solution
Responsivity is
R =
e
hc
1248
= 0.01 x 1.6x10-19 J x 500x10-9 m /(6.63x10-34 J s x 3x108 m/s)

= 4.0 mA W-1
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SEMICONDUCTOR PHOTODIODES
Semiconductor diodes can be classified into two categories:
with internal gain (APD)
without internal gain (PN and PIN photodiode)
Semiconductor photodiodes without internal gain generate a

single electron hole pair per absorbed photon
Semiconductor photodiodes with internal gain, at the
depletion region, while most of the photons are absorbed and
the primary carrier pairs generated, there is a high field
region in which holes and electrons can acquire sufficient
energy to excite new electron-hole pairs.
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THE JUNCTION PHOTODIODE

Under equilibrium conditions a potential barrier, Vo, exists
across the depleted areas on either side of the pn-junction
no net current flows through the diode.
pn junction is operated under reverse potential bias

positive terminal is connected to n-side and negative to p side
Electrons in the n-side are pulled out of the depletion region and
holes are pulled from the p side
This leaves more fixed ions (immobile carriers) of both kinds
in the depletion region causing it to widen
Consequently, the energy barrier increases in accordance
with the applied potential
The width of the depletion region is therefore dependent upon

the doping concentrations for a given applied reverse bias (i.e.
the lower the doping, the wider the depletion region).
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pn-JUNCTION PHOTODIODE
Under illumination, the
photogenerated electron-hole
pairs separate and drift under
the influence of the electric field,
whereas outside this region the
hole diffuses towards the
depletion region in order to be
collected.
The depletion region width in a p-n

photodiode is normally 1-3 m and is
optimized for the efficient detection of
light at a given wavelength.
The diffusion process is very

slow compared to the drift
process and thus limits the
response of the photodiode.
It is therefore important that the
photons are absorbed in the
depletion region.
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pn-JUNCTION PHOTODIODE
Typical output characteristics for the reverse-biased p-n photodiode.
The different operating conditions may be noted moving from no
light input to a high light level.
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PIN PHOTODIODE
PIN diode is a variation on standard
pn-diode
An intrinsic (pure) layer of
semiconductor is fabricated between the
p and n-types
Depletion layer widens
Internal electric field is maintained over a
wider layer
Because very few electrons and holes
are in this region
Its resistivity is low
Only a small reverse bias is needed
to increase the depletion region
Stretches almost entire way
between the terminals
Very fast response times

A few nanoseconds or less
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PIN PHOTODIODE
The front illuminated photodiode when
operating in the 0.8-0.9 m band (Fig. (a))
requires a depletion region of between 20
and 50 m.
The side illuminated structure (Fig. (b)),
where light is injected parallel to the
junction plane, exhibits a large absorption
width and hence is particularly sensitive at
wavelengths close to the bandgap limit
(1.09m).
Germanium p-i-n photodiodes which span the
entire wavelength range of interest are also
commercially available, but the dark current is
relatively high.
Other material of interest is In1-xGaxAsyP1-y.
The structure for such a p-i-n photodiode is
shown in Fig. (1.0 to 1.7 m).
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AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES - with internal gain
Basic pn junction is highly doped

Operated at high reverse bias
> 50 V usually
Diode operates in avalanche region of I-V characteristics
Electrons and holes which cross depletion region

gain enough energy to produce more electrons and holes
Avalanche multiplication
A guard-ring is fabricated around the active area

Reduces leakage current if biased to same voltage as diode
Restricts avalanche effect to middle of illuminated area
Fast response
Internal amplification of number of electrons
Because of avalanche effect
The main advantage compared to pin photodiode is the

multiplication or gain factor, M.
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AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES (APD)

The new carriers created
by impact of ionization
Guard-ring around the active

area
Reduces leakage
current
Restricts avalanche
effect to middle of
illuminated area
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AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES (APD)

The response time limited by three factors.
(1) The transit time of the carriers across the absorption region (i.e. the
depletion width).
(2) The time taken by the carriers to perform the avalanche multiplication
process.
(3) The RC time constant incurred by the junction capacitance of the
diode and its load.
Hence, although the use of suitable materials and structures may give rise
times between 150 and 200 ps, fall times of 1 ns or more are quite common
which limit the overall response of the device.
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DRAWBACKS OF APD
(a) Fabrication difficulties due to their more complex structure and hence
increased cost.
(b) The random nature of the gain mechanism which gives an additional
noise contribution.
(c) The high bias voltages required (100-400 V).
(d) The variation of the gain with temperature as shown in Fig. below for a
silicon reach-through APD (RAPD).
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MULTIPLICATION FACTOR
The multiplication factor M is a measure of the internal gain provided by
the APD. It is defined as:
I
I
Where:
I is the total output current at the operating voltage.
Ip is the initial or primary photocurrent.
The gain M, increases with the reverse bias voltage, Vd
M =
1
Vd
1
V BR
where n = constant and VBR is the breakdown voltage of the detector

which is usually around 20 to 500 V.
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I-V CHARACTERISTICS OF IRRADIATED pn-DIODE
With no illumination, the response

of the diode corresponds to the
situation described by the diode
equation
On increasing the irradiance, the
reverse photon current
increases to iph and the whole
curve shifts downwards by this
amount
The forward voltage drop across the

open circuit diode for a given
irradiance is given by the point at
which the curve intersects the
voltage axis at i = 0
For a given reverse voltage, say
VR, the near linear increase in iph
with irradiation can be seen.
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Example 1:
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Example 2:
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Example 3:
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Example 4:
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5 Photodetectors

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CHAPTER 5

Classify detectors by mechanism of response to incident light

OPTICAL DETECTION PRINCIPLES

A photon incident in or near the depletion region of this

OPTICAL DETECTION PRINCIPLES

OPTICAL DETECTION PRINCIPLES

OPTICAL DETECTION PRINCIPLES

= number of electrons collected

The ratio of the number of

Values in the range 5% to 30% are typical

where Ip is the output photocurrent in Amperes and P0 is the

The ideal responsivity against

In photomultipliers and semiconductor devices, the background

To be seen by the detector the incident light needs to produce an

NEP is defined as the radiant flux which produces

= 0.01 x 1.6x10-19 J x 500x10-9 m /(6.63x10-34 J s x 3x108 m/s)

Semiconductor photodiodes without internal gain generate a

THE JUNCTION PHOTODIODE

pn junction is operated under reverse potential bias

The width of the depletion region is therefore dependent upon

The depletion region width in a p-n

The diffusion process is very

Very fast response times

AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES - with internal gain

Basic pn junction is highly doped

Electrons and holes which cross depletion region

A guard-ring is fabricated around the active area

The main advantage compared to pin photodiode is the

AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES (APD)

Guard-ring around the active

AVALANCHE PHOTODIODES (APD)

where n = constant and VBR is the breakdown voltage of the detector

I-V CHARACTERISTICS OF IRRADIATED pn-DIODE

With no illumination, the response

The forward voltage drop across the

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