Light Sources and

Detectors and Optical

Fiber Link Budget
Richard L. Figueroa, ECE

Light Sources
Light sources
used for optical
fiber systems
must be at
wavelengths
efficiently
propagated by
the optical fiber.

Characteristic of Good Light Sources

Smaller range of wavelengths
It must produce sufficient power to allow
light propagate through the fiber
Its output should be efficiently coupled into
and out the optical cable

Optical Sources
Light Emitting
Diode

Injection Laser
Diode

It has spectral
width of 30 nm
to 50 nm
Lower cost with
corresponding
lower
performance
More reliable

It has spectral
width of 1 nm to
3 nm
High cost but
with good
performance

LEDs
An LED is a p-n junction, usually made from a
semiconductor material such as aluminum galliumarsenide (AlGaAs) or gallium-arsenide-phosphide
(GaAsP).

LEDs emit light by

spontaneous emission
light is emitted as a
result of recombination
of electrons and holes

Semiconductor Material Wavelength

Material
AlGaInP
GaInP
GaAlAs
GaAs
InGaAs
InGaAsP
InGaAsSb

Wavelength (nm)
630-680
670
620-895
904
980
1100-1650
1700-4400

Types of LEDs
Homojunction LEDs
Heterojunction LEDs
Burrus Etched-Well Surface-Emitting LED
Edge-Emitting LED

Homojunction LED
It is made from a p-n
junction made from two
different mixtures of the
same types of atoms.
Light waves are emitted
in all direction which
makes the LED not
useful for optical fiber.

Heterojunction LED

It is made from a p-type semiconductor material

of one set of atoms and an n-type semiconductor
material from another set.
With heterojunction devices, light is emitted
from the edge of the material and are often
called edge emitters.

Burrus Etched-Well SurfaceEmitting LED

It is a surfaceemitting LED
which is is used
for
telecommunicati
ons applications
which uses data
rates in excess
of 100 Mbps.

Edge-Emitting LED
It emits a more
directional light pattern
than do surfaceemitting LEDs but
surface emitting LEDs
are more commonly
used than edgeemitting because they
emit more light.

ILD

The ILD is similar to an Led except that the ends

are highly polished.
The mirrolike ends trap the photons in the active
region and as they reflect back and forth,
stimulate free electrons to recombine with holes at
a higher-than-normal energy level.

ILDs Advantages over LEDs

ILDs emit coherent light, whereas LEDs
emit incoherent light
ILDs can be used for long distance
communication (ILDs radiant power is 5mW
(7dBm) while LED is 0.5mW (-3dBm))
ILDs can be used at higher bit rates than
LEDs
ILDs generate monochromatic light, which
reduces chromatic dispersion

ILDs Disadvantages over LEDs

ILDs are typically 10 times more expensive
than LEDs
Because of ILDs higher powers, they
typically have a much more shorter lifetime
than LEDs
ILDs are more temperature dependent than
LEDs

Light Detectors
PIN Diodes
Avalanche Photodiode

PIN Diodes
It is a depletion layer
photodiode and is the
most common device
used as a light
detector in fiber-optic
communication
systems.

APDs
An APD is a pipn
structure.
Light enters the diode
and is absorbed by the
thin, heavily doped nlayer.
During impact ionization,
a carrier can gain
sufficient energy to
ionized bound electrons.

Characteristics of Light
Detectors
Responsitivity
Dark Current
Transit Time
Spectral Response
Light Sensitivity

Optical Fiber System Link Budget

Optical Fiber link budget are generally calculated
between a light source and a light detector.

Losses on Optical Fiber Links

Cable Losses
Connector Losses
Source-to-cable interface loss
Cable-to-light detector interface loss
Splicing Loss
Cable bends

Problem #1
Determine the optical power received in
dBm and watts for a 20-km optical fiber link
with the following parameters:
LED output power
Optical cable loss
3 cable-to-cable connector loss
No cable splices
Light source-to-fiber interface loss
Fiber-to-light detector loss
No losses due to cable bends

30 mW
0.5 dB/km
2 dB each

1.9 dB
2.1 dB