ECE 4105

Optical Fiber Communications

Department of ECE
Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET)
Optical Source

Optical Source
Optical
Transmitter
Optical Modulator

Optical source
• Semiconductor source mainly LEDs,
LASER
Requirements of Optical Source

• The light output should be highly directional.

• The source should be linear.
• Should emit light at wavelengths where the fiber has low losses
and low dispersion and where the detectors are efficient.
• Preferably capable of simple signal modulation (i.e. direct)
over a wide bandwidth.
• Must couple sufficient optical power.
• Should have a very narrow spectral bandwidth (linewidth) in
order to minimize dispersion in the fiber.
• Must be capable of maintaining a stable optical output in
ambient conditions.
• It is essential that the source is comparatively cheap and highly
reliable.
Absorption and Emission

E2 E2 E2
hν
hν hν hν

hν
E1 E1 E1

Absorption Spontaneous Emission Stimulated Emission

If the Photon energy Excited atom return to Initiated by existing photon

hν is equal to Eg=E2-E1, their normal state and and remarkable feature is,
the photon is emit light, called Spon. emitted photons are in
absorbed by atom. Emission. However its phase (Coherent) with the
random. original.

LEDs LASER
Optical Emission from Semiconductor

Band Structure of Intrinsic Semiconductor

p-Type and n-Type Semiconductor

Energy band diagram

n-type Semiconductor p-type Semiconductor

p-n Junction

• The Width of depletion

region and magnitude of
potential barrier is
dependent on Doping
and External applied
voltage.
• With Forward biased, the
carriers are effectively
diffused, which form a
current flow.
Spontaneous Emission

• Forward biased p-n diode leads to the recombination of

carriers across the bandgap.
• The energy released by this electron-hole re-combination is
approximately equal to the bandgap energy:
Eg = hf = hc/λ
C= velocity of Light, λ = Optical Wavelength
Light Emitting Diode (LED)

LEDs have number of Advantages as a optical source in

optical fiber communication.
• Simpler fabrication
• Cost
• Reliability
• Generally less temperature dependence
• Simpler derive circuitry
• Linearity
However, the main Drawbacks are:
• Lower optical power
• Lower modulation bandwidth
• Harmonic distortion
LED Power and Efficiency

Electrons per cubic meter J = Current Density, e = Electron charge ,

per second d = Thickness of recombination region
LED Power and Efficiency
LED Power and Efficiency

• Since Rr is also equivalent to the total number of photons

generated per second and each photon has an energy equal to
hf joules, then the optical power generated internally by the
LED
LED Power and Efficiency

For the exponential decay of excess carriers depicted by Eq. (1),

the radiative minority carrier lifetime is τr = Δn/rr and the
nonradiative minority carrier lifetime is τnr = Δn/rnr , eq. (7)
becomes:

Exercise 1:
External Power Efficiency

The external power efficiency ηep is defined as the ratio of the

optical power emitted externally Pe to the electric power provided
to the device P or

Also, the optical power emitted Pe into a medium of low refractive

index n from the face of a planar LED fabricated from a material of
refractive index nx is given approximately by

where Pint is the power generated internally and F is the

transmission factor of the semiconductor–external interface
External Power Efficiency

Exercise 2:
Coupling Efficiency

If it is assumed for Step index fibers that all the light incident on
the exposed end of the core within the acceptance angle θa is
coupled, then for a fiber in air,:

For a Lambertian source, the radiant intensity at an angle θ, I(θ),

is given by,
Coupling Efficiency

Considering a source which is smaller than, and in close

proximity to, the fiber core, and assuming cylindrical symmetry,
the coupling efficiency ηc is given by:

By using Radiant intensity of LED,

Furthermore,
 Coupling Efficiency

Exercise 3:
The light output from the GaAs LED of Exercise 2 is coupled into
a step index fiber with a numerical aperture of 0.2, a core
refractive index of 1.4 and a diameter larger than the diameter of
the device. Estimate:
(a) The coupling efficiency into the fiber when the LED is
in close proximity to the fiber core.
(b) The optical loss in decibels, relative to the power
emitted from the LED, when coupling the light output into the
fiber.
(c) The loss relative to the internally generated optical
power in the device when coupling the light output into the fiber
when there is a small air gap between the LED and the fiber core.
 The double-heterojunction LED

• The device shown consists of a p-type GaAs layer sandwiched

between a p-type AlGaAs and an n-type AlGaAs layer.
• electroluminescence only occurs in the GaAs junction layer,
providing both good internal quantum efficiency and high-
radiance emission
 LED structures; Surface Emitter LEDs

• obtain high radiance by restrict the emission to a small active region

within the device.
• The power coupled Pc into a multimode step index fiber may be
estimated as
 Edge Emitter LEDs

• Stripe geometry DH edge emitter LED (ELED)

• Transparent guiding layers with a very thin active layer (50 to 100 μm).
• The consequent waveguiding narrows the beam divergence to a half-
power width of around 30°.
Surface Emitting Vs Edge Emitting LEDs---Self Study
LED Characteristics ; Linearity
• Intrinsically the LED is a very
Linear device, suitable for analog
transmission.
• However, in practice LEDs do
exhibit significant Nonlinearities.

Surface Emitter Edge Emitter

LED Characteristics ; Temperature Dependence

• Optical output power decreases as the p–n junction temperature

increases.
• ELED exhibits greater temperature dependence than SLED.
• With Increase of Temperature, Non-linearity significantly
improved.
 LED Characteristics ; Output Spectrum

• Active layer doping density effect

the spectral width and peak
emission wavelength.
• ELED provides narrower optical
spectrum than SLED.
• Temperature effects on spectrum
broadening and Peak Emission
Wavelength.
Modulation bandwidth

• The modulation bandwidth in optical communications may be

defined in either electrical or optical terms.
• It corresponds to frequency at which power is reduced by Half
i.e., 3dB.
• Optical BW is larger than the Electrical BW.
 Modulation bandwidth

• The modulation bandwidth of LEDs is generally determined by

Three Mechanisms. These are:
(a) The doping level in the active layer;
(b) The reduction in radiative lifetime due to the
injected carriers;
(c) The parasitic capacitance of the device.
• The speed at which an LED can be directly current modulated is
fundamentally limited by the recombination lifetime of the carriers,
where the optical output power Pe(ω) of the device (with constant
peak current) and angular modulation frequency ω is given by
Exercise 4:
Compare the electrical and optical bandwidths for an optical fiber
communication system and develop a relationship between them.

Exercise 5:
The minority carrier recombination lifetime for an LED is 5 ns.
When a constant d.c. drive current is applied to the device the optical
output power is 300 μW.
Determine the optical output power when the device is
modulated with an rms drive current corresponding to the d.c. drive
current at frequencies of (a) 20 MHz; (b) 100 MHz.
It may be assumed that parasitic capacitance is negligible.
Further, Determine the 3 dB optical bandwidth for the device and
estimate the 3 dB electrical bandwidth assuming a Gaussian
response.