OPTICAL FIBER

COMMUNICATIONS
Lecture 10: Photodiodes
Photodiodes
 If LEDs and laser diodes convert an electrical signal into
light, the function of a photodiode is just the opposite: to
convert light into an electrical signal.
 Electrons at the valence band are bonded and cannot
move; thus, no current flows through the material.
 Electrons at the conduction band are free and when a small
voltage is applied, they move, constituting current. In other
words, to induce material to conduct current, one needs to
populate the conduction band with electrons.
 Good conductors have no gap between the valence and
conduction bands, good insulators have a big energy gap,
and semiconductors have a gap somewhere in between.
The Energy Bands
 When a photon with energy Ep = hf = hc/λ ≥ Eg strikes
the material, the photon is absorbed and its energy
acquired by an electron.
 Thus, the electron is excited at the conduction band and
is now able to move.
 This is how light power—a number of photons times a
photon’s energy per unit of time—is converted into
electrical current.
 If we apply external voltage—bias—to this
semiconductor, we make electrons flow in a much more
pronounced manner, thus increasing the efficiency of the
light-to-current conversion.
The Energy Bands
The p-n junction
 When a photon strikes a depletion region, its energy
separates an electron from its hole.
 The separated electron and hole are attracted by the
positive and negative potentials of the depletion voltage,
respectively.
 Applying external voltage (reverse bias) enhances the
flow of electrons and holes.
 External photons that strikes the semiconductor and
separates the electrons and holes. The flow of these free
charge carriers produces current. External voltage (reverse
bias) enhances this effect.
The p-n junction
Electrical Circuit
Input-Output Characteristics
 The input for a photodiode is light power (P); the output is
current, which is usually called photocurrent (Ip).
 The more photons that strike the active area of a PD, the
more charge carriers will be created; that is, the greater will
be the photocurrent.
IP = R*P
 Where R is constant.
 The slope of this graph is one of the major PD parameters
and is called responsivity, R(A/W).
 This characteristic shows how efficiently a photodiode
converts light into an electrical signal.
 Typical values of R range from 0.5 A/W to 1.0 A/W.
Input-Output Characteristics
Input-Output Characteristics –
contd.
 How far does this graph keep its linearity?
 It seems reasonable to expect that for a high level of light
power—that is, when there are a tremendous number of
photons per unit of time striking the PD—all available
electron-hole pairs will be involved in producing
photocurrent; therefore, one can expect to see a saturation
effect.
Power Relationship
 We usually evaluate any communications device by
looking for its response to the amplitude and the
frequency of the input signal.
 The first parameter (the device’s response to amplitude)
describes the power input–output relationship.
 The second (the response to the frequency of the input
signal) tells us about the device’s bandwidth.
 Responsivity Vs Wavelength
 Responsivity actually represents the power input–output
characteristic of a photodiode.
 Responsivity depends on the operating wavelength.
 The IP is given by
I p  Nee t
 The Power is given by:
P  N pEp t
 The Responsivity:
R  I p P  ( N e N p ) / E g  ( N e N p )( hc)
 This ratio (Ne/NP) is called the quantum efficiency of a
photodiode η, shows how efficiently the semiconductor
material converts light into current.
Responsivity Vs Wavelength –
contd.
 The Quantum Efficiency:

  Ne N p
 The responsivity:

R( A / W )  ( / 1248) (nm)

 The responsivity is wavelength depended.

 The longer the wavelength, the greater the amount of
current produced from the same amount of light power.
 Theoretically, the graph “Responsivity vs. Wavelength"
should be a straight line.
Responsivity Vs Wavelength
Photodiode Responsivities
Responsivity Vs Wavelength – contd.

 The graph shows short and long cutoff wavelengths.

 There is a cutoff wavelength, λc, determined by the energy
gap, Eg.
 So that Eg = hc/λc. For wavelengths longer than λc, the energy
of the photons is less than Eg.
 Light falling on the active area of a photodiode is partially
absorbed and partially transmitted.

Pabs  Pin 1  exp[ abs w]

 Where Pin and Pabs are incident and absorbed power,
respectively, αabs is the absorption coefficient, and w is the
width (thickness) of the PD’s active regions.
Responsivity Vs Wavelength –
contd.
 The quantum efficiency can be given by:

Pabs
  1  exp[ abs w]
Pin
 The absorption coefficient is the function of wavelength.
 Thus, quantum efficiency is not the constant, as was
previously assumed, but the variable.
Absorption Coefficients as a
Function of Wavelength
Depletion Region Width
 It is apparent that for a given absorption coefficient, a
wider (thicker) depletion region results in a higher
quantum efficiency.
 We need to make the depletion region wider to increase
the quantum efficiency.
 The wider the depletion region, the greater the
probability that most of the incident photons will fall
here and thus the greater the likelihood they will be
absorbed to create photocurrent.
Photovoltaic and Photoconductive
Modes of Operation
 Observe that a photodiode can produce current without
bias voltage.
 This is because light conveys the external energy
necessary to excite electrons at the conduction band (or
to separate electrons from holes) and the depletion
voltage (VD) makes them flow.
 This mode of operation is called photovoltaic.
 If external voltage is applied, the photodiode operates in
the photoconductive mode.
 Without biasing, a photodiode works as the source of an
electrical signal; with biasing, it’s a good conductor of
current originated by incident light.
 Dark Current Sensitivity
 Without incident light, some free charges in the depletion region
can be created mostly by external thermal energy (temperature).
 The flow of these charges creates Dark Current, Id.
 Dark current is current generated by a photodiode without
light.
 Clearly, dark current is a detrimental phenomenon because it
eventually determines the minimum light power that can be
detected, that is, a photodiode’s sensitivity.
 Sensitivity is the key parameter determining the quality of a
photodiode.
 Sensitivity refers to the minimum light power that a given
photodiode can detect. It is measured in watts or in dBm.
 There is an area of uncertainty around zero-input power in the Ip-
P graph.
Dark Current Sensitivity
Power Analysis
 A p-n photodiode converts light power into electric current.
The efficiency of this conversion:
1. Diminishes at the air-semiconductor interface
2. Decreases where photo generated electrons and holes
undergo a secondary recombination.
3. Increases within the active region, where light is better
absorbed.
 Applying an antireflection coating over the surface of the
photodiode and using an angled fiber tip, we can resolve the
reflection problem.
 A widening depletion (active) region is the solution to two
other problems.
 But the width of a depletion region in a p-n junction
photodiode is determined by the reverse voltage.
Bandwidth
 Bandwidth can be defined as the maximum frequency, or
bit rate, that a photodiode can detect without making
essential errors.
 There are two basic mechanisms restricting bandwidth in a
photodiode.
 The first restriction stems from the fact that charge carriers
created by a photon need some time to be collected.
 This time is often called transit time, τtr. If we denote the
maximum drift velocity of the charge carriers as vsat, then
for a depletion region with thickness w, transit time can be
estimated as:
 tr  w vsat
 Bandwidth – contd.
 The second restriction on bandwidth derives from the inherent
capacitance of a p-n photodiode (Cin).
 Indeed, a p-n junction can be considered as two charged plates
isolated by a depletion region.
Cin  ( A) w
 Where ε is the permittivity of a semiconductor and A is the active
area (the photosensitive area) of the photodiode.
 This capacitance is parallel to the output of the photodiode.
 In the equivalent circuit, the diode stands for an ideal diode
operation; the current source (Ip) represents the flow of the
photogenerated carriers.
 Rj (depltion region resist.)and RS (p and n and connectors resist.)
correspond to the junction (shunt) and series resistance of a
photodiode, respectively, and they form internal resistance Rin,
Cin is the capacitance and RL is the load resistance.
Equivalent Circuit of a p-n
Photodiode
Bandwidth – contd.
 The time constant (τRC) induced by a capacitor:
τRC = (Rs + RL)Cin ≈ RLCin
 Thus the bandwidth is:

BWPD  1  2 ( tr   RC )
 To maximize the bandwidth, minimize both τtr and τRC (w).

  w RLA  vsat w
BWPD  1 2    
  satv w  2 ( w 2
 vsat RL A)
 We can see that w is on both numerator and the
denominator of a bandwidth formula.
Bandwidth – contd.
 Thus, one has to find a compromise for the value of w to
achieve the optimal value of the bandwidth.
 To get the optimal width, take the derivative δBWPD/δw:

BWPD
w

 vsat 2  w 2  vsat RL A  w 2
 vsat RL A  2

 The optimal thickness found from the condition derivative
δBWPD/δw = 0, is given by:

wopt  vsat RL A

 Bandwidth and p-n photodiode
Analysis
 Increasing the bandwidth efficiency of a p-n photodiode requires a
wide depletion region to reduce the diffusion current.
 Hence, it looks as though we need to increase the reverse bias
because this voltage determines the width of a depletion region.
 This is exactly what we need to do to increase the power efficiency.
 On the other hand, however, taking into account the transit and
RC time constants, one has to find the appropriate reverse-biasing
voltage to optimize the bandwidth of the photodiode.
 We cannot choose this voltage arbitrarily. For one thing, we need
to remember that a photodiode is a part of a receiver, where low-
voltage electronics is used.
 We need to increase the width of a depletion region without
manipulating unnecessarily the value of the reverse-bias voltage.
P-I-N Photodiodes
 The major feature of this photodiode is that it
consists of a thick, lightly doped intrinsic layer
sandwiched between thin p and n regions.
 The word intrinsic, in semiconductor-industry
parlance, means “natural,” “undoped.” positive-
intrinsic-negative
P-I-N PD Advantages
 The first and the major feature of a p-i-n PD is that its
intrinsic layer is its depletion layer, where the absorption of
photons occurs.
 Since the intrinsic layer is naturally thick, most of the
incident photons enter this layer and generate electron-
hole pairs. This action results in the high quantum
efficiency of this device.
 There is no need for tinkering with reverse voltage to
increase the width of an absorbing layer.
 What’s more, the diffusion current in a p-i-n PD is very
small because the p and n layers are extremely thin
compared with the intrinsic layer.
P-I-N PD Disadvantages
 Widening this layer will result in an increase in power
efficiency but a decrease in bandwidth efficiency because of
a rise in transit time τtr = w/vsat.
 Photodiode made from Si has to have a wider intrinsic layer
because the absorption coefficient (αabs) at its operating
wavelength (near 850 nm) is a little more than 103 1/cm.
 InGaAs PDs have αabs ~ 105 1/cm at = 1600 nm and,
therefore, can have a smaller w.
 In practice, Si p-i-n photodiodes are fabricated with the
width of an intrinsic layer on the order of 40 µm, while
InGaAs PDs have a w around 4 µm.
 This results in different bandwidths for Si and InGaAs
photodiodes.
P-I-N PD Enhancements
 Further improvement in the efficiency of a p-i-n operation
can be accomplished by fabricating the photodiode in a
double heterostructure, one similar to that used in LEDs
and LDs.
 All photons at operating wavelength will pass the n and p
layers without interaction.
 This dramatically improves the quantum efficiency and
eliminates the diffusion-current problem.
 Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs)
 To improve the sensitivity of receivers, we can introduce
amplifiers, to amplify the IP.
 Electronics amplifiers introduce noise.
 Avalanche Photodiode (APD) amplify the without the need of
amplifiers.
 A special p-i-n structure of a photodiode is used.
 Incident photons generate primary electrons and holes, as they
do in a regular p-i-n PD. Relatively high (around 20 V) reverse
voltage is applied to the photodiode.
 This voltage accelerates photogenerated electrons and holes,
which immediately acquire high energy.
 These electrons and holes strike neutral atoms and separate
other bonded electrons and holes.
 APDs – contd.
 These secondary carriers gain enough energy to ionize other
carriers, causing a so-called avalanche process of creating new
carriers.
 Thus, one photon eventually generates many charge carriers,
which means this photodiode internally amplifies photocurrent.
 This is equivalent to saying the APD’s quantum efficiency is
more than 1 (typically, it is from 10 to 100).
 The quantum efficiency of the APD is M times larger than that of
a p-i-n PD. (M is called the multiplication, or gain, factor.)

RAPD  MR p i  n  M ( / 1248) (nm)

APD Bandwidth
 Since an APD introduces amplification, the most universal
characteristic of such a device is the gain-bandwidth
product: M*BW.
 The gain-bandwidth product is around 500 GHz for an Si
APD and 120 GHz for an InGaAs APD.
 Since an Si APD has a gain as high as 500, its bandwidth is
not more than 1 GHz, while an InGaAs APD has a typical
gain of about 40, which yields a 3-GHz bandwidth.
 P-I-N Vs APD
 Let’s compare an APD’s bandwidth of 15 GHz and gain of 10
with a p-i-n PD’s bandwidth of 5 GHz and gain of 1.
 It is easy to conclude that an APD is at least 10 times more
sensitive than a p-i-n PD with comparable bandwidth, which
implies a 10-times-longer fiber-optic span between a transmitter
and a receiver.
 But this advantage almost vanishes if you recall that an APD
requires relatively high reverse voltage.
 From a practical standpoint, this means an increase in power
consumption, implying less freedom for miniaturization of a
receiver unit and, therefore, longer transmission lines with
increasing noise and parasitic capacitance, not to mention the
need for a separate power supply that is not compatible with
other power units used in electronic circuits.
P-I-N Vs APD – contd.