Photonic Devices

LED LD PD SC
Ahmad Shuhaimi
LDMRC, Department of Physics, UM.
Fig. X Chart of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Fig. X Chart of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Radiative Transitions and Optical Absorption

To convert wavelength to photon energy, we use the relationship,

1240
= = = nm
(eV)

is the speed of light in vacuum

is the frequency of light

is the Plancks constant

is the energy of photon (measured in electron volt)

 Radiative Transitions and Optical Absorption

Consider,
1 : Ground state
2 : Excited state

Any transition between these two states involves the

emission or absorption of a photon with frequency 12
given by,
12 = 2 1
Absorption Process:
At room temperature, most of the atoms in the solid
are at the ground state.
When a photon of energy exactly equal to 12
impinges on the system, an atom in state 1 absorbs
the photon and thereby goes to the excited state 2 .
The change in the energy state is the absorption
process, as shown in Fig. X(a).
Spontaneous Emission:
The excited state of the atom is unstable.
After a short time, without any external stimulus, it
makes a transition to the ground state, giving off a
photon of energy 12 .
This process is called spontaneous emission, as shown
in Fig. X(b).

Fig. X Basic transition process between two energy levels.

(a) Absorption. (b) Spontaneous emission. (c) Stimulated emission.
 Radiative Transitions and Optical Absorption

Consider,
1 : Ground state
2 : Excited state

Any transition between these two states involves the

emission or absorption of a photon with frequency 12
given by,
12 = 2 1
Absorption Process:
At room temperature, most of the atoms in the solid
are at the ground state.
When a photon of energy exactly equal to 12
impinges on the system, an atom in state 1 absorbs
the photon and thereby goes to the excited state 2 .
The change in the energy state is the absorption
process, as shown in Fig. X(a).
Stimulated Emission:
When a photon of energy 12 impinges on an atom
while it is in the excited state, the atom can be
stimulated to make a transition to the ground state
and gives off a photon of energy 12 , which is in-
phase with the incident radiation.
This process is called stimulated emission, as shown
in Fig. X(c).
The radiation from stimulated emission is Fig. X Basic transition process between two energy levels.
(a) Absorption. (b) Spontaneous emission. (c) Stimulated emission.
monochromatic and coherent.
From the radiative transition process,
Absorption is dominant in photodetector (PD) and solar cell (SC).
Spontaneous emission is dominant in light emitting diode (LED).
Stimulated emission is dominant in laser diode (LD).
Materials for Optoelectronic Devices

Fig. X Semiconductors of interest as visible LEDs.

Figure includes relative response of the human eye.

The maximum sensitivity of the eye is at 555 nm.

The eye response falls to nearly zero at the extremes of the visible spectrum at about 400 and 700 nm.
For normal vision at the peak response of the eye, 1 W of radiant energy is equivalent to 683 lumen.
Since the human eye is only sensitive to light
with photon energy equal to or greater than 1.8
eV (700 nm), semiconductors of interest must
have an energy bandgap larger than this limit.

The most important materials for visible LEDs

are the alloy GaAs1-yPy and GaxIn1-xN III-V
compound systems.
Fig. X (a) Compositional dependence of the AlxGa1-xAs energy gap.
(b) Compositional dependence of the refractive index at 1.38 eV.
 Homojunction and Double-Heterostructure Junction
P-N Homojunction:
n-type material has electron as the
major carrier, p-type material has hole
as the major carrier.
When connected at forward bias,
major electron in the n-GaAs layer is
pushed towards p-GaAs, and major
hole in the p-GaAs is pushed towards
n-GaAs.
The electron and hole recombines at
the P-N junction interface.
Photon with energy is released,
corresponding to the material
bandgap energy .

Fig. X Comparison of some characteristics of (a) homojunction laser and (b) double-heterojunction
(DH) laser. Second from top row shows energy band diagrams under forward bias.
The refractive index change for DH laser is about 5%. The confinement of light is shown in the
bottom row. The refractive index change for a homojunction laser is less than 1%.
 Homojunction and Double-Heterostructure Junction
P-P-N Double Heterojunction (DH):
A P-P-N heterojunction is formed
between degenerate semiconductors
where doping levels on both side of
the junction is high enough that the
Fermi level is below the valence
band edge on the p-side and is
above the conduction band edge on
the n-side.
A narrower bandgap p-GaAs layer is
sandwiched between p-AlGaAs and n-
AlGaAs with larger bandgap .
When connected at forward bias,
major electron in the n-AlGaAs layer is
pushed into p-GaAs, and major hole in
the p-AlGaAs is pushed into p-GaAs.
Large concentration of electrons and
holes are injected into the p-GaAs
transition region.
Population inversion is created in the
p-GaAs region.
The electron and hole recombines in
the p-GaAs region.
Photon with energy is released,
corresponding the material bandgap
energy .

Fig. X Comparison of some characteristics of (a) homojunction laser and (b) double-heterojunction
(DH) laser. Second from top row shows energy band diagrams under forward bias.
The refractive index change for DH laser is about 5%. The confinement of light is shown in the
bottom row. The refractive index change for a homojunction laser is less than 1%.
 Quantum-Well Junction
QW junction is similar to that of Q1: Describe the light emission mechanism in a light-emitting
DH junction except the thickness diode made of p-AlGaAs/p-GaAs/n-AlGaAs quantum well as the
of the active layer in QW is very active layer when the junction is forward-biased.
small, about 10-20 nm.
The thickness is comparable
to the de Broglie wavelength,
=
Energy level in the well is
quantized into discreet levels
(Figure X(c)), each corresponds
to a constant density of states
per unit area given by,

=
2
Since the density of state (DoS) is
constant, a group of electrons of
the same energy will recombine
with a group of holes of nearly
the same energy, for example,
the level 1 in the with the
level 1 in the .
QW offers significant
improvement in LD performance,
such as reduction in threshold
current, high output power, and
high speed, compared with
Fig. X Quantum-well (QW) junction: (a) single GaAs QW surrounded by AlGaAs, (b)
conventional DH lasers.
discreet energy levels within the well, and (c) density of states for electrons and holes
within the well.
 Light-Emitting Diode
Ti/Al n-electrode is deposited on n-GaN
layer.
Ni/Au semi-transparent p-electrode is
deposited on the p-GaN surface, and
Ni/Au electrode pad is deposited on the
Ni/Au semi-transparent electrode.
A forward bias current is injected
through the device.
Photons generated in the active layer
are emitted through the semi-
Fig. X III-V nitride LED grown on sapphire substrate.
transparent p-electrode.

LED chip is attached on thermal

conductive material, and packaged with
epoxy lens.
The thermal conductive material
dissipates heat from the device, and the
epoxy lens focuses the emitted light
from the LED chip to the desired degree.

Fig. X Diagrams of two packaged LED lamps.

 Fig. X Basic structure of a flat-diode LED and the effects of (a) an opaque substrate (GaAs1-yPy) and
(b) a transparent substrate (GaP) on photons emitted at the p-n junction.

Three loss mechanism that reduce the quantity of emitted photons:

Absorption within the LED material
Reflection loss when light passes from a semiconductor to air due to difference in refractive index.
Total internal reflection of light at angles greater than the critical angle defined by Snells law,
1
sin =
2
Light-Emitting Diode Characteristics

Show the following LED characteristics:

I-V plot
Electroluminescence spectra
Laser Diode

A laser diode must satisfy the following condition to achieve lasing:

Population inversion degenerated semiconductor
Carrier confinement double heterostructure, quantum-well/dot, Fabry-Perot cavity, etc
Optical confinement cladding with lower refractive index
Optical gain Mirrors (reflection plane) at either end of the cavity

Fig. X (a) Representation of a three layer dielectric waveguide. (b) Ray trajectories of the guided wave.
 Type of Laser Diodes
Homojunction laser [Fig. X(a)]:
Same semiconductor material (GaAs) on both side of the
junction.
A pair of parallel planes (or facets) are cleaved (or polished)
perpendicular to the <110> axis.
Under appropriate biasing condition, laser light will be
emitted from these planes (facets).
The other two remaining sides of the diode are roughened to
eliminate lasing in the directions other than the main ones.
This structure is called Fabry-Perot cavity, with typical length
of 300 nm.
Fabry-Perot cavity configuration is used extensively in
modern semiconductor laser.

Double-heterostructure laser [Fig. X(b)]:

A thin layer of narrower bandgap semiconductor (GaAs) is
sandwiched between layers of larger bandgap semiconductor
(AlxGa1-xAs).
The laser structures in Fig. X (a) and (b) are broad-area lasers
because the entire area along the junction plane can emit
radiation.
Stripe-geometry double-heterostructure laser [Fig. X(c)]:
The oxide layer isolates all but the stripe contact.
Consequently, the lasing area is restricted to a narrow region
under the contact.
The stripe widths are typically 5-30 m.
The advantages of this structure are; reduced operating
current, elimination of multiple-emission areas along the
junction, and improved reliability that is the result of
removing most of the junction parameters.

Fig. X Semiconductor laser structure in the Fabry-Perot cavity configuration.

(a) Homojunction laser. (b) DH laser. (c) Stripe-geometry DH laser.
Laser Diode Characteristics

Show the following LED characteristics:

I-V plot
Electroluminescence spectra
Photodetector
Photodetectors are semiconductor devices that can convert optical signals into electrical signals.
Generally, photodetectors involves three steps:
Carrier generation by incident light
Carrier transport and/or multiplication by whatever current gain mechanism may be present, and
Interaction of current with the external circuit to provide the output signal.
 P-I-N Photodiode
The p-i-n photodiode is the most common photodetectors
because the depletion region thickness can be tailored to
optimize the quantum efficiency and frequency response.

Fig. X(a) shows a cross section of a p-i-n photodiode that has an

antireflection-coating to increase quantum efficiency.

Fig. X(b) shows energy band diagram of the p-i-n diode, and
Fig. X(c) shows its optical absorption characteristics.

Operating mechanism:
Light absorption in the semiconductor produces electron-
hole pairs (EHPs).
EHPs produced in the depletion region or within a diffusion
length of it will eventually be separated by the electric field
as shown in Fig. X(b).
Whereby, a current flows in the external circuit as carriers
drift across the depletion layer.

Fig. X Operation of a p-i-n photodiode. (a) Cross-section

view of p-i-n photodiode. (b) Energy band diagram
under reverse bias. (c) Carrier absorption
characteristics.
 Metal-Semiconductor Photodiode
The construction of a high-speed metal-semiconductor
photodiode is shown in Fig. X

The metal film must be very thin (~10 nm) and an antireflection
coating must be used, to avoid large reflection and absorption
losses when the diode is illuminated through the metal contact.

Metal-semiconductor photodiodes are particularly useful in the

UV- and visible-light regions.

The absorption coefficient, , in most of the common

semiconductors are very high, of the order of 104 cm1 or
more, which corresponds to an effective absorption length of
or 1.0 m or less.
Fig. X Structure of a metal-semiconductor photodiode.
It is possible to choose a metal and an antireflection coating so
that a large fraction of the incident radiation will be absorbed
near the surface of the semiconductor.

As an example, for gold-silicon photodetector having 10 nm

gold and 50 nm zinc sulfide as the antireflection coating, more
than 95% of the incident light with = 0.6328 m (helium-
neon laser wavelength, red light) will be transmitted into the
silicon substrate.
PN Junction Solar Cell

A schematic representation of a p-n junction solar cell is shown in Fig. X

consisting of,
A shallow p-n junction formed on the surface
A front Ohmic contact stripe and fingers
A back Ohmic contact that covers the entire back surface
An antireflection coating on the front surface

When the cell is exposed to the solar spectrum,

A photon that has an energy less than the bandgap makes no
contribution to the cell output.
A photon with energy greater than contributes an energy to
the cell output.
Energy greater than is wasted as heat.
Fig. X Schematic representation of a silicon p-n
junction solar cell.
PN Junction Solar Cell
Energy band diagram of a p-n junction under solar radiation is
shown in Fig. X(a). The equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. X(b),
where a constant-current source is in parallel with the
junction.

The source results from the excitation of excess carriers by

solar radiation, is the diode saturation current, and is the
load resistance.

The I-V characteristics of such device are given by,

= 1
and,
1 1
= = +
Fig. X (a) Energy band diagram of a p-n junction solar cell

under irradiation. (b) Idealized equivalent circuit of a solar
where is the device area. cell.

A plot of the equation above is given in Fig. X(a) for =

100 mA, = 1 nA, cell area = 4 cm2 , and = 300 K.

The I-V curve is more generally represented by Fig. X(b).

By choosing proper load, close to 80% of the product

can be extracted, where is the short-circuit current equal
to , and is the open-circuit voltage of the cell.

The shaded area in the figure is the maximum-power

rectangle. Maximum power output, Fig. X (a) Current-voltage characteristics of a solar cell
under illumination. (b) Inversion of (a) about the voltage
= axis.
Thank you.