Sie sind auf Seite 1von 30

Optical Sources

Considerations with Optical


Sources
 Physical dimensions to suit the fiber

 Narrow radiation pattern (beam width)

 Linearity (output light power


proportional to driving current)
Considerations with Optical
Sources
 Ability to be directly modulated by
varying driving current

 Fast response time (wide band)

 Adequate output power into the fiber


Considerations with Optical
Sources
 Narrow spectral width (or line width)

 Stability and efficiency

 Reliability and cost


Semiconductor Light Sources
 A PN junction (that consists of direct band gap
semiconductor materials) acts as the active or
recombination region

 When the PN junction is forward biased, electrons


and holes recombine either radiatively (emitting
photons) or non-radiatively (emitting heat). This
is simple LED operation.

 In an LASER, the photon is further processed in a


resonance cavity to achieve a coherent, highly
directional optical beam with narrow linewidth
Light Emission
 Basic LED operation: When an electron
jumps from a higher energy state (Ec) to
a lower energy state (Ev) the difference in
energy Ec- Ev is released either

 as a photon of energy E = hν (radiative


recombination)

 as heat (non-radiative recombination)


The Light Emitting Diode (LED)
 For fiber-optics, the LED should have a
high radiance (light intensity), fast
response time and a high quantum
efficiency
 Double or single hetero-structure devices
 Surface emitting (diffused radiation) Vs
Edge emitting (more directional) LED’s
 Emitted wavelength depends on bandgap
energy E= hν= hc /λ
Light emitting diode (LED)
 Light emitting diodes are PN junction
semiconductors that emit light when
forward biased.
Zero bias

LED
p n p
Electron n
Energy
Conduction Band
Fermi-level Wf Free electrons
------- i
Free holes + + + + + + Hole
Wg Energy
Valence Band
V

Potential
+ -
barrier
Forward bias
 The original setup is that the Fermi level of the N and P regions
overlap and the energy required for the electron to move from
the N to the P regions or the holes to move from the P to N
region is too large and so no charge movement in zero bias.

 When the diode is forward biased the two Fermi levels are
separated with a value proportional to the voltage applied (=eV)
and the barrier is now reduced as the voltage increased the
potential energy of the n-side and lowered that of the p-side.
 Free electrons and holes will have sufficient energy to cross the
barrier between the two regions (enter into the depletion
region).

 When a free electron meet a free hole in the junction (depletion


region) recombination happens.

 An electron moves from the valence to the conduction band


producing an optical energy in the form of a photon.
Forward bias (cont.)
Electron P N
Conduction Band
Energy -------------
Wg ----------
Hole
Energy ++++++ hf = Wg
++++++
Reduced
Potential Valence Band
barrier
 The potential barrier between the two junctions is reduced due
to the forward bias. The physics behind this is that the positive
voltage at the P-end essentially pushes the holes more
towards the depletion region and so does the negative bias at
the N-end so holes and electrons are both pushed more
towards each other (from both regions) in other words the
forward bias add an extra force to the natural force attracting
both types of carriers which is resisted by the depletion region.
Forward bias (cont.)
 The released energy in the form of photon is proportional to
frequency and is given by :
Wg  W p  hf
 Where h is Plank’s constant equal to 6.63x10-34J.s
 The energy which was given out will be equal to the band gap
Wg.
 We define the electron volt unit (eV)=1.6x10-19J.
 The wavelength from the above equation can be given as:
hc
l
Wg
 If l is expressed in micrometers and the gap energy in
electron-volts the equation reduces to :
1.24
l
Wg
 Energy gap greater than 2eV required for obtaining visible
radiation.
Quantum Efficiency
 Internal quantum efficiency is the ratio
between the radiative recombination rate and
the sum of radiative and nonradiative
recombination rates

 For exponential decay of excess carriers, the


radiative recombination lifetime is n/Rr and
the nonradiative recombination lifetime is
n/Rnr
Internal Efficiency
 If the current injected into the LED is I, then
the total number of recombination per second
is,
Rr+Rnr = I/q where, q is the charge of an
electron. That is, Rr = ηintI/q.

 Since Rr is the total number of photons


generated per second, the optical power
generated internal to the LED depends on the
internal quantum efficiency
LED operating characteristics
 The optical power generated by the LED is
linearly proportional to the forward driving
current.
Output Power Linear
Region Nonlinear
(mW) Region
5

0 100 Input Current (mA)


LED operating characteristics
 The linearity can be explained as follows : if the
current i is defined as the injected charge per second
(Coulomb per second) therefore the number of
charges flowing per second N= I / e where e is the
electron charge.
 If h is the fraction of the electrons per second which
will recombine and produce photons, then the optical
power produced can be expressed as
hWg
P  hNWg  (i)
e
 If the energy gap is expressed in eV then the
equation reduces to :
P  hWg (i )
 As we mentioned before this power is not the power
that will be coupled inside the fiber as the limited NA
of the fiber significantly reduce the coupled power.
Modulation of an LED
 An LED is digitally modulated by a current source
which simply turns the LED on and off
Optical Power Output

Optical Power
1 0 1

Signal LED
t

i 1
Input Current (Signal)
0
1

t
Modulation of an LED (cont.)
 For analogue modulation a dc bias is required to keep the total
current in the forward direction at all times. Otherwise the
negative swing would shut off the diode (reverse bias).

Optical Power
Psp Optical Power
Pdc

Idc
0
i
Isp

t Input Current (Signal)


Modulation of an LED (cont.)
 The input signal current Is is:
I S  I S sin( wt )

w is the modulation frequency

 The total diode current will be the signal


current plus the bias current :

I  I dc  I S sin( wt )

 The optical power generated is thus given


by :
P  Pdc  PS sin( wt )
Radiation patterns of an LED
 The LED with surface emitter radiation pattern follows what is
termed a Lambertian pattern.
 In a Lambertian pattern the power diminishes as cosq where q
is the angle between the viewing direction and the normal to
the surface. .

Beam Intensity
Intensity  cos q
1.0 q

0.5

n p
0 60º 90 º q

 Total half-power beamwidth is 120º


Radiation patterns of an LED
Edge emitters radiate in a Lambertian pattern in the plane parallel to the
junction and in a narrower beam in the plane perpendicular to the junction
(due to waveguiding modes in the junction which ensure a small angle on
exit). This gives an overall improved coupling efficiency since it will
cause less spreading.

Refractive Index
n

q||
q q
Junction
Drawbacks of LED
 Large line width (30-40 nm)
 Large beam width (Low coupling to
the fiber)
 Low output power

 Low E/O conversion efficiency

Advantages
 Robust

 Linear

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen