Chapter 2: Optical Transmitter And Receiver

 Introduction to Optical Communication System

 Transmitter Section
o Drive Circuitry
o Optical Sources
o Optical Couplers
 Receiver Section
o Optical Detectors

BY Yeman B 1
 Optical Transmitters And Receivers(1)
 Like all other communication system, the primary objective of optical fiber
communication system also is to transfer the signal containing information (voice,
data, video) from the source to the destination.
 The general block diagram of optical fiber communication system

BY Yeman B 2
 Optical Transmitters And Receivers(2)
 The source provides information in the form of electrical signal to the
transmitter.
 The electrical stage of the transmitter drives an optical source to produce
modulated light wave carrier.
 Semiconductor LASERs or LEDs are usually used as optical source here.
 The information carrying light wave then passes through the transmission
medium i.e. optical fiber cables in this system.
 Now it reaches to the receiver stage where the optical detector demodulates the
optical carrier and gives an electrical output signal to the electrical stage.

BY Yeman B 3
 Optical Transmitters And Receivers(3)
 The common types of optical detectors used are photodiodes (p-i-n, avalanche),
phototransistors, photoconductors etc.
 Finally the electrical stage gets the real information back and gives it to the
concerned destination.
 It is notable that the optical carrier may be modulated by either analog or digital
information signal. In digital optical fiber communication system the information
is suitably encoded prior to the drive circuit stage of optical source. Similarly at
the receiver end a decoder is used after amplifier and equalizer stage.

BY Yeman B 4
 Optical Transmitters And Receivers(4)
……

BY Yeman B 5
 Optical Transmitters And Receivers(5)
 The main parts of the transmitter section are a source (either a LED or a LASER),
efficient coupling means to couple the output power to the fiber, and a level
controller for LASERs.

 In present days, for longer repeater spacing, the use of single mode fibers and
LASERs are seeming to be essential whereas the earlier transmitters operated
within 0.8µm to 0.9µm wavelength range, used double hetero structure LASER or
LED as optical sources.

BY Yeman B 6
 Optical Transmitters And Receivers(6)
 It is clear that the receiver includes Photo detector, low noise front end amplifier,
voltage amplifier and a decision making circuit to get the exact information signal
back.
High impedance amplifier and Trans impedance amplifier are the two popular
configurations of front end amplifier, the design of which is very critical for sensible
performance of the receiver.
 The two most common photodetectors are p-i-n diodes and avalanche photodiodes.
Quantum efficiency , responsivity and speed of response are the key parameters
behind the decision of photodetectors.
The most important requirements of an optical receiver are sensitivity, bit rate
transparency, bit pattern independence, dynamic range, acquisition time etc. As the
noise contributed by receiver is higher than other elements in the system so, we must
put a keen check on it.

BY Yeman B 7
 Transmitter Section
 Drive Circuit
 Optical Source
 optical coupling devices.

BY Yeman B 8
 Drive Circuitry
 These are the circuits used in the transmitters to switch a current in the range of
ten to several hundred miliamperes required for proper functioning of optical
source. For LEDs there are drive circuits like common emitter saturating switch,
low impedance, emitter coupled, transconductance drive circuits

BY Yeman B 9
 Optical Sources(1)
Optical Source: the first active component of an optical fiber link which
converts the electrical message signal into light signal.

BY Yeman B 10
 Optical Sources(2)
 Types of Optical Sources
–Incandescent Lamps – wideband, continuous spectra
–Semiconductor pn-junction diodes – the principal light sources in fiber optic
communication
 Light-emitting diodes (LED) – incoherent
 LASER diode – monochromatic, coherent
 The choice of an optical source depends on the geometrical and transmission
characteristics of the optical fiber:
–shape and radius of core
– attenuation and dispersion
– number of modes
 Specifications: output power, spectral width, radiation pattern, modulation capability.

BY Yeman B 11
 Optical Sources(3)
Desired Specifications of an Optical Source
‒Directional light output – for efficient coupling into optical fiber cable

‒Output light linearly related to the input current – the output light must accurately
track /convey the information signal.

‒Wavelength of the output light must match with the minimum attenuation and
minimum dispersion wavelength of the fiber cable.

‒Sufficient output power

‒Narrow spectral width - to reduce dispersion
‒Minimized cost of manufacturing and coupling devices

‒Small size and long life

2/14/2019
BY Yeman B 12
 Semiconductor Physics (1)
 How do semiconductor diodes emit or absorb radiation?
•Electrons in atoms/molecules exist only in certain discrete
energy levels.
•Energy levels are separated by BAND GAP energies.
•The electrical and stability properties of materials are highly
affected by the two outermost energy levels:
−Conduction band – contains free electrons
−Valence band – contains bound outermost electrons
•At absolute zero temperature, electrons reside in the valence
band.
BY Yeman B 13
 Semiconductor Physics (2)
 Pure-crystal energy-band diagram

BY Yeman B 14
 Semiconductor Physics (3)
 When an electron gains energy ≥ bandgap energy, due to thermal excitation,
external electric field, or collision with a photon, it jumps to the conduction
band.

When an electron losses energy = bandgap energy, due to interaction with a

photon, or spontaneous recombination with a hole, it emits a radiation with
energy = band gap energy.
–Phonon involved to conserve momentum
BY Yeman B 15
 Semiconductor Physics (4)
 Two types of Emission

•A photon of energy E ≥ EC - EV
Without any external stimulation
impinges on an electron
Isotropic, random phase radiation
•Emitted photon in phase with
incident photon
BY Yeman B 16
 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
LEDs – the primary source for low cost, short distance, and low bit rate optical
fiber links, why?

The forward current injects electrons into the active region, where they
recombine with holes and emit photos with energy = band gap energy.
 Spontaneous emission
BY Yeman B 17
 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

LED Performance parameters

Radiance – measure of the optical power radiated into a unit solid angle per unit area of the
emitting surface.
Response time – time delay between the application of input and the onset of the
corresponding emission.
–Limits the modulation bandwidth
Quantum efficiency – measure of the number of electron-hole recombinations that produce
photon emission.

Required Specifications for optical communication sources

•High radiance `
•Fast response time
•High quantum efficiency
BY Yeman B 18
 Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)
Characteristics of LEDs

•Low speed ( < 100-200 Mb/s) data rates

•Easy to couple with multimode fiber
•Medium optical power output, in tens of microwatts
•Require less complex drive circuitry

•No thermal or optical stabilization circuits needed;

•Fabricated less expensively with higher yields.

BY Yeman B 19
 LED Structures
For an LED to have high radiance and high quantum efficiency, the LED structure must:

– confine the charge carriers into the active region – carrier confinement
– radiate the light output in a narrow direction – optical confinement
Carrier Confinement – Heterostructure
– To achieve high rate of radiative
recombinations, the active region is
sandwiched between semiconductor layers of higher band gap energies.
•Optical Confinement
– To confine the optical field into the active region, the active region is made
to have higher refractive index
• Increases radiance in the direction of the fiber input
• Reduces absorption by the LED material
BY Yeman B 20
 LED Structures
Schematic of a high-radiance surface-emitting LED
The active region is limited to a circular section that has an area compatible with the fiber-core end
face

λ= 850 nm and 1300 nm

BY Yeman B 21
 LED Structures

 Edge Emitter LEDs (ELEDs)

BY Yeman B 22
•A stripe-shaped double heterjunction ELED has improved radiance
•Active region confined between two layers of higher band gap energy
–Improves radiative recombinations
•External to the carrier confinement layers are two transparent optical guiding
layers of, which have refractive index lower than that of the active region but
higher than that of the external material
–Directs the optical radiation towards the fiber core
•The stripe geometry allows high carrier injection rate for a given input current
•To match the typical fiber-core diameters (50-100 mm), the contact stripes for
the edge emitter are 50-70 mm wide. Lengths of the active regions usually range
from 100 to 150 mm.

BY Yeman B 23
The output beam is Lambertian in plane of the pn-junction (q||=120o) and
highly directional perpendicular to the pn-junction
λ = 1300 nm and 1550 nm


BY Yeman B 24
LED Power and Efficiency (1)

BY Yeman B 25
LED Power and Efficiency (1)

BY Yeman B 26
LED Power and Efficiency (1)

BY Yeman B 27
 LED Power and Efficiency (1)


BY Yeman B 28
LED Power and Efficiency (1)

BY Yeman B 29
LED Power and Efficiency (1)

BY Yeman B 30
LED Power and Efficiency (1)

BY Yeman B 31
LED Modulation Bandwidth

BY Yeman B 32
LED Modulation Bandwidth

BY Yeman B 33
 LED Modulation Bandwidth
The optical 3-dB point occurs at that frequency where the ratio of the currents is
equal to 1/2. This corresponds to an electrical power attenuation of 6 dB.

BY Yeman B 34
 LED Modulation Bandwidth


BY Yeman B 35
 LASER Diodes (1)
In LEDs, light emission occurs spontaneously and the output is characterized by
−wide spectral width,
−Low intensity,
−Low directionality i.e., Lambertian pattern and
−Incoherent radiation
•LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission Radiation)
−A more efficient light source for optical communication
•Highly directional and coherent optical sources
•LASER action is a result of 3 processes: Photon Absorption, spontaneous
emission and stimulated emission

BY Yeman B 36
 LASER Diodes(2)

Photon Absorption: When a photon of energy hν12 impinges on the system, an electron in state E1 can absorb the photon
energy and be excited to state E2.

Spontaneous Emission: the electron will shortly return to the ground state, thereby emitting a photon of energy hn12 = E2 –
E1.
• Isotropic emission
• Random phase BY Yeman B 37
 LASER Diodes(3)
Stimulated Emission:
–If a photon of energy hv12 impinges on the system while the electron is still
in its excited state, the electron is immediately stimulated to drop to the
ground state and give off a photon of energy hv12.
–The stimulant can be spontaneously generated or from external light source
–Stimulated emission is in phase with the incident photon
•In thermal equilibrium, density of excited electrons is very small.
•Population Inversion:
–Depletion of conduction band occurs at a faster rate. To sustain lasing, i.e., stimulated
emission > absorption, the density of electrons in the conduction band must exceed the
density of electrons in the valence band -> Population Inversion

–By passing high forward current through the active area

BY Yeman B 38
 LASER Diodes(4)
•Positive Feedback: to generate sufficiently high optical power, a large number of
photons are generated using an optical cavity with reflecting end mirrors.
 A Cavity resonator

BY Yeman B 39
 LASER Diodes(5)


BY Yeman B 40
 LASER Diodes(6)
Stimulated multiplication of photons - > Positive feedback
–Spontaneously emitted photons are partially reflected by the mirrors and
directed to the active layer. These photons stimulate the emission of other
photons.
•Losses in laser diode:
–Absorption by the semiconductor material
–Scattering of light in the cavity
–Transmission through the mirrors - a fraction of the stimulated optical power
leaves the cavity.
•Diode loss is constant.
•Gain can be increased by increasing the forward current
•Laser action occurs when gain > loss
BY Yeman B 41
 LASER Diodes(7)

Gain and loss coefficients (per mm-1)

along the active layer.

BY Yeman B 42
 LASER Diodes(8)
 The forward current for which gain = loss is called the lasing threshold current.
•After the threshold, a small increase in biasing current results in fast increase in
the output light.
Characteristics of LDs:
Suitable for systems of bandwidth > 200-MHz;
Typically have response times less than 1-ns;
Having optical bandwidths of 2-nm or less;
Capable of coupling several tens of milliwatts of luminescent power;
Can couple with optical fibers with small cores and small mode-field
diameters.

BY Yeman B 43
 Fabry-Perot resonator cavity

A pair of flat, partially reflecting mirrors are directed to each other to enclose the
cavity. The rear facet can be coated with a dielectric reflector to reduce optical loss in
the cavity. BY Yeman B 44
Distributed-Feedback (DFB) laser

BY Yeman B 45
 LASER Diodes


BY Yeman B 46
Comparison between LED and LASER

BY Yeman B 47
 Optical Connectors and Couplers
 Connectors are used to connect sources as well as detectors to fiber.
A fiber optic coupler is a device used in optical fiber systems with one or more
input fibers and one or several output fibers.
Passive devices operate completely in the optical domain to split and combine
light streams.
Light entering an input fiber can appear at one or more outputs and its power
distribution potentially depending on the wavelength and polarization.
They include N  N couplers (with N ≥ 2), power splitters, power taps, and star
couplers.
They can be fabricated either from optical fibers or by means of planar optical
waveguides using material such as InP, silica, silicon oxynitride, or various
polymers.
BY Yeman B 48
 Optical Connectors and Couplers
 P0 is the input power, P1 is the throughout power, and P2 is the power coupled
into the second fiber.
P3 and P4 are extremely low signal levels (-50 to -70 dB below the input level)
resulting from backward reflections and scattering in the device

BY Yeman B 49
 Optical Detectors
 The function of an optical detector is to convert the optical signal in an electrical
signal, which can then be further processed.
 The following performance criteria of optical detectors are of major important for
applications in optical communication systems:
• Sensitivity has to be matched to the emission spectra of the optical
transmitter
• Linearity (Linear relationship between the intensity and the electrical
signal)
• High quantum efficiency / high spectral sensitivity
• Fast response time
• Stability of performance (temperature sensitivity)
• Reliability and Robustness
• Low Noise
• Lost Cost

BY Yeman B 50
 Basic Concepts
Detector Responsivity
Consider the semiconductor slab shown schematically below. If the energy, hν of
incident photons exceeds the band gap energy, an electron–hole pair is
generated each time a photon is absorbed by the semiconductor.

BY Yeman B 51
 Basic Concepts
 Under the influence of an electric field set up by an applied voltage, electrons
and holes are swept across the semiconductor, resulting in a flow of electric
current. The photocurrent Ip is directly proportional to the incident optical power
Pin, i.e.,
IP=Rpin,
where R is the responsivity of the photodetector (in units of A/W). The responsivity
R can be expressed in terms of a fundamental quantity η, called the quantum
efficiency.

BY Yeman B 52
 Basic Concepts
The responsivity of a silicon photo diode is a measure of the sensitivity to
light, and is defined as the ratio of the photo current to the incident light power
at a given wave length.
It varies with the wave length of the incident light as well as applied reverse
bias and temperature.
It is a measure of the effectiveness of the conversion of the light power into
electrical current.
The responsivity variations due to change in temperature is due to decrease or
increase of the band gap, because of increase or decrease in the temperature

BY Yeman B 53
BY Yeman B 54
 Basic Concepts


BY Yeman B 55
 Basic Concepts

As expected, η becomes zero when α = 0. On the other
hand, η approaches 1 if αW >>1.

The figure shows the wavelength dependence of α for

several semiconductor materials commonly used to make
photodetectors for lightwave systems.

The wavelength λc at which α becomes zero is called the

cutoff wavelength, as that material can be used for a
photodetector only for λ <λ c.

BY Yeman B 56
 PHOTO DETECTORS
 P-n Photodiode

 p–i–n Photodiodes

 Avalanche Photodiodes

BY Yeman B 57
P-n Photodiode

BY Yeman B 58
 P-n Photodiode
 A reverse-biased p–n junction consists of a region, known as the depletion
region, that is essentially devoid of free charge carriers and where a large built-in
electric field opposes flow of electrons from the n-side to the p-side (and of holes
from p to n).
When such a p–n junction is illuminated with light on one side, say the p-side
(see Fig. previous slide), electron–hole pairs are created through absorption.
Because of the large built-in electric field, electrons and holes generated inside
the depletion region accelerate in opposite directions and drift to the n- and p-
sides, respectively.

BY Yeman B 59
 P-n Photodiode
The resulting flow of current is proportional to the incident optical power. Thus a
reverse-biased p–n junction acts as a photo detector and is referred to as the p–n
photodiode.
Figure above (a) shows the structure of a p–n photodiode. As shown in Fig.
above (b), optical power decreases exponentially as the incident light is absorbed
inside the depletion region.
The electron–hole pairs generated inside the depletion region experience a large
electric field and drift rapidly toward the p- or n-side, depending on the electric
charge [Fig. above(c)].

BY Yeman B 60
 P-n Photodiode
 The resulting current flow constitutes the photodiode response to the incident
optical power is shown below. The responsivity of a photodiode is quite high (R ∼
1 A/W) because of a high quantum efficiency.

BY Yeman B 61
 P-n Photodiode
 The limiting factor for the bandwidth of p–n photodiodes is the presence of a
diffusive component in the photocurrent. The physical origin of the diffusive
component is related to the absorption of incident light outside the depletion
region.
Electrons generated in the p-region have to diffuse to the depletion-region
boundary before they can drift to the n-side; similarly, holes generated in the n-
region must diffuse to the depletion-region boundary. Diffusion is an inherently
slow process;
 The diffusion contribution can be reduced by decreasing the widths of the p-
and n-regions and increasing the depletion-region width so that most of the
incident optical power is absorbed inside it. This is the approach adopted for p–i–
n photodiodes, discussed next.
BY Yeman B 62
p–i–n Photodiodes(1)

BY Yeman B 63
 p–i–n Photodiodes(2)
 A simple way to increase the depletion-region width is to insert a layer of un dopped
(or lightly doped) semiconductor material between the p–n junction. Since the middle
layer consists of nearly intrinsic material, such a structure is referred to as the p–i–n
photodiode.
 the above Figure shows the device structure together with the electric-field
distribution inside it under reverse-bias operation. Because of its intrinsic nature, the
middle i-layer offers a high resistance, and most of the voltage drop occurs across it.
As a result, a large electric field exists in the i-layer. In essence, the depletion region
extends throughout the i-region, and its width W can be controlled by changing the
middle-layer thickness.
The main difference from the p–n photodiode is that the drift component of the
photocurrent dominates over the diffusion component simply because most of the
incident power is absorbed inside the i-region of a p–i–n photodiode.

BY Yeman B 64
 p–i–n Photodiodes(3)
 Since the depletion width W can be tailored in p–i–n photodiodes, a natural
question is how large W should be. the optimum value of W depends on a
compromise between speed and sensitivity. The responsivity can be increased by
increasing W so that the quantum efficiency η approaches 100%
 However, the response time also increases, as it takes longer for carriers to drift
across the depletion region.

BY Yeman B 65
 Avalanche Photodiodes
 All detectors require a certain minimum current to operate reliably. The current
requirement translates into a minimum power requirement through Pin = Ip/R.
Detectors with a large responsivity R are preferred since they require less optical
power. The responsivity of p–i–n photodiodes is limited by, R = ηq/hν and takes
its maximum value R = q/hν for η = 1.
 Avalanche photodiode (APDs) can have much larger values of R, as they are
designed to provide an internal current gain in a way similar to photomultiplier
tubes. They are used when the amount of optical power that can be spared for
the receiver is limited.

BY Yeman B 66
 Avalanche Photodiodes
 The physical phenomenon behind the internal current gain is known as the
impact ionization.

Under certain conditions, an accelerating electron can acquire sufficient energy

to generate a new electron–hole pair. In the band picture the energetic electron
gives a part of its kinetic energy to another electron in the valence band that
ends up in the conduction band, leaving behind a hole.

BY Yeman B 67
 The net result of impact ionization is that a single primary electron, generated
through absorption of a photon, creates many secondary electrons and holes, all
of which contribute to the photodiode current.
Of course, the primary hole can also generate secondary electron–hole pairs that
contribute to the current.
The generation rate is governed by two parameters, αe and αh, the impact-
ionization coefficients of electrons and holes, respectively.
Their numerical values depend on the semiconductor material and on the
electric field that accelerates electrons and holes.

BY Yeman B 68


BY Yeman B 69
 APDs differ in their design from that of p–i–n photodiodes mainly in one
respect: an additional layer is added in which secondary electron–hole pairs are
generated through impact ionization. The above figure shows the APD structure
together with the variation of electric field in various layers.
Under reverse bias, a high electric field exists in the p-type layer sandwiched
between i-type and n+-type layers. This layer is referred to as the multiplication
layer, since secondary electron–hole pairs are generated here through impact
ionization.
The i-layer still acts as the depletion region in which most of the incident
photons are absorbed and primary electron–hole pairs are generated.
Electrons generated in the i-region cross the gain region and generate secondary
electron–hole pairs responsible for the current gain.

BY Yeman B 70
BY Yeman B 71
BY Yeman B 72