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 20EC702(R) OPTICAL
COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
(LAB INTEGRATED)

Department : ECE
Batch/Year : 2021-25/IV
Created by : Ms. IYSWARIYA A AP/ECE
 Table of Contents

1. Contents
2. Course Objectives
3. Pre Requisites (Course Names with Code)
4. Syllabus (With Subject Code, Name, LTPC details)
5. Course outcomes (6)
6. CO- PO/PSO Mapping
7. Lecture Plan (S.No, Topic, No. of Periods, Proposed date,
Actual Lecture Date, pertaining CO, Taxonomy level, Mode of
Delivery)
8. Activity based learning
9. Lecture Notes ( with Links to Videos, e-book reference, PPTs,
Quiz and any other learning materials )
10. Assignments ( For higher level learning and Evaluation -
Examples: Case study, Comprehensive design, etc.,)
11. Part A Q & A (with K level and CO)
12. Part B Qs (with K level and CO)
13. Supportive online Certification courses (NPTEL, Swayam,
Coursera, Udemy, etc.,)
14. Real time Applications in day to day life and to Industry
15.Contents beyond the Syllabus ( COE related Value added
courses)
16. Assessment Schedule ( Proposed Date & Actual Date)
17. Prescribed Text Books & Reference Books
18. Mini Project suggestions
 1. COURSE CONTENTS:

Introduction To Optical Fibers

Signal Degradation in Optical Fibers

Fiber Optical Sources And Coupling

Fiber Optic Receiver and Measurements

Optical Networks and System Transmission

 2. COURSE OBJECTIVES:

➢ Acquire knowledge of optical fiber transmission

mechanisms and various fiber types.

➢ Study the factors which produce signal

degradation in fibres

➢ Learn the concept of sources and power

coupling in optical communication.

➢ Explore the trends of optical fiber measurement

systems.

➢ Enrich the idea of fiber optic networking.

 3. Pre Requisites:

20EC604 ANTENNAS AND WAVE PROPAGATION -VI SEM

20EC504 TRANSMISSION LINES AND WAVEGUIDES –V SEM

20EC501 DIGITALCOMMUNICATION - V SEM

20EC403 ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS -IV SEM

20EC401 COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS - IV SEM

20EC302 ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS I -III SEM

20EC202 ELECTRONIC DEVICES -II SEM

 3. Pre Requisites:

20EC501 DIGITAL
COMMUNICATION
20EC504 TRANSMISSION 20EC604 ANTENNAS AND
LINES AND WAVEGUIDES WAVE PROPAGATION

20EC401 COMMUNICATION
SYSTEMS
20EC302 ELECTRONIC
CIRCUITS I 20EC403
ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS

20EC202 ELECTRONIC
DEVICES
 4. SYLLABUS
20EC702(R) OPTICAL COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
(LAB INTEGRATED)
LTPC 3 0 03

UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO OPTICAL FIBERS 9

Elements of an Optical Fiber Transmission link-Basic Optical Laws and Definitions-

Total internal reflection, Acceptance angle, Numerical aperture, Skew rays - Optical
fiber modes and Configurations - Single mode fibers-Graded Index fiber structure –
Mode theory of Circular wave guides- Overview of modes, Modes in Step-Index
fibers, Linearly Polarized modes.

UNIT II SIGNAL DEGRADATION IN OPTICAL FIBERS 9

Attenuation - Absorption, Scattering losses, Bending losses, Core and Cladding

losses. Signal distortion in Optical Wave guides- Group delay, Material dispersion,
Waveguide dispersion, Signal distortion in SM fibers, Polarization mode dispersion,
Intermodal dispersion - Dispersion Optimization of SM fibers-Characteristics of RI
profiles and cut-off wavelength

UNIT III FIBER OPTICAL SOURCES AND COUPLING 9

Direct and indirect band gap materials-LED structures -Light source materials -
Quantum efficiency and LED power, Modulation of a LED. Lasers diodes-modes and
Threshold condition -Rate equations -External quantum efficiency -Resonant
frequencies - Temperature effects. Introduction to Quantum Laser -Power launching
and coupling-Lensing schemes-Fiber -to-Fiber joints-Fiber splicing
20EC702 OPTICAL COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS LTPC
3 0 03

UNIT IV FIBER OPTICAL RECEIVER AND MEASUREMENTS 9

Principles of Photodetectors – PIN & APD - Fundamental receiver operation- Receiver
configuration– Digital receiver performance- Probability of error – Quantum limit, Pre
amplifiers. Fiber attenuation measurements- Dispersion measurements – Fiber
refractive index profile measurements– Fiber diameter measurements

UNIT V OPTICAL NETWORKS AND SYSTEM TRANSMISSION 9

Basic networks – SONET / SDH – Broadcast and select WDM networks –Wavelength
routed networks –Link power budget -Rise time budget- Operational principles of
WDM and EDFA system – Solitons –Optical CDMA – Ultra high capacity networks
introduction to Li-Fi and LIDAR
 5. COURSE OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

CO1: Describe the various optical fiber modes and configurations

CO2: Illustrate various signal degradation factors associated with

optical fiber.

CO3: Evaluate various optical sources and their use in the optical
communication system to select the optimum transmitter.

CO4:Analyze the optical receiver performance and measure

various fiber parameters for designing optical fiber.

CO5:Analyze the digital transmission and its associated

parameters on system performance.

CO6: Estimate the power budget required for optical network

design and improve the performance of WDM/EDFA system
6. CO- PO/PSO Mapping
 7.LECTURE PLAN

20EC702 OPTICAL COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS LTPC3003

UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO OPTICAL FIBERS

S.N Topic No. Proposed Actual Pertaining Taxonomy level Mode of
o. of date Lecture CO Delivery
Perio Date
ds
1 Elements of an Optical Fiber Transmission link 1
K2 MD1
2 Basic optical laws and definitions 1 K2 MD1
3 Total internal reflection,Acceptance 1
K2 MD1
angle,Numerical Aperture
4 Skew rays-Optical modes and configurations 1
K2 MD2
CO1
5 Single mode fiber, graded index fiber structure 1
K2 MD1
6 Mode theory of circular wave guides 1
K2 MD2
7 Overview of modes 1 K2 MD2
8 Modes in Step-index Fibers,Linealry Polarised 1
K2 MD3
Modes
9 Problems 1 K2 MD3
UNIT II SIGNAL DEGRADATION IN OPTICAL FIBERS
10 Attenuation - Absorption losses 1 K2 MD1
11 Scattering losses 1 K2 MD2
12 Bending Losses, Core and Cladding losses 1 K2 MD2
13 1
Group delay, Material dispersion K2 MD1
CO2
14 Waveguide dispersion,Signal distortion in SM fiber 1 K2 MD1
15 Polarization mode dispersion, intermodal 1
K2 MD1
dispersion
16 Dispersion Optimization of single mode fiber
1
K2 MD1
17 R-I Profile, cutoff wave length 1 K2 MD1
18 Problems
1
K2 MD1
UNIT III FIBER OPTICAL SOURCES AND COUPLING
19 Direct and indirect Band gap materials 1
K2 MD1
20 LED structures, Surface emitting and Edge 1
K2 MD1
emitting LED
21 Light source materials ,Quantum efficiency and 1
K2 MD2
LED power, Modulation of a LED
22 Lasers Diodes, Modes and Threshold condition 1
K2 MD1
,Rate equations CO3
23 External Quantum efficiency ,Resonant frequencies
1
K2 MD1
24 Temperature effects-Introduction to Quantum 1
K2 MD1&2
laser
25 Power launching and coupling –lensing schemes
1
K2 MD1
26 Fiber to Fiber joints-Fiber splicing
1
K2 MD
27 1
Introduction to Optical amplifier-Problems
K2 MD1
 7.LECTURE PLAN
UNIT IV FIBER OPTICAL RECEIVER AND MEASUREMENTS
28 1 K2
Principles of photodetectors-
MD1
PIN &APD
29 Fundamental receiver 1 K2
operation-Receiver MD1
configuration
30 Digital receiver performance 1 K3
Probability of error, quantum MD1
limit
31 Preamplifiers 1 K3
CO4 MD1
32 Fiber attenuation 1
measurement K3
MD1
33 Dispersion measurements 1
34 1 K3
Fiber refractive index profile MD1
measurements
K2
35 1 MD1
Fiber Diameter Measurements
36 1 K2
MD1
Problems
K2 MD1
UNIT V OPTICAL NETWORKS AND SYSTEM TRANSMISSION
37 K2
Basic networks-SONET/SDH-
1 MD1
38 1
Broadcast and select WDM
K3
networks-Wavelength routed
MD1
networks
40 1 CO5 K2
Link power budget ,rise time
MD1
budget
41 1 K2
Operational Principles of WDM MD1
42 Operational Principles of EDFA 1 K2
MD1
system
43 Solitons-Optical CDMA- 1 K2
MD1
Ultrahigh capacity networks
44 Introduction to Li-Fi and 1 K2
MD1
LIDAR
45 1 K2
Problems MD1
MD 1. Oral presentation; MD
2. OHP/PowerPoint
Presentation; MD 3. Videos
8.Activity based learning – Chart-UNIT III

Arrange the scrambled picture:

8.Activity based learning –UNIT III cross word
8. Activity Based Learning – UNIT III-CROSS WORD

Across

2. both carrier & optical confinement can be obtained using this

structure

4. LED’s are best choice

5.An indirect band gap material

6.The plane of the emitting region is oriented perpendicular to the fiber

axis.

Down

1.Time delay between the application of current pulse & the onset of

optical emission

3. Optical power radiated into a unit solid angle /unit area.

UNIT III Quiz Questions

1) In the dynamic response of Injection Laser Diode (ILD), the delay which is
followed by frequency damped oscillations give rise to the generation of
relaxation oscillations.

a. Low
b. Medium
c. High
d. All of the above
2) Which type of injection laser involves the use of geometry for fabrication of the
multimode injection laser with a single or small number of lateral modes?

a. Gain guided laser

b. Index guided laser
c. Quantum well laser
d. Quantum dot laser
3) Which modes are acknowledged due to their association with electromagnetic
field and beam profile in the direction perpendicular to the plane of pn junction?

a. Longitudinal Modes
b. Transverse Modes
c. Lateral Modes
d. All of the above
4) Which among the following characteristics of Laser light specifies the precise
movement of all individual light waves together through time and space?

a. Monochromatic
b. Directional
c. Coherent
d. Brightness
5) In a laser structure, the existence of standing waves is possible at frequencies
for which the distance between the mirrors is an integral number of

a. λ / 2
b. λ / 4
c. λ / 6
d. λ / 8
UNIT III Quiz Questions

6)Consider a crystal of ruby laser whose length is 6 cm and the refractive index is
1.8, emits the wavelength of about 0.55 μm. What will be the value of number of
longitudinal modes?

a. 3.9 x 105
b. 4.9 x 105
c. 5.6 x 105
d. 7.7 x 105
7)In Stimulated Emission, which among the following parameters of generated
photon is/are similar to the photon of incident wave?

a. Phase
b. Frequency
c. Polarization & direction of travel
d. All of the above
8) Which among the following is a key process adopted for the laser beam
formation as it undergoes the light amplification?

a. Spontaneous Emission
b. Stimulated Emission
c. Both a and b
d. None of the above
9) In spontaneous emission, the light source in an excited state undergoes the
transition to a state with

a. Higher energy
b. Moderate energy
c. Lower energy
d. All of the above
10) In the fiber optic link, power transfer from one fiber to another and from fiber
to detector must take place with coupling efficiency.

a. maximum
b. stable
c. minimum
d. unpredictable
UNIT III Quiz Questions

11. In Lambertian output pattern of LED, the source is bright from all
directions.
a. Less
b. Equally
c. More
d. Unpredictably
12. In pyroelectric photodetectors, the consequent increase in dielectric constant
due to temperature variation by the photon absorption, is generally measured as
change in
a. resistance
b. inductance
c. admittance
d. capacitance
13.Which among the following controls the length of Fabry-Perot interferometer so
that it can act as a tunable optical filter?
a. Transducer
b. Tachometer
c. Multimeter
d. Phase-meter
14.Which photodiodes are crucially applicable to overcome the bandwidth-quantum
efficiency trade-off along with its resemblence to the pyramid structure?
a. Mushroom Waveguide Photodiode
b. Traveling Wave Photodiode
c. Resonant Cavity Photodiode
d. All of the above

15. When an optical signal is incident on a photo-detector, which noise originate/s

due to statistical nature of production and collection of photoelectrons?
a. Dark Current Noise
b. Quantum Noise
c. Surface Leakage Current noise
d. All of the above
UNIT III Quiz Questions

16. On which factor/s do/does the response time of photodiode depend/s?

a. Diffusion time of photo carriers outside the depletion region

b. Diffusion time of photo carriers within the depletion region
c. RC time constant
d. All of the above
17. Which nature of charge carriers give rise to the current fluctuations thereby
resulting into the generation of shot noise?

a. Continuous
b. Discrete
c. Sampled
d. All of the above

18. A device which converts electrical energy in the form of a current into optical
energy is called as
a) Optical source
b) Optical coupler
c) Optical isolator
d) Circulator

19. How many types of sources of optical light are available?

a) One
b) Two
c) Three
d) Four
20. The frequency of the absorbed or emitted radiation is related to difference in
energy E between the higher energy state E2 and the lower energy state E1. State
what h stands for in the given equation?

E = E2 - E1 = hf

a) Gravitation constant
b) Planck’s constant
c) Permittivity

d) Attenuation constant
UNIT III Quiz Questions

21. The radiation emission process (emission of a proton at frequency) can occur in
ways.
a) Two
b) Three
c) Four
d) One
22. Which process gives the laser its special properties as an optical source?
a) Dispersion
b) Stimulated absorption
c) Spontaneous emission
d) Stimulated emission
23.An incandescent lamp is operating at a temperature of 1000K at an operating
frequency of 5.2×1014 Hz. Calculate the ratio of stimulated emission rate to
spontaneous emission rate.
a) 3×10-13
b) 1.47×10-11
c) 2×10-12
d) 1.5×10-13
24.The lower energy level contains more atoms than upper level under the
conditions of
a) Isothermal packaging
b) Population inversion
c) Thermal equilibrium
d) Pumping
25. in the laser occurs when photon colliding with an excited
atom causes the stimulated emission of a second photon.
a) Light amplification
b) Attenuation
c) Dispersion
d) Population inversion
UNIT III Quiz Questions

26.A ruby laser has a crystal of length 3 cm with a refractive index of 1.60,
wavelength 0.43 μm. Determine the number of longitudinal modes.

a) 1×102
b) 3×106
c) 2.9×105
d) 2.2×105
27.A semiconductor laser crystal of length 5 cm, refractive index 1.8 is used as an
optical source. Determine the frequency separation of the modes.
a) 2.8 GHz
b) 1.2 GHz
c) 1.6 GHz
d) 2 GHz
28. Doppler broadening is a homogeneous broadening mechanism.
a) True
b) False
29. An injection laser has active cavity losses of 25 cm-1 and the reflectivity of each
laser facet is 30%. Determine the laser gain coefficient for the cavity it has a length
of 500μm.
a) 46 cm-1
b) 51 cm-1
c) 50 cm-1
d) 49.07 cm-1
30. Longitudinal modes contribute only a single spot of light to the laser output.
a) True
b) False
31.Considering the values given below, calculate the mode separation in terms of
free space wavelength for a laser. (Frequency separation = 2GHz, Wavelength = 0.5
μm)
a) 1.4×10-11
b) 1.6×10-12
c) 1×10-12
d) 6×10-11
32. P-n photodiode is forward biased.
a) True
b) False
UNIT III Quiz Questions

33. The depletion region must be to allow a large fraction of the

incident light to be absorbed in the device(photodiode).
a) Thick
b) Thin
c) Long
d) Inactive

34. The process of excitation of an electron from valence band to conduction band
leaves an empty hole in the valence band and is called as
a) Detection
b) Absorption
c) Degeneration of an electron-hole pair
d) Regeneration of an electron-hole pair

35. always leads to the generation of a hole and an electron.

a) Repulsion
b) Dispersion
c) Absorption
d) Attenuation

36. The electron hole pairs generated in a photodiode are separated by the

a) Magnetic field
b) Electric field
c) Static field
d) Depletion region

37. Electric field in the depletion region should be high.

a) True
b) False

38. The photocurrent of an optical detector should be

a) Less
b) More
c) Linear
d) Non-linear

39. How many types of optical detectors are available?

a) One
b) Four
c) Two
d) Three
 9. LECTURE NOTES
UNIT III
FIBER OPTICAL SOURCES AND COUPLING
3.1 Introduction
An optical source is the key component of the optical transmitter unit. The
purpose of an optical source is to convert an electrical signal reliably into optical
radiation (E/O conversion). There are a variety of optical sources that convert
electrical energy to an optical signal (light).
There are two types of semiconductor optical source e.g. Light Emitting Diode
(LED) and Injection Laser Diode (ILD) often referred to as Laser Diode (LD). An
optical source should ideally meet the following requirements for use in
the transmitter unit of an optical fiber communication system.
i. The emitted light should be preferably directive for easy launching of light from
the source to the fiber
ii. The size of the emitting optical source must be compatible to the size of the
optical fiber.
iii. The light output (optical power) must vary linearly with the electrical input for
faithful E/O conversion.
iv. The source must have a reasonably high E/O conversion efficiency.
v. The emission wavelength should match with the attenuation window of the fiber
(wavelength at which the fiber offers low attenuation).

vi. The spectral width of the source should be small in order to reduce chromatic
dispersion during propagation through the fiber.
vii. The source should have a high modulation capability i.e. a large bandwidth in
order to meet the large information carrying capacity of the fiber.
viii. The source must be able to couple sufficient optical power to the fiber so that
they can travel a long distance and still deliver the required power to the
detector for faithful conversion of optical signal into electrical signal (O/E
conversion).
ix. The source should have moderately long life.
Both LED and ILD meet the basic requirements of an optical source for use in
optical fiber communication system. Structurally, both LED and ILD consist of pn-
junction p-n made of direct bandgap semiconductor materials.
When forward-biased electrons and holes are injected into p and n regions
respectively where they recombine with the majority carriers. In direct bandgap
material the recombination is normally radiative in nature giving rise to emission
of photons (light).
 The principle of operation of a laser diode differs significantly from that of an LED.
The light from an LED results from spontaneous emission following the random
radiative recombination of the carriers. On the other hand a laser diode works on
the principle of stimulated emission which dominates only under special
circumstances.
One of the major differences between an LED and an ILD is that the optical
output from the former is incoherent whereas that from the latter is coherent.
This is because light in an ILD is produced in an optical resonator that ensures
both spatial and temporal coherence of the light emanating from the cavity.
The spatial coherence ensures that the output light is highly monochromatic
whereas temporal coherence means that the output beam is highly directional.
Since no cavity resonator is used in the case of LED, the light output generally
exhibits a relatively large spectral width.

3.2.Intrinsic and Extrinsic Material

A perfect material containing no impurities is called an intrinsic material. Because
of thermal vibrations of the crystal atoms, some electrons in the valence band
gain enough energy to be excited to the conduction band. This thermal
generation process produces free electron–hole pairs because every electron that
moves to the conduction band leaves behind a hole. Thus for an intrinsic material
the number of electrons and holes are both equal to the intrinsic carrier density,
In the opposite recombination process, a free electron releases its energy and
drops into a free hole in the valence band.
For an extrinsic semiconductor, the increase of one type of carrier reduces the
number of the other type. In this case, the product of the two types of carriers
remains constant at a given temperature. This gives rise to the mass-action law
pn = ni2

Which is valid for both intrinsic and extrinsic materials under thermal equilibrium.
Since the electrical conductivity is proportional to the carrier concentration, two
types of charge carriers are defined for this material:
I. Majority carriers refer either to electrons in n-type material or to holes in p-type
material.
II. Minority carriers refer either to holes in n-type material or to electrons in p-type
material.
The operation of semiconductor devices is essentially based on the injection and
extraction of minority carriers.
The conductivity of an intrinsic semiconductor is generally low. The conductivity of
the intrinsic semiconductor can be greatly varied by adding tiny and controlled
amount of chemical impurity in the semiconductor.
For example, if a Group-V element (say p) is added to silicon, the p atom
containing five electrons in the outermost orbit will substitute an Si atom. Four of
its five electrons in the outermost orbit would form covalent bonds with four Si
atoms surrounding the p atom and the remaining one electron (called the fifth
electron) will remain loosely bound to the nucleus of the p atom. With a small
amount of thermal energy, this electron can be easily elevated to conduction band
of the semiconductor. This type of impurity donates electron and is therefore
known as Donor impurity.
In other words by adding controlled amount of donor impurity it is possible to
increase the number of electrons so that the total number of electrons will be
much larger than the holes (created by thermal generation). This type of
semiconductor in which the electrons are the majority carriers and holes are the
minority carriers is called an n-type semiconductor.
On the other hand, if we add a Group-III atom (say Al, in pure silicon), the three
outermost electrons will form three complete covalent bonds with adjacent Si
atoms when the Al atom occupies one of the Si sites. The covalent bond with the
fourth Si atom would remain incomplete with a missing electron. This means that
addition of Group-III atoms in Si would result in the generation of holes which
would not be accompanied by creation of additional electrons. In this process, the
total number of holes in an Si sample can be increased by increasing the
concentration of Group-III atoms. The empty position in the incomplete bond is
occupied by electrons and the impurity atom becomes negatively charged ions. As
the Al dopant accepts electron, this type of impurity is called Acceptor impurity.
Therefore, by adding a controlled amount of acceptor impurity in an intrinsic
semiconductor it is possible to make the total number of holes exceed the number
of electrons. This type of semiconductor is called p-type semiconductor in
which holes are the majority carriers. The position of donor and acceptor
levels and the formation of electrons and holes are shown in Fig. 3.1.

Fig.3.1.The position of donor and acceptor levels and the formation of electrons and
holes
3.3 Direct and Indirect Bandgaps
In order for electron transitions to take place to or from the conduction band with
the absorption or emission of a photon, respectively, both energy and momentum
must be conserved. Although a photon can have considerable energy, its
momentum hv/c is very small.

Fig. 3.2 (a) Electron recombination and the associated photon emission
for a direct-bandgap material; (b) electron recombination for indirect-
bandgap materials requires a phonon of energy Eph and momentum kph.
Semiconductors are classified as either direct-bandgap or indirect-bandgap
materials depending on the shape of the bandgap as a function of the momentum
k, as shown in Fig 3.2.
Let us consider recombination of an electron and a hole, accompanied by the
emission of a photon. The simplest and most probable recombination process will
be that where the electron and hole have the same momentum value (see Fig.
3.2a). This is a direct-bandgap material.
For indirect-bandgap materials, the conduction-band minimum and the valence-
band maximum energy levels occur at different values of momentum, as shown in
Fig 3.2b. Here, band-to-band recombination must involve a third particle to
conserve momentum because the photon momentum is very small. Phonons (i.e.,
crystal lattice vibrations) serve this purpose.

4. Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

For optical communication systems requiring bit rates less than approximately
100–200 Mb/s together with multimode fiber-coupled optical power in the tens of
microwatts, semiconductor light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are usually the best light
source choice. These LEDs require less complex drive circuitry than laser diodes
as no thermal or optical stabilization circuits are needed, and they can be
fabricated less expensively with higher yields.

LED Structures
An LED must have a high radiance output, a fast emission response time, and a
high quantum efficiency to be useful in fiber transmission applications. Its
radiance (or brightness) is a measure, in watts, of the optical power radiated into
a unit solid angle per unit area of the emitting surface .
High radiances are necessary to couple sufficiently high optical power levels into a
fiber. The emission response time is the time delay between the application of a
current pulse and the onset of optical emission , this time delay is the factor
limiting the bandwidth with which the source can be modulated directly by
varying the injected current. The quantum efficiency is related to the fraction of
injected electron–hole pairs that recombine radiatively.
To achieve carrier and optical confinement, LED configurations such as
homojunctions and single and double heterojunctions have been widely
investigated. The most effective of these structures is the configuration shown in
Fig. 3.5. This is referred to as a double-heterostructure (or heterojunction) device
because of the two different alloy layers on each side of the active region.
This configuration evolved from studies on laser diodes. By means of this
sandwich structure of differently composed alloy layers, both the carriers and the
optical field are confined in the central active layer.
The bandgap differences of adjacent layers confine the charge carriers (Fig 3.5b),
while the differences in the indices of refraction of adjoining layers confine the
optical field to the central active layer (Fig.3.5c). This dual confinement leads to
both high efficiency and high radiance. Other parameters influencing the device
performance include optical absorption in the active region (self-absorption),
carrier recombination at the heterostructure interfaces, doping concentration of
the active layer, injection carrier density, and active-layer thickness. We shall see
the effects of these parameters in the following sections.

Fig. 3.3 (a) Cross-sectional drawing (not to scale) of a typical GaAlAs

double-heterostructure light emitter. In this structure, x > y to provide
for both carrier confinement and optical guiding; (b) energy band
diagram showing the active region, and the electron and hole barriers
that confine the charge carriers to the active layer; (c) variations in the
refractive index; the lower index of refraction of the material in regions
1 and 5 creates an optical barrier around the waveguide region.
3.4.2 Surface Emitting LED
The two basic LED configurations being used for fiber optics are surface emitters
(also called Burrus or front emitters) and edge emitters .In the surface emitter,
the plane of the active light-emitting region is oriented perpendicularly to the axis
of the fiber, as shown in Fig. 3.4. In this configuration, a well is etched through
the substrate of the device, into which a fiber is then cemented in order to accept
the emitted light.

The circular active area in practical surface emitters is nominally 50 μm in

diameter and up to 2.5 μ m thick. The emission pattern is essentially isotropic
with a 120° half-power beam width.
This isotropic pattern from such a surface emitter is called a lambertian pattern.
In this pattern, the source is equally bright when viewed from any direction, but
the power diminishes as cosƟ, where Ɵ is the angle between the viewing
direction and the normal to the surface (this is because the projected area one
sees decreases as cosƟ). Thus, the power is down to 50 percent of its peak when
Ɵ = 60°, so that the total half-power beam width is 120°.

Fig. 3.4. Surface Emitting LED

3.4.3 Edge Emitting LED
The edge emitter depicted in Fig. 3.5 consists of an active junction region, which
is the source of the incoherent light, and two guiding layers. The guiding layers
both have a refractive index lower than that of the active region but higher than
the index of the surrounding material. This structure forms a waveguide channel
that directs the optical radiation toward the fiber core.
To match the typical fiber-core diameters (50–100 μm), the contact stripes for the
edge emitter are 50–70 μ m wide. Lengths of the active regions usually range
from 100 to 150 μm. The emission pattern of the edge emitter is more directional
than that of the surface emitter, as is illustrated in Fig. 3.5.
In the plane parallel to the junction, where there is no waveguide effect, the
emitted beam is lambertian (varying as cos Ɵ) with a half-power width of Ɵ| | =
120°. In the plane perpendicular to the junction, the half-power beam Ɵ┴ has
been made as small as 25–35° by a proper choice of the waveguide thickness.

Fig. 3.5 An Edge-emitting Double-Heterojunction LED

3.4.4 Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
An excess of electrons and holes in p- and n-type material, respectively (referred
to as minority carriers) is created in a semiconductor light source by carrier
injection at the device contacts.
The excess densities of electrons n and holes p are equal, since the injected
carriers are formed and recombine in pairs in accordance with the requirement for
charge neutrality in the crystal. When carrier injection stops, the carrier density
returns to the equilibrium value. In general, the excess carrier density decays
exponentially with time according to the relation

Where n0 is the initial injected excess electron density and the time constant t is
the carrier lifetime. This lifetime is one of the most important operating
parameters of an electro-optic device. Its value can range from milliseconds to
fractions of a nanosecond depending on material composition and device defects.
The excess carriers can recombine either radiatively or non-radiatively. In
radiative recombination a photon of energy hv, which is approximately equal to
the bandgap energy, is emitted. Non-radiative recombination effects include
optical absorption in the active region (self-absorption), carrier recombination at
the heterostructure interfaces, and the Auger process in which the energy
released during an electron–hole recombination is transferred to another carrier in
the form of kinetic energy.
When there is a constant current flow into an LED, an equilibrium condition is
established. That is, the excess density of electrons n and holes p is equal since
the injected carriers are created and recombined in pairs such that charge
neutrality is maintained within the device.
The total rate at which carriers are generated is the sum of the externally
supplied and the thermally generated rates.
The externally supplied rate is given by J/qd, where J is the current density in
A/cm2, q is the electron charge, and d is the thickness of the recombination
region. The thermal generation rate is given by n/𝑟.
Hence, the rate equation for carrier recombination in an LED can be written as

……(1)
The equilibrium condition is found by setting above equation equal to zero,
yielding
……(2)

This relationship gives the steady-state electron density in the active region when
a constant current is flowing through it.
The internal quantum efficiency in the active region is the fraction of the electron–
hole pairs that recombine radiatively. If the radiative recombination rate is Rr and
the nonradiative recombination rate is Rnr, then the internal quantum
efficiency ηint is the ratio of the radiative recombination rate to the total
recombination rate:
……(3)
For exponential decay of excess carriers, the radiative recombination lifetime is
𝑟 r= n/Rr and the nonradiative recombination lifetime is 𝑟 nr = n/Rnr. Thus the
internal quantum efficiency can be expressed as
……(4)

where the bulk recombination lifetime t is

……(5)

In general, 𝑟 r and 𝑟 nr are comparable for direct-bandgap semiconductors, such as

GaAlAs and InGaAsP. This also means that Rr and Rnr are similar in magnitude, so
that the internal quantum efficiency is about 50 percent for simple homo junction
LEDs. However, LEDs having double-hetero junction structures can have quantum
efficiencies of 60–80 percent. This high efficiency is achieved because the thin
active regions of these devices mitigate the self-absorption effects, which reduces
the non-radiative recombination rate.

If the current injected into the LED is I, then the total number of recombination
per second is
……(6)

Then yields Rr = ηint I/q. Noting that Rr is the total number of photons generated
per second and that each photon has an energy hv, then the optical power
generated internally to the LED is,

……(7)
 Fig. 3.6. Only light falling within a cone defined by the critical angle fc
will be emitted from an optical source
Not all internally generated photons will exit the device. To find the emitted
power, one needs to consider the external quantum efficiency ηext. This is defined
as the ratio of the photons emitted from the LED to the number of internally
generated photons. To find the external quantum efficiency, we need to take into
account reflection effects at the surface of the LED.
The external quantum efficiency can then be calculated from the expression

……(8)

where T(φ) is the Fresnel transmission coefficient or Fresnel transmissivity. This

factor depends on the incidence angle φ, but, for simplicity, we can use the
expression for normal incidence, which is

……(9)

Assuming the outside medium is air and letting n1 = n, we have T(0) = 4n/(n +
1)2. The external quantum efficiency is then approximately given by,

……(10)
From this, it follows that the optical power emitted from the LED is,

……(11)
3.5. Light Source Materials
The semiconductor material that is used for the active layer of an optical source
must have a direct bandgap. In a direct-bandgap semiconductor, electrons and
holes can recombine directly across the bandgap without needing a third particle
to conserve momentum. Only in direct-bandgap material is the radiative
recombination sufficiently high to produce an adequate level of optical emission.
Although none of the normal single-element semiconductors are direct-gap
materials, many binary compounds are. The most important of these compounds
are made from III-V materials. That is, the compounds consist of selections from
a group III element (e.g., Al, Ga, or In) and a group V element (e.g., P, As, or
Sb). Various ternary and quaternary combinations of binary compounds of these
elements are also direct-gap materials and are suitable candidates for optical
sources.
For operation in the 800-to-900-nm spectrum, the principal material used is the
ternary alloy Ga1–x Alx As. The ratio x of aluminum arsenide to gallium arsenide
determines the bandgap of the alloy and, correspondingly, the wavelength of the
peak emitted radiation.At longer wavelengths the quaternary alloy In1–
xGaxAsyP1–y is one of the primary material candidates. By varying the mole
fractions x and y in the active area, LEDs with peak output powers at any
wavelength between 1.0 and 1.7 mm can be constructed.
The alloys GaAlAs and InGaAsP are chosen to make semiconductor light sources
because it is possible to match the lattice parameters of the heterostructure
interfaces by using a proper combination of binary, ternary, and quaternary
materials. A very close match between the crystal lattice parameters of the two
adjoining heterojunctions is required to reduce interfacial defects and to minimize
strains in the device as the temperature varies. These factors directly affect the
radiative efficiency and lifetime of a light source. Using the fundamental quantum
mechanical relationship between energy E and frequency v,

The peak emission wavelength λ in micrometers can be expressed as a function

of the bandgap energy Eg in electron volts by the equation,

One can determine the bandgap of a semiconductor by measuring the energy

required to excite electrons from the valence band to the conduction band.
3.5.1. Modulation of LED
The response time or frequency response of an optical source dictates how fast
an electrical input drive signal can vary the light output level. The following three
factors largely determine the response time: the doping level in the active region,
the injected carrier lifetime ti in the recombination region, and the parasitic
capacitance of the LED. If the drive current is modulated at a frequency w, the
optical output power of the device will vary as

where P0 is the power emitted at zero modulation frequency. The parasitic

capacitance can cause a delay of the carrier injection into the active junction, and,
consequently, could delay the optical output. This delay is negligible if a small,
constant forward bias is applied to the diode.
The modulation bandwidth of an LED can be defined in either electrical or optical
terms. Normally, electrical terms are used because the bandwidth is actually
determined via the associated electrical circuitry. Thus the modulation bandwidth
is defined as the point where the electrical signal power, designated by p(w), has
dropped to half its constant value resulting from the modulated portion of the
optical signal. This is the electrical 3-dB point; that is, the frequency at which the
output electrical power is reduced by 3 dB with respect to the input electrical
power, as is illustrated in Fig.3.7.

Fig. 3.7 Frequency response of an optical source showing the electrical

and optical 3-dB-bandwidth points
An optical source exhibits a linear relationship between light power and current,
so currents rather than voltages (which are used in electrical systems) are
compared in optical systems. Thus, since p(w) = I 2(w)/R, the ratio of the output
electrical power at the frequency w to the power at zero modulation is
where I(w) is the electrical current in the detection circuitry. The electrical 3-dB
point occurs at that frequency point where the detected electrical power p(w) =
p(0)/2. This happens when

or I(w)/I(0) = 1/ 2 = 0.707
Sometimes, the modulation bandwidth of an LED is given in terms of the 3-dB
bandwidth of the modulated optical power P(w); that is, it is specified at the
frequency where P(w) = P0/2. In this case, the 3-dB bandwidth is determined
from the ratio of the optical power at frequency w to the unmodulated value of
the optical power. Since the detected current is directly proportional to the optical
power, this ratio is

The optical 3-dB point occurs at that frequency where the ratio of the currents is
equal to 1/2. As shown in Fig. 3.9, this gives an inflated value of the modulation
bandwidth, which corresponds to an electrical power attenuation of 6 dB.

3.6 Laser Diodes

Lasers come in many forms with dimensions ranging from the size of a grain of
salt to one that will occupy an entire room. The lasing medium can be a gas, a
liquid, an insulating crystal (solid state), or a semiconductor. For optical fiber
systems the laser sources used almost exclusively are semiconductor laser diodes.
They are similar to other lasers, such as the conventional solid-state and gas
lasers, in that the emitted radiation has spatial and temporal coherence; that is,
the output radiation is highly monochromatic and the light beam is very
directional.
Despite their differences, the basic principle of operation is the same for each
type of laser. Laser action is the result of three key processes: photon absorption,
spontaneous emission, and stimulated emission. These three processes are
represented by the simple two-energy-level diagrams in Fig.3.8.
where E1 is the ground-state energy and E2 is the excited-state energy. According
to Planck’s law, a transition between these two states involves the absorption or
emission of a photon of energy hn12 = E2 – E1. Normally, the system is in the
ground state. When a photon of energy hn12 impinges on the system, an electron
in state E1 can absorb the photon energy and be excited to state E2, as shown in
Fig. 3.8a. Since this is an unstable state, the electron will shortly return to the
ground state, thereby emitting a photon of energy hn12.
This occurs without any external stimulation and is called spontaneous emission.
These emissions are isotropic and of random phase, and thus appear as a
narrowband gaussian output.

Fig. 3.8 The three key transition processes involved in laser action. The
open circle represents the initial state of the electron and the heavy dot
represents the final state; incident photons are shown on the left of
each diagram and emitted photons are shown on the right.
The electron can also be induced to make a downward transition from the excited
level to the ground-state level by an external stimulation. As shown in Fig. 3.8c, if
a photon of energy hn12 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 hn12. This emitted photon is in phase with the
incident photon, and the resultant emission is known as stimulated emission.
In thermal equilibrium the density of excited electrons is very small. Most photons
incident on the system will therefore be absorbed, so that stimulated emission is
essentially negligible. Stimulated emission will exceed absorption only if the
population of the excited states is greater than that of the ground state. This
condition is known as population inversion.
Since this is not an equilibrium condition, population inversion is achieved by
various “pumping” techniques. In a semiconductor laser, population inversion is
accomplished by injecting electrons into the material at the device contacts or
through an optical absorption method by means of externally injected photons.
3.6.1.Laser Diode Modes and Threshold Conditions
For optical fiber communication systems requiring bandwidths greater than
approximately 200 MHz, the semiconductor injection laser diode is preferred over
the LED. Laser diodes typically have response times less than 1 ns, can have
spectral widths of 2 nm or less, and are capable of coupling from tens to
hundreds of milliwatts of useful luminescent power into optical fibers with small
cores and small mode-field diameters. Virtually all laser diodes in use are
multilayered heterojunction devices.
The double-heterojunction LED configuration evolved from the successful
demonstration of both carrier and optical confinement in heterojunction injection
laser diodes. The more rapid evolvement and utilization of LEDs as compared with
laser diodes lies in the inherently simpler construction, the smaller temperature
dependence of the emitted optical power, and the absence of catastrophic
degradation in LEDs.
The construction of laser diodes is more complicated, mainly because of the
additional requirement of current confinement in a small lasing cavity.
The radiation in one type of laser diode configuration is generated within a Fabry-
Perot resonator cavity, shown in Fig.3.9, as in most other types of lasers. Here the
cavity is approximately 250–500 mm long, 5–15 mm wide, and 0.1–0.2 μm thick.
These dimensions commonly are referred to as the longitudinal, lateral, and
transverse dimensions of the cavity, respectively.

Fig. 3.9 Fabry-Perot resonator cavity for a laser diode. The cleaved
crystal ends function as partially reflecting mirrors. The unused end (the
rear facet) can be coated with a dielectric reflector to reduce optical loss
in the cavity.
.

3.6.2.Laser Diode Rate Equations

The relationship between optical output power and the diode drive current can be
determined by examining the rate equations that govern the interaction of
photons and electrons in the active region.
As noted earlier, the total carrier population is determined by carrier injection,
spontaneous recombination, and stimulated emission. For a pn junction with a
carrier-confinement region of depth d, the rate equations are given by

……(1)

=stimulated emission + spontaneous emission + photon loss

which governs the number of photons F, and

……(2)

=injection + spontaneous recombination + stimulated emission

which governs the number of electrons n. Here, C is a coefficient describing the
strength of the optical absorption and emission interactions, Rsp is the rate of
spontaneous emission into the lasing mode (which is much smaller than the total
spontaneous-emission rate), 𝑟ph is the photon lifetime, 𝑟sp is the spontaneous-
recombination lifetime, and J is the injection-current density.
The above two Equations may be balanced by considering all the factors that
affect the number of carriers in the laser cavity. The first term is a source of
photons resulting from stimulated emission.
The second term, describing the number of photons produced by spontaneous
emission, is relatively small compared with the first term.
The third term in first equation indicates the decay in the number of photons
caused by loss mechanisms in the lasing cavity. In second equation, the first term
represents the increase in the electron concentration in the conduction band as
current flows into the device.
The second and third terms give the number of electrons lost from the conduction
band owing to spontaneous and stimulated transitions, respectively.
Solving these two equations for a steady-state condition will yield an expression
for the output power. The steady state is characterized by the left-hand sides of
1st eqn and 2nd eqn being equal to zero. First, from eqn 1, assuming Rsp is
negligible and noting that dF/dt must be positive when F is small, we have

……(3)

This shows that n must exceed a threshold value nth in order for F to increase.
Using second Eq. , this threshold value can be expressed in terms of the threshold
current Jth needed to maintain an inversion level n = nth in the steady state when
the number of photons Ø = 0:

……(4)

This expression defines the current required to sustain an excess electron density
in the laser when spontaneous emission is the only decay mechanism.
Next, consider the photon and electron rate equations in the steady-state
condition at the lasing threshold. Respectively, 1st and 2nd eqns become,

……(5)

……(6)

where Fs is the steady-state photon density. Adding Eqs 4, 5 and 6th eqns, using
3rd eqn for the term nth/tsp, and solving for Fs yields the number of photons per
unit volume:

……(7)

The number of photons resulting from stimulated emission. The power from these
photons is generally concentrated in one or a few modes.
The second term gives the spontaneously generated photons. The power
resulting from these photons is not mode-selective, but is spread over all the
possible modes of the volume, which are on the order of 108 modes.
 3.6.3. External Quantum Efficiency
The external differential quantum efficiency Ոext is defined as the number of
photons emitted per radiative electron–hole pair recombination above threshold.
Under the assumption that above threshold the gain coefficient remains fixed at
gth, ηext is given by,

Here, η i is the internal quantum efficiency. This is not a well-defined quantity in

laser diodes, but most measurements show that hi 0.6–0.7 at room temperature.
Experimentally, Ոext is calculated from the straight-line portion of the curve for the
emitted optical power P versus drive current I, which gives

where Eg is the bandgap energy in electron volts, dP is the incremental change in

the emitted optical power in milliwatts for an incremental change dI in the drive
current (in milliamperes), and l is the emission wavelength in micrometers. For
standard semiconductor lasers, external differential quantum efficiencies of 15–20
percent per facet are typical. High-quality devices have differential quantum
efficiencies of 30–40 percent.
3.6.4. Resonant Frequencies
Toexamine the resonant frequencies of the laser, consider the equation
……(1)

This equation gives information concerning the resonant frequencies of the Fabry-
Perot cavity. The condition in the above equation holds when,
……(2)

Where m is an integer. Using β=2Ո/ for the propagation constant

……(3)

Where c=v. This states that the cavity resonates (i.e., a standing-wave pattern
exists within it) when an integer number m of half-wavelengths spans the region
between the mirrors.
Since in all lasers the gain is a function of frequency (or wavelength, since c =
v), there will be a range of frequencies (or wavelengths) for which above
equation holds. Each of these frequencies corresponds to a mode of oscillation of
the laser. The relationship between gain and frequency can be assumed to have
the gaussian form.
 ……(4)

where 0 is the wavelength at the center of the spectrum, s is the spectral width
of the gain, and the maximum gain g(0) is proportional to the population
inversion. Let us now look at the frequency, or wavelength, spacing between the
modes of a multimode laser. Here, we consider only the longitudinal modes. Note,
however, that for each longitudinal mode there may be several transverse modes
that arise from one or more reflections of the propagating wave at the sides of
the resonator cavity. To find the frequency spacing, consider two successive
modes of frequencies nm–1 and nm represented by the integers m – 1 and m. From
2nd eqn. ,we have ……(5)

and ……(6)

Subtracting these two equations yields

……(7)

from which we have the frequency spacing

……(8)

This can be related to the wavelength spacing Dl through the relationship

Δv/v= Δ/ yielding

……(9)

The output spectrum of a multimode laser follows the typical gain-versus-

frequency, where the exact number of modes, their heights, and their spacings
depend on the laser construction.
3.6.5.Laser Diode Structures and Radiation Patterns
A basic requirement for efficient operation of laser diodes is that, in addition to
transverse optical confinement and carrier confinement between heterojunction
layers, the current flow must be restricted laterally to a narrow stripe along the
length of the laser. Numerous novel methods of achieving this, with varying
degrees of success, have been proposed, but all strive for the same goals of
limiting the number of lateral modes so that lasing is confined to a single filament,
stabilizing the lateral gain, and ensuring a relatively low threshold current.
Figure 3.11 shows the three basic optical-confinement methods used for bounding
laser light in the lateral direction. In the first structure, a narrow electrode stripe
(less than 8 mm wide) runs along the length of the diode.
The injection of electrons and holes into the device alters the refractive index of
the active layer directly below the stripe. The profile of these injected carriers
creates a weak, complex waveguide that confines the light laterally. This type of
device is commonly referred to as a gain-guided laser.

Fig. 3.10 Typical spectrum from a Fabry-Perot GaAlAs/GaAs laser diode.

Fig. 3.11 (a)in the gain-induced guide, electrons injected via a metallic stripe
contact alter the index of refraction of the active layer; (b) the positive-index
waveguide has a higher refractive index in the central portion of the active
region; (c) the negative-index waveguide has a lower refractive index in the
central portion of the active region.
Although these lasers can emit optical powers exceeding 100 μW, they have
strong instabilities and can have highly astigmatic, two-peaked beams as shown in
Fig. 3.11a.
More stable structures use the configurations shown in Fig.3.11b and 3.11c. Here,
dielectric waveguide structures are fabricated in the lateral direction. The
variations in the real refractive index of the various materials in these structures
control the lateral modes in the laser.
Thus, these devices are called index-guided lasers. If a particular index-guided
laser supports only the fundamental transverse mode and the fundamental
longitudinal mode, it is known as a single-mode laser. Such a device emits a
single, well-collimated beam of light that has an intensity profile that is a bell-
shaped gaussian curve.
Index-guided lasers can have either positive-index or negative-index wave-
confining structures. In a positive-index waveguide, the central region has a
higher refractive index than the outer regions.
Thus all of the guided light is reflected at the dielectric boundary, just as it is at
the core-cladding interface in an optical fiber. By proper choice of the change in
refractive index and the width of the higher-index region, one can make a device
that supports only the fundamental lateral mode.
In a negative-index waveguide, the central region of the active layer has a lower
refractive index than the outer regions. At the dielectric boundaries, part of the
light is reflected and the rest is refracted into the surrounding material and is thus
lost.
This radiation loss appears in the far-field radiation pattern as narrow side lobes
to the main beam, as shown in Fig. 3.11c. Since the fundamental mode in this
device has less radiation loss than any other mode, it is the first to laser. The
positive-index laser is the more popular of these two structures.
Index-guided lasers can be made using any one of four fundamental structures.
These are the buried heterostructure, a selectively diffused construction, a
varying-thickness structure, and a bent-layer configuration. To make the buried
heterostructure (BH) laser shown in Fig. 3.12, one etches a narrow mesa stripe
(1–2 mm wide) in double-heterostructure material.
The mesa is then embedded in high-resistivity lattice-matched n-type material
with an appropriate bandgap and low refractive index.
This material GaAlAs in 800-to-900-nm lasers with a GaAs active layer, and is InP
for 1300-to-1600-nm lasers with an InGaAsP active layer. This configuration thus
strongly traps generated light in a lateral waveguide.
A number of variations of this fundamental structure have been used to fabricate
high-performing laser diodes.
The selectively diffused construction is shown in Fig. 3.13a. Here, a chemical dopant,
such as zinc for GaAlAs lasers and cadmium for InGaAsP lasers, is diffused into the active
layer immediately below the metallic contact stripe.

Fig. 3.12 (a) Short-wavelength (800–900 nm) GaAlAs and (b) long-wavelength
(1300–1600 nm) InGaAsP buried heterostructure laser diodes.

Fig. 3.13 Positive-index optical-wave-confining structure of the (a) selectively

diffused, (b) varying-thickness, and (c) bent-layer types.
The dopant changes the refractive index of the active layer to form a lateral waveguide
channel. In the varying-thickness structure shown in Fig.3.13b, a channel (or other
topological configuration, such as a mesa or terrace) is etched into the substrate. Layers
of crystal are then regrown into the channel using liquid-phase epitaxy. This process fills
in the depressions and partially dissolves the protrusions, thereby creating variations in
the thicknesses of the active and confining layers.

When an optical wave encounters a local increase in the thickness, the thicker area acts
as a positive-index waveguide of higher-index material. In the bent-layer structure, a
mesa is etched into the substrate as shown in Fig.3.15c. Semiconductor material layers
are grown onto this structure using vapor-phase epitaxy to exactly replicate the mesa
configuration.

The active layer has a constant thickness with lateral bends. As an optical wave travels
along the flat top of the mesa in the active area, the lower-index material outside of the
bends confines the light along this lateral channel.
3.7.Single-Mode Lasers
For high-speed long-distance communications one needs single-mode lasers,
which must contain only a single longitudinal mode and a single transverse mode.
Consequently, the spectral width of the optical emission is very narrow.
One way of restricting a laser to have only one longitudinal mode is to reduce the
length L of the lasing cavity to the point where the frequency separation Δv of the
adjacent modes is larger than the laser transition line width; that is, only a single
longitudinal mode falls within the gain bandwidth of the device.
For example, for a Fabry-Perot cavity, all longitudinal modes have nearly equal
losses and are spaced by about 1 nm in a 250-mm-long cavity at 1300 nm. By
reducing L from 250 μm to 25 μ m, the mode spacing increases from 1 nm to 10
nm. However, these lengths make the device hard to handle, and they are limited
to optical output powers of only a few milliwatts.

Fig.3.14 Basic architecture of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

(VCSEL).
Alternative devices were thus developed. Among these are vertical-cavity surface-
emitting lasers, structures that have a built-in frequency-selective grating, and
tunable lasers. Here, we look at the first two structures. The special feature of a
vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is that the light emission is
perpendicular to the semiconductor surface, as shown in Fig. 3.14.
This feature facilitates the integration of multiple lasers onto a single chip in one-
or two-dimensional arrays, which makes them attractive for wavelength-division-
multiplexing applications. The active-region volume of these devices is very small,
which leads to very low threshold currents (< 100 mA).
In addition, for an equivalent output power compared to edge-emitting lasers, the
modulation bandwidths are much greater, since the higher photon densities
reduce radiative lifetimes.
The mirror system used in VCSELs to form the resonant cavity is of critical
importance, since maximum reflectivity is needed for efficient operation. Figure
3.16 shows one mirror system that consists of a semiconductor material, such as
Si/SiO2, as one material and an oxide layer, such as Si/Al2O3, as the other
material.
Three types of laser configurations using a built-in frequency-selective reflector
are shown in Fig.3.15. In each case, the frequency-selective reflector is a
corrugated grating that is a passive waveguide layer adjacent to the active region.
The optical wave propagates parallel to this grating. The operation of these types
of lasers is based on the distributed Bragg phase-grating reflector. A phase grating
is essentially a region of periodically varying refractive index that causes two
counter propagating traveling waves to couple. The coupling is at a maximum for
wavelengths close to the Bragg wavelength B, which is related to the period L of
the corrugations by

where ne is the effective refractive index of the mode and k is the order of the
grating. First-order gratings (k = 1) provide the strongest coupling, but
sometimes second-order gratings are used because their larger corrugation period
makes fabrication easier. Lasers based on this architecture exhibit good single-
mode longitudinal operation with low sensitivity to drive-current and temperature
variations. In the distributed-feedback (DFB) laser, the grating for the wavelength
selector is formed over the entire active region.

where m = 0, 1, 2, ... is the mode order and Le is the effective grating length. The
amplitudes of successively higher-order lasing modes are greatly reduced from the zero-
order amplitude; for example, the first-order mode (m = 1) is usually more than 30 dB
down from the zero-order amplitude (m = 0).

Fig.3.15 Three types of laser structures using built-in frequency-

selective resonator gratings: (a) distributed-feedback
 Fig.3.15 Three types of laser structures using built-in frequency-
selective resonator gratings: (DFB) laser, (b) distributed-Bragg-reflector
(DBR) laser, and (c) distributed-reflector (DR) laser
For the distributed-Bragg-reflector (DBR) laser, the gratings are located at the
ends of the normal active layer of the laser to replace the cleaved end mirrors
used in the Fabry-Perot optical resonator (Fig. 3.15b). The distributed-reflector
laser consists of active and passive distributed reflectors (Fig. 3.15c). This
structure improves the lasing properties of conventional DFB and DBR lasers, and
has a high efficiency and high output capability.
Theoretically, in a DFB laser that has both ends antireflection-coated, the two zero-
order modes on either side of the Bragg wavelength should experience the same
lowest threshold gain and would laser simultaneously in an idealized symmetrical
structure.
3.7.1.External Modulation
When direct modulation is used in a laser transmitter, the process of turning the
laser on and off with an electrical drive current produces a widening of the laser
linewidth. This phenomenon is referred to as chirp and makes directly modulated
lasers undesirable for operation at data rates greater than about 2.5 Gb/s. For
these higher-rate applications it is preferable to use an external modulator, as
shown in Fig.3.16.
In such a configuration, the optical source emits a constant-amplitude light signal,
which enters the external modulator. In this case, instead of varying the
amplitude of the light coming out of the laser, the electrical driving signal
dynamically changes the optical power level that exits the external modulator.

Fig. 3.16 Operational concept of a generic external modulator.

Fig. 3.17 Operational concept of an electro-optical lithium-niobate

external modulator
This process thus produces a time-varying optical signal. The external modulator
either can be integrated physically in the same package with the light source or it
can be a separate device. The two main device types are the electro-optical phase
modulator and the electro-absorption modulator.
The electro-optical (EO) phase modulator (also called a Mach-Zehnder Modulator
or MZM) typically is made of lithium-niobate (LbNiO3).
In an EO modulator the light beam is split in half and then sent through two
separate paths, as shown in Fig.3.17. A high-speed electric signal then changes
the phase of the light signal in one of the paths. This is done in such a manner
that when the two halves of the signal meet again at the device output, they will
recombine either constructively or destructively.
The constructive recombination produces a bright signal and corresponds to a 1
pulse. On the other hand, destructive recombination results in the two signal
halves canceling each other so there is no light at the output of the beam
combiner. This corresponds to a 0 pulse. LbNiO3 modulators are separately
packaged devices and can be up to 12 cm (about 5 inches) long.

Fig. 3.18 Temperature-dependent behavior of the optical output power

as a function of the bias current for a particular laser diode with T0 =
135ºC and Iz = 52 mA.
The electro-absorption modulator (EAM) typically is constructed from indium
phosphide (InP). It operates by having an electric signal change the transmission
properties of the material in the light path to make it either transparent during a 1
pulse or opaque during a 0 pulse.
Since InP is used as the material for an EAM, it can be integrated onto the same
substrate as a DFB laser diode chip.

The complete laser plus modulator module then can be put in a standard butterfly
package, thereby reducing drive voltage, power, and space requirements
compared to having separate laser and LbNiO3 modulator packages.
3.7.2. Temperature Effects
An important factor to consider in the application of laser diodes is the
temperature dependence of the threshold current Ith(T). This parameter increases
with temperature in all types of semiconductor lasers because of various
temperature-dependent factors.
The complexity of these factors prevents the formulation of a single equation
that holds for all devices and temperature ranges. However, the temperature
variation of Ith can be approximated by the empirical expression

where T0 is a measure of the threshold temperature coefficient and Iz is a

constant. For a conventional stripe-geometry GaAlAs laser diode, T0 is typically
120–165°C in the vicinity of room temperature.
An example of a laser diode with T0 = 135°C and Iz = 52 mA. The variation in Ith
with temperature is 0.8 percent/°C, as is shown in Fig. 3.19. Smaller dependences
of Ith on temperature have been demonstrated for GaAlAs quantum-well
heterostructure lasers.

Fig. 3.19. Variation with temperature of the threshold current Ith for two
types of laser diodes.
For these lasers, T0 can be as high as 437°C. The temperature dependence of Ith
for this device is also shown in Fig. 3.19. The threshold variation for this particular
laser type is 0.23 percent/°C.
3.8. Power Launching and Coupling

In implementing an optical fiber link, two of the major system questions are how
to launch optical power into a particular fiber from some type of luminescent
source and how to couple optical power from one fiber into another.
Launching optical power from a source into a fiber entails considerations such as
the numerical aperture, core size, refractive-index profile, and core-cladding index
difference of the fiber, plus the size, radiance, and angular power distribution of
the optical source.
A measure of the amount of optical power emitted from a source that can be
coupled into a fiber is usually given by the coupling efficiency η defined as

Where, PF is the power coupled into the fiber and PS is the power emitted
from the light source.
The launching or coupling efficiency depends on the type of fiber that is attached
to the source and on the coupling process; for example, whether or not lenses or
other coupling improvement schemes are used.
In practice, many source suppliers offer devices with a short length of optical fiber
(1 m or less) already attached in an optimum power-coupling configuration. This
section of fiber is generally referred to as a flylead or a pigtail

3.8.1 Source-to-Fiber Power Launching

Radiance is the optical power radiated into a unit solid angle per unit emitting
surface area and is generally specified in terms of watts per square centimeter
per steradian.
Since the optical power that can be coupled into a fiber depends on the radiance
(i.e., on the spatial distribution of the optical power), the radiance of an optical
source rather than the total output power is the important parameter when
considering source-to-fiber coupling efficiencies.

a. Source Output Pattern

Surface-emitting LEDs are characterized by their lambertian output pattern, which
means the source is equally bright when viewed from any direction. The power
delivered at an angle θ, measured relative to a normal to the emitting surface, varies
as cosθ because the projected area of the emitting surface varies as cosθ with
viewing direction.
The emission pattern for a lambertian source thus follows the relationship
B(θ, f) = B0 cosθ
where B0 is the radiance along the normal to the radiating surface.

The radiance pattern for this source is shown in Figure 3.20

Fig 3.20 Radiation pattern for a lambertian source and the lateral
output of a highly directional laser diode. Both sources have B0
normalized to unity.
Edge-emitting LEDs and laser diodes have a more complex emission pattern.
These devices have different radiances B(θ, 0°) and B(θ, 90°) in the planes
parallel and normal, respectively, to the emitting-junction plane of the device.
These radiances can be approximated by the general form

The integers T and L are the transverse and lateral power distribution coefficients,
respectively. In general, for edge emitters, L = 1 (which is a lambertian
distribution with a 120° half-power beam width) and T is significantly larger. For
laser diodes, L can take on values over 100.
b. Power-Coupling Calculation
To calculate the maximum optical power coupled into a fiber, consider first the case
shown in Fig3.21 for a symmetric source of brightness B(As, Ωs ), where As and Ωs
are the area and solid emission angle of the source, respectively. Here, the fiber end
face is centered over the emitting surface of the source and is positioned as close to
it as possible. The coupled power can be found using the relationship
 Fig:3.21 Schematic diagram of a light source coupled to an optical
fiber. Light outside of the acceptance angle is lost.
where the area Af and solid acceptance angle Ωf of the fiber define the limits of
the integrals. In this expression, first the radiance B(θ, f) from an individual
radiating point source on the emitting surface is integrated over the solid
acceptance angle of the fiber.
If the source radius rs is less than the fiber-core radius a, then the upper
integration limit rm = rs; for source areas larger than the fiber-core area, rm= a.
As an example, assume a surface-emitting LED of radius rs less than the fiber-core
radius
a. Since this is a lambertian emitter

For step-index fibers the numerical aperture is independent of the positions θs and
r on the fiber end face, the above equation becomes (for rs < a)

If the refractive index n of this medium is different from n1, then, for perpendicular
fiber end faces, the power coupled into the fiber reduces by the factor by the
reflectivity
c. Power Launching versus Wavelength
optical power launched into a fiber does not depend on the wavelength of the
source but only on its brightness two identically sized sources operating at
different wavelengths but having identical radiances will launch equal amounts of
optical power into the same fiber.
d. Equilibrium Numerical Aperture
To achieve a low coupling loss, the flylead should be connected to a system fiber
that has a nominally identical NA and core diameter. A certain amount of optical
power (ranging from 0.1 to 1 dB) is lost at this junction
At the input end of the fiber, the light acceptance is described in terms of the
launch numerical aperture NAin
when the optical power is measured in long multimode fibers after the launched
modes have come to equilibrium (which is often taken to occur at 50 m), the
effect of the equilibrium numerical aperture NAeq becomes apparent.
At this point, the optical power in the fiber scales as

where P50 is the power expected in the fiber at the 50-m point based on the
launch NA

Fig 3.22 the change in NA as a function of multimode fiber length

3.9 Lensing Schemes for Coupling Improvement
If the source-emitting area is larger than the fiber-core area, then the resulting
optical power coupled into the fiber is the maximum that can be achieved
But if the emitting area of the source is smaller than the core area, a miniature
lens may be placed between the source and the fiber to improve the power-
coupling efficiency.
The function of the microlens is to magnify the emitting area of the source to
match the core area of the fiber end face exactly.
If the emitting area is increased by a magnification factor M, the solid angle within
which optical power is coupled to the fiber from the source is increased by the
same factor
Several possible lensing schemes are shown in Figure 3.23

Fig 3.23 Examples of possible lensing schemes

These include a rounded-end fiber, a small glass sphere (nonimaging
microsphere) in contact with both the fiber and the source, a larger spherical lens
used to image the source on the core area of the fiber end, a cylindrical lens
generally formed from a short section of fiber, a system consisting of a spherical-
surfaced LED and a spherical ended fiber, and a taper-ended fiber
 Although these techniques can improve the source-to-fiber coupling effi ciency,
they also create additional complexities. One problem is that the lens size is
similar to the dimensions, which introduces fabricationand handling difficulties.
In the case of the taper-ended fiber, the mechanical alignment must be carried
out with greater precision since the coupling efficiency becomes a more sharply
peaked function of the spatial alignment.
However, alignment tolerances are increased for other types of lensing system.

Fig.3.24 Nonimaging Microsphere

a. Nonimaging Microsphere
One of the most efficient lensing methods is the use of a nonimaging
microsphere. Its use for a surface emitter is shown in Fig. 3.24. We first
make the following practical assumptions: the spherical lens has a
refractive index of about 2.0, the outside medium is air (n = 1.0), and
the emitting area is circular. To collimate the output from the LED, the
emitting surface should be located at the focal point of the lens.
The focal point can be found from the Gaussian lens formula13

where s and q are the object and image distances, respectively, as measured from
the lens surface, n is the refractive index of the lens, n¢ is the refractive index of
the outside medium, and r is the radius of curvature of the lens surface
The following sign conventions are used with above Eq.
1. Light travels from left to right.
2.Object distances are measured as positive to the left of a vertex and negative to
the right..
3.Image distances are measured as positive to the right of a vertex and negative to
the left.
4.Allconvex surfaces encountered by the light have a positive radius of curva ture,
and concave surfaces have a negative radius.
Placing the LED close to the lens surface thus results in a magnification M of the
emitting area. This is given by the ratio of the cross-sectional area of the lens to
that of the emitting area

one can show that, with the lens, the optical power PL that can be coupled into a
full aperture angle 2q is given by

where Ps is the total output power from the LED without the lens.
The theoretical coupling efficiency that can be achieved is based on energy and
radiance conservation principles This efficiency is usually determined by the size
of the fiber.
For a fiber of radius a and numerical aperture NA, the maximum coupling

efficiency ᵑmax for a lambertian source is given by

Thus when the radius of the emitting area is larger than the fiber radius, no
improvement in coupling efficiency is possible with a lens. In this case, the best
coupling efficiency is achieved by a direct-butt method.
b. Laser Diode-to-Fiber Coupling
Edge-emitting laser diodes have an emission pattern that nominally has a full
width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 30–50° in the plane perpendicular to the active-
area junction and an FWHM of 5–10° in the plane parallel to the junction.
Since the angular output distribution of the laser is greater than the fiber
acceptance angle, and since the laser emitting area is much smaller than the fiber
core, spherical or cylindrical lenses or optical fiber tapers15–19 also can be used
to improve the coupling efficiency between edge-emitting laser diodes and optical
fibers. This also works well for vertical-cavity
surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). Here, coupling efficiencies to multimode fibers
of 35 percent result

Fig.3.25 Coupling efficiency Vs Modes

3.10 Fiber-to-Fiber Joints

A technique selected for joining the fibers depends on whether a permanent bond
or an easily demountable connection is desired. A permanent bond is generally
referred to as a splice, whereas a demountable joint is known as a connector.
The loss at a particular junction or through a component is called the insertion
loss.
 In general, any two fibers that are to be joined will have varying degrees of
differences in their radii a, axial numerical apertures NA(0), and index profiles α.
Thus the fraction of energy coupled from one fiber to another is proportional to
the number of modes common to both fibers Mcomm

The fiber-to-fiber coupling efficiency ηF is given by

where ME is the number of modes in the emitting fiber

The fiber-to-fiber coupling loss LF is given in terms of ηF as

consider a case where all modes in a fiber are equally excited, as shown in
Fig.3.26.a. The emerging optical beam thus fills the entire exit numerical aperture
of this emitting fiber. Suppose now that a second identical fiber, called the
receiving fiber, is to be joined to the emitting fiber
For the receiving fiber to accept all the optical power emitted by the first fiber,
there must be perfect mechanical alignment between the two optical waveguides,
and their geometric and waveguide characteristics must match precisely
An another case where steady-state modal equilibrium has been established in
the emitting fiber, most of the energy is concentrated in the lower-order fiber
modes. This means that the optical power is concentrated near the center of the
fiber core, as shown in Figure 3.26.b.

Fig.3.26 Different modal

distributions of the
optical beam
Emerging
from a fiber result In
different degrees
of coupling loss.
 The prediction of joint loss, will allow an estimate of the relative effects of losses
resulting from mechanical misalignments, geometrical mismatches, and variations
in the waveguide properties between two joined fibers.

a. Mechanical Misalignment
Radiation losses result from mechanical misalignments because the radiation cone
of the emitting fiber does not match the acceptance cone of the receiving fiber.
The three fundamental types of misalign ment between fibers are shown in Fig
3.27

Fig 3.27.Three types of mechanical misalignments that can occur between

two joined fibers
Axial displacement (which is also often called lateral displacement) results
when the axes of the two fibers are separated by a distance d.
Longitudinal separation occurs when the fibers have the same axis but have a
gap s between their end faces.
Angular misalignment results when the two axes form an angle so that the
fiber end faces are no longer parallel
The most common misalignment occurring in practice, which also causes the
greatest power loss, is axial displacement. This axial offset reduces the overlap
area of the two fiber-core end faces, as illustrated in Fig. 3.28.

Fig.3.28. Axial offset reduces shaded common core area of the two fiber
end faces
 consider the simple case of two identical step-index fibers of radii a. Suppose that
their axes are offset by a separation d as is shown in Fig. 3.28, and assume there
is a uniform modal power distribution in the emitting fiber. Since the numerical
aperture is constant across the end faces of the two fibers, the optical power
coupled from one fiber to another is simply proportional to the common area
Acomm of the two fiber cores. It is straightforward to show that this is

For the step-index fiber, the coupling efficiency is simply the ratio of the common-
core area to the core end-face area

the total power coupled into the receiving fiber at a given point in the common-
core area is limited by the numerical aperture of the transmitting or receiving
fiber, depending on which is smaller at that point.
b. Fiber End-Face Preparation
One of the first steps that must be followed before fibers are connected or spliced
to each other is to prepare the fiber end faces properly.
In order not to have light deflected or scattered at the joint, the fiber ends must
be flat, perpendicular to the fiber axis, and smooth
End-preparation techniques include sawing, grinding and polishing, controlled
fracture, and laser cleaving
Conventional grinding and polishing techniques can produce a very smooth
surface that is perpendicular to the fiber axis
The procedure employed in the grinding and polishing technique is to use
successively finer abrasives to polish the fiber end face. The end face is polished
with each successive abrasive until the scratches created by the previous abrasive
material are replaced by the finer scratches of the present abrasive.
Controlled-fracture techniques are based on score-and-break methods for cleaving
fibers. In this operation, the fiber to be cleaved is first scratched to create a stress
concentration at the surface. The fiber is then bent over a curved form while
tension is simultaneously applied, as shown in Fig
This action produces a stress distribution across the fiber. The maximum stress
occurs at the scratch point so that a crack starts to propagate through the fiber
 Fig:3.29. Controlled-fracture procedure for fiber end preparation
One can produce a highly smooth and perpendicular end face in this way.
If the stress distribution across the crack is not properly controlled, the fracture
propagating across the fiber can fork into several cracks. This forking produces
defects such as a lip or a hackled portion on the fiber end, as shown in Fig

3.10.1 LED Coupling to Single-Mode Fibers

edge-emitting LEDs can launch sufficient optical power into a single-mode fiber
for transmission at data rates up to 560 Mb/s over several kilometers
edge-emitting LEDs have gaussian near-field output profiles with l/e2 full widths
of approximately 0.9 and 22 mm in the directions perpendicular and parallel to
the junction plane, respectively. The far-field patterns vary approximately as cos O
in the perpendicular direction and as cos O (lambertian) in the parallel direction.
we can find the maximum LED-to-fiber coupling efficiency h from the relation

Where Pin is the optical power launched into the fiber and Ps is the total source
output power
 3.11 Fiber Splicing
A fiber splice is a permanent or semi permanent joint between two fibers. These
are typically used to create long optical links or in situations where frequent
connection and disconnection are not needed.
Splicing Techniques
the fusion splice,
the V-groove mechanical spice, and
the elastic-tube splice

Fusion splice: Fusion splices are made by thermally bonding together prepared
fiber ends, as pictured in Fig3.30. In this method, the fiber ends are first
prealigned and butted together. This is done either in a grooved fiber holder or
under a micro scope with micromanipulators. The butt joint is then heated with
an electric arc or a laser pulse so that the fiber ends are momentarily melted and
hence bonded together

Fig:3.30. Fusion splicing of optical fibers

V-groove optical fiber splicing

The prepared fiber ends are first butted together in a V-shaped groove, as shown
in Fig3.31. They are then bonded together with an adhesive or are held in place by
means of a cover plate. The V-shaped channel can be either a grooved silicon,
plastic, ceramic, or metal substrate. The splice loss in this method depends
strongly on the fiber size

Fig.3.31.V-groove
optical fiber
splicing
 The elastic-tube splice shown cross-sectionally in Fig.3.32 is a unique device that
automatically performs lateral, longitudinal, and angular alignment. It splices
multimode fibers to give losses in the same range as commercial fusion splices,
but much less equipment and skill are needed. The splice mechanism is basically
a tube made of an elastic material. The central hole diameter is slightly smaller
than that of the fiber to be spliced and is tapered on each end for easy fiber
insertion. When a fiber is inserted, it expands the hole diameter so that the elastic
material exerts a symmetrical force on the fiber.

Fig:3.32 Alignment concept for an elastic-tube splice

3.12 Optical Fiber Connectors

Some of the principal requirements of a good connector design are as follows:
1.Low coupling losses. The connector assembly must maintain stringent
alignment tolerances to assure low mating losses. These low losses must not change
significantly during operation or after numerous connects and disconnects.
2.Interchangeability. Connectors of the same type must be compatible from one
manufacturer to another.
3.Ease of assembly. A service technician should be able to install the connector
easily in a field environment; that is, in a location other than the connector factory.
The connector loss should also be fairly insensitive to the assembly skill of the
technician.
4.Low environmental sensitivity. Conditions such as temperature, dust, and
moisture should have a small effect on connector-loss variations.
5.Low cost and reliable construction. The connector must have a precision
suitable to the application, but its cost must not be a major factor in the fiber
system.
6. Ease of connection. Generally, one should be able to mate and demate the
connector, simply
a. Connector Types
Connectors are available in designs that screw on, twist on, or snap into place.
The basic coupling mechanisms used in these connectors belong to either the
butt-joint or the expanded-beam classes
The majority of connectors use a butt-joint coupling mechanism, as illustrated in
Fig. The elements shown in this figure are common to most connectors. The key
components are a long, thin stainless steel, glass, ceramic, or plastic cylinder
known as a ferrule and a precision sleeve into which the ferrule fits. This sleeve is
known variably as an alignment sleeve, an adapter, or a coupling receptacle

Fig.3.33. Butt-joint
coupling
mechanism

Normally a connector also has some type of strain-relief mechanism called a boot,
which shields the junction of the connector body and the cable from bends and
pulls.
Figure illustrates another coupling mechanism based on using an expanded-beam
connector. This design employs lenses that either collimate the light emerging
from the transmitting fiber or focus the expanded beam onto the core of the
receiving fiber. The fiber-to-lens distance is equal to the focal length of the lens.
The advantage of this scheme is that, since the beam is collimated, separation of
the fiber ends may take place within the connector. Thus the connector is less
dependent on lateral alignments

Fig: 3.34.expanded-beam fiber optic connector

Fig.3.35. Six popular fiber optic connectors with their features
and applications
 3.13 Introduction to optical amplifiers
An optical amplifier is a device that amplifies an optical signal directly, without the need to
first convert it to an electrical signal. An optical amplifier may be thought of as a laser
without an optical cavity, or one in which feedback from the cavity is suppressed. Stimulated
emission in the amplifier's gain medium causes amplification of incoming light. Optical
amplifiers are important in optical communication and laser physics.
Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers:
Erbium-doped fiber amplifiers are the by far most important fiber amplifiers in the context of
long-range optical fiber communications; they can efficiently amplify light in the 1.5-μm
wavelength region, where telecom fibers have their loss minimum. Setup and Operation
Principle A typical setup of a simple erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) is shown in Fig3.36

Fig.3.36. Schematic setup of a simple erbium-doped fiber amplifier

Two laser diodes (LDs) provide the pump power for the erbium-doped fiber. The
pump light is injected via dichroic fiber couplers. Pig-tailed optical isolators reduce the
sensitivity of the device to back-reflections.
Its core is the erbium-doped optical fiber, which is typically a single-mode fiber.
In the shown case, the active fiber is “pumped” with light from two laser diodes (bidirectional
pumping), although unidirectional pumping in the forward or backward direction (co-
directional and counter-directional pumping) is also very common. The pump light, which
most often has a wavelength around 980 nm and sometimes around 1450 nm, excites the
erbium ions (Er3+) into the 4 I13/2 state (in the case of 980-nm pumping via 4 I11/2), from
where they can amplify light in the 1.5-μm wavelength region via stimulated emission back to
the ground-state manifold 4 I15/2. (See also Figure 1 in the article on erbium-doped gain
media.)
The setup shown also contains two “pig-tailed”(fiber-coupled) optical isolators.
The isolator at the input prevents light originating from amplified spontaneous emission from
disturbing any previous stages, whereas that at the output suppresses lasing (or possibly
even destruction) if output light is reflected back to the amplifier. Without isolators, fiber
amplifiers can be sensitive to back-reflections.
Apart from optical isolators, various other components can be contained in a
commercial fiber amplifier. For example, there can be fiber couplers and photo detectors for
monitoring optical power levels, pump laser diodes with control electronics and gain flattening
filters. For particularly compact packages, various passive optical components can be
combined into a photonic integrated circuit (planar light wave circuit).
Very high signal gains, as used, e.g., for the amplification of ultra short pulses to
high energies, are usually realized with amplifier chains, consisting of several amplifier stages
with additional optical elements (e.g. isolators, filters, or modulators) in between.
Gain Spectrum:

The shape of the erbium gain spectrum depends both on the host glass and on
the excitation level, because the erbium ions have a quasi-three-level transition. Fig3.37
shows data for a common type of glass, which is some variant of silica with additional dopants
e.g. to avoid clustering of erbium ions.

Fig3.37 Gain and absorption (negative gain) of erbium (Er3+) ions in a

phosphate glass for excitation levels from 0 to 100% in steps of 20%.

Strong three-level behavior (with transparency reached only for > 50%
excitation) occurs at 1535 nm. In that spectral region, the unpumped fiber exhibits
substantial losses, but the high emission cross section allows for a high gain for strong
excitation. At longer wavelengths (e.g. 1580 nm), a lower excitation level is required for
obtaining gain, but the maximum gain is smaller.
The maximum gain typically occurs in the wavelength region around 1530–
1560 nm, with the 1530-nm peak being most pronounced for high excitation levels. The
local excitation level depends on the emission and absorption cross sections and on the
pump and signal intensity (apart from that of ASE light). The average excitation level over
the whole fiber length depends on the pump and signal powers, but also on the fiber
length and the erbium concentration. Such parameters are used to optimize EDFAs for a
particular wavelength region, such as the telecom C or L band.
A good flatness of the gain in a wide wavelength region (→gain
equalization), as required e.g. for wavelength division multiplexing (see below), can be
obtained by using optimized glass hosts (e.g. telluride or fluoride fibers, or some
combination of amplifier sections with different glasses) or by combination with
appropriate optical filters, such as long-period fiber Bragg gratings.
 UNIT III PROBLEMS WITH SOLUTION

1. Calculate the intrinsic carrier concentration of GaAs at 300K using the

following parameters. Eg=1.43eV, Nc=4.4  10²³ m³ and Nv =
4  10²³ m³.

2. The carrier recombination lifetime for an LED operating at 50mA DC

drive current is 1nS. Estimate the values of electrical and optical
bandwidth of the LED.

3. A Fabry perot laser diode with a 400m long cavity uses GaAs as the
material in the active region with uncoated facets. The cavity offers an
average loss of 1000 m¹ at the operating wavelength. Estimate the
value of the threshold gain assuming the refractive index of GaAs to be
3.6.
4. Consider an LED that has a circular emitting area of radius 35 mm and a
lambertian emission pattern with 150 W/(𝑐𝑚2. sr) axial radiance at a given
drive current.
a) Compare the optical powers coupled into two step-index fibers, one of which
has a core radius of 25 µm with NA = 0.20 and the other which has a core
radius of 50 µm with NA = 0.20.

For the larger core fiber, we use Equations

𝑷𝑺

From the above equations we get

For the case when the fiber end-face area is smaller than the emitting surface area,
we use Equation.

Thus the coupled power is less than the above case by the ratio of the radii squared:
5. A GaAs optical source with a refractive index of 3.6 is coupled to a silica fiber that
has a refractive index of 1.48. What is the power loss between the source and the
fiber?

If the fiber end and the source are in close physical contact, then the Fresnel
reflection at the interface is

This value of R corresponds to a reflection of 17.4 percent of the emitted optical

power back into the source.
Given that,

the power loss L in decibels is found from:

This number can be reduced by having an index matching material between the
source and the fiber end.
6. An InGaAsP optical source that has a refractive index of 3.540 is closely coupled
to a step-index fiber that has a core refractive index of 1.480. Assume that the
source size is smaller than the fiber core and that the small gap between the source
and the fiber is filled with a gel that has a refractive index of 1.520.
(a) What is the power loss in decibels from the source into the fiber?
(b) What is the power loss if no gel is used?

a) Here we need to consider the reflectivity at two interfaces. First, using equation

we have that the reflectivity 𝑅𝑠𝑔 at the source-to-gel interface is

Similarly, using 𝑅𝑠𝑔 equation, we have that the reflectivity 𝑅𝑔𝑓 at the gel-to-fiber
interface is

The total reflectivity then is

R = 𝑅𝑠𝑔 x 𝑅𝑔𝑓 = (0.159) x (0.040) = 0.0064
The power loss in decibels is
L = −10 log (1 − R) = −10 log (0.994) = 0.0028 dB
b) If no index-matching gel is used, and if we assume there is no gap between the
source and the fiber, then from 𝑅𝑠𝑔 equation, we have that the reflectivity is

In this case the power loss in decibels is

L = −10 log (1 − R) = −10 log (0.832) = 0.799 dB

7. An optical source with a circular output pattern is closely coupled to a step-index

fiber that has a numerical aperture of 0.22. If the source radius is 𝑟𝑠 = 50 µm and
the fiber core radius a = 25 µm, what is the maximum coupling efficiency from the
source into the fiber?

Since, the ratio 𝑟𝑠/a > 1, we can find the maximum coupling efficiency ℎ𝑚𝑎𝑥 from
the following expression

Thus the coupling efficiency is reduced to 25 percent compared to the case in which
the source and fiber radii are equal.
8. An engineer makes a joint between two identical step-index fibers. Each fiber has
a core diameter of 50 µm. If the two fibers have an axial (lateral) misalignment of 5
µm, what is the insertion loss at the joint?

Using the following equation, we find that the coupling efficiency is

we find that the fiber-to-fiber insertion loss 𝐿𝐹 is

𝐿𝐹 = -10 log 𝜂𝐹= -10 log 0.873 = -0.590 dB

9. Suppose two identical graded-index fibers are misaligned with an axial offset of d
= 0.3a. What is the power coupling loss between these two fibers?

From the following equation,

𝑃𝑇

the fraction of optical power coupled from the first fiber into the second fiber is

Or,in decibels, 10 log 𝑃𝑇

𝑃
= − 1.27dB
10. Two identical step-index fibers each have a 25- µm core radius and an acceptance
angle of 14°. Assume the two fibers are perfectly aligned axially and angularly. What
is the insertion loss for a longitudinal separation of 0.025 mm?

We can find the insertion loss due to a gap between fibers by using the following
equation

For a 0.025-mm = 25- µm gap,

11. Consider two joined step-index fibers that are perfectly aligned. What is
the coupling loss if the numerical apertures are 𝑁𝐴𝑅 = 0.20 for the receiving fiber
and
𝑁𝐴𝐸 = 0.22 for the emitting fiber?

From the below equation,

We have
12. Consider two joined graded-index fibers that are perfectly aligned. What is the coupling
loss if the refractive index profiles are 𝛼𝑅= 1.98 for the receiving fiber and 𝛼𝐸 = 2.20 for the
emitting fiber?

The coupling loss is expressed as

From the above equation, we have

 UNIT III PRACTICE PROBLEMS

1. Consider the following parameter values for GaAs at 300 K:

• Electron rest mass m = 9.11 × 10–31 kg

• Effective electron mass me = 0.068 m = 6.19 10–32 kg

• Effective hole mass mh = 0.56 m = 5.10 × 10–31 kg

• Bandgap energy Eg = 1.42 eV

What is the intrinsic carrier concentration?

2. A particular Ga1–xAlxAs laser is constructed with a material ratio x =

0.07. Find (a) the bandgap of this material; (b) the peak emission
wavelength?
3. A double-hetero-junction InGaAsP LED emitting at a peak wavelength of
1310 nm has radiative and nonradiative recombination times of 30 and
100 ns, respectively. The drive current is 40 mA. Find (a) the bulk
recombination time; (b) the internal quantum efficiency; and (c) the
internal power level?

4. Assume a typical value of n = 3.5 for the refractive index of an LED

material. What percent of the internally generated optical power is emitted
into an air medium?

5. A particular LED has a 5-ns injected carrier lifetime. When no

modulation current is applied to the device, the optical output power is
0.250 mW for a specified dc bias. Assuming parasitic capacitances are
negligible, what are the optical outputs at modulation frequencies of
(a) 10 MHz and (b) 100 MHz?

6. Assume that the cleaved mirror end faces of a GaAs laser are uncoated and
that the outside medium is air. What is the reflectivity for normal
incidence of a plane wave on the GaAs-air interface if the GaAs refractive
index is 3.6?

7. A GaAs laser operating at 850 nm has a 500-mm length and a refractive

index n = 3.7. (a) What are the frequency spacing and the wavelength
spacing? (b) If, at the half-power point, l - l0 = 2 nm, what is the spectral
width s of the gain?
Reference video links for students

UNIT 3
Operation of LED

https://youtu.be/kaKLmKhUrf4

Working Principle of LED

https://youtu.be/2_YS3DZQIbI

LED Strutures
https://youtu.be/WxiOQvq2P-k

LASER Diode Modes and Strcutures

https://youtu.be/5dFTg-uRjJk

Fiber optic coupler https://youtu.be/JCGHHmS-efw

Optical splice for SM mode https://youtu.be/H0GWTzEuKM4

10.Assignments

UNIT III
1.Write assignment on the topic by explaining how optical light is used to design a
computing chip based on brain function-case study (K2,CO3)

2.An Engineer has two GaAlAs LEDs: one has band-gap energy of 1.540 eV and the
other has x=0.015.Find the aluminum mole fraction x and the emission wavelength
for the first LED.Find the band-gap energy and the emission wavelength of the other
LED. (K2,CO3)

3.An Engineer has GaAlAs LED of band-gap energy 1.540 eV. Estimate the aluminum
mole fraction x and the emission wavelength for the LED. (K2,CO3)

4.A GaAs Laser operating at 850nm, has a 500um length and refractive index n=3.7.
What are the frequency and wavelength spacings. If at the half power point, λ-
λ0=2nm,Estimate the spectral width σ of the gain. (K2,CO3)

5.The radiative and non-radiative recombination life time of the minority carriers in
the active region of a double heterojunction LED are 60ns and 100ns respectively.
Determine the total carrier recombination lifetime and the power internally
generated within the device when the peak emission wavelength is 0.87µm at a
drive current of 40mA(K2,CO3)

6.An optical source is selected from a batch characterized as having lifetimes that
follow a slow internal degradation mode. The -3dB mean time to failure of these
devices at room temperature is specified as 5 x 104h.If the device emits 1mw at
room temperature, what is the expected optical output power after 1 month of
operation ,after 1 year, and after 5 years?(K2,CO3)

7.Consider a Lambertian LED source with a 50mm diameter emitting area.If this
source is connected to an optical fiber that has a 62.5 µm core diameter with NA =
0.18.Show that the coupling efficiency is 3.24%=-14.9dB.If a lens is used to improve
the coupling efficiency ,show that the maximum magnification is Mmax = 1.56.
 11. PART A Q&A
UNIT III TWO MARKS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What are the advantages of LED? (K1,CO3)

The advantages of LEDs are
❖ They have long life
❖ Fabrication is easier
❖ Used for short distance communication
❖ Less expensive
❖ LEDs are less complex circuits than Laser diodes
2. What do you mean by Laser diode? (K1,CO3)
A laser diode, or LD, is an electrically pumped semiconductor laser in which the
active medium is formed by a p-n junction of a semiconductor diode similar
to that found in a light-emitting diode.
3. What do you mean by direct band gap Materials? (K1,CO3)
In some materials a direct transition is possible from valance band to
conduction band. Such type of materials is called as direct band gap
materials. Ex. GaAs, InP, InGaAs.
4. Explain about hetero-junction? List the advantages of hetero- junction?
(K2,CO3)
A hetero-junction is an interface between two adjoining single crystal
semiconductors with different band-gap energies. Devices are fabricated with
hetero-junctions are said to have hetero-structure.

Advantages of Hetero-junction are

❖ Carrier and optical confinement
❖ High output power
❖ High coherence and stability.
5. What is the principle of operation of LASER? (K1,CO3)
The principle of operation of LASER is population inversion. The population of
the upper energy level is greater than lower energy level i.e. N2 is > N1.this
condition is known as population inversion.
6. Summarize the advantages of Quantum Well LASERs? (K2,CO3)

The advantages of Quantum Well LASERs are

❖ High threshold current density
❖ High modulation speed
❖ High line width of the device.

7. Why is silicon not used to fabricate LED or LASER diode? (K2,CO3)

Silicon is not used to fabricate LED or LASER diode because

❖ It is an indirect band-gap semiconductor
❖ Its energy level is 1.1eV, radiated emission corresponds to infrared
but not the visible light.
8. Explain the three modes of the cavity of LASER Diode? (K2,CO3)
The three modes of the cavity of LASER are
❖ Longitudinal modes, related to the length L of the cavity
❖ Lateral modes lie in the plane of the P-N junction. These modes
depend upon the side wall preparation and width of the cavity
❖ Transverse modes determine the radiation pattern of the LASER.
9. Define-External Quantum Efficiency? (K1,CO3)
The external quantum efficiency is defined as the number of photons emitted
per radiative electron-hole pair recombination above threshold.

10. Distinguish between LED and LASER Diode. (K2,CO3)

 11. Distinguish between direct and indirect band-gap materials?
(K2,CO3)

12. Compare surface and edge emitting LEDs? (K2,CO3)

13. Explain Internal Quantum Efficiency? (K2,CO3)

The internal quantum efficiency is the fraction of the electron-hole pairs that
recombine radiatively. If the radiative recombination rate is R and the nonradiative
recombination ratio is Rnr, then the internal quantum efficiency is the ratio of the
radiative recombination rate to the total recombination rate.

14. What are the methods of fiber splicing? (K2 ,CO3)

There are three methods of fiber splicing.

They are
Electric arc fusion splicing or fusion splicing
Mechanical splicing
V-groove splicing or loose tube splicing.

15. What are the requirements of splices? (K2,CO3)

The requirements of splices are

Should be easy to install
Should have minimum power loss
Should be strong and light in weight
Should cause low attenuation.
16. What are splices? (K2,CO3)

The splices are generally permanent fiber joints, whereas connectors are temporary
fiber joints. Splicing is a sort of soldering

17. What are connectors? (K2,CO3)

What are the types of connectors? The connectors are used to join the optical
sources as well as detectors to the optical fiber temporarily. They are also used to
join two optical fibers. The two major types of connectors are
Lensed type expanded beam connector
Ferrule type connector.

18. List the two major categories of fiber joints. (K2,CO3)

The two major categories of fiber joints are

Fiber splices
Fiber connectors

19. What is the need for fiber alignment? (K2,CO3)

Fiber optic sensors constitute the core of telecommunication markets as well as being
important part of automotive and industrial applications. With the recent renewed
growth and technology advances in fiber optics, there is an increasing need for
automating photonics alignment

20. List the Requirements of a good connector design. (K2,CO3)

✓ Low coupling losses
✓ Interchangeability
✓ Ease of assembly
✓ Low environmental sensitivity
✓ Low cost and reliable construction
✓ Ease of connection.
 21. Give the expression for coupling efficiency and coupling loss
for a fiber-to-fiber joint. (K2,CO3)

The fiber-to-fiber coupling efficiency ηF is given by

where ME is the number of modes in the emitting fiber

The fiber-to-fiber coupling loss LF is given in terms of ηF as

22. What is an optical amplifier? (K2,CO3)

An optical amplifier is a device that amplifies an optical signal directly, without the
need to first convert it to an electrical signal. An optical amplifier may be thought of
as a laser without an optical cavity, or one in which feedback from the cavity is
suppressed.

23. What are the different lensing schemes used? (K2,CO3)

The different lensing schemes used are:

1. Rounded end fiber

2. Imaging sphere

3. Non-Imaging Microsphere

4. Cylindrical lens

5. Spherical surfaced LED and Spherical ended fiber

6. Taper ended fiber

24. Give the peak emission wavelength of the light source material. (K1,CO3)

The peak emission wavelength λ in micrometers can be expressed as a function of

the bandgap energy Eg in electron volts by the equation,
25. Define modulation bandwidth of an LED . (K2,CO3)
The modulation bandwidth of an LED can be defined in either electrical or optical terms. The
electrical modulation bandwidth is the electrical 3-dB point; that is, the frequency at which
the output electrical power is reduced by 3 dB with respect to the input electrical power.

The modulation bandwidth of an LED is also given in terms of the 3-dB bandwidth of the modulated
optical power P(w); that is, it is specified at the frequency where P(w) = P0/2.

26. Define Effective Numerical Aperture. (K2,CO3)

At the input end of the fiber, the light acceptance is described in terms of the launch
numerical aperture Nain, when the optical power is measured in long multimode fibers after
the launched modes have come to equilibrium (which is often taken to occur at 50 m), the
effect of the equilibrium numerical aperture NAeq becomes apparent. The optical power is

27. What are the three fundamental types of misalignment between fibers?
(K1,CO3)
The three fundamental types of misalignment between fibers are:
Axial Displacement
Longitudinal separation
Angular misalignment

28. List the mechanisms involved in LASER. (K1,CO3)

The three mechanisms involved in LASER are :

Photo absorption
Spontaneous emission
Stimulated emission
29. Give the types of Single Mode LASER structure. (K1,CO3)

The types of Single Mode LASER structures are:

VCSEL
built-in frequency selective resonator grating such as
Distributed Feedack LASER (DFB)
Distributed Bragg Reflector (DBR)
Distributed Reflector (DR)
30. Give the importance of carrier and optical confinement in Light Source
structure. (K2,CO3)
Carrier confinement is used to achieve a high level of radiative recombination in the active
region of the device, which yields a high quantum efficiency. Optical confinement is of
importance for preventing absorption of the emitted radiation by the material surrounding
the PN junction.
12. PART B UNIT III

1. Draw the structures of SLED and explain its operation. (K2,CO3)

2. Draw the structures of ELED and explain its operation. (K2,CO3)

3. Explain the three key processes involved in the laser action and explain its principle.
(K2,CO3)

4. Discuss the structure of Fabry-Perot resonator cavity laser diode and three modes of
cavity. (K2,CO3)

5. Discuss the structure of DFB laser diode. (K2,CO3)

6. Discuss about direct and indirect bandgap materials. (K2,CO3)

7. Derive the expression for quantum efficiency of LED and its LED power(K2,CO3)

8. Discuss in detail modes and threshold conditions of LASER(K2,CO3)

9. Derive the internal quantum efficiency of an LED (K2,CO3)

10.Explain the working of an hetero structure LED(K2,CO3)

11.Derive the LASER diode rate equations. (K2,CO3)

12.Draw and explain the different LASER diode structures. (K2,CO3)

13.Draw and explain the different built in frequency structures of Single Mode LASER.
(K2,CO3)

14.Explain in detail the different lensing schemes. (K2,CO3)

15.Explain in detail the fiber-to-fiber joints. (K2,CO3)

16.Explain in detail the different splicing techniques. (K2,CO3)

17.Derive the Power coupled and coupling efficiency of an light source. (K2,CO3)
13.Supportive online Certification courses:

UNIT III

NPTEL/SWAYAM:

Fiber Optic Communication Technology Prof. Deepa Venkitesh, IITM

12 Weeks

COURSERA:

Active optical devices specialization

Light Emitting Diodes and Semiconductor Lasers

Free online certification course on LEARN FIBER OPTICS THE EASY

WAY

UDEMY:

Introduction to fiber optic cabling

ASLMS Online Learning Centre:

Introduction to Lasers (Non-CME)

EDX COURSE:

Optical Materials and Devices

 14. Real time Applications in day to day life and to
Industry

UNIT III:

1.High intensity Laser medical effect -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn7JXDGpEfI

2.LASER –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8LNjaWAv9o

3.LASIK surgery –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb8bnjnEM00

4.Applications of LED –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo4ZyAaBwHI

5.Applications of LASER -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdRxQjrL744

6.Semiconductor Photodiode –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9jMMALKKKs
 15. Content beyond syllabus

Multispectral Imaging, Detection, and Active Reflectance

(MiDAR)

NASA has developed a novel next-generation remote sensing instrument with

advanced scientific capabilities for Multispectral Imaging, Detection and Active
Reflectance (MiDAR). The MiDAR transmitter and receiver demonstrate a novel
and cost-effective solution for simultaneous high-frame-rate, high-signal-to-
noise ratio (SNR) multispectral imaging, with hyperspectral potential, high-
bandwidth simplex communication, and in-phase radiometric calibration. The
use of computational imaging further allows for multispectral data to be fused
using Structure from Motion (SfM) and Fluid Lensing algorithms to produce 3D
multispectral scenes and high-resolution underwater imagery of benthic
systems as part of future scientific airborne field campaigns. THE TECHNOLOGY
The MiDAR transmitter emits coded narrowband structured illumination to
generate high-frame-rate multispectral video, perform real-time radiometric
calibration, and provide a high-bandwidth simplex optical data-link under a
range of ambient irradiance conditions, including darkness. A theoretical
framework, based on unique color band signatures, is developed for
multispectral video reconstruction and optical communications algorithms used
on MiDAR transmitters and receivers. Experimental tests demonstrate a 7-
channel MiDAR prototype consisting of an active array of multispectral high-
intensity light-emitting diodes (MiDAR transmitter) coupled with a state-of-the-
art, high-frame-rate NIR computational imager, the NASA FluidCam NIR, which
functions as a MiDAR receiver. A 32-channel instrument is currently in
development.Preliminary results confirm efficient, radiometrically-calibrated,
high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) active multispectral imaging in 7 channels from
405-940 nm at 2048x2048 pixels and 30 Hz
15. Content beyond syllabus

These results demonstrate a cost-effective and

adaptive sensing
modality, with the ability to change color bands and relative intensities in
real-time, in response to changing science requirements or dynamic
scenes. Potential applications of MiDAR include high-resolution nocturnal
and diurnal multispectral imaging from air, space and underwater
environments as well as long- distance optical communication,
bidirectional reflectance distribution function characterization, mineral
identification, atmospheric correction, UV/fluorescent imaging, 3D
reconstruction using Structure from Motion (SfM), and underwater
imaging using Fluid Lensing. Multipurpose sensors, such as MiDAR, which
fuse active sensing and communications capabilities, may be particularly
well-suited for mass-limited robotic exploration of Earth and the solar
system and represent a possible new generation of instruments for active
optical remote
15. Content beyond syllabus

APPLICATIONS

• The technology has several potential applications:

• Multispectral Remote Sensing from aircraft, robotic explorers, spacecraft,

and underwater environments in both low-light and normal lighting
conditions

• Hyper spectral Imaging

• Simultaneous Optical Communications

• Fluid Lensing for cm-scale benthic imaging

• Mineral identification

• UV/fluorescent imaging from UAVs

• 3D imaging using Structure from Motion (SfM)

• Mass-limited robotic exploration of Earth and the solar system

• Noninvasive medical imaging and diagnosis

• Semiconductor imaging and engineering structure analysis

17.PRESCRIBED TEXT BOOKS AND REFERENCES

TEXT BOOKS:

1. Gred Keiser,"Optical Fiber Communication‖, McGraw Hill Education (India) Private

Limited. Fourth Edition, Reprint 2010.

2. John M.Senior, ―Optical fiber communication‖, Pearson Education, second

edition.2007.

REFERENCES:

1. John.M.Senior, “Optical Fiber Communications, Principles and Practice”, Prentice

Hall of India, Third Edition, 2008

2. Gower, ―Optical Communication System‖, Prentice Hall of India, 2001.

3. Ramaswami, Sivarajan and Sasaki Optical Networks: A Practical Perspective,

Morgan Kaufmann, Third Edition, 2009.

18. Mini Project Suggestions
Laser Based Transmitter And Receiver

Using this laser based transmitter & receiver circuit you can communicate with your
neighbours wirelessly. Instead of RF signals, light from a laser torch is used as the
carrier in a circuit. A laser torch can transmit light up to a distance of abo500
metresut. The phototransistor of the receiver must be accurately oriented towards
the laser beam from the torch. If there is any obstruction in the path of the laser
beam, no sound will be heard from the receiver.

Laser based transmitter circuit

The transmitter circuit (Fig. 1) comprises condenser microphone transistor amplifier

BC548 (T1) followed by an op-amp stage built around μA741 (IC1). The gain of the
op-amp can be controlled with the help of 1-mega-ohm potmeter VR1. The AF
output from IC1 is coupled to the base of transistor BD139 (T2), which, in turn,
modulates the laser beam.

Fig 1. Laser based Transmitter

18. Mini Project suggestions
Laser Based Transmitter And Receiver

The transmitter uses 9V power supply. However, the 3-volt laser torch (after removal
of its battery) can be directly connected to the circuit—with the body of the torch
connected to the emitter of BD139 and the spring-loaded lead protruding from inside
the torch to circuit ground.
The mic is the audio input. C1 is a coupling capacitor that connects the audio
from the mic to T1. T1 is a transistor that is used to amplify the audio a bit. C2
couples the audio to IC1 which amplifies it some more. The audio from the IC is
then routed to T2 which modulates the power to the LED. This puts the audio onto
the light beam. VR1 is a variable resistor which adjusts the gain of the IC. C3, C4
and R7 are power filters that remove noise from the power supply. The other
resistors Just supply the right voltage to the various parts

Laser based receiver circuit

T3 is a photo sensitive transistor which receives the laser from the LED transmitter.
The transistor puts out a signal that is proportional to the light from the LED. This
not only receives the signal it also demodulates it. C5 couples this audio to T4 and
T5 which amplify the signal. The signal is them coupled through C8 to VR2. VR2 is a
volume control for IC2. IC2 amplifies the signal more and drives the speaker, LS1.
To avoid 50Hz hum noise in the speaker, keep the photo-transistor away from AC
light sources such as bulbs. The reflected sunlight, however, does not cause any
problem. But the sensor should not directly face the sun.

Fig 2. Laser based Receiver

 18. Mini Project Suggestions
PC TO PC FIBER OPTIC COMMUNICATION

INTRODUCTION

DEFINITION

The project PC to PC fiber optic communication deals with data transfer from one
computer to another. It uses C programming and the serial ports of the PCs. The
ports are programmed in C. We use MAX 232 to convert RS 232 logic to TTL logic
and then an optical transmitter circuit to transmit data via fiber optic cable. The
optical transmitter circuit has a LED which is matched as far the cable and MAX 232
is concerned. At the receiver we have an optical receiver circuit which receives data
using a photo transistor and a MAX 232 again to convert TTL logic to RS 232 for the
serial port at the receiving end computer. The desired baud rate can be set using
the program. For transmitting data the program is executed once and whatever is
present at the serial port is sent to the other
Computer via the fiber optic cable. At the receiver the program is executed to
receive data on the serial port.

NEED
Data transfer is the need of the hour. Surely people can use internet for this. But
presently it would be time consuming. One can implement data transfer using
wireless medium. But then it will be a costly affair. The need, therefore, is felt for
fiber optic communication which is cheaper and more suitable for the task. It is
cheaper than wireless medium and is prone to lesser loss as compared to wireless
medium. Fiber optics has their own advantages; larger bandwidth, high speeds,
only to name a few. Therefore, we need to use optic fibers for the internet and
LANs.

SCOPE
In the very beginning we have tried to send ASCII characters between two
computers. But as we proceeded further we realized that this project can help
transfer files at desired speed between two PCs. If we expand the idea a bit further,
a network of PCs can be connected, like in the cable net available today. The
Conventional LAN cables can be replaced by fiber optic cables which can provide
much higher speeds and also larger information carrying capacity.
COMPONENTS REQUIRED:

Voltage Regulator 7805

Diode IN4007
MAX 232 Level Converter IC
DB9 Connectors

Capacitors 1uf
optical fiber cable
IR leds
Photo diode

BLOCK DIAGRAM
Description of Microcontroller:
89s52: The AT89S52 is a low-power, high-performance CMOS 8-bit
microcontroller with 8K bytes of in-system programmable Flash memory. The
device is manufactured using Atmel’s high-density nonvolatile memory technology
and is compatible with the industry-standard 80C51 instruction set and pinout.
The on-chip Flash allows the program memory to be reprogrammed in-system or
by a conventional nonvolatile memory programmer. By combining a versatile 8-bit
CPU with in-system programmable Flash on a monolithic chip, the Atmel's
AT89S52 is a powerful microcontroller which provides a highly-flexible and cost-
effective solution to many embedded control applications. The AT89S52 provides
the following standard features: 8K bytes of Flash, 256 bytes of RAM, 32 I/O
lines, Watchdog timer, two data pointers, three 16-bit timer/counters, a six-vector
two-level interrupt architecture, a full duplex serial port, on-chip oscillator, and
clock circuitry. In addition, the AT89S52 is designed with static logic for operation
down to zero frequency and supports two software selectable power saving
modes. The Idle Mode stops the CPU while allowing the RAM, timer/counters,
serial port, and interrupt system to continue functioning. The Power-down mode
saves the RAM con-tents but freezes the oscillator, disabling all other chip
functions until the next interrupt
The hardware is driven by a set of program instructions, or software. Once familiar
with hardware and software, the user can then apply the microcontroller to the
problems easily.

The following are some of the capabilities of 8051 microcontroller.

Internal ROM and RAM

I/O ports with programmable pins

Timers and counters

Serial data communication

The 8051 architecture consists of these specific features:

16 bit PC &data pointer (DPTR)

8 bit program status word (PSW)

8 bit stack pointer (SP)

Internal ROM 4k

Internal RAM of 128 bytes.

4 register banks, each containing 8 registers

80 bits of general purpose data memory

32 input/output pins arranged as four 8 bit ports:P0-P3

Two 16 bit timer/counters: T0-T1

Two external and three internal interrupt sources

Oscillator and clock circuits

18.Mini Project Suggestions
LASER/LED BASED VOICE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

INTRODUCTION-:
This project is about laser based communication system, which is one of
the form of optical communications system. It is used for inter and intra-building
communication, closed circuit TV’s, PC, LAN’ etc. It is suitable for the study of optical
communication (more specifically laser based communication). This project helps us
for the better understanding of optical communication which has become a primary
means of communication in the present world and gives us the view about free
optics. It enables communication unto several hundred meters and this technology
can be extended in future to enable longer distance communication by using
parabolic light reflector.

CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION-:

An optical communication system for such application can be built using the
following three basic components:

A light emmiting element, which could be a laser diode or light emmiting diode
(LED).

Transmission media such as optical fibre or free space.

A light receiving element which could employ Avalanche Photodiode, PIN-
Photodiode or any light sensor.

Since the communication’s performance of the system depends on the overall

characteristics of the above elements, the characteristics of the individual
elements should match.
BLOCK DIAGRAM
FEATURES:

The system has the following features:

Communication is possible up to several hundred meters. The communication
range can be extended up to several kilometers by using a parabolic audio.

It transmits high quality audio.

It ensures privacy.

Alignment of transmitter and receiver is easy.

Audio-visual indication of the interruption.

The person at receiver is alerted of an impending audio message.

Voice output from the microphone in transmitter is reproduced through a
loudspeaker in receiver section.

ADDITIONAL FACILITIES:

It also offers the following facilities:

When someone intercepts the beam, the communication link breaks and the
receiver circuit provides an audio-visual indication of the interruption by sounding
an alarm and incrementing the count of a seven segment display.

The person at the receiver end is alerted of an impending audio message through
a buzzer sound by depressing a call switch at transmitter end.

The voice output from the microphone in the transmitter is reproduced through a
loudspeaker in the receiver section after suitable amplification.
18.Mini Project Suggestions
Social Distancing with Automatic Door Control System
Using Light

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by the severe acute

respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2). COVID-19 has affected nearly 8.26
million people and has claimed the lives of 446, 135 people from all over the world.
This disease affects different people in different ways. Some people may develop mild
to moderate illness and recover without special treatment or hospitalization, while
some may develop severe illness and even die. The incubation period of this virus is,
on average, 5-6 days but it could also be up to 2 weeks. During this period, the
person may not experience any symptoms but could still be contagious. The person
will be a virus carrier and easily spread it when he/ she does not take any
precautionary measures.
Coronavirus has spread rapidly and many countries have been affected by this
pandemic. While some countries are recovering, other countries are still in lockdown
and some are suffering from the second wave of coronavirus.
In this project, an innovative way of practicing social distancing with an automatic
door control system is introduced. This is a prototype but it could also be used in real
life situations; it would be helpful in many public places and in reducing the spread of
coronavirus. It costed only around $10 (excluding the microcontroller board) to build
this prototype.
In this project, people are supposed to stand in the appropriate positions which are at
least 1 meter away from each other. This distance can be changed according to your
preferences but it has to be more than 1 meter.
If the person does not stand in the proper place, the person will be notified and he/
she can follow social distancing properly. LCD display module is used to display the
number of people standing in the queue and the occupied slots. If a slot is not
occupied, that slot number will not be displayed in the LCD. An alarm system could
also be added to this project to set off an alarm when the appropriate slot is not
occupied and the person could then occupy the slot after looking at the LCD.
18.Mini Project Suggestions
Laser Tripwire Alarm
No security system is complete without lasers. So in this project I am going to
show you how to build a laser tripwire alarm from a laser point, a couple of mirrors, and a
few dollars of electrical parts. With this you can cover an entire house with an array of light
beams. If any one of them is crossed it sets off your alarm. It can be a standalone alarm or
it can be integrated into a larger DIY security system.
Apparatus Required
Laser Pointer
Printed Circuit Board
555 Timer IC
IC Socket (optional)
3-12 Volt Buzzer
Switch
CdS Photoresistor
2 resistors
3 AA Batteries
3 AA Battery holders
Jumper Wires
Heat Shrink Tubing
The light sensor that detects the laser is a photo resistor(R3). This is wired in
series with standard fixed resistor (R2). These two resistors form a voltage divider that is
used to activate the IC. The value of R2 should be approximately the same as the
resistance of the photoresistor when you are shining the laser pointer directly at the light
sensitive face. Because the output characteristics of photoresistors varies considerably from
one to the next, you need to measure it with a multimeter. So connect the photoresistor to
the multimeter and shine the laser pointer directly at it. In my case, its resistance was
about 100 ohms. So I used a 100 ohm fixed resistor for R2.

When the light beam is interrupted, the resistance of the photoresistor

increases dramatically. As a result, the voltage at pin 6 also increases and goes above the
reference threshold. This causes the output pin 3 to go LOW and activates the alarm. To
turn off the alarm and reset the system, a (single pole double throw) switch disconnects
the speaker and sends the LOW signal from the output pin 3 to the trigger pin 2. The
system is now deactivated. To reactivate it, flip the switch back to the original position. The
alarm will remain off until the next time that the light beam is interrupted. The supply
voltage can be anything from 4.5V to 18V. I chose to use 4.5V (three AA batteries) because
this is the same voltage that is used by the laser pointer. This gives you the option of
powering the laser pointer with the same battery pack as the alarm circuit.The resistor R1
acts as a pull-up resistor for pin 2. It helps to prevent false triggering from static electricity.
This can be any value. In many cases it can be left off without causing any problems.

The alarm that I am using is a piezo buzzer. Any buzzer can work as long as it
is rated to operate at the appropriate voltage.
The simplest way to set up your alarm is as a single beam tripwire. In this
configuration the laser pointer is mounted to one side of the walk way and the alarm
circuit is mounted to the other. For the tripwire to work, the laser pointer needs to be
constantly on. The easiest way to accomplish this is by tightly wrapping a piece of tape
around the button.

To secure the two pieces in place, you can use tape or a temporary adhesive putty
such as Sticky Tack. First mount the alarm circuit in place. Then mount the laser
pointer to the opposite side. Carefully adjust the position of the laser pointer so that it
is pointed directly at the photoresistor.

Once you have the light from the laser pointer centered on the photoresistor, you are
ready to arm the alarm. Flip the switch to connect the buzzer and activate the alarm.
Whenever someone walks through the beam, the alarm will go off.
 Thank you

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