LECTURE 5

PHOTONIC MATERIALS:

1.LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (LED)

2.LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY (LCD)
3.PHOTO CONDUCTING MATERIALS
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What is LED?
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LED are semiconductor p-n junctions that under forward bias

conditions can emit radiation by electroluminescence in the UV, visible
or infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. The quanta of
light energy released is approximately proportional to the band gap of
the semiconductor.

A light emitting diode (LED) is essentially a PN junction

opto-semiconductor that emits a monochromatic (single
color) light when operated in a forward biased direction.
LEDs convert electrical energy into light energy. They are
frequently used as "pilot" lights in electronic appliances to
indicate whether the circuit is closed or not.

Photonic materials Light Emitting Diodes

LED (Light Emitting Diode) is a semiconductor p-n junction
diode which converts electrical energy to light energy under
forward biasing.
Principle
The diode is forward biased. Due to forward bias, the
majority carriers from n and p regions cross the junction
and become minority carriers in the other junction (i.e.)
Electrons, which are majority carriers in n region cross the
junction and go to p region and become minority carriers in
p-region
Similarly, holes which are majority carries in p region
cross the junction and go to n region and become minority
carriers in n region and this phenomenon is called minority
carrier injection.
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Radiative recombination

Now if the biasing voltage is further increased, these

excess minority carriers diffuse away from the junction and
they directly recombine with the majority carriers. (i.e.) the
electrons, which are excess minority carriers in p-region
recombine with the holes which are the majority carriers in
p region and emit light. Similarly, the holes which are
excess minority carriers in n region recombine with the
electrons which are majority carriers in n region and emit
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light.

Thus radiative recombination events lead to photon

emission. The number of radiative recombination is
proportional to the carrier injection rate and hence to the
total current flowing through the device as given by

eV
I I 0 exp
kT

where
I0 - the saturation current ; V- the forward bias
voltage; k - the Boltzmann constant ; -varies from 1 and 2
depending on the semiconductor and temperature.
The optical photon emitted due to radiative recombination
has the energy very close to the bandgap energy Eg and
frequency of the emitted photon is given by
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hc
Eg

where
- the photon wavelength;
constant; c - the velocity of light in vacuum.

h - Plancks

LED Construction
An LED must be constructed such that the light emitted by
the radiative recombination events can escape the structure.

Sketches of LEDs
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Construction of Typical LED

Light output

Al
SiO2

p
n
Electrica
l
contacts

Substrate

Luminescence is the process behind light emission

Luminescence is a term used to describe the

emission of radiation from a solid when the
solid is supplied with some form of energy.
Electroluminescence excitation results
from the application of an electric field
In
a
p-n
junction
diode
injection
electroluminescence occurs resulting in light
emission when the junction is forward biased
E
Electric
al
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1 LECTURE 5

P-n
junction

LEDs can be designed as either surface or

edge emitters. Surface emitting LEDs can be made such
that the bottom edge reflects light back towards the top
surface to enhance the output intensity. The main advantage
of edge emitter LEDs is the emitted radiation is relatively
direct. Hence edge emitter LEDs have a higher efficiency in
coupling to an optical fibre.
Although the internal quantum efficiency of LEDs is 100%,
the external efficiencies are much lower. The main reason is
that most of the emitted light radiation strikes the material
interface at greater than critical angle and hence trapped
with in the device. The internal critical angle at the
semiconductor air boundary is given by
sin c

n2
n1

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Where n1 is the refractive index of air = 1.0

n2 is the refractive index of the semiconductor
For group III semiconductor n2 = 3.5
Therefore
c = 16

Critical angle

Therefore all rays of light striking the surface at an angle

exceeding 16 suffer total internal reflection and as a result
most of the emitted light is reflected back inside the
semiconductor crystal.
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Inside a Light Emitting Diode

1. Transparent
Plastic Case
2. Terminal
Pins
3. Diode

Two methods used to reduce reflection losses in LEDs

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Hence to improve the external efficiency losses caused

bulk absorption has to be minimized and the surface
transmission has to be increased. One method to achieve this is
to give the semiconductor a dome structure.
Hemi spherical domes made from plastics are effective in
increasing the external efficiency by a factor 2 or 3. There will
be some losses at the plastic/ air interface but these are easily
minimized by molding the plastic into an approximately
hemispherical shape.

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Materials
The choice of the materials for an LED is decided by the
spectral requirements for a particular application. The most
commonly used materials for LEDs are GaP, GaAs and their
related ternary compound Ga Asx P1-x
The bandgap radiation of GaP, GaAs and GaAsP. GaP
which gives a peak at 560 nm is very close to the wavelength
of maximum eye response.

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This makes GaP one of the most useful of all visible

semiconductor light sources since in addition to green light
both red and other colours can be produced by appropriate
dopants.
Band
Quantum
Material Dopant

Wavelength response of LED

materials

GaP
GaP
GaP
GaAs
AlGa

N
Zn0
N
P
As

gap
(eV)
2.88
1.80
2.25
1.88
1.84

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Wavelength
( Nm)
430
690
550
660
675

efficiency
( %)
0.6
0.2
0.1
0.2
0.2

Photonic materials Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

Liquid crystals are organic compounds that flow like a liquid
while maintaining a long range orderliness of a solid.
The molecules of liquid crystal compound are in the form of long
cigar shaped rods.

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Types of Liquid Crystals

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States of Matter

Solid
Liquid crystal
Anisotropic
fourth state of matterLiquid
Crystals
have orientational order

Liquid
Isotropic

Gas

(uniform properties in
all directions).
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Liquid Crystal
Types
Based on the orientation of these rodslike polar molecules,
the liquid crystals are classified into three basic types. They
are smectic, nematic and chloesteric.
(i) Smectic
The Smectic phase consists of flat layers of cigar shaped
molecules with their long axes oriented perpendicular to the
plane of the layer. The molecules within each layer remain
oriented within each layer and do not move between layers.
This most ordered smectic mesophase structural model.

(ii) Nematic
The nematic phase also has molecules with their long
axes parallel to each other, but they are separated into layers.
In the nematic mesophase, while the molecules maintain their
orientation, the individual molecules can move freely up and
down.
The nematic liquid crystal molecule consists of two
benzene rings linked with a central group. A typical example is
4-methoxybenzenylidene-4-butylanaline
(MBBA).
The
nematic liquid
exhibits crystalline property over the
temperature range 20C to 47C.

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Liquid Crystal Phases

Nematic,

Smectic & Cholesteric

Anisotrpic substances may go through one or

several Liquid Crystal Phases
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(iii) Chloesteric
Chloesteric mesophase can be defined as a special type of
nematic in which the thin layers of mostly parallel molecules have
their longitudinal axes twisted (rotated) in adjacent layers at a
definite angle. This is the most ordered phase. Each layer is
basically nematic.
LIQUID CRYSTAL ORIENTATION
In LCDs two preferred orientations of LC molecules are
used (i). Homeotrophic [With long axis of the molecules parallel to
the glass plates and electrodes] and
(ii). Homogeneous [With long axis of the molecules perpendicular
to the glass plates and electrodes]
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The dielectric layer near the electrodes has preferred

orientation which in turn aligns LC molecules. The top and
bottom dielectric layers are by 90 with respect to one
another.
Therefore the direction of the crystal is rotated 90 with
respect to the bottom of the liquid crystal. The liquid crystal
thus acts like a set of polarisers whose optic axes are parallel
to each other in the presence of electric field and in crossed
position in the absence of electric field.

Linear Polarized Light

Light usually vibrates in all
direction
A linear polarized light limit
the vibration to one
direction
It absorbs the component
of light that vibrate in all
other direction.
LCD require light to vibrate
in one direction

About Liquid Crystal

Liquid crystal molecules can
move freely while maintaining
their orientation.
It align itself to a polyimide
film to the inside of a panel
glass.
When the two glass panels
are not aligned the liquid
crystal twists accordingly.
The liquid crystal will also
align to electric field.

Effect of electric field

The fundamental property of LCDs that makes them useful as
display device is that they are sensitive to an external electric
field.
The nematic liquid crystal finds its applications increasingly in
electro-optic devices since their molecules can be aligned by
electric and magnetic fields to produce sufficient change in their
optical properties.
Liquid crystal molecules rotate as a result of external electric
field. The behaviour of initially ordered liquid crystal material due
to increase in electric field.
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Behaviour of LC molecules in an electric field

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The orientation of the LC molecules parallel to the glass

plates is achieved by the deposition of a layer of dielectric
over the transparent electrodes.
The dielectric layer near the electrodes has preferred
orientation which in turn aligns LC molecules. The top and
bottom dielectric layers are by 90 with respect to one
another. Therefore the direction of the crystal is rotated 90
with respect to the bottom of the liquid crystal.
The liquid crystal thus acts like a set of polarisers whose
optic axes are parallel to each other in the presence of
electric field and in crossed position in the absence of electric
field.
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Let E be the electric field applied in a direction perpendicular

to the liquid crystal / solid interface. Also let Ec be the electric
field strength at which LC molecules change from homogeneous
order to a homeotropic type.
When E<Ec the ordering existsFig-a[Above]. If E<Ec the liquid
crystal molecules away from the electrode begins align along the
field direction as in Fig-b[Above]. When E>>Ec then most of the
molecules align along the field direction as in Fig-c[Above].
LCD cell construction

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The most important structure of twisted nematic

mesophase liquid crystal cell. It consists of a thin layer of
LC material between two glass plates that are fused
together. The thickness of the LC is 10 to 25 m. The two
glass plates have transparent electrodes on their inside
faces made of conducting material indium tin oxide.

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Twisted Nematic (TN) Display

Is the most common LCD Display.

The two alignments layer for the liquid crystal
material are orthogonal.
The light entering the polarize panel rotates by the
twist in the liquid crystal and allowing it to pass
through the second polarize

Twisted Nematic (TN) Display

The electric field is applied

The liquid crystal loses its twist.

Alight to the electric field.
Prevents the rotation of the polarized light
The second polarizer absorbs the light.

The applied voltage control the absorbed and transmitted

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light

The working of LC display device is shown in above fig.

The cell is assembled so that LC molecules undergo
90 twist from the top plate to the bottom plate. The cell is
sandwiched between two polarisers with their polarisation
direction is parallel to the LC direction of each plate.
The incident unpolarised light on the cell is polarised
linearly as indicated and undergoes 90 rotation as it passes
through the LC before exiting the bottom of the polariser. In
this mode of operation, frequently used in LCDs, the cell is
transmissive, in the absence of electric field.
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When voltage is applied to the electrodes the LC

molecules will align with field. Now the incident light
do not undergo rotation in polarization direction due
to liquid crystal and therefore absorbed by the exit
polarizer.
Thus the twisted nematic liquid crystal cell is opaque
in driven state and transmissive in non driven state.

The LC display device can be operated either in

transmission or reflection mode. In the reflector mode, a
reflector is placed below the bottom of the polarizer. With no
field, therefore, the device reflects the incident light and
appears bright. When the field is applied, the direction of
polarisation of light travelling across the cell is not rotated and
cannot pass through the second polarizer and the device will
appear dark.
Limitation of twisted nematic displays
(i) Viewing angle is restricted to 45
(ii) Use of polarisers reduces the maximum amount of light
that can be reflected.
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Super twisted nematic displays

They are basically TN displays only but they have a
twist of 90 to 270 from top to bottom plates, Super twisted
nematic displays have greater image contrast and wider
range of viewing angles. High resolution displays are
developed using STN.

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Comparison between LED and LCD

S.No.

LED

LCD

Demerits

Merits

Cost is high compared to LCD

Cost is very low.

2.

Not suitable for large area display

Suitable for large areas display

3.

High consumption Power (milliwatts)

Low power consumption (microwatts)

Merits

Demerits

4.

Operating temperature is 0 to 70C.

Operating temperature is 10C to 47C.

5.

Response time is in nano seconds

(10-9 sec)

Response time is in microseconds (10-6 sec)

6.

Intensity of light can be controlled

Intensity of light cannot be controlled.

7.

Different colour displays are available at low

cost.

Colour displays will not be available at low cost.

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PHOTOCONDUCTING MATERIALS
INTRODUCTION

The photoconductive device is based on the decrease

in the resistance of certain semiconductor materials when
they are exposed to both infrared and visible radiation.
* The photoconductivity is the result of carrier excitation due
to light absorption and the figure of merit depends on the
light absorption efficiency. The increase in conductivity is due
to an increase in the number of mobile charge carriers in the
material.
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Sketch of a photoconductive device

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THEORY
Let us consider a photo conducting slab. It is simply a light
sensitive semiconductor material with ohmic contacts on both
ends.
When the material is illuminated with photons of energy E Eg
electron hole pairs are generated and the electrical conductivity of
the material increases.
Where Eg is the bandgap
energy of the semiconductor
hc
Eg
material given by

Where is the wavelength of the incident photon .

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Let I0 be the intensity of monochromatic light falling

normally onto the slab. Then the intensity of transmitted
light I is given by
I = I0 exp ( -D).
Where is the absorption coefficient of the material
and D is the thickness of the slab.
Let L and B be the length and breadth of the
photoconductive slab respectively. Also let us assume that
the slab absorbs the 15PY102L
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light1 LECTURE
falling 5on it.

Now the light energy falls on the sample per sec is given by
I0 BL
where I0 is the light energy falling per second on unit area
of the slab. Therefore the number
of photons falling on the
I BL
photoconductor per second hv
0

Let - be the quantum efficiency of the absorption process. It

is nothing but the fraction of incident energy absorbed.
I 0 BL
Therefore the number of photons absorbed per second
Now the average generation rate of charge carriers
is given by
I 0 BL
I 0
rg
rg
hvBLD
hvD
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hv

Let n and P be the excess electron and hole density

per unit volume in the device. If c is the life time of charge
n p
carriers,Then the recombination rate rr
c

At equilibrium, the recombination rate = generation rate

Therefore

p = n = rg c

We know the conductivity of a semi conducting material is

ne e p .e h

Under illumination the conductivity will increase by an

amount is
ne p.e
e

ne ( e h )
rg c e( e h )

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When a voltage is applied to the contacts, electrons and

holes move in opposite directions resulting in a photocurrent
given by
BD
i
V
L

BD
i
rg c e( e h )V
L

The quantum efficiency of a photoconductor device is

defined by the term photoconductor gain G. Photoconductive
gain is defined as the ratio of rate of flow of electrons per
second to the rate of generation of electron hole pairs within
Rate of flow of electrons / sec
the device. G
Rate of generation of electron hole pairs

But rate of flow of electrons per sec=i/e

Rate of generation of electron hole pairs = rgBLD

G

(i e)
rg BLD

c ( e h )V
L2

The photoconductive gain G can be increased by

increasing the voltage V and decreasing the length, L of the
device.
The photoconductive gain can also be defined as the
ratio of the minority carriers life time c and the transit time t.
i.e.,

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Construction of photoconductive device

In a typical construction of photoconductive device, thin film is
deposited on an insulating substrate. The electrodes are
formed by evaporating metal such as gold through a mask to
give comb -like pattern as shown below.

Geometry of the photoconductive cell

The four materials normally employed in

photoconductive devices are: Cadmium Sulphide
(CdS), Cadmium Selenide (CdSe), lead sulphide
(PbS) and Thallium Sulphide (TlS).
The geometry results in a relatively large area of
sensitive surface and a small inter electrode spacing.
This helps the device to provide high sensitivity.

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When the device under forward bias is illuminated with light

electronhole pairs are generated. The electron-hole pairs
generated move in opposite directions. This results in a
photocurrent.
The photoconductive cell has very high resistance in dark
called dark resistance. When illuminated, the resistance falls.
The spectral response of CdS cell is similar to that of the human
eye. The illumination characteristics of the cell is shown in below
fig.
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Photoconductor in circuit

Spectral response of CdS cell

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Desired characteristics of photoconductive materials

They are
i) High spectral sensitivity in the wavelength region of interest
ii) Higher quantum efficiency
iii) Higher photoconductive gain
iv) Higher speed of response and
v) lesser noise
MATERIALS
(i) Cadmium sulfide (CdS) and Cadmium selenide (CdSe)
These are highly sensitive in the visible region of
radiation. They have high photoconductive gains (103 to 104)
but poor response time (about 50 ms). The response gets
reduced at higher illumination levels indicating the presence of
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traps.

(ii) Lead sulfide (PbS)

It has spectral Responsivity (Ratio of photons incident to current
produced) from 1 to 3.4 m and hence very much suitable for fabricating
near-infrared detectors. It has maximum sensitivity in the region of 2 m with
typical response time about 200 s.
(iii) Indium antimonide (InSb)
These detectors have wavelength response extending out to 7 m and
exhibit response times of around 50 ns.
(iv) Mercury cadmium telluride (HgxCd1-x Te)
This is an alloy composed of the semi-metal HgTe and the semi-conductor
CdTe. Semi-metals have overlapping valence and conduction bands.
Depending on the composition of alloy, a semiconductor can be formed with
a bandgap varying between zero and 1.6eV. Correspondingly the detector
sensitivities lie in the range 5 to 14 m. Photoconductive gains of up to 500
are possible.
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APPLICATIONS OF PHOTOCONDUCTIVITY DEVICES

They are,
Light meters
Infrared detectors
TV cameras
Voltage regulator
Relays and
Detecting ships and air crafts
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