Outline

Light Emitting Diode

(LED)

LASER Diode

Photo Transistor
1
 Light Emitting Diode
(LED)
When a voltage is applied across a PN junction,
electron and holes are injected in the space
charge region.
They become excess minority carrier and then
diffuse in to the neutral region and recombine
with the majority carrier.
This electron and hole recombine by a direct
band to band recombination and photons are
emitted.
which in tern produces light output.

P-n Electrical
junction Contacts

2
 Light Emitting Diode
(LED)
This is the inverse mechanism of Solar cell /
Photodetector.
The emission wavelength is: = hc/Eg = 1.24/ Eg um
The diode diffusion current is proportional to recombination
rate.
The output photon intensity is proportional to diode current.
Electroluminescence originates from P side of the junction
because the injection rate of electron in P side is higher than
hole injection in N side.
The wavelength of the output light signal is
determined by the Bandgap energy of SC.
GaAs (bandgap is 1.42 eV. ) produces a light of
wavelength = = 0.873 um is not in the visible
range (0.4 um to 0.72 um).
So the bandgap must be in the range between 3
 Construction of Typical LED

Al
Light output
SiO2

n
Electrical
contacts

Substrate

4
 Hetero structure LED
Heterojunction is
better performed than
mono junction.
Electrons from N-
GaAlAs are injected
into narrow bandgap
p-GaAlAs . The
minority carrier
electron in the p can
recombine. The
photons are then
emitted through the
wide bandgap N
material without being
absorbed.
Because Egp< Egn 5
 Internal Quantum Efficiency
The internal quantum efficiency is the fraction
of diode current that produce luminescence.
It is a function of Injection efficiency and a
percentage of radiative recombination events
compared to the total recombination.
For a forward bias diode, there are three
current components:
(1) Minority carrier electron diffusion currents as:
eD n n po eV
Jn exp 1
Ln kT
(2) Minority carrier hole diffusion current:

eD p n no eV
Jp exp 1
Lp kT
(3) Space charge recombination current:
en iW eV
JR exp 1
2 0 2 kT 6
 Internal Quantum Efficiency
Luminescence is due to the recombination of
minority carrier electrons. So the Injection
efficiency is given J
by: n
Jn J p JR

We can make Jp small by using N+P junction

instead of NP. And by enough forward biasing JR
can be made small too. So the Injection
efficiency will be close to unity. dn
All the electrons injected in theRPr
region are not
recombine radiatively. r
The rate of radiative recombination R
dn
nr
nr
The rate of non-radiative recombination
dn dn
R R R
where dn is the excessr carrier
concentration and7
nr
r nr
 Internal Quantum Efficiency
The radiative efficiency is defined as:
1
Rr r

R r R nr 1

1 r
r nr
The non-radiative recombination rate is
proportional to the density of nonradiative
trapping sites (Nt) within the forbidden bandgap.
The radiative frequency increases as N t
decreases.
Jn
i
Jn J p JR r
The internal efficiency :

Radiative recombination rate increases as the p

type doping increases. But the injection
efficiency decreases with the increase of P type
8
 Internal Optical Power
Optical power generated internally in the active region in the
LED is:
I hcI
Pint int h int
q q

int : internal quantum efficiency in the active region

Pint : Internal optical power,

I : Injected current to active region

9
External Quantum Eficiency
It

is the fraction of generated photons

that is actually emitted from the SC is
given by:# of photonsemittedfromLED
ext
# of LEDinternallygeneratedphotons
Majority of the photons are actually reflected
at the surface and re-absorbed in the SC.
Photons must need to be transmitted across a
dielectric interface from SC into air.
If n2 is the index of refraction for SC and n1 is
the index of refraction of air. Then Reflection
coefficient is given by :
=
This reflection coefficient is the fraction of the
incident photons that are reflected back into SC. 10
External Quantum Eficiency
In

order to calculate the external quantum

efficiency, we also need to consider the
reflection effects at the surface of the LED. If
we consider the LED structure as a simple 2D
slab waveguide, only light falling within an
angle (c)defined by critical angle will be
emitted from an LED.
That critical angle is given by:
c =Sin -1 [ ]
External efficiency also depend on P-type
doping concentration and the junction depth.
But they are within the range of 1 to 3 %.

11
LASER Diode

12
 LASER Diode
(Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation)

The laser diode is the most common type of

laser produced with a wide range of
applications:

Fiber optic communications

Barcode readers
Laser pointers
CD/DVD/Blu-ray Disc reading and
recording
Laser printing
Laser scanning and
Increasingly directional lighting sources 13
 LASER

The photon output of the LED is due to an

electron giving up energy during band to band
recombination.
This spontaneous emission process yields a
spectral output of the LED with a fairly wide
bandwidth,
By changing the structure and the operating
condition, the device can be operated in new
node for producing a coherent spectral output
with a bandwidth of wavelength less than 0.1
nm.
This device is known as Light Amplification by
Stimulated Emission of Radiation. (LASER)
14
 LASER
The LASER is an optical oscillator, which
contains:
1- An amplifier with a gain-saturated
mechanism
2- A feedback system
3- A frequency selection mechanism
4- An output coupling scheme

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
15
 Pumped active medium
Three main process for laser action:
Induced absorption: Electron moves from E1 to
E2 by incident photon (hv).
Spontaneous emission: Electron moves down
from E2 to E1 produces Photon (hv).
Stimulated Emission: Electron at E2 interacted
by incident photon and generates two photons (
2 hv). Thus we have optical gain.

16
 Stimulated emission (lasing
Action)
Electrons and holes coexist in proximity to one
another, without recombining, for a narrow
lifetime", before recombination.
A nearby photon with energy equal to the
recombination energy can cause recombination by
stimulated emission.
This generates another photon of the same
frequency, polarization, and phase, travelling in
the same direction as the first photon.
This means that stimulated emission will cause
gain in an optical wave in the injection region, and
the gain increases as the number of electrons and
holes injected across the junction increases.

17
 Lasing in a pumped active medium

Consider
N1 and N2 are electron concentration
in E1and E2 energy levels. Respectively.
In thermal equilibrium: N2< N1 because E2>
E1
From Boltzman approximation and Fermi-dirac
distribution: we get:
The number of photons absorbed is
proportional to N1 and the number of additional
photons emitted is proportional to N2..
In order to achieve optical amplification or
Lasing action we must have N2>N1. This is
called population inversion.
This cant be achieved in thermal equilibrium.
18
Lasing in a pumped active medium
N2
E2
Iv
E1
z N1
Consider
Light wave with intensity Iv
propagating in the z direction.
The change in intensity is:

- where is the induced transition probability.

We can write (v)Iv where (N2 N1)
Then the intensity Iv= Iv(0) e (v)z

When (v) > 0 then amplification occurs.

When (v) < 0 then absorption occurs.

19
 Lasing in a pumped active medium
In thermal equilibrium the stimulated emission
is essentially negligible, since the density of
electrons in the excited state is very small.
Optical emission is mainly because of the
spontaneous emission.
Stimulated emission will exceed absorption
only if the population of the excited states is
greater than that of the ground state.
This condition is known as Population
Inversion. And it is achieved by various
pumping techniques.
In a semiconductor laser, population inversion
is accomplished by injecting electrons into the
material to fill the lower energy states of the
conduction band. 20
 Population Inversion
N2
E2
Iv
E1
z N1

We

can achieve population
inversion and lasing action in a
forward biased PN homo junction
diode, if both sides are
degenerately doped. Then the gain
factor is given by:
(v){1- exp [
In order for (v) >1, we must
have hv< (EFN EFP)
Near the junction, there is a region
There are large number of electrons
in which in the conduction
population inversion
band directly above a large number of empty states.
occurs.
Photons emitts with energies in the range Eg < hv 21<
Optical Cavity/Fabry-Perot
Resonator
Coherent emission is
achieved by using an
Optical Cavity.
The cavity will cause a
buildup of optical
intensityf rom positive
feedback.
A resonant cavity
consisting of two
parallel mirrorsis known
as Fabry-Perot
resonator.
This cavity can be
fabricated by cleaving a
GaAs crystal along 110
plane.
22
 Optical Cavity/Fabry-Perot
Resonator
Mirrors are partially reflecting , so a portion of
the wave will be transmitted out of the junction.
For resonance , the length of the cavity L must
be an integral number of half wavelengths
as:
L N
where N is an integer. 2
Since is small and L is relatively large, so there can be
many resonant modes in the cavity.
When forward bias current is applied to the PN junction,
spontaneous emission is initially occurs and its spectrum is
relatively broadband and superimposed on the possible lasing
modes.
For lasing action, spontaneous emission gain must be larger
than the optical losses due to absorption and reflection.
By positive feedback in the cavity, lasing can occur at
specific wavelength. 23
 Optical Cavity/Fabry-Perot
Resonator

(a) Resonant modes of a cavity with

length L

(b)Spontaneous emission curve

(c) Actual emission model of laser

diode 24
 Laser Diode

Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000 25

Laser Diode Characteristics
Nanosecond & even picosecond response time
(GHz BW)
Spectral width of the order of nm or less
High output power (tens of mW)
Narrow beam (good coupling to single mode
fibers)
Laser diodes have three distinct radiation
modes namely, (1) longitudinal, (2)
lateral and (3) transverse.

End mirrors provide strong optical feedback in

longitudinal direction, so by roughening the
edges and cleaving the facets, the radiation
can be achieved in longitudinal direction26
 Laser Operation & Lasing
To
Condition
determine the lasing condition and resonant
frequencies, we should focus on the optical wave
propagation along the longitudinal direction, z-
axis. The optical
I v intensity
e (v ) z can be written as:
where (v) is the amplification
factor.
(v) z
We have two loss mechanisms: IThe
v 1st
e one is the
Photon absorption in SC can be written as:
where (v) is the absorption
coefficient.
The 2nd loss mechanism is due to partial
transmission of the optical signal through the

ends or reflected mirrors.

12 exp t ( ) (v) 2 L 1
These loss and gain of the optical field in the
optical path determine the lasing condition, which
27
 Laser Operation & Lasing
Condition
The optical gain at threshold can be found from
the previous equation and is given by:
1 1
t (v ) ln
2 L 12
Since the optical gain is a function of PN junction
current, so the threshold current density can be
written as:
1 1 1
J t ln
2 L 12
t (v ) J t

where is a constant, depends on specification of the

device and can be determined by experimentally or
28
Optical output vs. drive
current

Optical Fiber communications, 3 rd ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000 29

 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)

i 60% 70%; ext 15% 40%

Note that:
30
 Laser Resonant
Frequencies
The resonant frequency of the m th
mode is:
mc
m m 1,2,3,...
2 Ln

c 2
m m 1
2 Ln 2 Ln

31
 Heterostructure LASER
In homojuntion laser diode, photons may
be emitted in any direction, which lowers
the external efficiency .
The efficiency may be improve if the
emitted photons are confined in a region
near the junction.
This confinement can be achieved by
using an optical dielectric waveguide.
The device is a three layers double
heterstructure.
The requirements of the dielectric wave
guide is that the refractive index of the
central material be larger than that of the
32
Heterostructure LASER
A thin P-GaAs layer is
between P_AlGaAs and N-
AlGaAs laayers.
When forward bias is applied,
then electrons are injected
from N-AlGaAs to P-AlGaAs
region.
Radiative recombination is
then confined in the P-GsAs
region.
light wave also confined in
this region.
An optical cavity can be
formed by cleaving the SC
perpendicular to the N- 33
Advantages of Heterostructure
The active region (region where free
electrons and holes exist simultaneously)
confined to the thin middle layer.
This means that many more of the electron-
hole pairs can contribute to amplification.
Because, not so many are left out in the
poorly amplifying periphery.
Light is reflected from the heterojunction;
hence, the light is confined to the region
where the amplification takes place..

34
 Power versus Current at various
Temperature
I th ( T ) I z e T / T0

The threshold current is

at the break point.
At low current the
output spectrum is very
wide due to
spontaneous transition.
When the current is
slightly above the
threshold current,
various resonant
frequencies are
observed.
When diode current
becomes large then 35a
 Laser Noise

Modal (speckel) Noise: Fluctuations in the

distribution of energy among various modes.

Mode partition Noise: Intensity fluctuations in the

longitudinal modes of a laser diode, main source of
noise in single mode fiber systems.

Reflection Noise: Light output gets reflected back

from the fiber joints into the laser, couples with lasing
modes, changing their phase, and generate noise
peaks. Isolators & index matching fluids can eliminate
these reflections.

36
 Quantum well LASER

If the middle layer is made thin enough,

then it acts as a quantum well.
The vertical variation of the electron's
wavefunction and thus a component of its
energy, is quantized.
The efficiency of a quantum well laser is
greater than that of a bulk laser because the
quantum well system has an abrupt edge
that concentrates electrons in energy states
that contribute to laser action.

37
 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 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 38
 Distributed Bragg Reflector
lasers
It is characterized by an optical cavity consisting
of an electrically or optically pumped gain region
between two mirrors to provide feedback.
One of the mirrors is a broadband reflector and
the other mirror is wavelength selective.
The gain is favored on a single longitudinal
mode, resulting in lasing at a single resonant
frequency.
The broadband mirror is usually coated with a low
reflectivity coating to allow emission.

39
 DFB(Distributed FeedBack)
Lasers
In DFB lasers, the optical resonator structure is due
to the incorporation of Bragg grating or periodic
variations of the refractive index into multilayer
structure along the length of the junction.
This grating acts like an optical filter, causing a single
wavelength to be fed back to the gain region and
lase.

40
Vertical-Cavity Surface Emitting
laser VCSEL
This devices have the
optical cavity axis along
the direction of current
flow rather than
perpendicular to the
current flow as in
conventional laser
diodes.

41
Photo-Transistor

Introduction
Structure of
Phototransistor
Operation
Characteristics
Applications
Advantages/Disadvantage
s

42
 Photo-
Transistor

43
 PhotoTransistor
Photosensitive devices
Introduced by William Shockley in 1951
Unlike normal photodiode, it is an active
device
Providing high levels of gain
Low cost

44
 Phototransistor structure
Ordinary transistors exhibit the photosensitive
effects if they are exposed to light.
But the structure of the phototransistor is
specifically optimized for photo applications.
It has much larger base and collector areas
Used germanium or silicon Homojunction
Now GaAs heterojunction is used due to high
conversion efficiency

45
 Heterojunction
phototransistor
The base connection is left open circuit or
disconnected because it is not required.
The base of the photo transistor would only be
used to bias the transistor. It would mask the
current flowing as a result of the photo-action.

46
 PhotoTransistor
The Operation
collector of an n-p-n transistor is made
positive with respect to the emitter.
The collector of an p-n-p transistor is made
negative with respect to the emitter.
The light enters the base region of the
phototransistor where it generates hole electron
pairs.
This mainly occurs in the reverse biased base-
collector junction.
The hole-electron pairs move under the influence
of the electric field and provide the base current, to
be injected into the emitter.

47
 PhotoTransistor
Characteristics
For homo-structures, the gain is about 50 to few
hundred.
However for the hetero-structure devices, the
levels of gain may rise to ten thousand.
It provides less noise than Avalanche photodiode
(APD) for a comparable gain due to severe
collisions in APD.
It does not have Very high frequency response
due to higher values of capacitance in the Base-
Collector junction.
There is a small amount of current that flows in
the photo transistor even when no light is present.
This is called the dark current, and represents the
small number of carriers that are injected into the
emitter.
48
 Circuit configurations
Similar to conventional BJT, the phototransistor also
can be used in common emitter and common collector
circuits.
Common base circuits are not normally used
because the base connection is often left floating.

Widely used Model.

The circuit actually acts
as an amplifier.
The circuit generates an
output that moves from a high
voltage state to a low
voltage state when light is
detected.
Common emitter config.
49
Circuit configurations

The circuit generates an

output that moves from the low
state to a high voltage state
when light is detected.

Common collector config.

/ Emitter Follower Comfig. 50
 Operation Mode
Two basic modes of operation.
-Active or linear mode
-Switch
Operation in the "linear" or mode.
active mode provides a
response that is very broadly proportional to the light
stimulus.
It does not give a particularly linear output to the input
stimulus.
This mode of operation is more correctly termed the
active mode.
Active mode: VCC > RL x Ic
Switch mode: VCC < RL x Ic
Where
RL= load resistor (i.e. Rc or Re in the diagrams
above).
IC= maximum anticipated current. 51
 Operation Mode
Switch mode.
The operation of the phototransistor circuit in the switch
mode is more widely used.
When there is little or no light, virtually no current will
flow in the transistor, and it can be said to be in the "off"
state.
However as the level of light increases, current starts to
flow and finally the phototransistor becomes saturated
and the level of current cannot increase.
In this situation the phototransistor is said to be
saturated.
The switch mode, therefore has two levels: - "on" and
"off" as in a digital or logic system.
This type of phototransistor mode is useful for detecting
objects, sending data or reading encoders, etc.
52
 PhotoTransistor with
Base connection
In some phototransistors, the
base connection is available.
Base connection allows the
phototransistor circuit conditions to
be set more appropriately for some
applications.
High values of base resistor
Rbprevent low levels of light
from raising the current levels Circuit with base resisto
in the collector emitter circuit.
By this was, one can ensure
more reliable digital output.
All other aspects of the
circuit function remain the
same.
53
 Photodarlington
It uses the standard transistor Darlington
configuration.
The photodarlington transistor provides a much
higher degree of sensitivity when compared to
other phototransistors.
This is at the expense of response time and
frequency response.
Current gaintotal = HFE1 x HFE2
In the photodarlington transistor configuration,
the first transistor acts as the photodetector, and
its emitter is coupled into the base of the second
transistor.
This gives a very much higher level of gain, but it
is very much slower than the ordinary
phototransistor, having a maximum frequency of
around 20 kHz.
54
Optocoupler / Opto-
isolator
The photocoupler can be described by a variety
of names including the optocoupler, opto
coupler or opto-isolator.
The opto-coupler or optoisolator is essentially a
device that uses a short optical path to couple an
electrical signal from one area to another.
Typically the opto coupler is housed within a
single small package.
Opto-coupler: The opto-coupler is
generally thought of as being used to
transmit analogue of digital information
between circuits while maintaining electrical
isolation at potentials up to 5 000 volts.

Opto-isolator: The opto-isolator is

generally used in power systems and used
to transmit analogue or digital information
between circuits where the potential
difference is above 5 000 volts. 55
Optocoupler / Opto-
isolator
The opto-coupler has two elements :

Light emitter: The light emitter is on the input

side and takes the incoming signal and converts it
into a light signal. Typically the light emitter is a
light emitting diode.
Light detector: The light detector detects the
light from the emitter and converts it back into an
electrical signal. The light detector can be any one
of a number of different types of device from a
photodiode to a phototransistor, photodarlington,
etc.

56
Optocoupler / Opto-
isolator
The light emitter and detector must be matched to one
another, having matching wavelengths so that the
maximum coupling is achieved.
The opto-coupler may also contain other circuitry as
well, For example it may include the series resistor for the
LED or even the drive capability for the diode. The opto-
coupler may also include an output amplifier.
Although an opto-coupler usually thought of as a single
integrated package, it is possible to achieve the same
result using separate devices. However the mechanical
arrangements need to be considered and this often makes
an opto-coupler made from separate devices less
convenient,
.
57
 References
1. Lecture slides of University of Waterloo
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_diode
3. Semiconductor Device Fundamentals, by Pierret, Addison-Wesley,
4. Device Electronics for Integrated Circuits, by Muller and Kamins, Wiley,
New York, 1986.
5. GaAs Semiconductor Manufacturing,
http://www.mse.vt.edu/faculty/hendricks/mse4206/GaAsTEK/defa
ult.htm
(Nov. 26, 2007)

6. Physics of Semiconductor Devices, by S. M. Sze, Wiley, New York

7. Semiconductor Physics & Devices, 2nd ed., by Neamen,
8. Lecture notes of Prof. Gerhard Klimeck of Purdue University
9. Fundamentals of Semiconductor Theory and Device Physics, by Shyh
Wang, Prentice Hall

58