Online class 3

ET721/2
 Laser
T: Transmittance of gain medium
R: Reflectance of mirror

The single pass gain will be 𝐺 = 𝑒 𝛾0 𝜈 𝑙

Now for one round trip we can write
𝐼0 → 𝑇𝐺𝐼0 → 𝑅2 𝑇𝐺𝐼0 → 𝑅2 𝑇 2 𝐺 2 𝐼0 → 𝑅1 𝑅2 𝑇 2 𝐺 2 𝐼0
Then we get the necessary condition for lasing
𝑅1 𝑅2 𝑇 2 𝐺 2 𝐼0 > 𝐼0
Therefore the minimum gain should be
1 1
𝛾0 𝜈 > 2𝑙 𝑙𝑛 𝑇 2 𝑅1 𝑅2

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 2
 Output power from laser

I+ is forward propagating intensity, I- is backward travelling intensity

At any point the saturated gain can be written as
𝛾0
𝛾= 𝐼+ +𝐼−
1+
𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑡

Now to derive the total output power we make the following assumptions
1. Low loss 2. Low gain
3. The change in intensity is moderate on each pass
4. The losses are distributed over the cavity
R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 3
 Output power from laser
Now we can write:
𝑑𝐼
𝑑𝑧
= 𝛾𝐼 (1)
Now,
Total loss=Total internal loss + total external loss
Internal loss, 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑡 : scattering, mirror imperfection, absorption of medium
External loss, 𝛼𝑒𝑥𝑡 : transmission through partial reflector of cavity
Now at threshold condition we have,
𝑅1 𝑅2 𝑇 2 𝑒 2𝛾𝑑 = 1 = 𝑒 −2𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑑 𝑒 −2𝛼𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑑 𝑒 2𝛾𝑑 (2)
So we get:
1 1 1 1
𝛼𝑒𝑥𝑡 = 𝑙𝑛 𝑅 𝑅 and 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑡 = 𝑙𝑛 𝑇 2
2𝑑 1 2 2𝑑

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 4
 Output power from laser
Now for the forward propagating signal we can write
𝑑𝐼+ 𝛾0
𝑑𝑧
= 𝐼+ +𝐼−
− 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑡 + 𝛼𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝐼+ (3)
1+
𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑡

Now at steady state we have

𝛾0
𝐼+ +𝐼−
= 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑡 + 𝛼𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝐼+ = 𝛼 𝑇 𝐼+ (4)
1+
𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑡

Now if we assume the gain is low then

𝐼+ + 𝐼− = 2𝐼+
So we get,
𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝛾0
𝐼+ = 2 𝛼𝑇
−1 (5)
Therefore the total output power becomes
𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝛾0
𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 𝐼+ 𝑇 = −1 𝑇 (6)
2 𝛼𝑇
R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 5
 Output power from laser
𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝛾0
𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡 = −1 𝑇
2 𝛼𝑇
This equation is somewhat faulty as it indicates arbitrary increment in output power just by
increasing T. So we perform the following manipulation
𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝛾0 2𝑑
𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡 = −1 𝑇 (7)
2 𝛼𝑇 2𝑑
Now we have 𝛼 𝑇 2𝑑 = 𝛼𝑖𝑛𝑡 + 𝛼𝑒𝑥𝑡 2𝑑 = 𝐿 + 𝑇 and 𝛾0 2𝑑 = 𝑔0
Then we can write,
𝐼𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑔0
𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡 = 2 𝐿+𝑇
−1 𝑇 (8)
The total power from a laser is now found by multiplying the output intensity by the area of
the output beam.
𝑃 = 𝐼𝑜𝑢𝑡 . 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎

R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 6
 Output power from laser
Power increases with unsaturated gain g0, and is reduced by internal losses L. Eqn. (8) also
shows that the laser will not work unless the net gain g0 exceeds the total loss L + Tout.
This expression is accurate for output coupling up to about 35 percent. For larger coupling,
one has to resort to iterative calculations using eqn. (4).
Using eqn. (8) the optimum coupling of power can be find out by setting
𝑑𝐼
=0
𝑑𝑇
Which yields:
𝑇𝑜𝑝𝑡 = −𝐿 + 𝑔0 𝐿
The optimum coupling depends on the total gain of the laser. Since many lasers in
optoelectronic applications are designed to work at a variety of powers, the choice of output
coupling may well be dictated by other concerns, such as keeping the threshold gain low or
achieving a large modulation bandwidth.
R. Chattopadhyay, IIEST 7
Requirement for a Laser

Excited state

Gain medium
Nonradiative transition
Metastable state

Optical pump h

Ground state

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 8

Recombination process
When the electron de-excites it
electron recombines with the hole and as a result a
photon is created.
Conduction band
Suppose the conduction band has energy
Ea and the valance band has energy Eb
and the emitted photon has frequency .
Then
Conservation of energy:
𝐸𝑎 − 𝐸𝑏 = ℎ𝜈 (1)
Valance band
hole Conservation of momentum:
ℏ𝑘𝑣𝑎𝑙 + ℏ𝑘𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑛 = ℏ𝑘𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 (2)

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 9

 Recombination process
Now we make a numerical estimate,
Consider a photon with wavelength 632 nm. Then the momentum of photon is
2𝜋 2𝜋
𝑘= = 632×10−9 𝑚−1 = 9.941 × 104 𝑐𝑚−1
𝜆
Now for an electron the momentum is given by
𝜋
𝑘=
𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡
𝜋
A typical crystal with lattice constant 5Å we get 𝑘 = 5×10−10 𝑚−1 = 6.28 × 107 𝑐𝑚−1
Therefore we can neglect the momentum of photon with respect to electron and hole. Hence
we can write eqn (2) as
ℏ𝑘𝑣𝑎𝑙 = ℏ𝑘𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 (3)
Therefore, recombination requires that the initial and final momentum of the electron be
essentially the same.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 10
Direct and Indirect bandgap

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 11

Direct and Indirect bandgap

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 12

E-K diagram of pure semiconductor

It is evident that the pure semiconductor do

not posses direct energy bandgap. Therefore
they are less efficient as lasing medium. A lot
of energy will be spent via non-radiative
transitions.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 13

III-V semiconductor

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 14

 Lattice defect

To increase the performance and life expectancy of a laser diode, grown layers must be as
free of material defects as possible.
Crystal defects such as dislocations serve as nonradiative recombination centres which
reduce the population inversion. To avoid dislocations, it is important that alloy materials be
grown on lattices with nearly perfectly matched lattice constants.
If the lattice constant of two materials differs by as little as 1 percent, then one vacancy
every 100 atoms will be required to make up the difference. When added up across an
interface, this represents a tremendous number of defects per unit area.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 15
 Density of states
We now consider a three-dimensional cavity using a
rectangular structure with dimensions a, b, and c. The k
vector can be written as
𝑘 = 𝑘𝑥 𝑥 + 𝑘𝑦 𝑦 + 𝑘𝑧 𝑧
𝑛𝜋 𝑚𝜋 𝑞𝜋
Where 𝑘𝑥 = 𝑎
, 𝑘𝑦 = 𝑏
and 𝑘𝑧 = 𝑎

By using standard definition of density of states we can

write for a 3 dimensional semiconductor:
𝑘2
𝜌 𝑘 𝑑𝑘 = 𝑑𝑘
states/unit volume/k
𝜋2
The energy of a band is
𝐸 = ℏ2 𝑘 2 2𝑚∗
Where m* is the effective mass of carrier given by
𝑚∗ = 𝑘 2 𝑑 2 𝐸 𝑑𝑘 2
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 16
 Density of states
Therefore we may write:
3
1 2𝑚∗ 2
𝜌 𝐸 𝑑𝐸 = 𝐸𝑑𝐸
2𝜋2 ℏ2
E is the excess energy of the carrier relative to the band edge. For conduction electrons, E is
measured from the bottom of the conduction band, while for holes E is measured from the top of the
valence band.
This relation shows that the effect of the semiconductor comes through only by the m*. The effective
mass is a simple way to account for the interaction of the periodic lattice on the motion of the wave
through the lattice, and depends on the material.
In the valence band of III-V compounds, there is also a "light" hole with an equivalent mass
comparable to that of the conduction-band electron. The light hole has a maximum energy almost
identical to the heavy holes. But the reduced mass makes the density of states much less than the
heavy holes, so the majority of holes are heavy holes. The small effective mass of the conduction-
band electrons in GaAs compared to other semiconductors allows them to move quickly in response
to applied fields. This is the major reason why GaAs is used in microwave and other high-speed
electronic circuits.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 17

 Density of states

The number of carriers can be found out by the density of states function.
Example:
How many electrons are required to fill the conduction band in GaAs to 0.1eV above the
conduction-band minimum?
Answer:
The number of carriers is found by integrating over the density of states from zero to 0.1eV.
Setting E = 0.1eV, we get
3
Δ𝐸 1 2𝑚∗ Δ𝐸 2
𝑁= 0
𝜌 𝐸 𝑑𝐸 = 3𝜋2 ℏ2 = 2.5 × 1024 electrons/m3

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 18

 Optical emission
Unlike a gas laser, where every laser-active atom is identical, the emission from a
semiconductor comes from a distribution of carriers spread over a finite energy range.
As electrons recombine with the empty holes in the valence band and give off photons, those
with the largest k value will have the greatest energy and will emit the highest-energy
photons. Electrons in the conduction band with the lowest k value will emit the lowest-
energy photons.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 19

 Optical emission
If the electron has energy Ec then the energy
occupied by the holes will be
𝑚
∆𝐸𝑣 = 𝑚𝑒 Δ𝐸𝑐
ℎ

Therefore the energy of the emitted photon will be

in the range
𝐸𝑔 < ℎ𝜈 < 𝐸𝑔 + Δ𝐸𝑐 + Δ𝐸𝑣
The intensity of the emission increases with total
population of carriers. In a three-dimensional
semiconductor structure, where the density of states
increases with energy, the photon flux will increase
within the limits posed by relation. At elevated
temperature, the distribution of carriers becomes
spread out, following the quasi-Fermi distributions.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 20

 Quasi Fermi level and inversion
The FD distribution is given by:
1
𝑓 𝐸 = 𝐸−𝐸𝐹
𝑒𝑥𝑝 +1
𝑘𝑡

The quasi-Fermi level describes the distribution of carriers within their respective bands.
The quasi-Fermi function describes the occupation probability of electrons in the conduction
band
1
𝑓𝑛 𝐸 = 𝐸−𝐹𝑛
𝑒𝑥𝑝 +1
𝑘𝑡

Fn is the quasi fermi level of electron in conduction band.

For holes it becomes:
1
𝑓𝑝 𝐸 = 𝐹𝑝 −𝐸
𝑒𝑥𝑝 +1
𝑘𝑡

Fp is the quasi fermi level of holes in valance band

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 21
 Quasi Fermi level and inversion
The density of electrons in the conduction band are then given by

For holes it becomes

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 22

 Quasi Fermi level and inversion
So we will have a gain if
𝐹𝑛 − 𝐹𝑝 > ℎ𝜈 > 𝐸𝑔
The density of electron and hole depends on the quasi Fermi level through this complicated
relation

Because of the different effective mass of the holes and electrons, to create the same density
of electrons and holes requires different values of Fp and Fn.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 23

Occupation probability

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 24

 Gain in semiconductor laser

The gain of the system is defined as

𝛾 = 𝐾(ℎ𝜈 − 𝐸𝑔 ) 1 2
𝑓𝑐 𝐸𝑏 − 𝑓𝜈 (𝐸𝑎 )
The coefficient K must be determined from external absorption measurements on the
sample. From this we expect gain to increase in the bulk semiconductor as the energy
increases, until the quasi-Fermi distributions begin to reduce the gain.

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 25

Homojunction laser
When forward biased, electrons tend to enter
the p region in much higher number than the
holes enter the n region due to the higher
mobility of the electrons.
We therefore say that electrons are injected
into the p region.
The distance an injected carrier travels
depends on its mobility and its lifetime,
𝑙 = 𝐷𝜏
Where D is the diffusivity given by
𝑘𝑇𝜇
𝐷= 𝑒
Where µ is the mobility. And we have
1
lifetime of electron, 𝜏 = .
𝛽𝑝𝑝

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 26

Homojunction laser
Now using the value 𝜇𝑛 = 600 cm2/V-sec we
get diffusivity of electron
𝐷𝑛 = 16.5 cm2/sec
And 𝜇𝑝 = 30 cm2/V-sec we get diffusivity of
hole
𝐷𝑝 = 0.78 cm2/sec
A typical p-dopant density in a homojunction
diode is approximately 1019 cm-3 and using β
= 2×10-10, the effective lifetime for an
injected electron becomes
𝜏 = 0.5 nsec
Which gives
L = 0.88µm
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 27
Heterojunction laser

In unbiased semiconductor

In biased semiconductor

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 28

 Quantum Well (QW) laser
DOS for bulk semiconductor
𝑘2
𝜌 𝑘 𝑑𝑘 = 𝑑𝑘 states/unit volume/k
𝜋2
In terms of energy it becomes
3
1 2𝑚∗ 2
𝜌 𝐸 𝑑𝐸 = 𝐸𝑑𝐸
2𝜋2 ℏ2
If the dimension of the semiconductor is Lx , Ly and
Lz then the electron wavevectors becomes
𝑛𝜋 𝑚𝜋 𝑞𝜋
𝑘𝑥 = , 𝑘𝑦 = and 𝑘𝑧 =
𝐿𝑥 𝐿𝑦 𝐿𝑧

Now if we make Lz very thin then it makes kz

largely spaced.
Hence the allowed energy 𝐸 = ℏ2 𝑘 2 2𝑚∗ 𝐿𝑧
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 29
 Quantum Well (QW) laser

The density of states for a bulk solid and a quantum well

are superimposed. The bulk solid has the characteristic
square root dependence on state density with increasing
energy. The quantum well has no states until the energy
reaches a certain value; then the density is constant until
the next value of kz can be reached.
R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 30
Trapping charge in QW laser

R. Chattopadhyay, ETC, IIEST 31