UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST – CALOOCAN

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

CHARACTERISTICS OF PHOTO LED

AND PHOTODETECTOR
NUMERICAL APERTURE

NEC 515 – 2EC

Transmission line and Antennas (Lab)

Giovanni Mari H. Lorcha

20141127540

Engr. Ramos
Oct 17, 2019
 Characteristics of Photo LED &
Photodetector
Introduction.
Photodiodes are semiconductor devices
that respond to high-energy particles and
photons. Radiation-sensitive junction is
formedin a semiconductor material whose
resistivity changes when illuminated by
light photons. The junction can be made to
respond to the entire electromagnetic
spectrum.
Figure-1: PN-junction visible range LED
type PD used in the experiment.
Three major types of photodiodes are
available in the market: (i) PN junction
photo diode, (ii) PIN junction photo diode,
and (iii) Avalanche photo diode (APD). PN
junction photo diodes comprise a two-
electrode, radiation-sensitive PN junction
formed in a semiconductor material in
which the reverse current varies with the
amount of illumination. PIN junction photo
diodes are diodes with a large intrinsic
region sandwiched between p-doped and
n-doped semiconducting regions. Photons
absorbed in this region create electron-
hole pairs that are then separated by an
electric field, thus generating an electric
current in a load circuit. Avalanche
photodiodes are devices that utilize
avalanche multiplication of current by
means of hole-electron pairs created by
absorbed photons. When the reverse-bias
voltage of the devic
Characteristic of a photo diode
A PHOTO DIODE approaches the
breakdown level, the hole-electron pairs
collide with ions to create additional hole-
electron pairs, thus resulting in the signal
gain. The photodiode spectral response [1]
can be measured in X-ray, UV, visible, or IR
regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
X-ray photodiodes are optimized for X-ray,
gamma ray, and beta radiation detection.
UV enhanced photodiodes are optimized
for the UV and blue spectral regions, which
requires special fabrication processes.
Visible photodiodes operate in the visible
range.

Figure-1 shows the PN-junction PD used in
this experiment. A photo diode behaves
like a current source when illuminated.
When operated without bias, the current is
distributed between the shunt resistance
and external load resistor. In this mode, a
voltage is developed which creates
forward bias, thus reducing its ability to
remain as a constant current source. When
operated with reverse bias, the photo
diode becomes an ideal current source [2-
4].
Figure-2: Typical Responsivity curve of
photodiode
The degree of response of a silicon
photodiode to light is a measure of its
sensitivity, and it is defined as the ratio of
the photocurrent I to the incident light
power P at a given wavelength
PD
In other words, it is a measure of the
effectiveness of the conversion of the light
power into electrical current. It varies with
the wavelength of the incident light as well
as applied reverse bias and temperature.
By drawing a graph of PD current variation
with input LED power, one can accurately
determine the value of responsivity, as
given by the slope of the straight line
representing IPD verses P curve.
Responsivity increases slightly with applied
reverse bias due to improved charge
collection efficiency of the photodiode.
Also it varies due to change in
temperature. This is due to decrease or
increase of the band gap, because of
increase or decrease in the temperature
respectively. Spectral responsivity may
vary from one PD to the other and it is also
dependent on wavelength of the light.
However, the relative variations in
responsivity can be reduced to less than
1% on a selective basis. Figure-2 shows
typical photodiode responsivity. It varies
almost linearly with wavelength, being
smaller for lower wavelength.
Quantum Efficiency (QE)
Quantum efficiency is defined as the
fraction of the incident photons that
contributes to photocurrent. It is related to
responsivity as
Modes of Operation

The operating modes of the photodiode
include three modes, namely Photovoltaic
mode, Photoconductive mode and
avalanche diode mode
Photovoltaic Mode: This mode is also
known as zero bias mode, in which a
voltage is produced by the lightened
photodiode. It gives a very small dynamic
range & non-linear necessity of the voltage
formed.
Photoconductive Mode: The photodiode
used in this photoconductive mode is more
usually reverse biased. The reverse voltage
application will increase the depletion
layer’s width, which in turn decreases the
response time & the junction capacitance.
This mode is too fast and displays
electronic noise
 In other consumer devices like clock
radios, camera light meters, and
street lights, photoconductors are
more frequently used rather than
photodiodes.
 Photodiodes are frequently used for
exact measurement of the intensity
of light in science & industry.
Generally, they have an enhanced,
more linear response than
photoconductors.
 Photodiodes are also widely used in
numerous medical applications like
instruments to analyze samples,
detectors for computed tomography
and also used in blood gas monitors.
 These diodes are much faster & more
complex than normal PN junction
diodes and hence are frequently
used for lighting regulation and in
optical communications.

Avalanche Diode Mode: Avalanche diodes

operate in a high reverse bias condition,
which permits multiplication of an
avalanche breakdown to each photo-
produced electron-hole pair. This outcome
in an internal gain in the photodiode,
which slowly increases the device
response.

Applications of Photodiode

 The applications of photodiodes

involve in similar applications of
photodetectors like charge-coupled
devices, photoconductors, and
photomultiplier tubes.
 These diodes are used in consumer
electronics devices like smoke
detectors, compact disc players, and
televisions and remote controls in
VCRs.
Numerical Aperture
The numerical aperture of a microscope
objective is a measure of its ability to
gather light and resolve fine specimen
detail at a fixed object distance. Image-
forming light waves pass through the
specimen and enter the objective in an
inverted cone as illustrated in Figure 1.
A longitudinal slice of this cone of light
shows the angular aperture, a value that
is determined by the focal length of the
objective.
The angle µ is one-half the angular
aperture (A) and is related to the
numerical aperture through the following
equation:
Numerical Aperture (NA) = n(sin µ)
where n is the refractive index of the
imaging medium between the front lens
of the objective and the specimen cover
glass, a value that ranges from 1.00 for
air to 1.51 for specialized immersion
oils. Many authors substitute the
variable α for µ in the numerical
aperture equation. From this equation it
is obvious that when the imaging
medium is air (with a refractive index, n
= 1.0), then the numerical aperture is
dependent only upon the angle µ whose
maximum value is 90°. The sin of the
angle µ, therefore, has a maximum
value of 1.0 (sin(90°) = 1), which is the
theoretical maximum numerical aperture
of a lens operating with air as the
imaging medium (using "dry"
microscope objectives).
When light from the various points of a
specimen passes through the objective
and is reconstituted as an image, the
various points of the specimen appear in
the image as small patterns (not points)
known as Airy patterns. This
phenomenon is caused by diffraction or
scattering of the light as it passes
through the minute parts and spaces in
the specimen and the circular back
aperture of the objective. The central
maximum of the Airy patterns is often
referred to as an Airy disk, which is
defined as the region enclosed by the
first minimum of the Airy pattern and
contains 84 percent of the luminous
energy. These Airy disks consist of
small concentric light and dark circles as
illustrated in Figure 3. This figure shows
Airy disks and their intensity
distributions as a function of separation
distance.
 also capable of producing smaller Airy
disks. This is the primary reason that
objectives of high numerical aperture and
total correction for optical aberration can
distinguish finer detail in the specimen.

Figure 4 illustrates the effect of numerical

Figure 3(a) illustrates a hypothetical Airy

disk that essentially consists of a
diffraction pattern containing a central
maximum (typically termed a zeroth
order maximum) surrounded by
concentric 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., order
maxima of sequentially decreasing
brightness that make up the intensity
distribution. Two Airy disks and their
intensity distributions at the limit of aperture on the size of Airy disks imaged
optical resolution are illustrated in Figure with a series of hypothetical objectives of
3(b). In this part of the figure, the the same focal length, but differing
separation between the two disks numerical apertures. With small numerical
exceeds their radii, and they are apertures, the Airy disk size is large, as
resolvable. The limit at which two Airy shown in Figure 4(a). As the numerical
disks can be resolved into separate aperture and light cone angle of an objective
entities is often called the Rayleigh increases however, the size of the Airy disk
criterion. Figure 3(c) shows two Airy decreases as illustrated in Figure 4(b) and
disks and their intensity distributions in a Figure 4(c). The resulting image at the
situation where the center-to-center eyepiece diaphragm level is actually a
distance between the zeroth order mosaic of Airy disks which we perceive as
maxima is less than the width of these light and dark. Where two disks are too
maxima, and the two disks are not close together so that their central spots
individually resolvable by the Rayleigh overlap considerably, the two details
criterion. represented by these overlapping disks are
not resolved or separated and thus appear as
The smaller the Airy disks projected by an one, as illustrated above in Figure 3.
objective in forming the image, the more
detail of the specimen that becomes
discernible. Objectives of higher correction
(fluorites and apochromats) produce smaller
Airy disks than do objectives of lower
correction. In a similar manner, objectives
that have a higher numerical aperture are