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p-n photodiodes
Photoconductive/photovoltaic modes
p-i-n photodiodes
Responsivity and bandwidth
Noise in photodetectors
References: This lecture partially follows the materials from Photonic Devices, Jia-Ming
Liu, Chapter 14. Also from Fundamentals of Photonics, 2nd ed., Saleh &
Teich, Chapters 18.
hX
hX
Eg
Electron-hole photogeneration
kink
Absorption coefficient
Si
Ge
GaAs
InAs
InP
GaSb
In0.53Ga0.47As
In0.14Ga0.86As
GaAs0.88Sb0.12
Direct
4.10
0.81
1.43
0.35
1.35
0.73
0.75
1.15
1.15
Indirect
1.14
0.67
-
1/D = 10-3 cm = 10 Pm
Absorption coefficient
Electron
energy
hX
thermalization
Phonon
process
electron
wavevector k
Indirect absorption
hXL
hXs
Junction photodiodes
homogeneous
p region
hX
Recombine with
majority h+
before reaching
the junction
Le
e- diffusion
region
hX
diffusion
Active region
Depletion layer
drift
hX
drift
diffusion
hX
Recombine with
majority ebefore reaching
the junction 10
hX
h+ diffusion homogeneous
region
n region
Lh
11
Ip = eA (Lh + Le + W) G
12
Dark current
,
I = I0(exp(eV/kBT) 1)
Diode equation
13
Ip
I
Ip
Vp
G3
G2
G1
G=0
I0
Ip
I = I0(exp(eV/kBT) 1) Ip
14
Ip
Ip3
Ip2
Ip1
Vp
, !
Vp = (kBT/e) ln(Ip/I0 + 1)
G3
G2
G1
G=0
I0
15
Intensity (mW/cm2)
Ip (A)
Vp (V)
16
EF
Ev
Ec
e(V0-Vp)
EFp
Accumulated
majority
carriers
+++
Accumulated
majority
carriers e(V0-Vp)
--EFn
eVp
eV0
Open-circuit voltage
17
18
p
W
eV0
W+D
e(V0 + VB)
EF
Ev
Ec
EFp
Ev
Ec
EFn
eVB
19
Ri
-
Vout = 0V
Ri
RL << Ri
I0+Ip
RL Vout
I0 -VBVout
G1
G=0
VB
-VB/RL
(short-circuit
current)
RL = 0
I0+Ip
I0 -VB
G1
G=0
VB
20
RL Vout
RL >> Ri
Limited by the
contact potential
G3
G2
G1
G=0
I0
21
p
ir
I
Photoconductive:
Power (+ve) is delivered to
the device by the external
circuit (photodetector)
3rd quadrant
(external reverse bias,
reverse current)
Vr
+
RL
p
ir
I
22
4th quadrant
(internal forward bias,
reverse current)
Photovoltaic:
Power (-ve) is delivered to
the load by the device
(solar cell/ energy harvesting)
+
V
-
RL
Diffusion
region
Depletion
region
E-field
Absorption
region
23
p-i-n photodiodes
24
Absorption
region
||
Depletion
region
E-field
All the absorption takes place in the depletion region. The intrinsic region
can be an n-type material that is lightly doped, and to make a lowresistance contact a highly doped n-type (n+) layer is added.
n+
25
26
27
wide bandgap
narrow bandgap
wide bandgap
p+ InP
i InGaAs
n+ InP
Heterojunction photodiodes
28
=> For an optical signal that has a wavelength Os in the range Oth
> Os > Oc, the quantum efficiency and the responsivity can be
optimized.
Heterojunction photodiodes
29
Oc
Light in
fiber
(Thorlabs D400FC)
RF cable
Oth
0.1 ns
Rise/fall time
0.7nA (typ),
1.0nA (max)
0.1 mm
1 GHz (min)
100 mW CW
12V battery
0.8 dia. Ball lens
92% (typ) from both
single- and multimode fibers over full
spectral response
Dark current
PD Active diameter
Bandwidth
Damage threshold
Bias (reverse)
Coupling lens
Coupling efficiency
30
NEP @ 1550 nm
0.7 pF (typ)
Peak response
Diode capacitance
800 1700 nm
Spectral response
V0 = P R(O) RL
31
Responsivity
32
33
Quantum efficiency
34
35
tr = 0.35/f3dB
36
37
38
vd = (eE/m) Wcol = PE
39
Wtr = W/vd
40
Wdiff = d2/2D
Diffusion time
41
Cj = HA/W
Photodiode capacitance
42
43
Distorted
waveform
High-speed
photodiode
response
(b) W >> 1/D (all photons are absorbed in the depletion layer) and
small Cj.
(c) W >> 1/D, large photodiode capacitance, RC time limited
(d) W d 1/Dsome photons are absorbed in the diffusion region
diffusion component limited
Distorted
waveform
(optical)
44
Transit-time-limited
45
fph,3dB 0.443/Wtr
46
0.5
WRc = 100 ps
WRc = 10 ps
Wtr = 50 ps
10
Photocurrent
power spectrum
WRc = 50 ps
47
Ri
Ci
Cp
Ls
RL
Vout
ip
Rs
48
49
50
51
52
WRC 50 ps
RC-time-limited bandwidth
53
The risetime - the time interval for the response to rise from 10
to 90% of its peak value.
The falltime - the time interval for the response to decay from
90 to 10% of its peak value.
54
Wr = 0.35/f3dB
55
f3dB = 1/2SRC
Wr = 2.2 RC
=> the 10 to 90% rise time Wr for the circuit is given by:
For a voltage step input of amplitude V, the output voltage waveform Vout(t)
as a function of time t is:
56
Noise in photodetectors
Photon noise the most fundamental source of noise is associated with the random
arrivals of the photons (usually described by Poisson statistics)
Photoelectron noise a single photon generates an electron-hole pair with probability
K. The photocarrier-generation process is random.
Gain noise the amplification process that provides internal gain in certain
photodetectors is stochastic.
Receiver circuit noise various components in the electrical circuitry of an optical
receiver, such as thermal noise in resistors.
The bit error rate (BER) the probability of error per bit in a digital
optical receiver.
Performance measures
Photon noise
zm = KPW/hX
Poisson distribution
50
100
10
150
15
200
20
0.01
0.02
0.03
0.04
0.05
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0.14
10
15
20
0.005
zm = 10
0.01
50
100
zm = 100
0.05
0.1
150
n = 1 photon
SNR = n2/Vn2 = n
m = K)T = K n
Photoelectron noise
SNR = m = K n
Photocurrent noise
i(t)
t
Electric current
(shot noise) i(t)
Current pulses
Area e
photoelectrons
tp
photons
Shot noise
i = (e/T) m
i = eK)
Vi2 = 2e B i
Vd2 = 2 eB Id
Thermal noise
vth2 = 4kBTBR
Signal-to-noise ratio
For most detection systems at the small input signal level for
SNR = 1, the shot noise contributed by the input optical
signal is negligible compared to both the shot noise from
other sources and the thermal noise of the detector.
NEP = in21/2/R
The total noise in2 = ish2 + ith2 = 3.32 x 10-22 B A2 Hz-1, which is completely
dominated by thermal noise.
For B = 100 MHz, the total NEP for the entire bandwidth is