Optoelectronics Basics

Advantages of Optoelectronic Devices:

i. Long wavelength ii. Nanoscale device

iii. Low cost, easy fabrication iv. High optoelectronic conversion
material. efficiency.
v. Multi wave-length source. vi. Higher carrying capacity.
vii. Less signal distortion.
 Band Gap
In semiconductor physics, the band gap of a semiconductor can be of two basic
types,
i. Direct band gap : The minimal-energy state in the conduction band and
the maximal-energy state in the valence band are each characterized by a
certain crystal momentum (k-vector) in the Brillouin zone. The band gap
is called "direct" if the crystal momentum of electrons and holes is the
same in both the conduction band and the valence band; an electron can
directly emit a photon. Examples of direct bandgap material includes some
III-V materials such as InAs, GaAs.
ii. Indirect band gap : If the k-vectors are different, the material has an
"indirect gap". In an "indirect" gap, a photon cannot be emitted because
the electron must pass through an intermediate state and transfer
momentum to the crystal lattice. Indirect bandgap materials include Si, Ge.
Some III-V materials are indirect bandgap as well, for example AlSb.
In direct bandgap semiconductor(DBS) the bottom of the conduction band and top
of the valence band lie for the same value of k( where k=0).

But in an indirect bandgap semiconductor(IBS) the bottom of the conduction band

and top of the valence band lie for different values of k. where k is the electron
crystal momentum.

Minority carrier lifetime: It is defined as the average time it takes an

excess minority carrier to recombine. It is strongly dependent on the magnitude and
type of recombination processes in the semiconductor.
General & Optical Communication:
 Nature of Light

Can explain: Reflection, Refraction

Can’t explain: Diffraction
Polarization: When light travels certain direction without being scattered.

Blackbody Radiation:
Reflection: When a ray of light approaches a smooth polished surface and the light
ray bounces back, it is called the reflection of light.

Refraction: A change of direction that light undergoes when it enters a medium with
a different density from the one through which it has been traveling — for example,
when, after moving through air, it passes through a prism.

Total internal reflection: Total internal reflection refers to the complete reflection
of a ray of light within a given medium from the surrounding surface. Here, the ray
of light continues to be reflected within the medium (glass, water etc.) without being
refracted off.
Interference: When two light waves from different coherent sources meet together,
then the distribution of energy due to one wave is disturbed by the other. This
modification in the distribution of light energy due to super- position of two light
waves is called "Interference of light".
 LED

1. What is LED?
A light emitting diode (LED) is essentially a PN junction opto-
semiconductor that emits a monochromatic (single color) light when
operated in a forward biased direction. LEDs convert electrical energy
into light energy.

2. Working principle of PN Junction LED?

The simplicity in the fabrication (in p-n junction diode form) and driving
circuitry of LED makes it very attractive as solid state light source in a
wide variety of technical as well as commercial applications. The LED
converts input electrical energy into spontaneous optical radiation through
the injection luminescence or electroluminescence process. During its
normal operation, the electrons and holes are injected as minority carriers
into the p- and n-sides of forward bias p-n junction diode respectively, as
shown in Figure below,
 Figure: Carrier injection in forward bias p-n junction diode leading towards
spontaneous emission.

The injected excess minority carriers are then try to diffuse away quickly
from the junction and subsequently recombine with majority carriers
either by radiative and nonradiative ways. The diode should be designed
in such a way that it can support the radiative recombination as strong as
possible. Under such case, the emitted spontaneous radiation photon
energy be given by,

hν = Eg

3. Advantage, Disadvantage & Application of LED?

Advantages:
i. Energy efficient (produce more light per watt)
ii. Long lifetime (60,000 Hours or more)
 iii. Rugged(made-up of solid material, no breakage like filament)
iv. No warm-up period(achieve full bright light in nanoseconds)
v. Not effected by cold temperature(used in sub zero weather)
vi. Directional(direct the light where you want)
vii. Environment Friendly(contains no mercury)
viii. Controllable(brightness and color can be controlled)
ix. Can sustain over frequent on-off cycle

Disadvantages:
i. Very expensive than other lighting technologies
ii. Requires accurate voltage & constant current flow
iii. Can shift color due to age & temperature
iv. Cannot be used in high temperature (Lead to device failure)

Applications:
i. Vehicle indicator lights and brake lights.
ii. Currently Audi & BMW integrate high power LEDs.
iii. Mobile phone flash lights. (Surface Mount Diode)
iv. LED screens for advertising & information.
v. Due to low power consumption, small size & long life
vi. LEDs are used in many electrical equipment. (indicator)
vii. Now a days airports, hotels, subways, shopping centers and some
homes feature LEDs.
viii. LED based traffic signal has been successful & is alsogrowing
rapidly.

4. History of LED?
Since the discovery of the light emitting diode (LED) in the early 1900s,
it is one the oldest and simplest optoelectronic devices which have found
tremendous scientific and industrial applications in display systems,
optical communication networks, sensors, logic devices, tail light in
automobiles and many more. LEDs along with lasers are basically
electroluminescence type of devices, where light emission supported by
generation of excess carriers by electric field or current injection into the
devices. From the mid-1950s, the entire effort on designing efficient
LEDs rests on alloy materials of III-V (like GaAs, GaP, GaN, AlGaAs,
GaAsP, GaInP, GaInP, AlGaInP, etc.) and II-VI (like ZnS, ZnTe etc.)
semiconductors. These materials, being direct bandgap by nature, support
primarily radiative light emission, and hence ensure higher efficiency.
Moreover, the light emission from these binary, ternary or quaternary
semiconducting materials covers a wide range of light starting from
infrared (IR) to visible (white light or single color light such as green blue,
red, yellow, etc.) as well as ultra violet (UV) region. Nowadays, with the
advent of modern semiconductor growth techniques like molecular beam
epitaxy (MBE), metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), etc.
along with bandgap engineering using compound semiconductors, it is
possible to fabricate various solid-state light sources including LEDs and
lasers which are active in visible, UV and IR region of the spectrum.

5. What is spontaneous emission and simulated emission?

Spontaneous emission: Electron drops from an excited state to a lower
state emitting a photon. It is the process by which a quantum system such
as an atom, molecule, nanocrystal or nucleus in an excited state undergoes
a transition to a state with a lower energy and emits quanta of energy.
Light from an atom is a fundamental process that plays an essential role
in many phenomena in nature and forms the basis of many applications,
such as fluorescent tubes, older television screens (cathode ray tubes),
plasma display panels, lasers, and LED.

Stimulated emission: When the photon of the same frequency

interacts with electron in excited state which drops to lower state. It is the
process by which an atomic electron interacting with an electromagnetic
wave of a certain frequency may drop to a lower energy level, transferring
its energy to that field. A new photon created in this manner has the same
phase, frequency, polarization, and direction of travel as the photons of
the incident wave. This is in contrast to spontaneous emission which
occurs without regard to the ambient electromagnetic field.

6. Comparison between LED & LASER?

LED
1. It emits the light by spontaneous
emission
2. The emitted light is incoherent, i.e.,
the photons are in the random phase
among themselves.
3. The emitted light power is relatively
low.
4. It requires smaller applied bias and
operates under relatively lower current
densities.
LASER
1. Here, the light is by stimulated
emission
2. It possesses a coherent beam with
identical phase relation of emitted
photons.
3. The output power is high (few MW to
GW).
4. It requires relatively higher driving
power and higher injected current
density is required.
5. It possesses a simple structural design
and does not require optical cavity and
mirror facets like laser, as it operates
under relatively lower power.
6. It does not suffer catastrophic
degradation and is more reliable in uses.
5. Its fabrication requires more steps
and special care in comparison to an
LED.
6. It has relatively higher degradation
chances during long period operation

7. Construction and working principle of planner surface

of LED?
Among various LEDs, the most simple and widely used one is planar
surface type as shown in Fig.6. A p-n+ junction with very thin p-layer (top
emitting side) as compared to heavily doped wide n+ layer, is grown on
low resistive and lattice matched n+ substrate. The external bias is applied
through the ohmic contact layers present at the top and bottom while the
emitted light comes from the thin p-layer as indicated.

Fig. Structural view of planer surface LED.

The top or the active layer (p-region) is made thinner than the heavily
doped n + layer for higher efficiency of LED. By using p-n structure
(rather than simple p-n junction), the depletion region can be pushed into
p-region of the junction (i.e., nearer to the top layer) where major carrier
recombination takes place. Thus, the emitted photon has the minimum
chance to be reabsorbed by the device material. In addition, by using very
high quality (e.g., defect-free except doping atoms) material, the trap
assisted recombination current is made nearly negligible.
 8. Injection, Quantum and extraction efficiency?
Injection efficiency: It is the ratio of the number of electrons injected into
the LED to the number of electrons supplied by the power sources. It is
denoted by ηinj.
Quantum efficiency: It is the proportion of all electron-hole
recombinations in the active region that are radiative, producing photons.
It is denoted by ηint.
Extraction efficiency: Once the photons are produced within the
semiconductor device, they have to escape from the crystal in order to
produce a light-emitting effect. Extraction efficiency is the proportion of
photons generated in the active region that escape from the device. It is
denoted by ηext.

9. Loses in LED and how to minimize loses?

LEDs have three distinct optical loss mechanisms like,
i. Loss of certain portion of emitted photons due to re-absorption
by the LED material itself to recreate the electron–hole pair.
ii. Loss of generated photon during its vertical incident at the
semiconductor-air interface.
iii. Photon loss due to its total internal reflection at incidence upon
LED top planer surface with angles greater than the critical
angles.
Loss Minimization:
To minimize the loss of photon due to reabsorption process (first
category), the top p- layer of LED is made thin that prevents the traveling
of the emitted photons to the long distance of its exposed planer layer. The
second and third types of loss mechanism can be minimized by using
dome-shaped LED.

10. Emission wave length of most useable

semiconductor for LED.
Various solid-state light sources including LEDs and lasers can be fabricated which
are active in visible, UV and IR region of the spectrum as shown in Fig. 4.
LASER
 ❖ LASER operating principle.
LASER operates based on stimulated emission. The photons multiply in
each step of the stimulated emission, giving rise to an intense beam of
photons that are coherent and moving in the same direction. Hence the
light is amplified producing LASER.
Laser action (with the resultant monochromatic and coherent light output)
can be achieved in a p-n junction formed by two doped GaAs layers. The
two ends of the structure need to be optically flat and parallel. One end
needs to be fully polished and the other partially polished. The length of
the junction must be precisely related to the wavelength of the light to be
emitted. The junction is forward biased and the recombination process
produces light as in the LED (incoherent). Above a certain current
threshold, the photons moving parallel to the junction can stimulate
emission and initiate laser action.

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 an emitting diode. The
key to the laser diode operation occurs at
the junction of the highly doped p and n type regions. With an applied
electromagnetic wave (in this instance light) passing through the laser
diode junction stimulated emission process occurs. Here the photons
release further photons of light when they strike electrons during the
recombination of holes and electrons.
The structure of the laser diode creates an optical cavity in which the light
photons have multiple reflections. When the photons are generated only a
small number are able to leave the cavity. In this way when one photon
strikes an electron and enables another photon to be generated the process
repeats itself and the photon density or light level starts to build up.
Ensuring the light is properly reflected is the key to the operation of the
device.

❖ LASER types
No. Laser Type Example
1. Solid State laser Ruby Laser, Nd:YAG Laser
2. Gas laser He-Ne Laser, CO2 Laser, Argon – ion laser
3. Liquid Laser SeOCl2 Laser, Europium Chelate Laser
4. Dye laser Rhodamine 6G laser, Coumarin dye laser
5. Semiconductor Laser GaAs laser, GaAsP laser

❖ Pumping action of LASER.

The process to achieve the population inversion in the medium is called
pumping action. It is essential requirement for producing a laser beam.
The methods commonly used for pumping action are:
1. Optical pumping (Excitation by Photons)
2. Electrical discharge method (Excitation by electrons)
3. Direct conversion
4. In elastic atom – atom collision between atoms
Optical pumping:

When the atoms are exposed to light

radiations, atoms in the lower energy state
absorb these radiations and they go to the
excited state. This method is called Optical pumping. It is used in solid
state lasers like ruby laser and Nd-YAG laser.

Electrical discharge method (Excitation by electrons)

In this method, the electrons are produced in

an electrical discharge tube. These electrons
are accelerated to high velocities by a strong
electrical field. These accelerated electrons
collide with the gas atoms. Some atoms gain
energy and they go to the excited state.

Direct Conversion
In this method, due to electrical energy applied
in direct band gap semiconductor like Ga As,
recombination of electrons and holes takes
place. During the recombination process, the
electrical energy is directly is converted into
light energy.

In elastic atom – atom collision

In this method, a combination of two gases are used. The excited states of
A and B nearly matches in energy. In the first step atoms of gas A are
excited to their higher energy state. Now the excited A atoms at higher
energy state collide with B atoms in the lower state. So, B atoms gain
energy and they are excited to a higher state. Hence, A atoms lose energy
and return to lower state.
 ❖ Flow chart of LASER action.

❖ Semiconductor diode LASER.

It is specifically fabricated p-n junction diode. This diode emits laser light
when it is forward biased.
Working Principle:
The active medium of a semiconductor diode laser is made of a p-n
junction diode made from the single crystal of GaAs. This crystal is cut in
the form of a platter having thickness of 0.5μm. The plate consists of two
parts having an n-type and p-type conductivity. The electrical voltage is
applied to the crystal through the electrode fixed on the upper surface.
Finally, the light beam comes out from a polished surface that acts like an
optical resonator.

When the PN junction is forward biased with large applied voltage, the
electrons and holes are injected into junction region. The region around
the junction contains a large amount of electrons in the conduction band
and a large amount of holes in the valence band. When the population
density reaches higher level, a condition of population inversion is
achieved. The electrons and holes recombine with each other and this
recombination’s produce radiation in the form of light.
When the forward – biased voltage is increased, more and more light
photons are emitted and the light production instantly becomes stronger.
These photons will trigger a chain of stimulated recombination resulting
in the release of photons in phase. The photons moving at the plane of the
junction travels back and forth by reflection between two sides placed
parallel and opposite to each other and grow in strength. After gaining
enough strength, it gives out the laser beam of wavelength 8400oA.
Advantages:

1. It is very small in dimension. The arrangement is simple and

compact.
2. It exhibits high efficiency.
3. The laser output can be easily increased by controlling the
junction current
4. It is operated with lesser power than ruby and CO2 laser.
5. It requires very little auxiliary equipment
6. It can have a continuous wave output or pulsed output.

Disadvantages:

1. It is difficult to control the mode pattern and mode structure of

laser.
2. The output is usually from 5 degree to 15 degree i.e., laser beam
has large divergence.
3. Threshold current density is very large (400A/mm2).
4. It has poor coherence and poor stability.

Application:

1. It is widely used in fiber optic communication

2. It is used to heal the wounds by infrared radiation
3. It is also used as a pain killer
4. It is used in laser printers and CD writing and reading.
 ❖ Heterojunction LASER.

Construction:

This laser consists of five layers as shown in the figure,

layer of p–type GaAs (3rd layer) will act as the active region. This layer
is sandwiched between two layers having wider band gap of p-type
GaAlAs (2nd layer) and n-type GaAlAs (4th layer).
The end faces of the junctions of 3rd and 4th layer is well polished and
parallel to each other. They act as an optical resonator.

Working Principle:

Same as Semiconductor diode Laser.

Advantages:
1. It produces continuous wave output.
2. The power output is very high.

Disadvantages:
1. It is very difficult to grow different layers of PN junction.
2. The cost is very high.

Application:
1. This type of laser is mostly used in optical applications
2. It is widely used in computers, especially on CD-ROMs.

❖ Characteristic comparison of Semiconductor diode and

Heterojunction Laser.
No. Characteristic Semiconductor diode Heterojunction
1. Type Solid state semiconductor Heterojunction
semiconductor
2. Active Medium A P-N junction diode of PN junctions made from
GaAs single crystal different layers
3. Pumping method Direct conversion Direct conversion
4. Power output 1 MW 1 MW
5. Nature of output Continuous wave or Continuous wave form
pulsed output
6. Wavelength 8300 to 8500o A Nearly 8000o A
 Photodetector
1. What is Photodetector? Types of photodetector.
A photodetector is a semiconductor device that converts light into
an electrical current or voltage, depending on the mode of operation. Solar
panels are an array of large photodiodes.

2. Requirements of photodetectors.
3. Mechanism of photodetector.

4. Working principle of photodetectors.

A photodiode is simply a p-n junction. When a photon of sufficient energy
strikes the diode, it excites an electron thereby creating a mobile electron
and a positively charged hole. If the absorption occurs in the junction’s
depletion region or one diffusion length away from it, these carriers are
swept from the junction by the built-in field of the depletion region. Thus,
holes move toward the cathode, and a photocurrent is produced.
5. Photodiode characteristics.
Electrical characteristics:

Optical characteristics
6. Noise in photodiodes.
7. PIN photodiodes.
8. Avalanche photodiode (APD).
The avalanche photodiode possesses a similar structure to that of the PN
or PIN photodiode. The main difference of the avalanche photodiode to
other forms of photodiode is that it operates under a high reverse bias
condition. As a photon enters the depletion region and creates a hole
electron pair, these charge carriers will be pulled by the very high electric
field away from one another. Their velocity will increase to such an extent
that when they collide with the lattice, they will create further hole
electron pairs and the process will repeat.

The avalanche action enables the gain of the diode to be increased many
times, providing a very much greater level of sensitivity.
9. Comparison of PIN & APD.
 Solar Cell
❖ What is Solar cell? Advantages of it.

Advantages of solar cell,

❖ Photovoltaic effect.
❖ Single Solar cell.

❖ Solar panel / Solar array / Solar module.

❖ Types of solar cell.
 ❖ Process of converting optical energy to electrical energy.
The process of converting optical energy into electric energy in a p-n
junction involves the following basic steps:
✓ Photons are absorbed, so electron-hole pairs are
generated (if h > Eg) in both the p and n sides
of the junction.
✓ By diffusion, the electron and holes
generated within a diffusion length from the
junction will be able to reach the space-charge
region.
✓ Electron-hole pairs are then separated by the
strong electric field; thus, electrons in the p
side slide down to move to the n side and
holes go in the opposite direction.
✓ If the pn diode is open-circuited, the
accumulation of electrons and holes on the two
sides of the junction produces an open-circuit
voltage. If a load is connected to the diode, a
current will flow in the circuit.

❖ Working principle of solar cell.

When light reaches the p-n junction of a solar cell, the light photons
can easily enter in the junction, through very thin p-type layer. The
light energy, in the form of photons, supplies sufficient energy to the
junction to create a number of electron-hole pairs. The free electrons in
the depletion region can quickly come to the n-type side of the junction.
Similarly, the holes in the depletion can quickly come to the p-type side
of the junction. Once, the newly created free electrons come to the n-
 type side, cannot further cross the junction because of barrier potential
of the junction.

Similarly, the newly created holes once come to the p-type side cannot
further cross the junction because of same barrier potential of the junction.
As the concentration of electrons becomes higher in one side, i.e. n-type
side of the junction and concentration of holes becomes more in another
side, i.e. the p-type side of the junction, the p-n junction will behave like
a small battery cell. A voltage is set up which is known as photo voltage.
If we connect a small load across the junction, there will be a tiny current
flowing through it.

❖ Solar cell I-V characteristics.

The above graph shows the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of a

typical silicon PV cell operating under normal conditions. The power
delivered by a solar cell is the product of current and voltage (I x V). If
the multiplication is done, point for point, for all voltages from short-
circuit to open-circuit conditions, the power curve above is obtained for a
given radiation level. The maximum voltage available from a cell is at
open circuit, and the maximum current at closed circuit.
Open circuit voltage: This is the maximum voltage that the array
provides when the terminals are not connected to any load (an open circuit
condition). This value is much higher than Vmp which relates to the
operation of the PV array which is fixed by the load. This value depends
upon the number of PV panels connected together in series.
Short circuit current: The maximum current provided by the PV array
when the output connectors are shorted together (a short circuit
condition). This value is much higher than Imp which relates to the normal
operating circuit current.
Maximum power point (MPP): This relates to the point where the power
supplied by the array that is connected to the load (batteries, inverters) is
at its maximum value, where MPP = Imp x Vmp. The maximum power
point of a photovoltaic array is measured in Watts (W) or peak Watts
(Wp).
Fill factor: The fill factor is the relationship between the maximum power
that the array can actually provide under normal operating conditions and
the product of the open-circuit voltage times the short-circuit current,
(Voc x Isc) This fill factor value gives an idea of the quality of the array
and the closer the fill factor is to 1 (unity), the more power the array can
provide. Typical values are between 0.7 and 0.8.