Chapter 11

SEMICONDUCTOR OPTOELECTRONICS

Semiconductor based optoelectronic devices form an important component of modern information age. The following gures provide an overview of important optoelectronic processes and devices.

ADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL DEVICES

Immunity to electromagnetic interference

Can be transmitted without distortion due to electrical storms, etc.

Non-interference of two or more crossed beams

Unlike electrical signals, optical signals can cross each other without distortion

High parallelism

Two-dimensional information can be sent and received

High speedhigh bandwidth

Potential bandwidths for optical communication systems exceed 1013 bits per second

Beam steering for reconfigurable interconnects

Free space connections allow versatile architecture for information processing

Special-function devices

Interference or diffraction of light can be used for special applications

Wave nature of light for special devices Nonlinear materials New logic devices can be created

Photonics-electronics coupling

The best of electronics and photonics can be exploited by optoelectronic devices

Challenges: How does one harness the tremendous potential?

Prof. Jasprit Singh

www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

OPTOELECTRONICS: MOTIVATIONS FROM SYSTEM DEMANDS

DISPLAY APPLICATIONS: OPTICAL MEMORIES: COMMUNICATIONS:

Light emitters covering red, green, blue Short wavelength light emitters Light emitters/detectors operating at low absorption/dispersion points of optical fibers (1.55 m, 1.3 m)

SEMICONDUCTOR BANDGAPS (WAVELENGTHS) AND HUMAN EYE RESPONSE

Human eye repsonse

Infrared

Red Orange CdTe

Green Yellow

Violet Blue

Ultraviolet

InSb PbS Ge HgCdTe

6.0 3.0 2.0 1.5

Si

GaAs

CdSe GaAs1-yPy

GaP CdS

SiC

GaN ZnS

(m)
0.6 0.5 0.45 0.4 0.35

1.0 0.9

0.8

0.7

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2.0

2.2

2.4

2.6

2.8

3.0

3.2

3.4

3.6

Eg (eV)

Prof. Jasprit Singh

www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

LIGHT ABSORPTION IN SEMICONDUCTORS

DIRECT BANDGAP

INDIRECT BANDGAP

CONDUCTION
BAND

Photon h > Eg

Photon

Phonon VALENCE
BAND

Energy conservation h > Eg Momentum conservation ki = kf for strong processes Indirect gap materials have weak absorption

ABSORPTION

PHONON-ASSISTED
ABSORPTION

105 Electron-hole pair generation rate Ge Si CdTe GaAs Direct gap materials: 103 GaP (h) ~5.6 x 104 GL = h
Pop

ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT (cm1)

10

Pop: Optical intensity (Watts/cm2)

( hEg( h

1/2

h, Eg in units of eV

102

10 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 PHOTON ENERGY (eV)

Prof. Jasprit Singh

www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

P-I-N PHOTODETECTORS
The detector is reverse biased to collect any electron-hole pairs created by light absorption.

Photocurrent: IL = eAJph(0)[1 exp (W)] Jph = Optical photon particle current W = Depletion region A = Device area

VR

Signal h p+ i W x=0 x=W n+

Carriers are collected from the depletion region _

+ h

_ eVR Ec + h + EV

Prof. Jasprit Singh

www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHT EMITTERS FOR COMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS

Light emitters for long haul communication systems must emit light at = 1.55 m or = 1.3 m. 1.55 m: Lowest loss point in optical fibers 1.3 m: Lowest dispersion point in optical fibers

100 50 20 OH absorption peaks

FIBER ATTENUATION (dB km1)

10 5 2 1 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.05

Infrared absorption tail from lattice transitions

1.55m loss ~ 0.2 dB/km 1.3m loss ~ 0.5 dB/km

Rayleigh scattering

0.6

0.8

1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 WAVELENGTHS, MICRONS

1.8

2.0

GaAs lasers ( ~0.88 m) are used for local area networks where distances to be covered are only a few kilometers. InGaAsP lasers are used for long haul communication. Optical pulses travel ~40-50 km and are then separated by repeater lasers. Optical fiber amplifiers are also used to boost the signal.

Prof. Jasprit Singh

www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE: GENERAL PRINICPLES

The LED is a forward biased p-n diode. Electrons (holes) are injected into p-side (n-side) region where they recombine with holes (electrons) to emit photons.

_ __ Photons will emerge from the device

Electron injection _ Photons p n

Buried region

___________ ___________ EFn

EFp ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++

TOP LAYER + Hole injection ++ +

Emitted photon energy ~Eg Emitted spectral linewidth ~kBT Upper limit to LED switching time ~1 ns

electron-hole recombination time

Prof. Jasprit Singh

www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

LED:

ELECTRON-HOLE RECOMBINATION TIME

CONDUCTION
BAND

h2k2 2m* e

Ec Eg Ev VALENCE
BAND

h2k2 2m* h

Electrons and holes recombine in LEDs via a process called spontaneous recombination. Energy-momentum conservation rules apply. Recombination rate fe(k) fh(k) fe(k): probability of finding an electron with momentum hk fh(k): probability of finding a hole with momentum hk

105 106

Semiconductor GaAs Temperature is 300 K

Radiative Lifetime (r)(s)

107 108 109

Low Injection Regime

Typical carrier densities for laser operation

Carrier occupation is degenerate ~ fe = fh = 1

Electrons-holes recombination time is a function of carrier density. At high carrier densities the e-h recombination time approaches a nanosecond in most direct gap semiconductors.

1010 1014

1015

1016

1017

1018

1019cm3

Nd (for holes injected into an n-type semiconductor) n = p (for excess electron hole pairs injected into a region)

Prof. Jasprit Singh

www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

STIMULATED EMISSION AND SPONTANEOUS EMISSION

No Photons Spontaneous Emission

_ CONDUCTION BAND Eg h

+ VALENCE BAND

SPONTANEOUS EMISSION: Responsible for light emission in LEDs Electron-hole recombination in the absence of photons Outcoming photons are incoherent, i.e., have random phases Electron-hole recombination lifetime is limited by ~1 ns

Stimulated Emission _ CONDUCTION BAND Photons h h Coherent Emission h +

VALENCE BAND

STIMULATED EMISSION: Responsible for light emission in laser diodes Electron-hole recombination in the presence of other photons Photons produced are coherent, i.e., have the same phase Electron-hole recombination lifetime is
1 stim

= spon

nph

nph: photon number Prof. Jasprit Singh www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

THE LASER STRUCTURE: FORWARD BIASED P-N DIODE AND OPTICA CAVITY
I Roughened surfaces

Cladding region Active region Cladding region

p-type

Output light

n-type z L Optically flat and polished parallel faces x y

Optical cavity, produced by cleaving the crystal causes photons to be reflected back into the cavity. The photon build-up starts the stimulated emission responsible for lasing

Polished face

Polished face

Optical modes in the cavity

Active region

Confined optical wave

DIELECTRIC CONSTANT

p- region

n- region

DISTANCE PERPENDICULAR TO THE CAVITY (z) The light wave is confined in the cavity by the waveguide of the laser structure Prof. Jasprit Singh www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

LASER OPERATION: GAIN AND LIGHT OUTPUT

160

Gain (cm-1)

Gain = emission coefficient absorption coefficient As more and more electrons and holes are injected into the active region of the laser the gain increases. When the gain overcomes the laser in the cavity, photon buildup occurs and lasing starts.

120

x 2.5

80 40 0 -40 -80 1.42

1 10 -3 8 cm

Photon Energy (eV)

1.5 x 10
18 cm

1.46

1.50

Light output in the lasing mode is very small below threshold. It increases rapidly once the laser is in the above threshold state.
LIGHT OUTPUT

Spontaneous emission

Stimulated emission

Below threshold

Above threshold

Jth

INJECTED CURRENT DENSITY Prof. Jasprit Singh www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh

SPECTRAL OUTPUT OF A SEMICONDUCTOR LASER

e-h in bands Below threshold the laser acts like a light emitting diode. There is no coherence in the light output. Gain spectrum Light emission

Cavity resonant modes

_ _ _ _ n < nth J < Jth + + + +

cavity loss

PHOTON INTENSITY

GAIN

kBT

0 h

_ _ _ _

++

+ + + +

GAIN

0 h

PHOTON INTENSITY

At threshold, photon number starts to increase in the cavity. The photon output in the lasing mode starts to increase.

_ _ _ _

n = nth J > Jth ++ + + + +

GAIN

0 h

PHOTON INTENSITY

Above threshold most of the current injected results in photon emission in the lasing mode. Photon spectral output is very sharp and light coming out is coherent.

Dominant mode

Prof. Jasprit Singh

www.eecs.umich.edu/~singh