MKE 1083

Advanced Optical Communication

Lecture : Optical Receiver

Dr Mohammad Faiz Liew Abdullah

Department of Communication
Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia

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 Contents

iProperties and Characteristics

iTypes of Photodiodes
PIN
APD
iDetector Response Time
iReceiver Basic Operation
iOptical Receivers

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 Photodetection - Definition

It converts the optical energy into an electrical current that is then processed by
electronics to recover the information. Hence referred ‘O/E Converter’

Photodetector is the fundamental element of optical receiver, followed by

amplifiers and signal conditioning circuitry

There are several photodetector types:

– Photodiodes, Phototransistors, Photon multipliers, Photo-resistors etc

Detection Techniques
• Thermal Effects
• Wave Interaction Effects
• Photon Effects

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 Photodetector Requirements

iHigh sensitivity (responsivity) at the desired

wavelength and low responsivity elsewhere
iLow noise and reasonable cost
iFast response time Æ high bandwidth
iInsensitive to temperature variations
iCompatible physical dimensions
iLong operating life

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 Detection principles
– The device is reverse biased
and electric field developed
across the p-n junction sweeps
mobile carriers ( holes and
electrons) to their respective
majoring sides ( p and n type
material).
– A depletion region or layer is
therefore created on either side
of the junction.
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This barrier has the effect of stopping the
majority carriers crossing the junction in
the opposite direction to the field.
However, the field accelerates minority
carriers from both sides to the opposite
side of the junction, forming the reverse
leakage current of the diode.
Thus intrinsic conditions are created in the
depletion region.
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 Detection principles – cont’d
i A photon incident in or near the depletion region of this device which has an
energy greater than or equal to the bandgap energy Eg of the fabricating
material will excite an electron from the valence band into the conduction
band.
i This process leaves an empty hole in the valence band and known as the
photogeneration of an electron-hole (carrier) pair.
i Carrier pairs so generated near junction are separated and swept(drift) under
the influence of the electric field to produce a displacement by current in the
external circuit in excess of any reverse leakage current.
i The depletion region must be sufficiently thick to allow a large fraction of the
incident light to be absorbed in order to achieve maximum carrier pair
generation. However, since long carrier drift times in the depletion region
restrict the speed of the operation of the photodiode it is necessary to limit its
width.
i Thus there is a tradeoff between the number of photons absorbed (sensitivity)
and the speed of response.

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 Photodiode - Characteristics

An electronics device, whose vi-characteristics is

sensitive to the intensity of an incident light wave.

Small dark current due to:

leakage
thermal excitation
• Quantum efficiency
(electrons/photons)
• Responsivity Po

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 Absorption

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 Absorption

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 Absorption Coefficient

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 Absorption Coefficients - Cont’d

The absorption coefficients of semiconductor materials are

strongly dependent on wavelength.

This results from their differing bandgaps energies.

Optical radiation is absorbed in the semiconductor material
according to the exponential low:

P ( x ) = P0 (1 − exp[ −α s (λ ) x ])
Where:
P(x) : the optical power absorbed in a distance x.
Po: the incident optical power level.
α s (λ ) : absorption coefficient at a wavelength λ.
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 Cont’d

The primary photocurrent, IP or Io, that flows from the

photodetector is the result the absorbed optical power.

e
IP = P0 (1 − exp[−α s (λ ) x ])(1 − R f )
hf
Where:
Rf : the Fresnel reflection coefficient at the semiconductor-
air interface.

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 Quantum efficiency

number of electrons collected , re

η=
number of incident photons, rp

Po Ip
rp = and re = (Ip or known as Io)
hf e

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 Photodiode - Structure

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 p-n photodiode

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 p-n photodiode - Cont’d

i Photon can be absorbed either in the depletion region or outside.

i If absorption takes place in the depletion region, the charge
carriers will drift quickly due to the electric field.
i If absorption takes place in the diffusion region (outside
junction), an electron-holes pairs is created but these charges
will move slowly due to the weak electric field and recombine
before reaching the junction.
i It is important that the photons are absorbed in the depletion
region.
i To ensure that photons are absorbed in the depletion region, it is
made as long as possible by decreasing the doping in the n type
material.
i The width is normally 1-3 μm.

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 Photodetector - Types
The most commonly used photodetectors in optical communications are:

– Positive-Intrinsic-Negative (PIN)
• No internal gain
• Low bias voltage [10-50 V @ λ = 850 nm, 5-15 V @ λ = 1300 –1550 nm]
• Highly linear
• Low dark current
• Most widely used

– Avalanche Photo-Detector (APD)

• Internal gain (increased sensitivity)
• Best for high speed and highly sensitive receivers
• Strong temperature dependence
• High bias voltage[250 V @ λ = 850 nm, 20-30 V @ λ = 1300 –1550 nm]
• Costly

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 p-i-n photodiode

• The n-type material is doped so lightly that it can be considered

intrinsic.
• The intrinsic material produces a wide depletion region (20 to 50 μm).
• A highly doped n type (n+) layer is added to make a low resistance
contact.
• All the absorption takes place in the depletion region.

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 Avalanche photodiode, APD

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 APD - Cont’d

i Semiconductor photodiodes with internal gain.

i Internally multiply the primary signal photo current.
i More sophisticated structure than the p-i-n photodiode in order to create an
extremely high electric field region (approximately 3 x 105 V/cm).
i Increase sensitivity.
i High reverse bias voltages (50 to 400 V) is required for carrier multiplication
process.
i In high E-field region, a photogenerated electron or hole can gain enough so
that it ionizes bound electrons in the valence band upon colliding with them.
i This mechanism is known as impact ionization.
i The newly created carriers are also accelerated by the high E-field, thus
gaining enough energy to cause further impact ionization.
i This phenomenon is the avalanche effect.

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 Reach Through APD (RAPD)

i A commonly used structure ( p+-π-p-n+ ) for achieving carrier multiplication

with very little noise.
i The high field region is relatively narrow and centered on the p-n+ junction.
i Under a low reverse bias voltage is applied, most of the potential drop is
across the p-n+ junction.
i When the reverse bias voltage increased the depletion layer widens across the
p region until it ‘reached through’ to the nearly intrinsic (lightly doped) π
region.
i Since the π region is much wider than the p region the field in the π region is
much lower than that at the p-n+ junction.
i This has the effect of removing some of the excess applied voltage from the
multiplication region to the π region giving a relatively slow increase in
multiplication factor with applied voltage.

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 RAPD - Cont’d

(a)Structure of a silicon RAPD

(b)The field distribution in the RAPD showing the
gain region across the p-n+ junction
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 Multiplication factor, M

I
M =
Ip
Where
I : total output current at the operating voltage
Ip or Io : primary photocurrent ( before carrier
multiplication occurs)

M = 1 for PIN photodiode

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 Reponsivity

Io = Photocurrent
Po = Incident(detected) optical power
G = APD gain
η = Quantum efficiency
= average number of electron-hole pairs emitted re/ average number of
incident
photons rp

Note: rp = Po/hf and Io = ηqPo/hf

η = 99% ~ 1
Thus R = qη/hf

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 Responsivity - Cont’d

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 Materials Used :

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 Photodiode Responsivities

i Silicon (Si)
– Least expensive

i Germanium (Ge)
– “Classic” detector

i Indium gallium
arsenide (InGaAs)
– Highest speed

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 Wavelength cutoff

In absorption process, the energy of incident photons must

be greater than or equal to the bandgap energy Eg of the
material used to fabricate the photo detector.
The wavelength cutoff, λc is :

hc 1.24
λc = or λc = ( μm)
Eg E g ( eV )

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 Example 1:

A photodiode is constructed of GaAs, which has a

bandgap energy of 1.43eV at 300K. Find the long
wavelength cutoff.

Solution:

hc (6.625 × 10−34 J .s )(3 × 108 m / s )

λc = = −19
= 869nm
Eg (1.43eV )(1.6 × 10 J / eV )

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 Example 2

When 3 x 1011 photons each with wavelength of are

incident on a photodiode, on average 1.2 x 1011 electrons
are collected at the terminals of the device. Determine the
quantum efficiency and the responsivity of the
photodiode at 0.85 μm.

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 Solution:

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 Example 3

A photodiode has a quantum efficiency of 65% when

photons of energy 1.5 x 10-19 J are incident upon it.
(a) At what wavelength is the photodiode operating?
(b) Calculate the incident optical power required to obtain
a photodiode of 2.5 μA when the photodiode is operating
as described above.

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 Solution:

(a)

(b)

I p or I o
R=
Po

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 Output characteristics

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 Response Time in pin photodiode

Transit time, td and carrier drift velocity vd are related by

For a high speed Si PD, td = 0.1 ns

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 Speed of response

Three factors limit the speed of a photodiode

a) Drift time of carriers through the depletion region

w
tdrift = w : depletion layer width
vd : drift velocity
Vd

eg. Vd :107 cm / s (field strength above 2 x 104 V cm-1)

w :10μ m
tdrift : 0.1ns
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 Speed of Response - Cont’d

b) Diffusion time of carriers generated outside the depletion

region 2
d
tdiff =
2 Dc
d : diffusion distance
Dc : minority carrier diffusion coefficient (cm2/s)

Eg. For silicon, Dp(hole) is 12.4 cm2/s and

Dn(electron) is 35 cm2/s.
d : 10μm
hole tdiff : 40ns
electron tdiff : 8ns
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 Speed of Response - Cont’d

c) Time constant incurred by the capacitance of the

diode with its load.

∈A ∈ : permittivity
Cd = A : diode junction area
w w : depletion layer width

Assuming no carriers are generated outside the depletion

region and there is negligible junction capacitance, the
maximum photodiode 3 dB bandwidth is given by:
1 vd
B m ax = =
2π t drift 2π w
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 Example

The carrier velocity in a silicon p-i-n photodiode with a 25 μm

depletion region layer width is 3 x 104 m/s. Determine the
maximum response time for the devices.

Solution:

vd 3 × 10 4
Bmax = = = 1.91 × 10 Hz
8

2π w 2π × 25 × 10 −6

1
Maximum response time= = 5.2ns
Bm

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 Photodiode - Equivalent Circuit

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 Photodiode Pulse Responses

• At low bias levels rise and fall times are different. Since photo collection time
becomes significant contributor to the rise time.

Rise time Fall time

Photodiode has uneven rise and fall times depending on:

1. Absorption coefficient αs(λ) and
2. Junction Capacitance Cj
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 Junction Capacitance

C =
ε o ε r A
j w
εo = 8.8542 x 10(-12) F/m; free space permittivity
εr = the semiconductor dielectric constant
A = the diffusion layer (photo sensitive) area
w = width of the depletion layer

Large area photo detectors have large junction

capacitance hence small bandwidth (low speed)
Æ A concern in free space optical receivers
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 Photodiode Pulse Responses

Small area photodiode

Large area photodiode

Small area photodiode

Due to carrier generated in w

w = depletion layer
αs = absorption coefficient Due to diffusion of carrier from the edge of w

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 Photodiodes – Typical Characteristics

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 Minimum Received Power

• Is a measure of receiver sensitivity defined for a specific:

Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR),
Bit error Rate (BER),
Bandwidth (bit rate),
at the receiver output.

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 MRP Vs. Bandwidth

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 Optical Receiver

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 Selection Criteria and Task

Optical Electrical
Optical Sensitivity for a given Data Rate
BER and SNR Bit error rate
Operating wavelength (digital)
Dynamic range Maximum Bandwidth
Simplicity (analogue)
Reliability and stability Signal-to-noise ratio
(analogue)

Task:
•To extract the optical signal (low level) from various noise
disturbances
•To reconstruct the original information correctly

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 Receivers: Basics

i The most important and complex section of an optical fibre

system
i It sensitivity is design dependent, particularly the first stage or
front-end
i Main source of major noise sources:
– Shot noise current
– Thermal noise: Due to biasing/amplifier input impedance
– Amplifier noise:
• Current
• Voltage
– Transimpedance noise

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 Optical System

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Type of Receivers - Low Impedance

Voltage Amplifier
- Simple
- Limited dynamic range
- It is prone to overload and saturation

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 Type of Receivers - High Impedance
Voltage Amplifier with Equaliser

• Rdetector is large to reduce the effect of thermal noise

• Detector out put is integrated over a long time constant, and is
restored by differentiation
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 Type of Receivers - Transimpedance
Feedback Amplifier

i The most widely used

• Wide bandwidth
• No equalisation
• Greater dynamic range (same gain at all frequencies)
• Slightly higher noise figure than HIVA

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Transimpedance feedback amplifier

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 Optical Receiver - Analogue

Employ an analogue preamplifier stage, followed by either an

analogue output stage (depending on the type of receiver).

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 Optical Receiver - Digital

1st stage is a current-to-voltage converter.

2nd stage is a voltage comparator, which produces a clean, fast
rise-time digital output signal. The trigger level may be adjusted to
produce a symmetrical digital signal.

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 Optical Receivers - Commercial
Devices

i 28 GHz Monolithic InGaAs PIN Photodetector

i 100 kHz- 40 Gb/s
i DC - 65 Gb/s InGaAs PIN Photodiodes
i 100 GHz Dual-Depletion InGaAs/InP Photodiode

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Wide-Band Optical Receiver (40 Gb/s)

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 Wide-Band Optical Receiver
(DC – 65 Gb/s)

i InGaAs PIN Photodiodes

i Reverse bias voltage: +3V
i Responsivity: 0.5 A/W at 1300 and 1550 nm wavelength.
i Opto-electronic Integrated Circuits (OEICs) which combine
optical, microwave, and digital functions on the same chip
i Application:
– Ethernet fiber local area networks
– Synchronized Optical Network SONET,
– ISDN,
– Telephony
– Digital CATV

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 Introduction
Bias voltage

AMP output
RL
Simple receiver circuit

Amp
Ip : photo current
Id : dark current
Id + I p Cd : detector capacitance
Cd
RL Cin Cin : amplifier input capacitance
RL : load resistance

Detector Load and Amplifier

Equivalent circuit
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 Bandwidth

3dB bandwidth (electrical bandwidth)

1
B=
2π RL ( Cd + Cin )

Cd and Cin should be small to achieve high bandwidth receiver.

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 Receiver - Bandwidth

A range of frequencies that can be defined in terms of:

• Spectral profile of a signal
• Response of filter networks
• Equivalent bandwidth: Defines the amount of noise in a system

Types of Bandwidth
• Ideal
• Baseband
• Passband
• Intermediate-Channel
• Transmission
• Noise

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 Ideal, Low-pass and Band-pass Filters

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Noise Equivalent Bandwidth (NEB) B

Defines as the ideal

bandwidth describing the
point where:

Area under the response

cure
=
Area under the noise curve.

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 Optical System - Noise Sources

Source Noise
iModal noise
– Due to interaction of (constructive & destructive)
multiple coherent modes, resulting in intensity
modulation.
iPhotodetector Noise
iPreamplifier (receiver) Noise
iDistortion due to Non-linearity
iCrosstalk and Reflection in the Couplers

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 Noise - Source Noise - cont
LED: Due to:
– In-coherent intensity fluctuation
– Beat frequencies between modes
LD: Due to:
– Non-linearities
– Quantum noise: In the photon generation
– Mode hopping: Within the cavity
– Reflection from the fibre back into the cavity, which reduces
coherence
– Difficult to measure, to isolate and to quantify
– Most problematic with multimode LD and multimode fibre
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 Source of noise

Optical Photodetector Amplifier Electrical

signal signal
Photodetection Avalanche Detector electronic
gain load bias gain

• quantum excess due thermal • thermal (input

• dark current to random resistance)
• background gain • device (active
• beat (from mechanism elements)
incoherent • surface leakage
carrier) currents

Block schematic of the front end of an optical receiver showing the various
source of noise.
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 Noise
Is inherently a statistical process, which has mean and variance
– The mean correspond to the signal that we are interested to recover
– The variance represents the noise power at the detector’s output

Let noise current be defined as:

inoise (t) = i(t) - IDC (Amps)

IDC = Photocurrent Io

Noise current from random current pulses is termed as shot-noise.

Shot-noise:
• Quantum
• Dark current
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 Thermal Noise

The photodetector load resistor RL contributes a mean-square

thermal (Johnson) noise current

4 K BTB
i =
2
th
RL
KB: Boltzmann’s constant = 1.38054 X 10(-23) J/K
T is the absolute Temperature (Kelvin)

• Quantum and Thermal are the important noise

mechanisms in all optical receivers
• RIN (Relative Intensity Noise) will also appear in analog
links
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 Dark/Leakage Current Noise
There will be some (dark and leakage ) current without any
incident light. This current generates two types of noise

2
Bulk Dark Current Noise id = 2qI d B
(mean square)
Id: Dark Current

Surface Leakage
2
Current Noise ids = 2qI l B
Il: Leakage Current

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 Quantum noise

The discrete nature of electron causes a signal disturbance.

ish2 = 2qBI o ( A2 )

i sh2 : shot noise current (mean square) Io : the photocurrent (A)

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 Shot Noise - PIN

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 Shot noise APD

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 Total Noise

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 Electrical Amplifier Noise

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 Noise Power Spectrum

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 Signal to Noise Ratio

Signal power from photocurrent

SNR =
Detector Noise + Amplifier Noise
For high SNR
iThe Photodetector must have a large quantum
efficiency (large responsivity or gain) to generate large
signal current
iDetector and amplifier noise must be low

SNR Can NOT be improved by amplification

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Receiver Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)

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 SNR – Quantum Limit

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 SNR Vs Receiver Sensitivity

Note: Io =RPo

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 Digital Receiver Performance

Probability of error assuming P =

e
1
2 [ P1 (Vth ) + P0 (Vth )]
Equal ones and zeros
∞
P0 (Vth ) = ∫ p( y / 0)dy
Where, Vth

Vth
P1(Vth ) = ∫ p( y /1)dy
−∞

Depends on the noise variance at on/off levels and the

Threshold voltage Vth that is decided to minimize the Pe

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 Bit Error Rate (BER)
∞
P0 (Vth ) = ∫ p ( y / 0)dy
Vth

Vth
P1 (Vth ) = ∫ p ( y /1) dy
−∞

1⎡ ⎛ Q ⎞⎤ ⎡ vth − boff ⎤ ⎡ bon − vth ⎤

BER = Pe = ⎢1 − erf ⎜ ⎟⎥ where Q = ⎢ ⎥=⎢ ⎥
2⎣ ⎝ 2 ⎠⎦ ⎢⎣ σ off ⎥⎦ ⎣ σ on ⎦
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 BER - contd
i For
i σoff = σon = σ RMS noise
i bon = V, and boff = 0
i Thus vth= V/2 and Q = V/2σ

i Therefore : ⎡ 1 ⎛ V ⎞⎤
Pe =
⎢1 − erf ⎜ ⎟⎥
⎣ 2 ⎝ 2 2σ ⎠ ⎦
i In terms of power signal-to-noise ratio (S/N)
1⎡ ⎛ S ⎞⎤
Pe = ⎢1 − erf ⎜⎜ 0.345 ⎟⎥
⎟
2 ⎢⎣ ⎝ N ⎠ ⎥⎦
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 BER Performance

BER vs SNR
(equal standard
deviations
and boff = 0)

Minimum input
power depends on
acceptable bit error
rate
Many receivers
designed for 1E-12 or
better BER

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 Example 1

A silicon p-i-n photodiode incorporated into an optical receiver has a

quantum efficiency of 60% when operating at a wavelength of 0.9 μm.
The dark current in the device at this operating point is 3 nA and the
load resistance is 4 kΩ. The incident optical power at this wavelength
is 200 nW and the post detection bandwidth of the receiver is 5 MHz.
The receiver has an amplifier with a noise figure of 3dB.

1. Compare the short noise generated in the photodiode with the

thermal noise in the load resistor at a temperature of 20oC.
2. Determine the SNR at output of the receiver.

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 Solution:
1) The photocurrent:
η Po eλ 0.6 × 200 × 10−9 × 1.602 × 10−19 × 0.9 × 10−6
Ip = = −34
= 87.1 nA
hc 6.626 × 10 × 2.998 × 10 8

shot noise:
2
iTS = 2eB ( I p + I d ) = 2 × 1.602 × 10−19 × 5 × 106 ⎡⎣ ( 3 + 87.1) × 10−9 ⎤⎦
= 1.44 × 10−19 A2
Shot noise current (rms)
1

( )
2
iTS 2
= 3.79 × 10−10 A

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 Thermal noise:

−23
4 KTB 4 × 1.381 × 10 × 293 × 5 × 10 6

it2 = =
R 4 × 10 3

= 2.02 × 10−17 A2
Thermal noise current (rms)
1

( )
it
2 2
= 4.49 × 10−9 A

The rms thermal noise current is a factor of 12 greater than the rms shot
noise current.

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2)
Fn = 3dB = 10log 2
2
S I
SNR = = 2 p

N iT S + i t F n
2

(8 7 .2 × 1 0 ) −9 2

=
(1 .4 4 × 1 0 ) + ( 2 .0 2 × 1 0
−19 −17
× 2)
= 1 .8 7 × 1 0 2

SNR in dB = 10log (1.87 × 102 ) = 22.72dB

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 Example 2
A photodiode has a capacitance of 6 pF. Calculate the
maximum load resistance which allows an 8 MHz post
detection bandwidth. Determine the bandwidth penalty
with the same load resistance when the following
amplifier also has an input capacitance of 6 pF.

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 Solution:
The maximum bandwidth is given by:
1
B=
2π RLCd
therefore the maximum load resistance,
1 1
RL (max) = = = 3.32k Ω
2π BCd 2π ( 8 × 10 )( 6 × 10 )
6 −12

Thus for an 8MHz bandwidth the maximum load resistance is 3.32kΩ.

Considering the amplifier capacitance, the maximum bandwidth :

1 1
B= = = 4 MHz
2π RL ( Cd + Cin ) 2π ( 3.32 × 10 )(12 × 10 )
3 −12

Semester II 2009/10 Dr Mohammad Faiz Liew Abdullah

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 Example 3

A germanium photodiode incorporated into an optical fiber

receiver working at a wavelength of 1.55μm has a dark
current of 500nA at the operating temperature. When the
incident optical power at this wavelength is 1μW and the
responsivity of the device is 0.6 A/W, shot noise dominates
in the receiver. Determine the SNR in dB at the receiver
when post detection bandwidth is 100 MHz.

Semester II 2009/10 Dr Mohammad Faiz Liew Abdullah

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 Solution:
Ip
R =
Po
I p = R Po = 0 .6μ A

I p2 I p2
SNR = =
2
i
TS
2eB ( I p + I d )

=
( 0.6 × 10 ) −6 2

2 × 1.602 × 10−19 × 100 × 10 ( 500 × 10

6 −9
+ 0.6 × 10−6 )
= 1021.5
= 40.1dB
Semester II 2009/10 Dr Mohammad Faiz Liew Abdullah
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 Example 4

A silicon p-i-n photodiode incorporated into an optical receiver has a

quantum efficiency of 60% when operating at a wavelength of 0.9μm. The
dark current is 3nA and the load resistance is 4kΩ. Determine the
MIOP(Minimum incident optical power) if SNR is 22.72 dB, the post
detection bandwidth is 5 MHz and the noise figure is 3dB at a
temperature of 20oC.

Semester II 2009/10 Dr Mohammad Faiz Liew Abdullah

93
 Solution:
hcI p − b ± b 2 − 4 ac
M IO P = Po = x= for ax 2 + bx + c = 0
η eλ 2a
I p2
SNR =
4 K T B Fn
2eB ( I p + I d ) +
R
I p2
SNR =
4 (1 .3 8 1 × 1 0 − 2 3 ) ( 2 9 3 ) ( 5 × 1 0 6 ) ( 2 )
2 (1 .6 0 2 × 1 0 −19
)( 5 × 1 0 )( I
6
+ 3 × 10 −9
)+ 4 × 103
p

I p2
1.87 × 10 = 2

(1.602 × 10 )( I − 12
p + 3 × 10 −9 ) + ( 4.046 × 10 − 17 )
I p2 − 2.996 × 10−10 I p − 7.556 × 10−15 = 0
− ( −2.996 × 10 −10
) ± ( −2.996 × 10 ) −10 2
− 4 (1) ( −7.556 × 10−15 )
Ip =
2 (1)
I p = 87.1nA
Semester II 2009/10 Dr Mohammad Faiz Liew Abdullah
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