Unit III

Optical Sources, Amplifier and Transmitter

Characteristics of LEDs:

• Low speed ( < 100-200 Mb/s) data rates;

• Easy to couple with multimode fiber;

• Medium optical power in tens of microwatts;

• Require less complex drive circuitry

• No thermal or optical stabilization circuits needed;

• Fabricated less expensively with higher yields.

 Materials for LED
In-Direct band-gap materials: Momentum of electrons in valance
band and conduction band are not same. (Higher/lower)
• Electrons in conduction band have to search for Phonon(high
energy lattice vibration) to balance momentum to convert to
photon.
• This requires generation of phonon and photon simultaneously for
every recombination.
• This results in non-radiative recombination. Si, Ge
Direct band-gap materials: Momentum of electrons in valance band
and conduction band are same.
• This does not require generation of phonon and photon
simultaneously for every recombination.
• This results in most recombinations radiative.
In-Direct Band Gap Materials
Direct Band Gap Materials
 Light source Materials
• Material used in the active region should be a direct band
gap material.
• In direct band gap material, radiative recombination is very
high to maintain adequate level of optical emission.
• Single element semiconductors are not direct band gap
materials.
• III (e.g., Al, Ga, In)-V (e.g., P, As, Sb) compounds are
direct band gap materials. Few ternary and quaternary
combinations of the binary compounds of III-V materials
are also direct band gap materials.
• For operation in 800 -900 nm spectrum, the material used
is the ternary alloy Ga1-x Alx As
 Light source Materials
• The ratio x will determine the band gap of the material or
wavelength of the peak emitted radiation.
• The value of x for active region is chosen so that the
emission spectrum should be 800 – 850nm
• For x = 0.8, peak is at 810nm
• At longer wavelengths, the quarternary alloy In1-x Gax Asy P1-y
is one of the premier candidate.
• E = h= hc/
• The peak emission wavelength can be expressed as a
function of band gap energy Eg in eV by the equation
 (μm) = 1.240/ Eg (eV)
Semiconductor Bandgap
Material energy (eV)
Silicon 1.12
GaAs 1.43
Germanium Ge 0.67
InP 1.35
Ga0.93Al0.03As 1.51
 For x=0.08
(Ratio of Aluminum Arsenide
to Gallium Arsenide)

Spectral Emission of Ga1-xAlxAs LED

 Characteristics
•Radiance (or brightness) of LED is a measure of the optical
power radiated into a unit solid angle per unit area of the
emitting surface.

•Emission response time is the time delay between the

application of a current pulse and the onset of optical
emission.

•Time delay is the factor limiting the bandwidth with which

the source can be modulated directly by varying the injected
current
 Characteristics

• Quantum efficiency is related to the fraction of

injected electron-hole pairs that recombine
radiatively.
• To achieve high radiance and high quantum efficiency,
the LED’s double-hetero-junction structure provides a
means of confining the charge carriers and the
stimulated optical emission to the active region of the
pn junction.
 LED Structure
a) Cross-section drawing of a typical
GaAlAs double heterostructure light
emitter. In this structure, x>y to
provide for both carrier confinement
and optical guiding.
b) Energy-band diagram showing the
active region, the electron & hole
barriers which confine the charge
carriers to the active layer.
c) Variations in the refractive index;
the lower refractive index of the
material in regions 1 and 5 creates an
optical barrier around the waveguide
because of the higher band-gap
energy of this material.
1.240
 (m) 
Eg (eV)
 Confining and Guiding the Light with in the Device
 With in the device the light must be confined and directed
to the exit aperture so that it can be directed into the
fiber which is done using insulating materials SiO2 to
confine the active region and the current path.

 The active layer in a heterostructure has a higher

refractive index.

 This junction forms a mirror layer and helps to confine the

light to the active layer. For this reason, the outer layers
are often called “confinement layers”
 Surface-Emitting LED

Fig. Schematic of a high-radiance surface-emitting LED. The active region is

limited to a circular section that has an area compatible with the fiber-core
end face.
 Surface-Emitting LED
• Double Heterostructures giving increased efficiency from electrical
and optical confinement as well as less absorption of the emitted
radiation.
• The structure of a high radiance etched well DH structure emitter
for the 0.8 to 0.9 µm
• The internal absorption in this device is very low due to larger band
gap confining layers, and the reflection coefficient at the back
crystal face is high giving good forward radiance.
• A well is etched through the substrate (GaAs) to avoid the heavy
absorption of the emitted radiation, and the fiber is connected to
accept the emitted light.
• The circular active area is nominally 50 µm in diameter and upto
2.5 µm thick.
 Surface-Emitting LED
• The emission pattern is essentially isotropic with a 120o
half-power beam width.
• In the isotropic Lambertian pattern, the emitter source
is equally bright when viewed from any direction.
• This radiation pattern decides the coupling efficiency of
LED
• The power diminishes as cos θ, where θ is the angle
between the viewing direction and the normal to the
surface.
• The power is down to 50% of its peak when θ = 60o, the
total half-power beam width is 120o.
 Surface Emitting LED
• Plane of active light emitting region
perpendicular to axis of fiber.
• Fiber cemented into well.
• Active region approximately 50μm dia and
2.5 μm thick.
• Emission pattern isotropic with 120⁰ half
power beam width.
• Lambertian pattern.
• Power decreases as cosine of θ.
• Source is equally bright when viewed
from any direction.
• As projected area decreases as cosθ.
• Coupling not good.
• Highly divergent.
 Edge Emitting LEDs

Fig. Schematic of an edge-emitting double-hetero-junction LED. The output

beam is lambertian in plane of the pn of junction (θ||=120o) and highly
directional perpendicular to the pn junction
 Edge Emitting LEDs
• Edge emitting LEDs emit a more directional light pattern than the
surface emitting LEDs
• In order to reduce the losses caused by the absorption in the active
layer and to make the beam more directional, the light is collected
from the edge of the LED. Such a device is known as edge emitting
LED or ELED.
• The edge emitting LED has transparent guiding layers with a very
thin active layer of about 50 to 100 µm in order that the light
produced in the active layer spreads into the transparent guiding
layers, thereby reducing self absorption in the active layer.
• The guiding layers have refractive index lower than the active region
but higher than the surrounding material. The surrounding guiding
layers are like the core and cladding of the fiber.
 Edge Emitting LEDs
• This structure forms a waveguide channel that directs the optical
radiation toward the fiber core.

• To match the typical fiber-core diameters (50-100 µm), the

contact stripes for the edge emitter are 50-70 µm wide.
• Lengths of the active regions usually range from 100 to 150 µm.

• In the plane parallel to the junction, where there is no waveguide

effect, the emitted beam is Lambertian (varying as cosθ) with a
half- power width of θ|| = 120o (Horizontal).

• In the plane highly directional perpendicular to the junction, the

half-power beam width θꓕ has been made as small as 25-35o by a
proper choice of the waveguide thickness.
 Edge Emitting LED
• Active region RI greater than side layers.
• Forms waveguide channel that directs optical
radiation towards side into fiber.
• Active region 50-70μm wide, 100-150μm long.
• Emission pattern-
• Lambertian 120⁰ horizontally.
• With proper choice of waveguide thickness,
it can be 25⁰ to 35⁰ vertically.
• Better than Surface Emitter.
Comparison : Surface Emitting LEDs Vs Edge- Emitting LEDs

• SLED’s generally radiate more power into air (2.5 to 3 times) than ELED’s since
the emitted light is less affected by re-absorption.

• SLED’s couples more optical power into large NA (greater than 0.3) than ELED
where as the opposite is true for low NA’s.

• Less coupling efficiency in SLED’s as compare to ELED’s.

• ELED’s have better modulation bandwidth (orders of hundreds of MHz

bandwidth) than SLED’s with the same drive level.

• ELEDs have narrower bandwidth than SLED’s.

• ELEDs couples 7.5 times more power into the low NA fiber than SLEDs
Spectral width of LED types
 Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
• Excess of electrons and holes in p- and n-type material
(referred to as minority carriers) is created in
semiconductor light source by carrier injection at the
device contacts.
• The excess carriers can recombine either radiatively or
non-radiatively
• When there is no external carrier injection, the excess
carrier density decays exponentially with time according to
the relation
n = no exp(-t/τ)
where no is the initial injected excess electron density and
the time constant τ is the carrier lifetime and n is the
excess carrier density
 Quantum Efficiency and LED Power
• The total rate at which carriers are generated is the sum of the
externally supplied and the thermally generated rates.
• Externally supplied rate is given by J/qd,

where J is the current density,

q is the electron charge, and
d is the thickness of the recombination region.

Thermal generation rate is given by n/τ.

n- Excess carrier density ; τ – Carrier Life time
• The rate equation for carrier recombination in an LED can be written
as
dn(t ) J n
 
dt qd 
q : charge of the electron; d : thickness of recombinat ion region

• Equilibrium condition is found by setting Eq. above equal to zero, (dn

/ dt =0), yielding the steady-state electron density in the active
region
J
n
qd
• This relation ship gives the steady-state electron density in the
active region when a constant current is flowing through it
 Internal Quantum Efficiency(ηint)
• Internal quantum efficiency in the active region is the fraction of
the electron-hole pairs that recombine radiatively.
• If the radiative recombination rate is Rr and the nonradiative
recombination rate is Rnr, then the internal quantum efficiency ηint is
the ratio of the radiative recombination rate to the total
recombination rate:
ηint = Rr / (Rr + Rnr )

• For exponential decay of excess carriers, the radiative

recombination lifetime is r =n/Rr

• The nonradiative recombination lifetime is nr = n/Rnr.

• Thus, the internal quantum efficiency can be
expressed as
hint = 1/[1+(r/nr)] = /r
where the bulk-recombination lifetime  is
(1/) = (1/r) + (1/nr)

• LEDs having double-heterojunction structures can

have quantum efficiencies of 60-80 %. This high
efficiency is achieved because the thin active regions
of LEDs mitigate the self-absorption effects, which
reduces the nonradiative recombination rate.
• For current I injected into LED, the recombination rate is
Rr + Rnr = I/q
The photon-generating rate Rr = hint I / q

• Since each photon has an energy h, the optical power generated
internally to the LED is

I hcI
Pint  hint h  hint
q q
Pint : Internal optical power,
I : Injected current to active region
• Example:
A double-heterojunction InGaAsP LED emitting at a peak wavelength of 1310-
nm has radiative and nonradiative recombination times of 30 and 100-ns,
respectively. The drive current is 40-mA. From Eq. (4-11), the bulk
recombination lifetime is
 = r.nr/(r + nr)
= 30 x 100 / (30 + 100) ns
= 23.1 ns
The internal quantum efficiency is

hint =  / r = 23.1/30 = 0.77

Pint = hint.(hcI/q)
(6.6256x10-34J.s)(3x108m/s)(0.040A)
= 0.77 x ----------------------------------------------
(1.602x10-19C)(1.31x10-6m)
= 29.2 mW
 External Quantum Efficiency(hext)
• The external quantum efficiency is used to find the emitted power of the
optical source
• External quantum efficiency hext is the ratio of the photons emitted from the
LED to the number of internally generated photons.
# of photons emitted from LED
hext 
# of LED internally generated photons
• The external quantum efficiency is given by
𝝓𝒄
𝟏
𝜼𝒆𝒙𝒕 = න 𝑻(𝝓ሻ (𝟐𝝅𝐬𝐢𝐧𝝓ሻ𝒅𝝓
𝟒𝝅
𝟎
Where
𝝅 𝒏𝟐
• Critical angle 𝝓𝒄 =
𝟐
− 𝜽𝒄 = 𝐬𝐢𝐧−𝟏
𝒏𝟏

Here, n1 is the refractive index of the semiconductor material and n2 is the

refractive index of the outside material
𝑇(𝜙ሻis the Fresnel transmission coefficient (or) Fresnel transmissivity
Fig. Only light falling within a core defined by the critical angle will be emitted from an optical source
𝑻(𝝓ሻ depends on the incidence angle 𝝓. When 𝝓=0, then

4𝑛1 𝑛2
𝑇(0ሻ = 2
𝑛1 + 𝑛2

Let us consider, n1=n and n2=1 (outside medium is air). Then T(0) can
be written as
4𝑛
𝑇(0ሻ = 2
𝑛+1

𝜙𝑐
1
𝜂𝑒𝑥𝑡 = න 𝑇(𝜙ሻ (2𝜋sin𝜙ሻ𝑑𝜙
4𝜋
0
𝜙𝑐
2𝜋 4𝑛
= 2න
sin𝜙(𝑑𝜙ሻ
4𝜋 1 + 𝑛
0
2𝑛 𝜙𝑐
= 2
−cos𝜙 0
1+𝑛
 2𝑛
= 2
(−cos𝜙𝑐 + 1ቇ
1+𝑛

2𝑛
= 2
(1 − cos𝜙𝑐 ቇ
1+𝑛

2𝑛 𝜋
𝜂𝑒𝑥𝑡 = 2 1 − cos − 𝜃𝑐
1+𝑛 2

2𝑛
= 2 (1
− sin𝜃𝑐 ቇ
1+𝑛

2𝑛 𝑛2
= 2 1 − sin sin−1 [Because of Critical Angle]
1+𝑛 𝑛1

2𝑛 𝑛2
= 2 1−
1+𝑛 𝑛1
2𝑛 𝑛1 − 𝑛2
= 2
1+𝑛 𝑛1
 2𝑛 𝑛1 − 𝑛2 𝑛2
= 2
1+𝑛 𝑛1 𝑛2

Consider n=n1n2 and n2=1.0, so n=n1

2𝑛(𝑛1 𝑛2 − 𝑛22 ሻ
=
1 + 𝑛 2𝑛
1
Consider 𝑛(𝑛1 𝑛2 − 𝑛22 ሻ =
2
1
𝜂𝑒𝑥𝑡 = 2
𝑛 𝑛+1

LED Power

The Optical power (P) emitted from the LED is defined as 𝑃 = 𝜂𝑒𝑥𝑡 . 𝑃int

𝑷𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝜼𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝒉𝒄𝑰

𝑷= 𝟐 (or) 𝑷= 𝟐
𝒏 𝒏+𝟏 𝒒𝝀𝒏 𝒏 + 𝟏
Example:
Assuming a typical value of n = 3.5 for the refractive index of an
LED material, then from Eq. we obtain ηext = 1.41%.

• This shows that only a small fraction of the internally generated

optical power is emitted from the device.
 Semiconductor Laser Diode
• Semiconductor laser diodes are normally preferred over LED for the optical
fiber communication systems, where the bandwidth is required greater than
approximately 200 MHz

• Laser diodes have,

i. Response time less than 1 ns,
ii. Optical bandwidth of 2 nm or less,
iii. High coupling efficiency
iv. Laser diodes multilayered, and
v. Smaller temperature dependence.

• Stimulated emission in semiconductor lasers arises from optical transitions

between distributions of energy states in the valence and conduction bands

• The radiation in the laser diode is generated within a Fabry-Perot resonator

cavity
 FABRY-PEROT RESONATOR CAVITY
• In the laser diode Fabry-Perot resonator, a pair of flat, partially
reflecting mirrors are directed towards each other to enclose the
cavity. The purpose of these mirrors is to provide strong optical
feedback in the longitudinal direction, thereby converting the device
into an oscillator.

• Lasers are oscillators which is operating at an optical frequency. The

oscillator is formed by a resonator cavity providing a selective
feedback.

• This cavity is much smaller, being approximately 250 -500 µm long, 5 –

15 µm wide, and 0.1 – 0.2 µm thick. These dimensions are commonly
referred to as the longitudinal, lateral and transverse dimensions of
the cavity, respectively.
 Current Injection R2
R1

GAIN
MEDIUM
Active region

Cleaved Facets z-=0 z-=L

MIRRORS
Structure of a semiconductor laser
Schematic view of Fabry-Perot Cavity
Hetero-Junctions
In the case of semiconductor lasers, external mirrors are
not required as the two cleaved laser facets itself act as
mirrors whose reflectivity is given by

Rm=[(n-1)/(n+1) ]2
Where, n is the refractive index of the gain medium.

When a double heterojunction (DH) structure was

implemented, the resulting carrier and optical confinement
reduces the threshold currents necessary for lasing by a
factor of around 100
• In a double hetero-junction (DH), the forward bias is supplied by connecting a
positive electrode of a supply to the ‘p’ side of the structure and a negative
electrode to the ‘n’ side of the structure.

• When a voltage which corresponds to the bandgap energy of the active layer is
applied, a large number of electrons (or holes) are injected into the active layer
and hence, the laser oscillation commences.

• A small amount of gain is necessary for the operation of a laser. This amount
can be realized only when the laser is pumped above a threshold level. The
current which is required to reach the mentioned level threshold is called the
threshold current

• The two hetero junctions provide carrier and optical confinement in a direction
normal to the junction. The current at which where lasing starts is also called as
the threshold current. Above this current, the output power gets increases
sharply.
Double hetero-junction Injection Laser
 DFB (Distributed Feed Back) Lasers
• In DFB lasers, the lasing action is obtained by means of periodic
variations of the refractive index which are incorporated into the
multiple layer structure along the length of the diode. Here the
cleaved facets are not required for optical feedback.

Fig. Structure of a distributed Feed Back (DFB) laser diode

 Modes and Threshold Conditions
Modes of the cavity:

The optical radiation within the resonance cavity of a laser diode sets
up a pattern of both electric and magnetic field lines is called the
“modes of the cavity”

Two modes are available in the optical cavity. They are

1.Transverse Electric (TE) modes, and

2.Transverse Magnetic (TM) modes.

Each set of modes can be described in terms of longitudinal, lateral

and transverse half-sinusoidal variations of the electro magnetic
fields along the major axes of the cavity
 Modes and Threshold Conditions
Transverse
z
Longitudinal
y

x
Longitudinal Modes: Lateral

The longitudinal modes are related to the length L of the cavity and it
determines the principal structure of the Frequency spectrum of the
optical radiation.

Since L is much larger than the lasing wavelength of approximately

1 µm, many longitudinal modes can exist.
 Modes and Threshold Conditions
Lateral Modes:

• Lateral modes lie in the plane of the p-n junction. These modes depend on
the side wall preparation and width of the cavity, and it determines the
shape of the lateral profile of the laser beam.

Transverse Modes :

• Transverse modes are associated with the electromagnetic field and beam
profile in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the p-n junction.

• These modes determines the laser characteristics such as the radiation

pattern and the threshold current density. i.e., the point at which the
lasing starts
• To determine the lasing conditions and the resonant frequencies,
the EM wave propagating in the longitudinal direction in terms of
the electric field phasor

E(z,t) = I(z).exp[j(wt - bk)]

where
I(z) is the optical field intensity,
wis the optical radian frequency, and
β is the propagation constant.
Lasing
• Lasing is the condition at which light amplification becomes possible in the laser
diode. The condition for lasing is that a popular inversion can be achieved

• The stimulated emission rate into a given mode is proportional to the intensity of
the radiation in that mode.

• The radiation intensity at a photon energy h varies exponentially with the

distance z that it traverses along the lasing cavity according to the relationship

I(z) = I(0).exp{[Gg(h) – ~a(h)]z}

where
g is the gain coefficient in the Fabry-Perot cavity,
~a is the effective absorption coefficient of the material in the optical path, and

G is the optical-field confinement factor -- the fraction of optical power in the

active layer.
z is distance travelled in the cavity
h is Photon energy
• Lasing occurs when the gain of guided modes exceed the optical loss during one
roundtrip through the cavity. i.e. z=2L
R1 R2

Cleaved Facet
Cleaved Facet (mirror)
(mirror)
Active region

2L

(One round trip time)

• During the roundtrip z = 2L, only the fractions R1 and R2 of the optical radiation are
reflected from the laser ends 1 and 2, respectively.

• Where R1 and R2 are the mirror reflectivities or Fresnel reflection coefficients, which
are given by
R = [(n1-n2)/(n1+n2)]2
For the optical reflection at an interface between materials having refractive
indices n1 and n2.
From this lasing condition, becomes

I(2L) = I(0)R1R2.exp{2L[Gg(h) – ~a(h)]}

Lasing Condition
At the lasing threshold, a steady-state oscillation takes place, and the
magnitude and phase of the returned wave must be equal to those of the
original wave:
The condition of lasing threshold is given as

i) For Amplitude: I(2L) = I(0)

ii) For Phase: exp[-j2βL] = 1

The above equation gives information concerning the resonant frequencies of
the Fabry-Perot cavity.
• The condition to just reach the lasing threshold is the point at which the
optical gain is equal to the total loss at in the cavity.

Optical gain at threshold = Total loss in the cavity (αt)

• The condition is
Ggth = at
= ~a + (1/2L).ln(1/R1R2)
= ~a + aend

where αend is the mirror loss in the lasing cavity.

• An important condition for lasing to occur is that, we must have the gain
g > gth. This means that the pumping source that maintains the population
inversion must be sufficiently strong to support or exceed all the energy-
consuming mechanisms within the lasing cavity.
Fig. Relationship between optical output power and laser diode drive current. Below the lasing threshold,
the optical output is a spontaneous LED-type emission.
• The relationship between optical output power and diode drive current is
presented in Fig.

• At low diode currents, (Below the threshold current [Ith]) only spontaneous
radiation occurs, and there is a small increase in optical output power with
drive current.

• Both the spectral range and the lateral beam width of this emission are broad
like that of an LED.

• A dramatic and sharply defined increase in the power output occurs at the
lasing threshold. As this transition point is approached, the spectral range and
the beam width both narrow with increasing drive current.

• The final spectral width of ~1 nm and the fully narrowed lateral beam width of
nominally 5-10° are reached just past the threshold point.
•
• The threshold current Ith is defined by extrapolation of the lasing region of
the L-I curve, as shown in Fig.

• At high power outputs, the slope of the curve decreases because of junction
heating.

• For laser structures that have strong carrier confinement, the threshold
current density for stimulated emission Jth can to a good approximation be
related to the lasing-threshold optical gain by

gth = bJth
where b is a constant that depends on the specific device construction.

• The threshold current density (Jth) is given by

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝑱𝒕𝒉 = ഥ+
𝜶 𝐥𝐧
𝜷 𝟐𝑳 𝑹𝟏 𝑹𝟐
 Laser Diode Rate Equations
• The relationship between an optical output power and the diode drive
current can be determined by examining the rate equations that govern
the interaction of photons and electrons in the active region.
• The total carrier population is determined by carrier injection,
spontaneous recombination and stimulated emission
• For a pn junction with a carrier-confinement region of depth d, the rate
equations are given as,
• The rate equation governs the number of photons Φ is given by
dF/dt = CnF + Rsp – F/ph m-3 s-1
= stimulated emission + spontaneous emission + photon loss.
• The rate equation governs the number of electrons n is given by
dn/dt = J/qd - n/sp – CnF m-3 s-1
= injection + spontaneous emission + stimulated emission .
Here, C is a coefficient describing the strength of the optical
absorption and emission interactions;
Rsp is the rate of spontaneous emission into the lasing mode,
ph is the photon lifetime,
sp is the spontaneous-recombination lifetime,
and J is the injection-current density.
• For steady state condition, i.e., dΦ/dt=0 and dn/dt=0, when n and Φ have non
zero values.

• Assume Rsp is negligible and dΦ/dt must be positive when Φ is small

𝐶𝑛 − 1Τ𝜏𝑝ℎ ≥ 0
• From above equation it is clear that ‘n’ must exceed a threshold value nth in
order for Φ to increase and the threshold value for the electron density nth is
given by substituting n = nth
1
= 𝑛𝑡ℎ
𝐶𝜏𝑝ℎ

• The above threshold value (nth) can be expressed in terms of the threshold
current Jth, when the number of photons Φ = 0, as

𝐽𝑡ℎ 𝑛𝑡ℎ
− =0
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑠𝑝
 𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝐽𝑡ℎ
= m-3s-1
𝜏𝑠𝑝 𝑞𝑑

The above equation gives the current required to sustain an excess

electron density in the laser when spontaneous emission is the only
decay mechanism.
𝜙𝑠
𝐶𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝜙𝑠 + 𝑅𝑠𝑝 − =0
𝜏𝑝ℎ
Next, consider the photon and electron rate equation in the steady-
state condition at lasing threshold is given as

𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ
− − 𝐶𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝜙𝑠 = 0
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑠𝑝
𝜙𝑠 is the steady-state photon density
 Steady State Photon Density (𝝓𝒔 )
𝜙𝑠 𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ
𝐶𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝜙𝑠 + 𝑅𝑠𝑝 − + − − 𝐶𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝜙𝑠 = 0
𝜏𝑝ℎ 𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑠𝑝

𝜙𝑠 𝐽 𝐽𝑡ℎ
= 𝑅𝑠𝑝 + −
𝜏𝑝ℎ 𝑞𝑑 𝑞𝑑

𝜏𝑝ℎ
𝜙𝑠 = (𝐽 − 𝐽𝑡ℎ ሻ + 𝜏𝑝ℎ 𝑅𝑠𝑝
𝑞𝑑

𝜙𝑠 = {Number of photons resulting from stimulated emission} +

{Spontaneously generated photons}
 External quantum efficiency
• Number of photons emitted per radiative electron-hole pair
recombination above threshold, gives us the external quantum
efficiency.
ഥሻ
𝜼𝒊 (𝒈𝒕𝒉 − 𝜶
𝒈𝒕𝒉
𝜂𝑖 - Internal quantum efficiency (0.6-0.7),
𝑔𝑡ℎ - Threshold gain and

𝛼ത - Absorption coefficient

Experimentally, 𝜂𝑒𝑥𝑡 is calculated from the straight line portion of

the curve for the emitted optical power P versus drive current I, which
is given by
𝑞 𝑑𝑃 𝑑𝑃(mWሻ
𝜂𝑒𝑥𝑡 = = 0.8065𝜆[𝜇m]
𝐸𝑔 𝑑𝐼 𝑑𝐼(mAሻ
Where,
Eg – Band gap energy in eV
dP Incremental change in the emitted optical power (mW)
dI Incremental change in the drive current (mA), and
λ Emission Wavelength (micrometers)

• Typical values of 𝜂𝑒𝑥𝑡 for standard semiconductor laser is ranging

between 15 – 20 %. The high quality devices have differential
quantum efficiencies of 30 – 40 %.
 Laser Resonant Frequencies
• Lasing condition

exp(  j 2 bL)  1  2 bL  2m , m  1,2,3,...

2n
• Assuming b the resonant frequency of the mth mode is:


mc
m  m  1,2,3,...
2 Ln

c 2
   m  m1    
2 Ln 2 Ln
Spectrum from a Laser Diode

 (  0 ) 
g ( )  g (0) exp    : spectral width
 2 
2
 Laser Diode Structure & Radiation Pattern
• Efficient operation of a laser diode requires reducing
the no of lateral modes, stabilizing the gain for
lateral modes as well as lowering the threshold
current.
• These are met by structures that confine the optical
wave, carrier concentration and current flow in the
lateral direction.
• The important types of laser diodes are:
1. gain-induced,
2. positive index guided, and
3. negative index guided.
Gain guided laser Positive Index Waveguide Negative Index Waveguide
Gain-induced Positive index guide Negative Index guide
guidance
-can emit > 100 - more stable structure - more stable structure
mW - central region has - central region has
- strong higher n lower n
instabilities - all guided light is - most of light
- highly reflected at dielectric refracted into
astigmatic boundary surrounding
- more popular compared material and lost
to negative-index guide
 Single Mode Laser
• For high-speed long distance communication one needs single mode-
lasers, which must contain only a single longitudinal mode and a single
transverse mode.
• The spectral width of the optical emission is very narrow.
1. One way of restricting a laser to have only one longitudinal mode is
to reduce the length L of the lasing cavity to the point where the
frequency separation Δℽ of the adjacent modes is larger than the
laser transition line width. i.e. Only a single longitudinal mode falls
within the gain bandwidth of the device. This is hard to handle for
fabrication and results in low output power.
2. Vertical-Cavity Surface Emitting laser (VCSEL)
3. Structures with built-in frequency selective grating
4.Tunable laser diodes
VCSEL (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser
• Fig. shows the one mirror system that consists of a semiconductor material, such as
Si/SiO2, as one material and an oxide layer, such as Si/Al2O3, as the other material.

• Three types of laser configurations using a built-in frequency-selective reflector.

• Distributed Feedback Laser (DFB)

• Distributed Bragg-reflector (DBR) laser
• Distributed-reflector (DR) laser.

• In each case, the frequency-selective reflector is a corrugated grating that is a

passive waveguide layer adjacent to the active region.

• The optical wave propagates parallel to this grating.

• The operation of these types of lasers is based on the distributed Bragg phase grating
reflector.

• A phase grating is essentially a region of periodically varying refractive index that

causes two counter propagating travelling waves to couple.
The coupling is at a maximum for wavelengths close to the Bragg wavelength λB,
which is related to the period ꓥ of the Corrugations by
2ne 
B 
k
ne is the refractive index of the mode
k is the order of the grating

Distributed Feedback laser(DFB)

In DFB, the grating for the wavelength selector is formed over the entire active region.

In an ideal DFB laser, the longitudinal modes are spaced symmetrically around λB at wavelengths given by

B 2 1
  B  (m + )
2ne Le 2
Where m=0,1,2,3.. Is the mode order
Le is the effective grating length
Frequency-Selective laser Diodes: Distributed
Feedback (DFB) laser
Output spectrum symmetrically distributed around Bragg wavelength in an idealized DFB laser diode
• The amplitudes of successively higher-order lasing modes are
greatly reduced from the zero-order amplitude. E.g. the first
order mode (m=1) is usually more than 30 dB down from the zero-
order amplitude (m=0)

• Theoretically, in a DFB laser that has both ends antireflection-

coated, the zero-order modes on either side of the Bragg
wavelength should experience the same lowest threshold gain and
would lase simultaneously in an idealized symmetrical structure
Frequency-Selective laser Diodes: Distributed
Bragg Reflector (DBR) laser
For the distributed-Bragg-reflector (DBR) laser, the
gratings are located at the ends of the normal active
layer of the laser to replace the cleaved end mirrors used
in the Fabry-Perot optical resonator.
Frequency-Selective laser Diodes: Distributed
Reflector (DR) laser
• The distributed-reflector (DR) laser consists of active and
passive distributed reflectors.

• This structure improves the lasing properties of conventional

DFB and DBR lasers, and has a high efficiency and high output
capability
• The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is a type of semiconductor laser diode with laser beam
emission perpendicular from the top surface.

• The cavity is along the vertical direction, with a very short length, typically 1-3 wavelengths of the emitted
light.
• This feature facilitates the integration of multiple lasers onto a
single chip in one or two dimensional arrays, which makes them
attractive for wavelength division multiplexing applications.

• The active region volume of these devices is very small, which leads
to very low threshold currents (< 100 µA).

• For an equivalent output power compared to edge-emitting lasers,

the modulation bandwidths are much greater, since the higher
photon densities reduce the radiative lifetimes.

• The mirror system used in VCSELs to form the resonant cavity is

of critical importance, since maximum reflectivity is needed for
efficient operation.
Optical Amplifiers
• In the long distance optical fiber communication systems, the repeaters are suitable for
100 km distance. These are used to receive and amplify the transmitted signal to its
original intensity and then it is passed onto the main fiber.

• This amplification was done by conversion of optical signal into electrical signal and
amplification by electrical amplifiers and then the reconversion of electrical signal into an
optical signal.

Drawback of repeaters:

• The repeaters are not only increase the cost and complexity of the optical communication
system but also reduce the operational bandwidth of the system. So we are preferably
using optical amplifiers.

Advantages of Optical amplifiers:

• Optical amplifiers directly amplify the optical signal without any conversion. So the cost
and complexity of the devices has been reduced. Operational bandwidth of the system is
utilized effectively.
 General Applications of Optical Amplifiers
(i) In-line Optical Amplifiers:

Fig. In-line amplifier to increase transmission distance

An optical amplifier can be used not only to compensate the transmission loss
and also increases the distance between the regenerative repeaters
(ii) Pre Amplifier

Fig: Preamplifier to improve receiver sensitivity

• Optical amplifier being can also be used as a front end preamplifier for an
optical receiver.

• A weak optical signal is amplified before photo detection so that the signal-to-
noise ratio degradation caused by the thermal noise in the receiver electronics
components can be suppressed.

• An optical preamplifier provides a larger gain factor and a broader bandwidth.

(iii) Power (booster) amplifier

Fig. Booster of transmitted power

• The power or booster amplifier is placed immediately after an optical

transmitter to boost the transmitted power.

• This amplifier increase the transmission distance by 10-100 km depending on

the amplifier gain and fiber loss.
(iv) LAN Booster Amplifier

Fig: Booster of signal in a local area network

One of the application of an optical amplifier in a local area network

as a booster amplifier is to compensate for the coupler-insertion loss
and power splitting loss.
 Necessity of Optical amplifiers?
• To Transmit a signals over long distances (>100km),
to compensate attenuation losses.

• Initially this was accomplished with an

optoelectronic module consisting of optical RX,
regenerator, equalizer, & an optical TX to send the
data.

• Although functional this arrangement is limited by

optical to electrical & electrical to optical
conversions.
 Optical Amplifiers
An optical amplifier is a device which amplifies
the optical signal directly without ever changing
it to electricity. The light itself is amplified.

Reasons to use the optical amplifiers:

• Reliability
• Flexibility
• Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)
• Low Cost
 Basic Operation of an Amplifier:

• All optical amplifiers increase the power level of incident light

through a stimulated emission process.

• The device absorbs energy supplied from an external source called

the pump. The electrons in the active medium raises to higher levels
to produce a population inversion through the energy supplied by
pump source.

• An incoming signal photon will trigger the electrons in the higher

level to drop to lower levels through stimulated emission process.
Hence, the amplified signal is produced.

• The alloys of III and V (e.g., phosphorous, gallium, indium & arsenic)
semiconductor elements make up the active mediums in SOAs.
 Generic optical amplifier

Energy is transferred from the pump to signal

 Basic Concepts
• Most optical amplifiers use stimulated emission
• An optical amplifier is basically a laser without
feedback
• Optical gain is realized when the amplifier is
pumped optically (or electrically) to achieve
population inversion
• Gain depends on wavelength, internal light
intensity and amplifier medium
• Three types: semiconductor optical amplifiers,
Raman Amplifiers and fiber doped amplifiers
 Distributed Fiber Amplifiers
• The active medium is created by lightly doping silica fiber core by
rare earth element Ex: Erbium (Er)

• Long fiber length (10-30 m)

• Low coupling loss (+)

• Transparent to signal format and bit rate

• No cross talk

• Broad output spectrum (1530 – 1560 nm)

• Works only in specific Wavelengths

Doped Fiber Amplifiers
• The active medium is created in fiber during fabrication itself, that is, by adding rare-earth
elements such as Erbium (Er), Ytterbium (Yb), Neodymium (Nd) or Praseodymium (Pr).

• The host fiber material can be either standard silica, a fluoride-based glass, or a
multicomponent glass.

• The operating regions of these devices depend on the host material and doping elements.

Erbium Doped Fiber Amplifiers

• The most popular material for long telecommunication applications is a silica fiber doped with
erbium, which is known as an Erbium doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA).

• In some cases, Yb is added to increase the pumping efficiency and the amplifier gain.

• The operation of an EDFA by itself normally is limited to the 1530 to 1560 nm region. When
combined with a Raman fiber Amplifier that boosts the gain at higher wavelengths.
Erbium Energy Level Diagram
Amplification Mechanism:
• When semiconductor optical amplifiers use external current injection to excite
electrons to higher energy levels, then an optical amplifier use optical pumping.

• In the optical pumping process, one uses photons to directly raise electrons into
excited states. To know how an EDFA works, we need to look at the energy level
structure of the erbium.

• The erbium atoms in silica are actually Er3+ ions, which are erbium atoms that have
lost three of their outer electrons.

• The transitions of the outer electrons in these ions to high energy states knows
as “ raising the ions to higher Energy levels”

Raising ions to Higher energy levels:

Raising ions to the higher energy level is achieved by two pump level.
i) Meta stable (4I13/2 level),
ii) 4I11/2 pump level.
Metastable:
• The “Metastable” means that the life times for the transitions from this state
to the ground state are very long compared with the lifetimes to the states that
led to this level.

Stark Splitting:

• The Metastable, the pump, and the ground-state levels are actually bands of
closely spaced energy levels that form the manifold which is known as stark
splitting.

• The metastable band is separated from the bottom of the 4I15/2 ground-state
level by an energy gap ranging from about 0.814eV at the bottom of the
metastable band to 0.841eV at the top of the metastable band.

• The gap between the top of the 4I15/2 level and the bottom of the metastable
band is around 0.775 eV
Transition 1:

In the normal operation, a pump laser emitting at 980 nm photons is used to excite the ions from
the ground state to the Pump level with in 1 µs.

Transition 2:

These excited ions decay (relax) very quickly ( in about 1 µs) from the pump band to the metastable
band

During this decay, the excess energy is released as photons, or equivalently, mechanical vibrations
in the fiber

Transition 3:

Another possible pump wavelength is 1480 nm. The energy of these pump photons is very similar to
the signal-photon Energy, but it is slightly higher.

The absorption of 1480 nm pump photon excites an electron from the ground state directly to the
lightly populated top of Metastable state
Transition 4:
These electrons tend to move down to the more populated lower end of the metastable
level.

Transition 5:
Some of the ions in the metastable level can decay back to the ground state in the absence
of an externally stimulating photon Flux. This is known as spontaneous emission, which add
the amplifier noise.

Transition 6:
A small portion of the external photons will be absorbed by ions in the ground state, which
raises these ions to the metastable Level

Transition 7:
In the second stimulated emission, processing a signal photon triggers an excited ion to
drop to the ground state, thereby emitting a new photon of the same energy, wave vector,
and polarization as the incoming signal photon.

The widths of the metastable and ground state levels allows higher level of stimulated
emission. This occur in the 1530 to 1560nm range.
 EDFA Configuration (or) EDFA Architecture
Doped fiber configuration depends purely on the pumping
type. They are,
i. Co- directional pumping
ii. Counter directional pumping
iii. Dual pumping
(i) Co-Directional Pumping

The pump light is injected from the same direction as

signal flow. This gives better noise performance
Counter Directional Pumping:

The pump light is injected in the opposite direction to

the signal flow. This scheme provides higher gain.
 (iii) Dual Pumping

In this dual pumping, both co-directional and counter

directional pumping are used. Thus, two pump sources are
used to get gain both +17dB and +35 dB.
 Gain versus EDFA length

• There is an
optimum length
that gives the
highest gain
• Negative gain if
too long

Fig. EDFA gain on fiber length and pump power for a 1480 nm pump and a 1550 nm signal.
 Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers (SOAs):
SOAs work both in 1300 nm and 1550 nm. The two major types of SOAs are the
resonant, namely Fabry-Perot Amplifier (FPA) and non resonant, namely
Travelling-Wave Amplifier (TWA).

(a)Fabry-Perot Amplifier (FPA):

• In the FPA, the two cleaved facets of a semiconductor crystal act as partially
reflective mirrors that form a Fabry-Perot cavity.

• When an optical signal enters the FPA, it gets amplified as it reflects back and
forth between the mirrors until it is emitted at a higher intensity.

• The Fabry-Perot amplifier bandwidth is less than 10 GHz. So that, they are
unsuitable for optical communication.

• FPA’s are easy to fabricate, where the optical signal gain is very sensitive to
variations in amplifier temperature and input optical frequency.
 Travelling Wave Amplifier (TWA):
• The input light gets amplified only once during a single pass through
the TWA.
• Here, the bandwidth is increased by reducing the reflection
feedback from the end facets. This is achieved by anti-reflection
coatings to the facets.

TWAs have been used more widely than FDAs especially in network
applications , due to its
i. Large Optical bandwidth
ii. High Saturation power, and
iii.Lower polarization sensitivity
External Pumping:
• External current injection is the pumping method used to create the population
inversion needed for having a gain mechanism in SOAs

• Stimulated emission and Spontaneous-recombination rates gives the rate

equation that governs the carrier density n(t) in the excited state as,

{Carrier density n(t) in the excited state} = Injection + Stimulated Emission +

Spontaneous recombination
𝜕𝑛(𝑡ሻ 𝑛(𝑡ሻ
= 𝑅𝑝 (𝑡ሻ − 𝑅𝑠𝑡 (𝑡ሻ −
𝜕𝑡 𝜏𝑟
𝐽(𝑡ሻ
𝑅𝑝 (𝑡ሻ =
Where, 𝑞𝑑
Rp(t) is the external pumping rate from the injection current density J(t)
into the active layer of thickness d,
τr is the combined time constant coming from spontaneous emission and
carrier-recombination mechanisms.
• Stimulated emission rate, 𝑅𝑠𝑡 (𝑡ሻ = 𝛤𝑎𝑣𝑔 (𝑛 − 𝑛𝑡ℎ ሻ𝑁𝑝ℎ = 𝑔𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ

Here,
𝑣𝑔 is the group velocity of the incident light
𝛤 is the optical confinement factor
a is a gain constant (which depends on the optical frequency 𝑣),
Nph is the photon density
nth is the threshold carrier density, and
g is the overall gain per unit length

• Consider an active area of the optical amplifier has a width of w and a

thickness of d, then for an optical signal of power Ps with photons of energy h𝑣
then

Photon density 𝑃𝑠 𝑃𝑠
𝑁𝑝ℎ = 𝑁𝑝ℎ = 𝑐
𝑣𝑔 (ℎ𝛾ሻ(𝑤𝑑 ൯  𝑣𝑔 (ℎ ሻ 𝑤𝑑
𝜆
In steady state
𝜕𝑛(𝑡ሻ
=0
𝜕𝑡
𝑛
𝑅𝑝 = 𝑅𝑠𝑡 +
𝜏𝑟

𝐽 𝑛
= 𝑅𝑠𝑡 +
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑟

𝐽 𝑛
= 𝑔𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ +
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑟

𝛤𝑎𝑣𝑔 (𝑛 − 𝑛𝑡ℎ ሻ𝑁𝑝ℎ = 𝑔𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ

𝑔
𝑛 − 𝑛𝑡ℎ =
𝛤𝑎
𝑔
𝑛 = 𝑛𝑡ℎ +
𝛤𝑎
 𝑔
𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ + 𝛤𝑎
= 𝑔𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ +
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑟
𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝛤𝑎 + 𝑔
= 𝑔𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ +
𝑞𝑑 𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟

𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝛤𝑎 𝑔
= 𝑔𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ + +
𝑞𝑑 𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟 𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟

𝐽 𝑔 𝑛𝑡ℎ
= 𝑔𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ + +
𝑞𝑑 𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟 𝜏𝑟

𝐽 1 𝑛𝑡ℎ
= 𝑔 𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ + +
𝑞𝑑 𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟 𝜏𝑟

𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ 1
− = 𝑔 𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ +
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑟 𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟
 𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ
−
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑟
𝑔=
1
𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ +
𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟

Then, the steady state gain per unit length (g) is expressed as,

𝐽 𝑛
− 𝑡ℎ
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑟
𝑔=
𝑣𝑔 𝑁𝑝ℎ 𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟 + 1
𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟

𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ 𝑔0
𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟 −
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑟  𝑔=
𝑔= 𝑁𝑝ℎ
𝑁𝑝ℎ 1+
1+ 𝑁𝑝ℎ;𝑠𝑎𝑡
𝑁𝑝ℎ;𝑠𝑎𝑡
 Where, 1
Saturation Photon density, 𝑁𝑝ℎ;𝑠𝑎𝑡 =
𝛤𝑎𝑉𝑔 𝜏𝑟

𝐽 𝑛𝑡ℎ
Zero Signal gain, 𝑔0 = 𝛤𝑎𝜏𝑟 −
𝑞𝑑 𝜏𝑟

Zero signal gain (g0) is the medium gain per unit length in the absence
of signal input (when the photon density is zero), which is also called
small signal gain per unit length.
 Amplifier Gain:
The signal gain or amplifier gain (G) of an optical amplifier is defined as,

G = Output power from the optical amplifier / Input power to the optical amplifier
𝑃𝑠,𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝐺=
𝑃𝑠,𝑖𝑛
The single pass gain in the active medium of SOA is

𝐺 = exp(𝛤(𝑔𝑚 − 𝛼ሻ𝐿ሻ
ത = exp(𝑔(𝑧ሻ𝐿ሻ
Where,
𝛤 is the optical confinement factor in the cavity
gm is the material gain coefficient
𝛼ത is the effective absorption coefficient of the material in the optical
path,
L is the amplifier length, and
g(z) is the overall gain per unit length.
From the above equation it is clear that the gain increases with device length.
An expression for the gain G as a function of G as a function of the input power
can be derived by examining the gain parameter g(z) (overall gain per unit length)
and this parameter depends on the carrier density and signal wavelength.

At a distance z from the input end, g(z) is given by

𝑔0
𝑔(𝑧ሻ =
𝑃 (𝑧ሻ
1+ 𝑠
𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑝,𝑠𝑎𝑡

Where,
g0 is the unsaturated medium gain per unit length in the absence of signal
input, and
Ps(z) is the internal signal power at point z.
The amplifier saturation power (Pamp,sat) is defined as, “the internal power level at
which the gain per unit length has been halved”.

g(z) with an incremental length dz, the light power (P) get increases as,
𝑑𝑃 = 𝑔(𝑧ሻ𝑃𝑠 (𝑧ሻ𝑑𝑧

𝑑𝑃 𝑔0
=
𝑃𝑠 (𝑧ሻ𝑑𝑧 𝑃𝑠 (𝑧ሻ
1+
𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑝,𝑠𝑎𝑡

1 1
𝑔0 (𝑧ሻ𝑑𝑧 = + 𝑑𝑃
𝑃𝑠 (𝑧ሻ 𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑝;𝑠𝑎𝑡

Integrate the above equation with limits from z=0 to z=L yields,
 𝐿
𝑃𝑠,𝑜𝑢𝑡
1 1
ඳ 𝑔0 (𝑧ሻ𝑑𝑧 = ඲ + 𝑑𝑃
𝑃𝑠 (𝑧ሻ 𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑝,𝑠𝑎𝑡
𝑃𝑠,𝑖𝑛
0

The signal pass gain in the absence of light to be G0=exp(g0L), where L is the
amplifier length.

Amplifier gain becomes,

𝑃𝑎𝑚𝑝,𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝐺0
𝐺 =1+ ln
𝑃𝑠,𝑖𝑛 𝐺
Fig. Typical dependence of the single-pass gain on optical input power for a small-signal gain
of G0= 3 dB (a gain of 1000)
• From Fig., the zero-signal gain (or small signal gain) is G0=30 dB,
which is a gain factor of 1000.

• The curve shows that when the input signal power increases, the
gain first stays near the small-signal level and then starts to
decrease.

• After decreasing linearly in the gain saturation region, it finally

approaches an asymptotic value of 0 dB (a unity gain) for high input
powers.

• The curve also shows, the output saturation power, which is the
point at which the gain is reduced by 3 dB.
 Transmitter Module
• It is the unit of the fiber optic communication system responsible for converting
an electrical information into an optical one

• The major component of transmitter – a light source in the form of an LED or

Laser

• Now its time to turn the other components of this unit, which main function is to
maintain a high quality optical information signal.
Functional block diagram of Transmitter module:

• Transmitter includes a light source, coupling optics, signaling circuits and power
control circuit

• Data from outside electronic circuits enter this module along with a clock signal.

• A special unit converts the data into a format suitable to control a laser diode.
 Bias motor

Data
Data-conversion
Laser Driver
unit
Clock

Transmitter
disable Laser Bias and
Operation Modulation
Circuit control

Temperature Fiber

Control
Coupling
Cooler loss

Output power Temperature alarm Rear end facet mirror

alarm and monitor and monitor
Data Conversion Unit
The transmitter’s data conversion unit performs three major functions.
i. Encoding
ii. Parallel to Serial conversion
iii.Reshaping the electric format of the data.
Encoding:
• Encoding means representing data in a physical format
(pulses)
• This is necessary because data are transmitted in different
line codes
• The need for using different line codes can be clarified by
the following example
• All digital transmissions are governed by a clock signal
• The simplest way of representing a logic 1 and logic 0 in
electric form.
 Non Return to Zero (NRZ) Code:

• By line coding's, non return to zero (NRZ) format logic 1 is

transmitted as an electric pulse with the Amp in volts.
• Logic 0 is transmitted as 0V during τ ns.
• But it has very poor transmission capability.
• It carries a dc power component, which delivers no
information but transmits a lot of heat.
• Because of heat, transmitter consume more electric power.
• If any asynchronization between clock and data signals
caused by noise (or) other line distortions will result in a
false data reading.
• This code has no self-synchronization ability.
 Clock Signal

Non- Return to Zero (NRZ) code

 Manchester code
• To overcome these problem, the Manchester code can be used.

• Here logic 1 is represented by the transition of an electric signal

from the positive A/2 level to the –A/2 V level.

• Logic 0 is represented by the opposite transition.

• All the transitions occur in the middle of the clock pulse.

• This code has no dc component and its transitions can be used for
synchronization process.

• It requires twice bandwidth for transmission.

Return to Zero (RZ)

• Another line code, Return to Zero represents logic 1 as a

pulse with the amplitude (A) and the duration (τ/2).

• Logic 0 is represented by a zero signal.

• The output of transmitter light pulses represents logic 1

as a flash of light and logic 0 as a period of darkness.
Manchester Code

Return to Zero (RZ) code

(ii) Parallel to Serial Conversion:

• The second function is to convert parallel data to serial

conversion.

• Data enter in parallel format but a laser diode can be

driven only by serial pulses of modulation current.

• Thus parallel in serial out convertor, which is often called

a multiplexer is used to convert data into a serial format
(iii) Comparator:

• It is used to reshaping the electric format of data

• Lets consider a comparator with differential input
• This is a circuit that compares two input signals.
• The output becomes almost equal to Vcc that is to
the power supply voltage. If the data signal is higher
than the Complementary signal
• If the data signal is lower than the complement
signal, the output becomes almost zero.
 Laser Driver
• Data prepared for light transmission pass
into a laser driver.

• We need this circuit because a laser diode

is a current driven rather than voltage
driven device, while the power supply is
always a voltage source.

• First function of a laser driver is to

convert outside voltage into the current
needed to drive the laser.

• Driving current has to bias a laser diode

to speed the modulation process.

• So another function of a laser driver is to

provide a bias current
 Modulation circuit:

• It is used to change driving current from bias

level to max.

• Data > VBB, Q1 ON, Q2 OFF , Laser diode OFF

• Data < VBB, Q2 ON, Laser diode ON