OPTICAL DETECTORS

Photodetector

An photodetector is used at the front end of every optical receiver to generate a
photocurrent proportional to the incident light intensity.

The characteristics of photodetectors useful for fiber optic communication are:
High sensitivity at the operating wavelength
Sufficient bandwidth or speed of response to accommodate the information rate
Very low noise
Low power consumption and low operating voltage
Less sensitive to changes in ambient temperature and in operating voltage
Compatibility with the fiber parameters
Small size
Low cost
High reliability *Capability of internal gain

Photodiodes are the primary type used in optical communication systems.

There are two types of photodiodes commonly used: PIN (P-type, intrinsic, N-
type) diodes and avalanche photodiodes (APDs).
OPTICAL DETECTORS
Physical Principles of Photodiodes
The simplest photodiode is a PN junction operated under reversed-bias.
Diode current,
( ) | |
op
I kT qV I I = 1 exp
0
photocurrent Dark current
OPTICAL DETECTORS
W
Pairs generated here
recombine before
reaching depletion
layer
P
N
L
p

L
n

Pairs generated here
recombine before
reaching depletion
layer
P N W
L
p

L
n

Optical generation of carriers in a PN junction.
Radiation is assumed to be incident on the whole diode.
OPTICAL DETECTORS
Absorption coefficient, o
0

Assume only bandgap transitions, the photocurrent I
P
produced by incident light of
optical power P
0
is
( )
( ) | | d
hf
r q P
I
P 0
0
exp 1
1
o

=
r = Fresnel reflection coefficient
d = width of the absorption region
The upper wavelength cutoff
C
is
determined by the bandgap energy
of the material:
g
C
E
hc
=
o
0
is strongly dependent on wavelength
OPTICAL DETECTORS
Quantum Efficiency
q =
number of electrons collected
number of incident photons
= =
p
e
r
r photons per second
electrons per second
q s 1
q is a function of the photon wavelength
To obtain a high q the width of the depletion layer,
Responsivity
| |
1
0

= AW
P
I
R
P
(Photocurrent per unit
incident optical power)
hc
q
hf
q q
=
q
=
( ) hf P
0
( ) q I
P
Silicon photodiode
0
1 o >> w
OPTICAL DETECTORS
Speed of Response
Three main factors limit the speed of response of a photodiode:
1. Drift time of carriers through the depletion region.
= =
d
drift
v
w
t
C
diff
D
d
t
2
2
=
2. Diffusion time of carriers generated outside the depletion region.
depletion width
drift velocity
d = diffuse distance
D
C
= minority carrier diffusion coefficient
3. RC time constant incurred by the capacitance of the photodiode with its load.
w
A
C
S
j
c
=
A = diode junction area
c
S
= permittivity of the semiconductor material
Assuming no carriers are generated outside the depletion region and that there is
negligible junction capacitance, the maximum photodiode 3dB bandwidth is
w
v
t
B
d
drift
m
t
=
t
=
2 2
1
Junction
capacitance
OPTICAL DETECTORS
Photodiode response to a rectangular optical input pulse
0
1 o >> w
For a low capacitance and photodiode most of the incident light will be
absorbed in the depletion region. As a result, its output follow the input pulse well.
When the C is large, the speed of response becomes limited by the RC time constant.
When the depletion layer is too narrow , there is a significant number of
carriers generated outside the depletion region and output pulse displays a long tail
caused by this diffusion component.
( )
0
1 o >> w
OPTICAL DETECTORS
P-i-N Photodiode
the thickness of the depletion region is controlled by i-layer, not by reverse voltage
most of the incident photons absorbed in the thick i-layer - high q
large electric field across the i-layer - efficient separation of generated electrons & holes
the P and N layers are extremely thin compare to i-layer - diffusion current is very small
The increase in the i-
width reduces the
speed of a photodiode.

The speed of response
of the photodiode is
limited by
- the time it takes to
collect the carriers
(drift time)
- the capacitance of the
depletion layer (RC
time constant of the
detector circuit).

OPTICAL DETECTORS
Silicon P-i-N photodiodes < 1.09m
The front illuminated photodiode
for operation in the 0.8 to 0.9m
band.

i-layer thickness ~ 20 to 50m
q ~ 85%
response time ~ 1ns
dark current ~ 1nA
The side illuminated photodiode
for operation at wavelength close
to the bandgap limit (1.09m)

absorption width ~ 500m
Germanium P-i-N photodiodes which span the entire wavelength of interest are available
but limited by the relatively high dark currents (100nA at 20
0
C to 1A at 40
0
C)
OPTICAL DETECTORS
III-V P-i-N photodiodes - InGaAs/InP
Epitaxial growth of several layers
on a n type InP substrate.
Incident light is absorbed in the low
doped n type InGaAs layer
lattice matched In
0.53
Ga
0.47
As/InP
system,
C
= 1.67m
Drawback - optical absorption in the
undepleted p
+
region.
A substrate entry P-i-N photodiode
with a p
+
InGaAsP layer to improve q
but charges trap limits the speed.