Optical

Transmitters
Eyob M.

Introduction
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics
Spontaneous and
Optical Transmitters
Stimulated
Emissions

Laser
Structures
Eyob Mersha (M.Sc.)

June 21, 2020

 Outline

Optical
Transmitters
Eyob M.

Introduction
Basic concepts
1 Introduction
Semiconductor Laser
Physics Basic concepts
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Emissions
Semiconductor Laser Physics
Spontaneous and Stimulated Emissions
Laser
Structures

2 Laser Structures
 Introduction to Optical Transmitters

Optical
Transmitters
The role of the optical transmitter is to convert an electri-
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cal input signal into the corresponding optical signal and
Introduction then launch it into the optical fiber serving as a commu-
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics
nication channel.
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Emissions
The major component of optical transmitters is an optical
Laser
source.
Structures
The main types of optical light source are:
1 wideband ’continuous spectra’ sources (incandescent lamps
2 monochromatic incoherent sources (light-emitting diodes,
LEDs);
3 monochromatic coherent sources (lasers).
 Basic concepts

Optical
Transmitters
Strictly speaking, laser is a device which amplifies light-
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hence the derivation of the term LASER (Light Amplifi-
Introduction cation by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics Lasers, however, are seldom used as amplifiers since
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Emissions
there are practical difficulties in relation to the achieve-
Laser
ment of high gain while avoiding oscillation from the re-
Structures
quired energy feedback
Thus the practical realization of the laser is as an optical
oscillator.
Laser provides an output of monochromatic, highly co-
herent radiation.
By contrast the LED provides optical emission without
an inherent gain mechanism which results in incoherent
light output.
 Semiconductor Laser Physics

Optical
Transmitters
The interaction of light with matter takes place in dis-
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crete packets of energy or quanta, called photons.
Introduction
Basic concepts
Quantum theory suggests that atoms exist only in cer-
Semiconductor Laser
Physics tain discrete energy states such that absorption and emis-
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Emissions
sion of light causes them to make a transition from one
Laser
discrete energy state to another.
Structures
The frequency of the absorbed or emitted radiation f is
related to the difference in energy E between the higher
energy state E2 and the lower energy state E1 by the
expression:

E = E1 − E2 = hf (1)

whereh = 6.62610−34 Js is Planck’s constant.

 Semiconductor Laser Physics

Optical
Transmitters
The discrete energy states for the atom corresponds to
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electrons occurring in particular energy levels relative to
Introduction the nucleus.
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics Different energy states for the atom correspond to differ-
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Emissions
ent electron configurations
Laser A single electron transition between two energy levels
Structures
within the atom will provide a change in energy suitable
for the absorption or emission of a photon.
However modern quantum theory gives a probabilistic
description which specifies the energy levels in which
electrons are most likely to be found.
 Semiconductor Laser Physics

Optical
Transmitters
Eyob M.

Introduction
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Emissions

Laser
Structures
 Semiconductor Laser Physics

Optical
Transmitters
In the above figure a two energy state atomic system
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where an atom is initially in the lower energy state E1 .
Introduction
Basic concepts
When a photon with energy (E2 − E1 ) is incident on the
Semiconductor Laser
Physics atom it may be excited into the higher energy state E2
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Emissions
through absorption of the photon.
Laser
ß sometimes referred to as stimulated absorption.
Structures
Alternatively, when the atom is initially in the higher en-
ergy state E2 it can make a transition to the lower en-
ergy state E1 providing the emission of a photon at a
frequency corresponding to Eq. (3.1).
 Spontaneous and Stimulated Emissions

Optical
Transmitters
The emission process can occur in two ways:
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1 by spontaneous emission in which the atom returns to
Introduction the lower energy state in an entirely random manner;
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
2 energy difference between the two states (E2 − E1 ) inter-
Physics
Spontaneous and
acts with the atom in the upper energy state causing it
Stimulated
Emissions to return to the lower state with the creation of a second
Laser photon.
Structures
The random nature of the spontaneous emission pro-
cess where light is emitted by electronic transitions from
a large number of atoms gives incoherent radiation.
A similar emission process in semiconductors provides
the basic mechanism for light generation within the LED.
 Spontaneous and Stimulated Emissions

Optical
Transmitters
Stimulated emission process gives the laser its special
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properties as an optical source.
Introduction Firstly, the photon produced by stimulated emission is
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
generally of an identical energy to the one which caused
Physics
Spontaneous and
it and hence the light associated with them is of the same
Stimulated
Emissions frequency.
Laser Secondly, the light associated with the stimulating and
Structures
stimulated photon is in phase and has the same polar-
ization.
In contrast to spontaneous emission, stimulated emis-
sion produce coherent radiation.
In turn when an atom is stimulated to emit light energy
by an incident wave, the liberated energy can add to the
wave in a constructive manner, providing amplification.
 Spontaneous and Stimulated Emissions

Optical
Transmitters Under normal conditions, all materials absorb light rather
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than emit it.
Introduction where the energy levels E1 and E2 correspond to the
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser ground state and the excited state of atoms of the ab-
Physics
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
sorbing medium.
Emissions
If the photon energy hv of the incident light of frequency
Laser
Structures V is about the same as the energy difference Eg = E1 −
E2 , the photon is absorbed by the atom, which ends up
in the excited state.

Figure: (a) absorption; (b) spontaneous emission; and (c)

 Spontaneous and Stimulated Emissions

Optical
Transmitters
If an atom is in the excited state, it eventually returns to
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it normal "ground" state and emits light in the process.
Introduction
Basic concepts
Light emission can occur through two fundamental pro-
Semiconductor Laser
Physics
cesses
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
1 Spontaneous emission and
Emissions
2 Stimulated emission.
Laser
Structures Spontaneous emission:- emit photon in random direc-
tions with no phase relationship among them.
Stimulated emission :- its remarkable feature is that
the emitted photon matches the original photon not only
in energy (or in frequency), but also in its other charac-
teristics, such as the direction of propagation.
 Laser Structures

Optical
Transmitters The simplest structure of a semiconductor laser consists
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of a thin active layer (with a thickness of 0.1 µm or less)
Introduction sandwiched between the p-type and n-type cladding lay-
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser ers of another semiconductor with a higher bandgap.
Physics
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Such lasers are called broad-area lasers since the cur-
Emissions
rent is injected over a relatively broad area covering the
Laser
Structures entire width of the laser chip.
The laser light is emitted from the two cleaved facets in
the form of an elliptic spot of dimensions ∼ lx100µm2 .
In the transverse direction perpendicular to the junction
plane, the spot size is ∼ 1µm because the active layer
supports only the fundamental TEo and TMo modes.
In practice, the gain is slightly larger for the TEo mode,
and the laser light is polarized in the junction plane. Since
no confinement mechanism exists in the lateral direc-
tion (parallel to the junction plane), emitted light spreads
 Optical The light-confinement problem is solved in the so-called
Transmitters
index-guided semiconductor lasers by introducing an index
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step ∆nL , in the lateral direction so that a rectangular
Introduction waveguide is formed. Figure 3.6 shows two commonly used
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics
designs. In a ridge-waveguide laser (Figure 3.6a), a ridge is
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
formed by etching most of the top cladding layer. A silica
Emissions
layer is then deposited to block the current flow so that the
Laser
Structures current enters only through the ridge. Since the cladding
material used for the ridge has a much larger refractive
index than silica, the mode index is also higher under the
ridge, resulting in an index step ∆nL ∼ 0.01. This index
difference guides the optical mode in the lateral direction.
The magnitude of the index step is sensitive to many
fabrication details, such as the ridge width and the proximity
of the silica layer to the active layer. Although this scheme
offers only weak lateral confinement, the relative simplicity
 Optical of the ridge-waveguide design and the resulting low cost
Transmitters
make this design attractive for some applications.
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Introduction
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
Emissions

Laser
Structures

Figure: Schematic cross section of (a) a ridge-waveguide laser

and (b) a buriedheterostructure laser.

In strongly index-guided semiconductor lasers, the active

 Optical region is buried on all sides by several layers of lower
Transmitters
refractive index (typical dimensions∼ 0.1x1 µm2 ). Such
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lasers are called buried heterostmcture (BH) lasers (see
Introduction Figure 3.6b). Several different kinds of BH lasers have been
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics
developed. They are known under names such as
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
etched-mesa BH, planar BH, double-channel planar BH,
Emissions
and V-grooved or channelled substrate BH lasers,
Laser
Structures depending on the fabrication method used to realize the
laser structure. They all allow a relatively large index step
(∆nL > 0.1) in the lateral direction and, as a result, permit
strong mode confinement. Because of a large built-in index
step, the spatial distribution of the emitted light is inherently
stable, provided that the laser is designed to support a
single spatial mode. In practice, a BH laser operates in a
single mode if the active-region width is reduced to below
2 µm. The spot size still remains elliptical with typical
 Optical dimensions of 2x1 µm2 . Because of small spot-size
Transmitters
dimensions, the output beam diffracts considerably in both
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the lateral and transverse directions as it leaves the laser.
Introduction An elliptic spot size and a large divergence angle make it
Basic concepts
Semiconductor Laser
Physics
difficult to couple light into the fiber efficiently. A spot-size
Spontaneous and
Stimulated
converter is sometimes used to improve the coupling
Emissions
efficiency.
Laser
Structures