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Optical Detector
Most detector may classified as either a thermal detector or quantum
detector.

Thermal Detectors of Radiation:

When the primary measurable response of a detector to incident radiation
is a rise in temperature, the device is a thermal detector.

1. Thermocouples and thermopiles

2. Bolometer and Thermisters
3. Pyroelectric Detectors
4. Pneumatic or Golay

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3. Source and Detector

Thermocouples and thermopiles

A thermocouple is a device in which an increase in
temperature at the junction of two dissimilar metals
or semiconductors generate voltage.
When the effect enhanced by using an array of such
junctions in series the devices is called a thermopile.

Bolometer and Thermisters

Thermal detectors also include bulk devices that
respond to a rise in temperature with a significant
change in resistance.
Such an instrument may employ as its sensitive
element either a metal (bolometer) or commonly a
semiconductor (thermistor).
Typically two blackened sensitive elements are used
in adjacent arms of a bridge circuit.
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Pyroelectric Detectors
The pyroelectric effect can be exploited in order to detect radiation.
Certain material like lithium tantalate or triglycine sulfate exhibit the
pyroelectric effect in that temperature-dependent charge seperation exists
between opposite ends of the metal.
The pyroelectric metal behaves like capacitor whose charge is a function of the
temperature.

Pneumatic or Golay
A Golay cell measures the thermal expansion
of a gas induced by radiation incident on the
gas enclosed.
Radiation is absorbed by blackened
membrane and the as a result heat is
transmitted to a gas in an air tight chamber.
The heat flow to the gas causes an increase in pressure, which is typically
detected by the deflection of a flexible mirror attached to the cell. 26
3. Source and Detector

Quantum detectors of radiation:

Photoemissive Detectors
Photoconductive detector
Junction photodiodes

Photoemissive Detectors
When the measurable effect is the realese of electron from an illuminated
surface the device is called a photoemissive detector.
The photosensitive surface absorbing incident photon that transfer enough
energy to enable some electron to overcome work function and escape.
Positive-bias anode, enabling a current to drawn into external circuit.
When the signal is internally amplified by secondary electron emission, the
detector is a photomultiplier.
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3. Source and Detector

Photoconductive Detectors
– Structure schematic: two electrodes are attached to a SC
– photon absorbed in SC and photogenerate EHPs
• The result is an increase in the conductivity and increase current Iph
– Consider a photoconductor with ohmic contacts
• the photoconductor exhibits photoconductive gain
• the external photocurrent is due to more than one electron flow per
absorbed photon
– The electron drift much faster than the hole and leaves the
sample quickly
• Sample must be neutral, another electron must enter the sample
from negative electrode
• This new electron also drift quickly while the hole is still drifting
slowly in the sample
• The external photocurrent therefore corresponds to the flow of many
electrons per absorbed photon which represents a gain.
• The gain depends on the drift time of the carriers and their
recombination lifetime.
– The photoconductivity gain is given by
rate of electron flow in external circuit t  m 
G  1  h 
rate of electron generation by light absorption te  me 
where t is recombination time of excess electron; te is transit time; mh
and me are drift mobility of the hole and electron respectively. 28
3. Source and Detector

Light

d
n = no + n
p = po + p w

V
Iphoto

A semiconductor slab of length , width w and depth d is

illuminated with light of wavelength .

© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

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(a) (b) (c) (d) (e)

h+
e–
Photoconductor

Iph Iph Iph Iph Iph

A photoconductor with ohmic contacts (contacts not limiting carrier entry) can exhibit gain. As
the slow hole drifts through the photoconductors, many fast electrons enter and drift through the
photoconductor because, at any instant, the photoconductor must be neutral. Electro ns drift faster
which means as one leaves, another must enter.
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

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Junction Photodiode

– Photodetectors convert light signal to an electrical signal

– This conversion is achieved by the creation of free electron hole
pairs (EHPs)
– Diagram: p+n type of junction
• Na >> Nd
• window with antireflection coating
• p+ side is very thin
• Net space charge density in depletion region
• The electric field in the depletion region
– When photon absorbed; generate electron in CB and hole in VB
– The electric field separate the EHP and drift in opposite direction
– It generate photocurrent Iph and depends on the number of EHPs
and drift velocities of the carriers

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3. Source and Detector
Vr

(a) SiO 2 R Vout

Electrode p+ Iph

h> Eg h+ e–
n
E
Antireflection Electrode
coating
W Depletion region
(b)
ne t

eNd
x

–eNa

E (x)
(c)
x

E ma x

(a) A schematic diagram of a reverse biased pn junction

photodiode. (b) Net space charge across the diode in the
depletion region. N d and N a are the donor and acceptor
concentrations in the p and n sides. (c). The field in the
depletion region.
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

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V

iph (t)

0 evh /L evh /L + eve /L

Semiconductor
iph (t)
E Charge = e
(a) h+ e– te (d)
vh ve
th

l L l t
0 l L 0 ev h/L ev e /L
x i(t)
h+ e–
(b)
(c)
te te ie(t)

th th ih (t)

t t t

(a) An EHP is photogenerated at x = l. The electron and the hole drift in opposite
directions with drift velocities vh and v e. (b) The electron arrives at time te = (L  l)/ve and
the hole arrives at time th = l/v h . (c) As the electron and hole drift, each generates an
external photocurrent shown as ie(t) and ih(t). (d) The total photocurrent is the sum of hole
and electron photocurrents each lasting a duration th and te respectively.

© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

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– Consider the drifting hole:

• The external photocurrent due to hole is ih(t)
evh
ih (t )  ; t  th
L
– The total external current will be the sum of ie(t) and ih(t)
– The collected charge, Qcollected
t t
Qcollected   ie (t )dt   ih (t )dt  e
0 0
– If charge q is being drifted with velocity vd(t), then the
external current given by
qvd (t )
i (t )  ; t  t transit
L
– Ramo’s theorem stated that the total external current is
the sum of all current of the type from all drifting charges

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• Absorption coefficient and Photodiode Materials
– The creation of EHPs requires photon energy at least Eg
– The upper cut-off wavelength g given by

g mm 
1.24
Eg eV 
• Si; Eg = 1.12 eV ; g = 1.11 mm
• Ge; Eg = 0.66 eV ; g = 1.87 mm
– Table shown; Some typical Eg and g of various photodiode

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Avalanche Photodiode (APD)

– Widely used in optical communication due to their high speed and

internal gain
– Schematic diagram: reach-through APD
• n+ side is thin and side illuminated through windows.
• three layers of different doping level next to n + layer to modify the field
distribution across the diode
• when sufficient reverse bias is applied the depletion region in p-layer
widens to reach-through to the p-layer
• Field E is maximum at n+p junction, then decrease slowly through the
p-layer; through p-layer it decrease slightly and vanish at the end of
depletion layer in the p+ side.
– The absorption of photon and hence photogeneration takes place
mainly in the long p-layer
• the nearly uniform field here separates the EHPs and drift them at
velocities near saturation toward n + and p+ side.
• drifting electron reach p-layer experience greater field and acquire
sufficient kinetic energy to impact-ionize some of the Si covalent bonds
and release EHPs
• These generated EHPs themselves accelerated by the high field to
sufficiently large kinetic energy to further cause impact ionization and
release more EHPs 36
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Ip h R
Electrode SiO 2

E
h > Eg
e– h+
(a)
n+ p š p+

 n et
Electrode

(b)

E(x)

(c)

x
Absorption
region
Avalanche
region

(a) A schematic illustration of the structure of an avalanche photodiode (APD) biased

for avalanche gain. (b) The net space charge density across the photodiode. (c) The
field across the diode and the identification of absorption and multiplication regions.
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

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E
E e–
Ec
h+
e– Ev

h+
n+ p š
Avalanche region
(a) (b)

(a) A pictorial view of impact ionization processes releasing EHPs and

the resulting avalanche multiplication. (b) Impact of an energetic
conduction electron with crystal vibrations transfers the electron's
kinetic energy to a valence electron and thereby excites it to the
conduction band.
© 1999 S.O. Kasap, Optoelectronics (Prentice Hall)

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– The multiplication of carriers in the avalanche region depends on
the probability of impact ionization which depends strongly on the
field in this region
– The effective avalanche multiplication factor M of an APD is
defined by
multiplied photocurrent I ph
M 
primary unmultiplied photocurrent I pho
where Iph is APD photocurrent that has been multiplied and Ipho is the
primary or unmultiplied photocurrent
– The multiplication M can empirically be expressed as
1
M n
 Vr 
1 -  
 Vbr 
where Vbr is avalanche breakdown voltage and n is characteristic index
and depends on temperature.
• For Si APD, M values can be as high as 100 but many commercial Ge
APD, M are typically around 10.

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