Light Emitting Diode (LED)

• Best light source for system requiring bit rates less than 100-200Mb/s
and optical power in tens of microwatts
• Less complex drive circuitry
• No thermal or optical stabilization circuits needed
• Fabrication cost is less
Measure of optical power radiated
• Requirement-> High radiance output in to a unit solid angle per unit area
of emitting surface

Time delay between the application

-> Fast emission response time of a current pulse and the onset of
optical emission

-> High quantum efficiency Fraction of injected electron hole

pairs that recombine radiatively
19-09-2023 1
LED Structures
• To achieve a high radiance and a high quantum efficiency, LED
structure should provide carrier confinement and optical confinement
• Carrier confinement: used to achieve high level of radiative
recombination in the active region of the device -> yields high
quantum efficiency.
• Optical confinement: prevents absorption of the emitted radiation by
the material surrounding pn junction
• Most effective LED structure to achieve these confinement is Double
heterostructure or heterojunction (two different alloy layers on each
side of active region)
• This structure confines both carriers and optical field in central active
layer

19-09-2023 2
LED Structures
• The bandgap differences of adjacent layers confine the charge carriers
• Difference in the indices of refraction of adjoining layers confine the
optical field to the central active layer
• Dual confinement leads to both high efficiency and high radiance
• Other parameters influencing the device performance
• Optical absorption in active region
• Carrier recombination at the heterostructure interface
• Doping concentration of active layer
• Injection carrier density
• Active layer thickness Surface Emitter
• Two basic configurations
Edge Emitter

19-09-2023 3
LED Structures
Cross sectional drawing of a
typical GaAlAs double
heterostructure light emitter

Energy band diagram showing

the active region, electron and
hole barriers that confine the
charge carriers to the active
layer

Variations in the refractive

index

19-09-2023 4
LED Structures- Surface Emitter

19-09-2023 5
LED Structures- Surface Emitter
• The plane of the active light emitting region is oriented
perpendicularly to the axis of the fiber
• The fiber is cemented in the well etched in the substrate to accept the
emitted light
• Circular active are is 50µm in diameter and 2.5µm in thickness
• Emission pattern is essentially isotropic with 120° half power beam
width
• Isotropic pattern from surface emitter is called as lambertian pattern
• Equal brightness from all sides, but power diminishes as cosθ
• θ -> angle between the viewing direction and the normal to the surface

19-09-2023 6
LED Structures- Edge Emitter

θ|| ≈ 120°

θ ≈ 30°

19-09-2023 7
LED Structures- Edge Emitter
• Active junction region is the source of the incoherent light and two
guiding layers
• Guiding layers both have a refractive index lower than that of active
region but higher than index of surrounding material
• Contact stripes for the edge emitter 50 – 70 µm wide and length of the
active regions range from 100 to 150 µm
• Emission pattern is more directional than surface emitter
• In plane parallel to junction, the emitted beam is lambertian with a half
power width of θ|| ≈ 120°
• In the plane perpendicular to the junction, the half power θ is 25-35°

19-09-2023 8
Light Source Materials
• In direct bandgap semiconductor electrons and holes can recombine
directly across bandgap without needing a third particle to conserve
momentum
• Radiative recombination sufficiently high to produce an adequate level
of optical emission
• Direct bandgap compounds are made from III-V materials
• III element- Al, Ga, In
• V element- P, As, Sb
• Principal material used is the ternary alloy Ga1-xAlxAs
• The ratio ‘x’ of AlAs to GaAs determines the bandgap of the alloy and
wavelength of the peak emitted radiation.
• The value of x for the active area material- 800-850nm
19-09-2023 9
Light Source Materials

19-09-2023 10
Light Source Materials
• For longer wavelengths – Quaternary alloy-> In1-xGaxAsyP1-y
• Very close match between the crystal lattice parameters of the two
adjoining heterojunctions is required to reduce interfacial defects and
to minimize strains in the device as temperature varies
• The fundamental quantum mechanical relationship between energy E
and frequency v is given as
• Wavelength in micrometers is given as

19-09-2023 11
 Light Source Materials
• In the ternary alloy GaAlAs the bandgap
energy Eg and the crystal lattice spacing a0 are
determined by dashed line as in figure
• The energy bandgap for values of x from 0 to
0.37 is given as

• For In1-xGaxAsyP1-y bandgap is given as

19-09-2023 12
Light Source Materials

Typical Characteristics of surface and Edge emitting LEDs

19-09-2023 13
Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
• Minority carriers are created by carrier injection at device contacts
• When carrier injection stops, the carrier density returns to equilibrium
• The excess carrier density decays exponentially with time as
• n0- initial injected excess electron density
• τ – Carrier life time.
• Excess carriers recombine radiatively or non radiatively
• Radiative recombination: photon of energy hγ is emitted
• Non radiative recombination: It includes optical absorption in active
region, carrier recombination at heterojunction and auger process (energy
released during recombination is transferred to another carrier in the form
of kinetic energy)
19-09-2023 14
Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
• Total rate of carrier generation = externally supplied rate + thermally
generated rate
• The rate equation for carrier recombination in an LED is given as
………………….. (1)

• J/qd -> externally supplied rate

• n/τ -> thermal generation rate
• The equilibrium condition is given by setting equ (1) to zero. Thus
………………….. (2)

19-09-2023 15
Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
• The internal quantum efficiency in the active region is the fraction of
electron hole pairs that recombine radiatively
• It is the ration of radiative recombination to total recombination
………………….. (3)

• Rr-> Radiative recombination

• Rnr-> Non Radiative recombination
• Radiative lifetime is
• Non radiative lifetime is
………… (4)
• Internal quantum efficiency is given as
19-09-2023 16
Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
• Bulk recombination lifetime is given as

………………….. (5)

• Rr and Rnr is similar in magnitude, so the internal quantum efficiency

is 50% for simple homojunction LEDs
• Heterojunction-> 60-80%
• Total number of recombination per second is …………(6)

• Sub (6) in (3) --->

……..………(7)
• Optical power generated is

19-09-2023 17
Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
• Emitted power-> need to consider external quantum efficiency
• It is defined as ratio of the photons emitted from the LED to the
number of internally generated photons
• It is given as
……..………(8)

• T(φ) - > Fresnel transmissivity or Fresnel transmission coefficient and

depends on incidence angle φ
……..………(9)

19-09-2023 18
Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
• When n1 = n, then and external quantum efficiency is
given as
……..………(10)

• The optical power emitted from LED is

……..………(11)

19-09-2023 19
LED Characteristics
• SLED radiates significantly more
optical power
• SLED and ELED are linear at moderate
drive currents
• SLED gives high output power for
more forward current
• Low spectral width allows increased
data rate.
• ηint decreases with increasing
temperature, thus light output decreases
• ELED has high temp dependence than
SLED

19-09-2023 20
Modulation of LED
• Response time or frequency response of an optical source- how fast
an electrical input drive signal can vary the light output level.
• Influencing factors: Doping level, injected carrier lifetime, parasitic
capacitance
• The optical output power of the device is given as

• Modulation bandwidth – Electrical or optical terms

• Electrical bandwidth- electrical signal power dropped to half its
constant value resulting from modulated portion of optical signal
• Electrical 3 dB point – frequency at which output electrical power is
reduced by 3 dB with respect to input electrical power.
19-09-2023 21
Modulation of LED

19-09-2023 22
Numericals

19-09-2023 23
Numericals

19-09-2023 24
Numericals

19-09-2023 25
Numericals

19-09-2023 26
LASER DIODE
LASER is an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission
of Radiation”.
•Coherent light
•Narrow beam width
•Lasers can produce high output power. In fiber optic communication
applications, semiconductor lasers power more than 20 milliwatts are
available.
•As Laser light is Coherent, a high percentage (50% to 80%) can be
coupled into the fiber core.
19-09-2023 27
 LASER : Basic Operation
Fundamental Lasing Operation
• Absorption
• Spontaneous emission
• Stimulated emission
Energy absorbed from
the incoming photon

Random release of
energy

Coherent release
of energy
19-09-2023 28
 LASER : Basic Operation Fundamental Lasing
Operation
• At thermal equilibrium : Photon absorption and emission processes
take place side by side, but because N1>N2 ; absorption dominates.
•Laser operation requires stimulated emission exclusively and to
achieve this, majority of atoms should be at higher energy level than at
lower level- Population inversion
•Energy is to be supplied to the laser medium to raise atoms from the
lower level to the excited level
•The process by which atoms are raised from the lower level to the
upper level is called pumping.

19-09-2023 29
LASER : Basic Operation Fundamental Lasing
Operation

In Stimulated Emission incident and stimulated photons will have

•Identical energy Identical wavelength Narrow linewidth
• Narrow beam width
•Coherence and Identical polarization

19-09-2023 30
 CHARACTERISTIC OF LASER DIODE

✔ Suitable for system Bandwidth >200 MHz

✔ Response time less than 1 ns
✔ Optical Bandwidth of 2 nm or less
✔ Cable of coupling several tens of milliwatts of Luminescent Power
✔ Can couple with optical fiber with small cores and small mode field
diameters.

19-09-2023 31
 LASER DIODE
• Laser diode is an improved LED, in the sense that uses stimulated
emission in semiconductor from optical transitions between distribution
energy states of the valence and conduction bands with optical resonator
structure such as Fabry-Perot resonator with both optical and carrier
confinements.

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

19-09-2023 32
Fabry-Perot Lasing Cavity
A Fabry-Perot cavity consists of two
flat, partially reflecting mirrors that
establish a strong longitudinal optical
oscillator feedback mechanism,
thereby creating a light-emitting
function.

• Wavelength equal to integer The distance between the adjacent peaks

multiples of cavity length of the resonant wavelengths in a
interfere constructively- Fabry-Perot cavity is the modal
amplitudes add- Occurring separation. If L is the distance between
at resonant frequencies the reflecting mirrors & the refractive
• Other wavelengths interfere index is n, then at a peak wavelength λ the
destructively- cancels
MS is given by Free Spectral
themselves
Range (FSR)

19-09-2023 33
 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 diode.

The optical feedback is provided by fiber Bragg Gratings

€ Only one wavelength get positive feedback
Optical Fiber communications, 3rd ed.,G.Keiser,McGrawHill, 2000

19-09-2023 34
Modes of the cavity
• Optical radiation within the resonance cavity of a laser diode sets up a
pattern of electric and magnetic field lines called as modes of cavity
• Longitudinal modes- related to length of cavity
-Determine principal structure of frequency spectrum
of emitted optical radiation
• Lateral modes – lie in the plane of pn junction
- depends on side wall preparation and width of cavity
- determine shape of lateral profile of laser beam
• Transverse modes- associated with EMF and beam profile in direction
perpendicular to the plane of pn
- determine radiation pattern and threshold current
density

19-09-2023 35
Laser Operation & Lasing Condition
• To determine the lasing condition and resonant frequencies, we should focus on the
optical wave propagation along the longitudinal direction, z-axis. Electromagnetic
wave in terms of electric field phasor is given as

• Lasing is the condition at which light amplification becomes possible by virtue of

population inversion. Then, stimulated emission rate into a given EM mode is
proportional to the intensity of the optical radiation in that mode. In this case, the
loss and gain of the optical field in the optical path determine the lasing condition.
• The radiation intensity of a photon at energy varies exponentially with a
distance z amplified by factor g, and attenuated by factor according to the
following relationship:
19-09-2023 36
 [4-20]

Z=0 Z=L

[4-21]

Lasing Conditions:

[4-22]

19-09-2023 37
THRESHOLD GAIN & CURRENT DENSITY

LASER starts to Lase only if g>gth

For laser structure with strong carrier confinement, the threshold current
Density for stimulated emission can be well approximated by:

19-09-2023 38
 LASER RESONANT FREQUENCIES
• Lasing condition, namely eq. [4-22]:

• Assuming the resonant frequency of the mth mode is:

19-09-2023 39
Spectrum from a Laser Diode

19-09-2023 40
 LASER RATE EQUATIONS
• Rate equations relate the optical output power, or no of photons per unit volume, Φ ,
to the diode drive current or no. of injected electrons per unit volume, n. For active
(carrier confinement) region of depth d, the rate equations are:

19-09-2023 41
THRESHOLD CURRENT DENSITY & EXCESS ELECTRON
DENSITY

• At the threshold of lasing:

• The threshold current needed to maintain a steady state threshold concentration

of the excess electron, is found from electron rate equation under steady state
condition dn/dt=0 when the laser is just about to lase:

19-09-2023 42
 Laser operation beyond the threshold

• The solution of the rate equations [4-25] gives the steady state photon
density, resulting from stimulated emission and spontaneous emission
as follows:

19-09-2023 43
 External quantum efficiency

• Number of photons emitted per radiative electron-hole pair recombination

above threshold, gives us the external quantum efficiency.

• Note that:

19-09-2023 44
 LASER P-I CHARACTERISTICS

External Efficiency
Depends on the slope

Threshold Current

19-09-2023 45
Numericals

19-09-2023 46
Numericals

19-09-2023 47
Numericals

19-09-2023 48
 Photo detection Principle

A detector’s function is to convert the received optical signal

into an electrical signal, which is then amplified before
further processing.

Light I
 Optical Detectors
• Optical detectors are used to convert variation in optical power into
corresponding variation in electric current.

• The photodetector works on the principle of optical absorption. The main

requirement of light detector is its fast response.

• For fiber optic communication purpose most suited photodetectors are PIN (p
– type – intrinsic – n- type) diode and Avalanche Photodiode (APD)

• The performance parameters of a photodetector are responsivity, quantum

efficiency, response time and dark current
 Photodetector - Requirements
a) High sensitivity (responsivity) at the desired wavelength.
and low responsivity elsewhere
a) High fidelity. To reproduce the received signal waveform with
fidelity (Example: for analog transmission the response of the
photodetector must be linear with regard to the optical signal over a
wide range).
b) Large electrical response to the received optical signal. The
photodetector should produce a maximum electrical signal for a
given amount of optical power.
d) Short response time. (pn-µsec, PIN/APD-nanosec)
 Photodetector - Requirements
d) Minimum noise and reasonable cost
e) Insensitive to temperature variations
f) Stability.
g) Small size
h) Low bias voltage.
i) High reliability
j) Low cost
k) Long operating life
 Types of Photodetector
• Photomultipliers

• Pyroelectric Detectors

• Semiconductor based photoconductors

• Phototransistors

• Photodiodes
 Photodiodes
•Due to above requirements, only photodiodes are used as
photo detectors in optical communication systems

•Positive-Intrinsic-Negative (pin) photodiode

•No internal gain

•Avalanche Photo Diode (APD)

•An internal gain of M due to self multiplication

•Photodiodes are reverse biased for normal operation

 Photodetector – Performance Parameters
1. Responsivity
•Responsivity – The ratio of current output (Amp) to the
incident optical power (light input) [watts].
•varies with wavelength
•theoretical maximum responsivity: 1.05A/W at 1300nm
•typical responsivity: 0.8 - 0.9 A/W at 1300nm
•formula for theoretical maximum responsivity (quantum
efficiency = 100%)
Responsivity

where:
R = theoretical maximum responitivity in
Amps/Watt
η = quantum efficiency
λ = wavelength in nanometers

q=1.6x10-19, h=6.63x10-34, c=3x108

Responsivity gives transfer characteristics of detector i.e. photo
current per unit incident optical power.

Typical responsivities of PIN photodiodes are

• Silicon PIN photodiode at 900 nm 0.65 A/W

• Germanium PIN photodiode at 1300 nm 0.45 A/W

• InGaAs PIN photodiode at 1300 nm 0.9 A/W

 Photodetector – Performance Parameters
2. Quantum Efficiency

• Quantum Efficiency - ratio of

primary electron-hole pairs
created by incident photons to the
photons incident on the diode
material
number of electrons-hole pairs generated
number of incident photons

Typical Spectral Response of Various Detector Materials

where rp is the incident photon rate (photon per second) and re is the corresponding electron rate (electrons per
second)

Ip is average photo current ; Pin is average optical power incident on photodetector

Absorption coefficient of material determines the quantum efficiency.

Quantum efficiency η < 1 as all the photons incident will not generate e-h pairs.
It is normally expressed in percentage.

Quantum Limit : For an ideal photodetector having quantum efficiency η =

1 and has zero dark current (i.e no output when light is absent), then the
minimum received power for a specific bit-error rate is known as Quantum
Limit
 Photodetector – Performance Parameters
3. Cut-off wavelength (λc)
• Any particular semiconductor can absorb photon over a limited wavelength
region. The highest wavelength is known as cut off wavelength (λc). The
cut-off wavelength is determined by bandgap energy Eg of the material.

where,
Eg in electron volts (eV) and
λc cut off wavelength (micrometers)
• Typical value of λc for silicon is 1.06 µm and for germanium it is 1.6 µm
• The photodiode of long cut off wavelength can emit optical power in wide
range that is used for fiber optic transmission.
 Photodetector – Performance Parameters
4. Capacitance of a detector
• dependent upon the active area of
the device and the reverse voltage
across the device.
• A smaller active diameter makes it
harder to align the fiber to the
detector.
• Also, only the center should be
illuminated Capacitance versus Reverse Voltage

• photodiode response is slow at the

edges.
 Photodetector – Performance Parameters
5. Response Time
•Time needed for the photodiode to
Vout
respond to optical input and produce
an external current
90%
•Dependent on
10% • photodiode capacitance
Time • load resistance
• design of photodiode
Rise Fall
Time •Measured between 10% and 90% of
Time
amplitude
 Problems
• Calculate the theoretical maximum responsivity of a detector at 1550nm.
Ans: 125 A/W
• Calculate the responsively of a detector with quantum efficiency of 10% at 800 nm.
Ans: 6.45 A/W
• A detector operating at 800 nm produces an output current of 80 A for an incident light
beam of power 800 W. Calculate the quantum efficiency and responsivity of the detector.
Ans: 0.1 A/W , 15.5%
 The PIN Photo-Detector
• The PIN photodiode is structured with p and n regions separated by a lightly
n-doped intrinsic (i) region.
• Incident photon with energy ≥ band-gap energy of the photodiode will generate
free electron-hole pairs, known as photo-carriers.
• The high electric field present in the depletion region causes the carriers to
separate and be collected across the reverse-biased junction.
• This gives rise to a photo-current flow in an external circuit, with one electron
flowing for every carrier pair generated.
• In the absence of light, PIN photodiodes behave electrically just like an ordinary
rectifier diode. If forward biased, they conduct large amount of current.
 The PIN Photo-Detector

Schematic representation of a PIN photodiode circuit with an applied reverse bias.

 The PIN Photo-Detector

Simple energy-band diagram for a PIN photodiode. Photons with energy > band-gap energy can generate
free electron-hole pairs.
 The PIN Photo-Detector
Operating Modes:
PIN detectors can be operated in two modes
1. Photovoltaic Mode
2. Photoconductive Mode

1. Photovoltaic Mode:
• No bias is applied to the detector.
• In this case, the detector works very slow and output is approximately logarithmic to the input light level.
• Real world fiber optic receivers never use the photovoltaic mode.

2. Photoconductive Mode:

• The detector is reversed biased.

• The output in this case is a current that is very linear with the input light power.
• The intrinsic region somewhat improves the sensitivity of the device. It does not provide internal gain. The
combination of different semiconductors operating at different wavelengths allow the selection of material
capable of responding to the desired operating wavelength.
 The PIN Photo-Detector
Diffusion Length:
• As the charge carriers flow through the material, some electron-hole pairs will recombine and disappear.
• On the average, the charge carriers move a diffusion length Ln or Lp for electrons and holes, respectively.

Carrier Life time:

• The time it takes for an electron or hole to recombine is known as the carrier lifetime and is represented by τn and
τp, respectively.
• The lifetimes and the diffusion lengths are related by
Ln = (Dnτn)1/2 and Lp = (Dpτp)1/2
where Dn and Dp are the electron and hole diffusion coefficients, expressed in units of cm2/sec.
 The PIN Photo-Detector
Optical power absorbed
•Optical radiation is absorbed in the semiconductor material according
to the exponential law
P(x) = Po[1 - exp(-αs(λ)x)]
•Here, αs(λ) is the absorption coefficient at wavelength λ,
Po is the incident optical power level, and
P(x) is the optical power absorbed in a
distance x.
 The PIN Photo-Detector
•The optical absorption coefficient versus wavelength is shown in
Fig. or several photodiode materials.
•The cutoff λc is determined by the band-gap energy Eg of the
material:
λc(um) = hc/Eg = 1.24 / Eg(eV)
•The cutoff wavelength is about 1.06-µm for Si and 1.6-µm for Ge.
•For longer wavelengths, the photon energy is not sufficient to
excite an electron from the valence to the conduction band.
Optical absorption coefficient as a function of wavelength for Si, Ge, and GaAs.
 Avalanche Photodiodes
•When a p-n junction diode is applied with high reverse bias,
breakdown can occur by two separate mechanisms.
1. Direct ionization of the lattice atoms Zener breakdown
2. High voltage carriers causing Impact Ionization of the lattice
atoms Avalanche breakdown.

APDs uses the avalanche breakdown phenomenon for its operation.

The APD has its internal gain which increases its responsivity.
 Avalanche Photodiodes

Reach-through avalanche photodiode structure and the electric fields in the depletion and multiplication regions.
 Avalanche Photodiodes
• The fig. shows the schematic structure of an APD. By virtue of the
doping concentration and physical construction of the n+ p junction,
the electric field is high enough to cause impact ionization.

• Under normal operating bias, the I-layer is completely depleted.

• This is known as reach through condition, hence APDs are also

known as Reach through APDs or RAPDs.
 Avalanche Photodiodes
Impact Ionization:

The photo generated carriers traverse a region where a very high electric field is
present. These carriers can gain enough energy under high electric field and
excite new electron-hole pairs. This phenomenon is called Impact Ionization

Avalanche Effect:

During Ionization new generated carriers also accelerated by high electric field
and gain enough energy to cause further impact ionization. This phenomenon is
called avalanche effect.
 Avalanche Photodiodes
•In normal usage, the RAPD is operated in the fully depleted
mode. Light enters the device through the p+ region and is
absorbed in the p material, which acts as the collection region
for the photo-generated carriers.
•The photo-generated electrons drift through the p region in
the pn+ junction, where a high electric field exists.
•It is in this high-field region that carrier multiplication takes
place.
 Avalanche Photodiodes
•The average number of electron-hole pairs created by a carrier per unit
distance traveled is called the ionization rate.
•Most materials exhibit different electron ionization rates α and hole
ionization rates β.
•The ratio k = β/α of the electron and hole ionization rates is a measure
of the photo-detector performance.
•APDs constructed of materials in which one type of carrier largely
dominates impact ionization exhibit low noise and large
gain-bandwidth products.
• Similar to PIN photodiode, light absorption in APDs is most
efficient in I-layer. In this region, E-field separates the carriers and
the electrons drift into the avalanche region where carrier
multiplication occurs.

• If the APD is biased close to breakdown, it will result in reverse

leakage current. Thus APDs are usually biased just below
breakdown, with the bias voltage being tightly controlled
 Avalanche Photodiodes
Avalanche Multiplication:
• The multiplication M for all carriers generated in the photodiode is defined by
M = IM / Ip
where IM is the average value of the total multiplied output current and Ip is the
primary unmultiplied photocurrent.

Responsivity:
• The performance of an APD is characterized by the responsivity given by
RAPD = (hq/hn)M = RoM
where Ro is the unity gain responsivity.
 Advantages and Disadvantages of APD
Advantages:
• Excellent linearity over optical power range from nano watts to several microwatts.
• Better sensitivity (5 to 15 dB)
• Wide range of gain variation
• APD offers internal gain
• Better Signal to Noise ratio

Disadvantages:

• Due to complex structure, fabrication is difficult

• APD and supporting circuitry is more expensive
• Random nature of gain mechanism contributes additional noise
• High voltage (50 to 400 V) and temperature compensation is needed for stabilization
• Internal gain of APD is temperature dependent.
 Comparison of PIN and APD
S. Parameters PIN APD
No
1 Sensitivity Less sensitive (0-12 dB) More sensitive ( 5-15 dB)
2 Biasing Low reverse biased High reverse biased voltage
voltage (5 to 10 V) (20 – 400 volts)
3 Wavelength region 300 -1100 nm 400 – 1000 nm
4 Gain No Internal gain Internal gain
5 S/N Ratio Poor Better
6 Detector Circuit Simple More complex
7 Conversion 0.5 to 1.0 A/W 0.5 to 100 A/W
efficiency
8 Cost Cheaper More Expensive
9 Support circuitry None High voltage and
required temperature compensation
 Photodetector Noise
• The power SNR at the output of an optical receiver is

• To achieve a high SNR,

1. PD must have a high quantum efficiency to generate a large signal power.
2. PD and amplifier noises should be kept as low as possible.
• The sensitivity of a photodiode is describable in terms of the minimum detectable optical power.
This is the optical power necessary to produce a photo-current of the same magnitude as the
total rms noise current, or equivalently, a SNR of 1.
 Noise Sources

Simple model of a photo-detector receiver, and its equivalent circuit.

• In the receiver model of Fig, the photodiode has a small series resistance Rs, a total
capacitance Cd consisting of junction and packaging capacitances, and a bias (or load)
resistor RL.
• The amplifier following the photodiode has an input capacitance Ca and a resistance Ra.
 Noise Sources
• If a modulated signal of optical power P(t) falls on the detector, the primary photo-current
iph(t) generated is
iph(t) = (hq/hn)P(t)

• The primary current consists of a dc value Ip - the average photo-current due to the signal
power, and a signal component ip(t).
• For PINs, the mean-square signal current <is2> for a sinusoidally varying input signal of
modulation index m is

<is2> = s2s,PIN = <ip2(t)> = sp2 = m2Ip2/2

where s2 is the variance.
• For APDs, the mean-square signal current <is2> is
<is2> = σ2s,APD = <ip2(t)>Μ 2
where M is the average avalanche gain.
 Noise Sources
Quantum Noise or Shot Noise
• The quantum or shot noise follow a Poisson process. The quantum noise
current has a mean-square value
• Arises due optical power fluctuation because light is made up of
discrete number of photons
<iQ2> = σQ2 = 2qIpBM2F(M)
where F(M) = Mx, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0, is a noise figure associated with the random
nature of the avalanche process. For PIN photodiodes, M and F(M) are
unity.
F(M): APD Noise Figure F(M) ~= Mx (0 ≤ x ≤ 1)
Ip: Mean Detected Current B = Bandwidth
 Noise Sources
Dark or Leakage current Noise
There will be some (dark and leakage ) current without any incident light. This current
generates two types of noise
• The mean-square value of the bulk dark current iDB arisen from thermally generated
electrons and/or holes is given by
<iDB2> = σDB2 = 2qIDBM2F(M)

where ID is the primary (unmultiplied) detector bulk dark current.

Surface Leakage Current Noise: (not multiplied by M)

• The surface dark current is simply referred to as leakage current. The mean-square value of
this current is given by
<iDS2> = σDS2 = 2qILB
where IL is the surface leakage current. The surface dark current is not affected by the
avalanche gain.
 Noise Sources
The dark currents and the signal current are uncorrelated, the mean-square
PD noise current <iN2> can be written as

<iN2> = sN2 = <iQ2> + <iDB2> + <iDS2>

= sQ2 + sDB2 + sDS2

= 2q(Ip + ID)M2F(M)B + 2qILB

 Noise Sources
The PD load resistor contributes a mean-square thermal (Johnson) noise
current
<iT2> = σT2 = 4kBTB/RL

where kB is Boltzmann's constant = 1.38054 X 10(-23) J/K

and T is the absolute temperature.
This Johnson noise can be reduced by using a load resistor which is large
but still consistent with the receiver bandwidth requirements.
 Noise Sources
The SNR at the input of the amplifier

• For PINs, the dominating noise currents are those of the detector load
resistor (the thermal current iT) and the active elements of the amplifier
circuitry (iamp).

• For APDs, the thermal noise is of lesser importance and the

photo-detector noises usually dominate.

• The signal power is multiplied by M2 and the quantum noise plus bulk
dark current is multiplied by M2F(M).
 Signal to Noise Ratio
Dark current and surface leakage current noise are typically negligible, If thermal
noise is also negligible

For analog links, (RIN= Relative Intensity Noise)

 Signal to Noise Ratio
• For a sinusoidally modulated signal, with m = 1 and F(M)
approximated by Mx, will yield

• The optimum gain at the maximum SNR can be found by

differentiating the SNR equation with respect to M, setting the result
equal to zero, and solving for M.
 Problem based on Noise in Photodetectors
A silicon p-i-n photodiode incorporated into an optical receiver has a
quantum efficiency of 60% when operating at a wavelength of 0.9 µm. The
dark current in the device is 3 nA and the load resistance is 4 kΩ. The
incident optical power is 200 nW and the post detection bandwidth of the
receiver is 5 MHz. Calculate the primary photocurrent, mean square
quantum noise current, mean square dark current and mean square thermal
noise current.
Soln:
η = 60% = 0.6
Pin = 200 nW = 200x10-9 watt
λ = 0.9 µm = 0.9 x 10-6 meters
Id = 3 nA = 3 x 10-9 Ampere
RL = 4 kΩ = 4 x 103 ohms
B = 5 MHz = 5 x 106 Hz

Photocurrent (IP) is given by:

Mean square quantum (or) shot noise current for a pin photodiode is

<iQ2> = σQ2 = 2qIpB

<iQ2>1/2 = 0.37388 nA
Mean square dark current for a pin photodiode is

2 2
<iDB > = σDB = 2qIDB

<iDB2>1/2 = 0.06928 nA
Mean square thermal noise current for a pin photodiode is

<iT2> = σT2 = 4kBTB/RL,

2 1/2
<iT > = 4.496 nA
 Problem based on Noise in Photodetectors
A silicon p-i-n photodiode incorporated into an optical receiver has a
quantum efficiency of 65% when operating at a wavelength of 1.3 µm. The
dark current in the device is 4 nA and the load resistance is 1000 Ω. The
incident optical power is 300 nW and the post detection bandwidth of the
receiver is 20 MHz. Calculate the primary photocurrent, mean square
quantum noise current, mean square dark current and mean square thermal
noise current.
Soln:
η = 65% = 0.65
Pin = 300 nW = 300x10-9 watt
λ = 1.3 µm = 1.3 x 10-6 meters
Id = 4 nA = 4 x 10-9 Ampere
RL = 1 kΩ = 1 x 103 ohms
B = 20 MHz = 20 x 106 Hz

Photocurrent (IP) is given by:

Mean square quantum (or) shot noise current for a pin photodiode is

<iQ2> = σQ2 = 2qIpB

<iQ2>1/2 = 1.1 nA
Mean square dark current for a pin photodiode is

2 2
<iDB > = σDB = 2qIDB

<iDB2>1/2 = 0.16 nA
Mean square thermal noise current for a pin photodiode is

<iT2> = σT2 = 4kBTB/RL,

2 1/2
<iT > = 18 nA