EE5410: Fiber Optic Communication Technology

Amit Ghosh

Roll NO-EE14D013

Experiment 2: Characterization of sources LD and LED

Objective
1. Make the driver circuit for LED
2. To study the L-I, V-I characteristics of Laser and LED.

1 LED characterization
1.1Equipment required
LED (850nm)
Variable resistor
Power supply
Breadboard
Glass ber with ST-ST
Benchmark optical power meter
Multimeter

The L-I curve of an LED can be studied by varying the current through LED and measuring the
output power coming from the LED module. Fig:1 shows the circuit diagram used for studying the
L-I characteristics of LED. The circuit has a potentiometer to change the current through the LED.

Figure 1 LED Circuit Diagram

1.2 Experiment performed

We construct the circuit for driving the 850 nm LED. Power supply of 9.9V is given. Value of the
resistance R1=75.5 . Use ST-ST glass fiber to connect output power of LED to power meter. We

Keep the potentiometer in the minimum resistance position and turn on the LED. Measure the
current through LED by measuring the voltage across R1. We measure the power output of LED and
designate it as P0. Now we vary the resistance in steps and note down the voltage across R1 and the
power output of LED and the voltage across LED. We now tabulate the results and draw L-I and V-I
characteristics of LED. We have measured the voltage in dBm scale and then we convert it into
microwatt, the minimum potentiometer resistance is found to be 20.

O/P Power(dBm)
-41.7
-33.9
-39
-36.7
-32.6
-29.2
-23.6

O/P Power(watt)
0.0677
0.407
0.12589
0.214
0.549
1.202
4.365

V(R1) Volt
0.059
0.089
0.108
0.176
0.436
0.963
1.63

V LED(Volt) LED Current(mA)

1.061
0.78
1.076
1.18
1.08
1.43
1.099
2.33
1.144
5.77
1.208
12.75
1.475
21.59

The tabulated data are hence plotted to have the LI curve and VI curve as shown in the graphs below

Optical Output Power(W)

5
4.5
4
3.5

3
2.5
2

L-I Curve

1.5

1
0.5
0
0

10

15

LED Drive Current (mA) -->

20

1.6

V LED(Volt)--->

1.4
1.2
1

0.8
V-I Curve

0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0

10

15

20

LED Drive Current (mA) -->

2 LASER characterization
2.1 Equipment required

Laser (1550 nm) in Light runner kit

Power meter
Detector and variable resistance in Light runner kit
Patch cords

The L-I curve of a Laser Diode (LD) can be studied by varying the current through LD and measuring
the output power coming from the LD module. Fig:2 shows the circuit diagram used for studying the
L-I characteristics of LD. The circuit has a potentiometer to change the current through the LD.

Figure 2.1 Circuit Diagram of LASER Diode

2.2 Experiment performed

In Light runner kit the 1550 nm laser output is connected to a handheld power meter
using a fiber patch cord. We then switch on the laser and vary its power using the manual control
provided in the light runner kit's front panel. Then we measure the laser driving current as voltage
across a 22 ohm resistance using a multimeter. We then measure the corresponding optical output
power of the laser using power meter and monitor diode current as a voltage across 22 Kohm. Theres
a potentiometer knob in the kit which we have varied and taken the readings accordingly.
Laser
Power(dBm)
-48
-46
-45
-44
-42
-40
-38
-35
-33
-32
-28
-25
-23
-22
-20
-12
-10
-7
-5
-3
-2
-0.5

Laser
Power(watt)
0.015848932
0.025118864
0.031622777
0.039810717
0.1
0.158489319
0.316227766
0.501187234
0.630957344
1.584893192
3.16227766
5.011872336
6.309573445
10
63.09573445
100
199.5262315
316.227766
501.1872336
630.9573445
891.2509381
1000

Voltage
across 22
0.0167
0.0222
0.0252
0.032
0.0435
0.056
0.078
0.121
0.156
0.18
0.27
0.358
0.39
0.395
0.403
0.425
0.439
0.48
0.52
0.58
0.61
0.69

Laser
Current(mA)
0.759090909
1.009090909
1.145454545
1.454545455
1.977272727
2.545454545
3.545454545
5.5
7.090909091
8.181818182
12.27272727
16.27272727
17.72727273
17.95454545
18.31818182
19.31818182
19.95454545
21.81818182
23.63636364
26.36363636
27.72727273
31.36363636

Volt across 22K for

Photodiode
0.0068
0.0093
0.011
0.01411
0.0189
0.0238
0.0322
0.0457
0.055
0.0615
0.084
0.104
0.119
0.127
0.145
0.59
0.901
1.7
2.7
4.15
6.35
7.44

Photodiode
Current(mA)
0.000309091
0.000422727
0.0005
0.000641364
0.000859091
0.001081818
0.001463636
0.002077273
0.0025
0.002795455
0.003818182
0.004727273
0.005409091
0.005772727
0.006590909
0.026818182
0.040954545
0.077272727
0.122727273
0.188636364
0.288636364
0.338181818

From the tabulated data we plot the LI curve of the laser and instead of directly going for the VI curve
we have shown the plot against the Photodiode current and the Laser current as shown in the graphs
below.

O/P Power Of Laser(W)-->

1000
900
800
700
600
500
Laser Power(watt)

400
300
200
100
0

10

20

30

Laser Current(mA)--->

0.35

Photodiode Current(mA)

0.3
0.25
0.2

0.15

Ipd Vs Ilaser

0.1
0.05
0
0

10

20

30

40

Laser Current(mA)

3 Conclusion
We observe by comparing that as we increase the drive current of both the LED and the LASER the
optical output power of the LED gradually increases but the LASER remains negligibly small upto a
certain drive current but the most distinct feature is that the increase of the output optical power is
enormous compared to the LED optical power and we can observe the LASER optical power reaching
upto 1000 watt.
Between LASER and LED we can decide that for short distance communication links we can use the
LED power source and for long haul distance communication we should use LASER source as the
LED is showing less optical power in the output but LASER is producing very high optical power
compared to LED power.