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Semiconductor Sources For Optical Communications

Semiconductor sources like LEDs and lasers are commonly used for optical communications. LEDs operate by emitting photons through radiative recombination in a PN junction. They have low power and wide linewidth but are robust and linearly modulated. Lasers have a cavity that stimulates emission, producing coherent, high power beams with narrow linewidth. Directly modulating the current modulates the optical output but limits bandwidth due to resonance frequency and turn-on delay. External modulation separates modulation from the laser for wider bandwidth communication.

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34 views54 pages

Semiconductor Sources For Optical Communications

Semiconductor sources like LEDs and lasers are commonly used for optical communications. LEDs operate by emitting photons through radiative recombination in a PN junction. They have low power and wide linewidth but are robust and linearly modulated. Lasers have a cavity that stimulates emission, producing coherent, high power beams with narrow linewidth. Directly modulating the current modulates the optical output but limits bandwidth due to resonance frequency and turn-on delay. External modulation separates modulation from the laser for wider bandwidth communication.

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Semiconductor

Sources for Optical


Communications

Considerations with Optical


Sources
Physical dimensions to suit the fiber
Narrow radiation pattern (beam width)
Linearity (output light power proportional to
driving current)

Considerations with Optical


Sources
Ability to be directly modulated by varying
driving current
Fast response time (wide band)
Adequate output power into the fiber

Considerations
Narrow spectral width (or line width)
Stability and efficiency
Driving circuit issues
Reliability and cost

Semiconductor Light Sources


A PN junction (that consists of direct band gap
semiconductor materials) acts as the active or
recombination region
When the PN junction is forward biased, electrons
and holes recombine either radiatively (emitting
photons) or non-radiatively (emitting heat). This is
simple LED operation.
In an LASER, the photon is further processed in a
resonance cavity to achieve a coherent, highly
directional optical beam with narrow linewidth

Light Emission
Basic LED operation: When an electron
jumps from a higher energy state (Ec) to a
lower energy state (Ev) the difference in
energy Ec- Ev is released either

as a photon of energy E = h (radiative


recombination)
as heat (non-radiative recombination)

Energy-Bands

In a pure Gp. IV material, equal number of holes and electrons


exist at different energy levels.

n-type material

Adding group V impurity will create an n- type material

p-type material

Adding group III impurity will create a p-type material

The Light Emitting Diode (LED)


For fiber-optics, the LED should have a
high radiance (light intensity), fast response
time and a high quantum efficiency
Double or single hetero-structure devices
Surface emitting (diffused radiation) Vs
Edge emitting (more directional) LEDs
Emitted wavelength depends on bandgap
energy

E g h hc /

Double-Heterostructure configuration

Surface-emitting LED

Edge-emitting LED

LED Spectral Width

Edge emitting LEDs have slightly narrow line width

Quantum Efficiency
Internal quantum efficiency is the ratio
between the radiative recombination rate and
the sum of radiative and nonradiative
recombination rates R /( R R )
int

nr

For exponential decay of excess carriers, the


radiative recombination lifetime is n/Rr and
the nonradiative recombination lifetime is
n/Rnr

Internal Efficiency
If the current injected into the LED is I, then
the total number of recombination per second
is,
Rr+Rnr = I/q where, q is the charge of an
electron. That is, Rr = intI/q.
Since Rr is the total number of photons
generated per second, the optical power
generated internal to the LED depends on the
internal quantum efficiency

External Efficiency
n2
n1

Light
emission
cone

Fresnel Transmission Coefficient

T (0) 4n1n 2

n1 n2

External Efficiency for air


n2=1, n1 = n

ext 1

n(n 1) 2

3-dB bandwidths
P ( f ) Po / 1 (2f ) 2

Optical Power I(f);

Electrical Power I2(f)

Electrical Loss = 2 x Optical Loss

Drawbacks of LED
Large line width (30-40 nm)
Large beam width (Low coupling to the fiber)
Low output power
Low E/O conversion efficiency
Advantages
Robust
Linear

The LASER
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission
and Radiation (L A S E R)
Coherent light (stimulated emission)
Narrow beam width (very focused beam)
High output power (amplification)
Narrow line width because only few
wavelength will experience a positive
feedback and get amplified (optical filtering)

Fundamental Lasing Operation


Absorption: An atom in the ground state might
absorb a photon emitted by another atom, thus
making a transition to an excited state.
Spontaneous Emission: random emission of a
photon, which enables the atom to relax to the
ground state.
Stimulated Emission: An atom in an excited state
might be stimulated to emit a photon by another
incident photon.

Howling Dog Analogy

In Stimulated Emission incident


and stimulated photons will have
Identical energy Identical wavelength
Narrow linewidth
Identical direction Narrow beam width
Identical phase Coherence and
Identical polarization

Laser Transition Processes


(Stimulated and Spontaneous
Emission)

Energy
absorbed from
the incoming
photon

Random
release of
energy

Coherent
release of
energy

Stimulated Emission

Fabry-Perot Laser
(resonator) cavity

Mirror Reflections

How a Laser Works

Multimode Laser Output


Spectrum
Mode
Separation

(Center Wavelength)

g()

Longitudinal
Modes

Optical output vs. drive current of a laser


External Efficiency
Depends on the slope

Threshold Current

Laser threshold depends on


Temperature

Modulation of Optical Sources


Optical sources can be modulated either
directly or externally.
Direct modulation is done by modulating the
driving current according to the message
signal (digital or analog)
In external modulation, the laser is emits
continuous wave (CW) light and the
modulation is done in the fiber

Why Modulation
A communication link is established by transmission
of information reliably
Optical modulation is embedding the information on
the optical carrier for this purpose
The information can be digital (1,0) or analog (a
continuous waveform)
The bit error rate (BER) is the performance measure
in digital systems
The signal to noise ratio (SNR) is the performance
measure in analog systems

Types of Optical Modulation


Direct modulation is done by superimposing
the modulating (message) signal on the driving
current
External modulation, is done after the light is
generated; the laser is driven by a dc current
and the modulation is done after that
separately
Both these schemes can be done with either
digital or analog modulating signals

Direct Modulation

The message signal (ac) is superimposed on the bias


current (dc) which modulates the laser
Robust and simple, hence widely used
Issues: laser resonance frequency, chirp, turn on
delay, clipping and laser nonlinearity

Optical Output vs. Drive Current of a Laser

Direct Analog Modulation


LED

LASER

I IB

I I B I th

Modulation index (depth)

m I I

'
B

'
B

'
B

Analog LED Modulation


Note:
No threshold
current
No clipping
No turn on
delay

Optical
Power
(P)

Laser Digital Modulation


P(t)
Ith
I1

I2
t

I(t)

Current (I)

I 2 I1
t d sp ln

I 2 I th
t

Turn on Delay (lasers)


When the driving current suddenly jumps from
low (I1 < Ith) to high (I2 > Ith) , (step input),
there is a finite time before the laser will turn
on
This delay limits bit rate in digital systems
Can you think of any solution?
I 2 I1
t d sp ln

I 2 I th

Input current

I2

Assume step input

I1

Electron density

steadily increases until


threshold value is
reached

Output optical power

Starts to increase only


after the electrons reach
the threshold

Turn
on
Delay
(td)

Resonance Freq.
(fr)

Frequency Response of a Laser


Resonance
Frequency
(fr) limits the
highest
possible
modulation
frequency
Useful Region

Laser Analog
Modulation
P(t)

P (t ) Pt [1 ms (t )]
Here s(t) is the modulating signal,
P(t): output optical power
Pt: mean value

S(t)

The modulated spectrum

Twice the RF frequency


Two sidebands each separated by modulating frequency

Limitations of Direct
Modulation
Turn on delay and resonance frequency are the two
major factors that limit the speed of digital laser
modulation
Saturation and clipping introduces nonlinear distortion
with analog modulation (especially in multi carrier
systems)
Nonlinear distortions introduce second and third order
intermodulation products
Chirp: Laser output wavelength drift with modulating
current is also another issue

Temperature dependency of the


laser is another issue

External Optical Modulation

Modulation and light generation are separated


Offers much wider bandwidth up to 60 GHz
More expensive and complex
Used in high end systems

External Modulated
Spectrum

Typical spectrum is double side band


However, single side band is possible which is
useful at extreme RF frequencies

An Optical Phase External


Modulator
Refractive
index of the
optical
waveguide
changes
depending on
the applied
electric field

A Traveling Wave Phase Mod.

Much wideband operation is possible due to


the traveling wave tube arrangement

Mach-Zehnder Interferometers

Mach-Zehnder Principle

Distributed Feedback Laser


(Single Mode Laser)

The optical feedback is provided by fiber Bragg Gratings


Only one wavelength get positive feedback

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