LEDs and

LASERs
March 9, 2009 1
History
 The first practical LED was invented by Nick Holonyak, Jr., in
1962 while he was at General Electric Company.

 The first LEDs became commercially available in late 1960s,

and were red. They were commonly used as replacements for
incandescent indicators, and in seven-segment displays, first in
expensive equipment such as laboratory and electronics test
equipment, then later in such appliances as TVs, radios,
telephones, calculators, and even watches. These red LEDs
were bright enough only for use as indicators, as the light output
was not enough to illuminate an area.

 Later, other colors became widely available and also appeared

in appliances and equipment. As the LED materials technology
became more advanced, the light output was increased, and
LEDs became bright enough to be used for illumination. 2
 A Light-Emitting
Diode (LED) in
essence is a P-N
junction solid-
Introduction state
semiconductor
diode that emits
light when a
current is applied
though the

Introduction
device.

By scientific
definition, it is a
solid-state device
that controls
current without
the deficiency of
having heated
filaments.

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Principle
 The essential portion of the Light Emitting Diode is the
semiconductor chip. Semiconductors can be either
intrinsic or extrinsic.

 Intrinsic semiconductors are those in which the electrical

behavior is based on the electronic structure inherent to
the pure material.

 Extrinsic semiconductor are those in which the electrical

characteristics are dictated by impurity atoms.

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 This chip is further divided into two parts or regions which
are separated by a boundary called a junction. The p-
region is dominated by positive electric charges (holes)
and the n-region is dominated by negative electric charges
(electrons). The junction serves as a barrier to the flow of
the electrons between the p and the n-regions. This is
somewhat similar to the role of the band-gap because it
determines how much voltage is needed to be applied to
the semiconductor chip before the current can flow and the
electrons pass the junction into the p-region.

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Different Led Materials

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 One way to
construct a LED
LED Device Structure is to deposit
three
semiconductor
layers on a

LED Device Structure

substrate.
Between p-type
and n-type
semiconductor
layers, an active
region emits
light when an
electron and
hole recombine.

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Symbol

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cross section of traditional indicator led The positive
power is
connected to
How does a LED work? one side of the
LED
semiconductor
through the

How does a LED work?

anode and a
whisker and
the other side
of the
semiconductor
is attached to
the top of the
anvil or the
negative
power lead
(cathode).

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Mechanism
 Band-gaps determine how much energy is needed for the
electron to jump from the valence band to the conduction
band. As an electron in the conduction band recombines
with a hole in the valence band, the electron makes a
transition to a lower-lying energy state and releases energy
in an amount equal to the band-gap energy.

 This energy is released in photons. Normally the energy

heats the material. In a LED this energy goes into emitted
infrared or visible light.

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 The bandgap energy, Eg is approximately equal to the
emitted photon’s energy.

 where h is the Planck’s constant

 h = 6.626 x 10-34 Js =4.135 x 10-15 eVs

 If a large enough electric potential difference (voltage) is

absent, across the anode and cathode, the junction serves
as an electric potential barrier to the flow of electrons.
When sufficient voltage is applied across the chip of the
LED, the electron has enough driving force to move in one
direction over the junction that separates the p-region and
the n-region.

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 The electrons from the n-region basically flow across the
junction into the p-region. In the p-region, the electrons
are attracted to the positive charges due the mutual
Coulombic forces of attraction between opposite charges
of same magnitude. Thus “recombination” occurs.

 After every successful recombination, electric potential

energy is transformed into electromagnetic energy. This
releases a quantum electromagnetic energy that is emitted
in the form of a photon of light with frequencies
characteristic of the semiconductor that was used in the
process.

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 A LED is a
directional light
source, with the
maximum emitted
LED Radiation Patterns power in the
direction
perpendicular to the

LED Radiation Patterns

emitting surface.
The typical
radiation pattern
shows that most of
the energy is
emitted within 20°
of the direction of
maximum light.
Some packages for
LEDs include
plastic lenses to
spread the light for
a greater angle of
visibility.

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LED Types
 There are two basic types of LED structures: edge emitters
and surface emitters.

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 Edge emitters are more complex and expensive devices,
but offer high output power levels and high speed
performance. The output power is high because the
emitting spot is very small, typically 30-50 µm, allowing
good coupling efficiency to similarly sized optical fibers.
Edge emitters also have relatively narrow emission
spectra.

 Surface emitters have a comparatively simple structure,

are relatively inexpensive, offer low-to-moderate output
power levels, and are capable of low-to-moderate
operating speeds. The total LED chip optical output power
is as high or higher than the edge-emitting LED, but the
emitting area is large, causing poor coupling efficiency to
the optical fiber.
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 When a LED is
forward biased to
the threshold of
conduction, its
LED Characteristics current increases
rapidly and must
be controlled to
prevent destruction

LED Characteristics
of the device. The
light output is quite
linearly
proportional to the
current within its
active region, so
the light output can
be precisely
modulated to send
an undistorted
signal through a
fiber optic cable.

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Led Characteristics
 It does not have any moving parts, which makes the device
extremely resistant to damage due to vibration and shocks.

 These characteristics make it ideal for purposes that

demand reliability and strength.

 LEDs are highly monochromatic, only emitting a single

pure color in a narrow frequency range. The color emitted
from an LED is identified by peak wavelength (lpk) which
is measured in nanometers (nm). The peak wavelength is a
function of the material that is used in the manufacturing of
the semiconductor.
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The relative response time versus
different wavelengths of light

(The lower the response time the better. Currently, most

LEDs are made with higher wavelengths (i.e. longer
response time) because they are cheaper to manufacture.)
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Light Emitting Diodes I-V Characteristics

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