Chapter Three: Optical Sources and Detectors

3.1 Introduction
The optical source is often considered to be the active component in an optical fiber
communication system. Its fundamental function is to convert electrical energy in the form of a
current into optical energy (light) in an efficient manner which allows the light output to be
effectively launched or coupled into the optical fiber. Three main types of optical light source are
available. These are:
i) wideband ‘continuous spectra’ sources (incandescent lamps);
ii) monochromatic incoherent sources (light-emitting diodes, LEDs);
iii) monochromatic coherent sources (laser diodes, LDs).
For optical communication systems, light sources adopted must have the following key features:
(i) the appropriate wavelength and a narrow linewidth (i.e., high bandwidth);
(ii) fast response time (wideband) for high-speed links;
(iii) narrow radiation pattern (beam width) with high radiance (i.e., power) level and a small
emitting surface area mostly for outdoor applications;
(iv) high energy efficiency, longer lifespan, stability (mostly for LDs), high reliability, and low
cost;
(v) must accurately track the electrical input signal to minimize distortion and noise. Ideally,
the source should be linear.
(vi) preferably capable of simple signal modulation over a wide bandwidth extending from
audio frequencies to beyond the gigahertz range.
(vii) must couple sufficient optical power to overcome attenuation in the fiber plus
additional connector losses and leave adequate power to drive the detector.
(i) Must be capable of maintaining a stable optical output which is largely unaffected by
changes in ambient conditions (e.g. temperature).
(ii) It is essential that the source is comparatively cheap and highly reliable in order to
compete with conventional transmission techniques.

Both LEDs and LDs can be fabricated to emit light across a wide range of wavelengths (colours)
from the visible to the infrared (IR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
3.2 Basic Concepts
In light sources, the optical carrier is generated via the two fundamental processes of
spontaneous or stimulated emission. In general, the generation of light is due to the transition of
electrons from the excited state to the lower energy state. The energy difference due to the
transition of the electrons leads to a radiative or a non-radiative process. The radiative processes
will lead to light generation, thus optical sources, whereas the non-radiative process typically
leads to the creation of heat. In both types of light source devices, the recombination of the

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carrier is used to provide a photon flux. In solids, the photon interacts with an electron in the
following three distinct ways (see Figure 3.1).
(i) The photons transfer their energy to the electrons in the filled valence band. The
electrons are then excited to an empty state in the conduction band. This photon–
electron interaction is associated with the solar cells.
(ii) An atom can be shifted from the ground state E1 to the higher excited state E2 by
absorbing the energy of an incident photon or by being pumped externally. This process
is called absorption and occurs in all materials under normal conditions.
(iii) Electrons in the conduction band E2 can spontaneously return to the lower state E1 in the
valence band, releasing photons in the process. This process is known as the
spontaneous emission, which is associated with LEDs. Photons generated by the
spontaneous emission will have random emission patterns (i.e., phase and polarisation
states) with frequencies within a certain linewidth.
(iv) An incident photon causes an electron in the excited state to move back to the ground
state E1. As a result, the emitted photon is in the same phase as the incident photon,
thus producing coherent light. Note that the generation of coherent light is only possible
if the number of electrons in E2 exceeds the number of those in E1. This process is known
as population inversion and is the basis for laser operation.

Figure 2.1: Two-level atomic system illustrating the three fundamental processes: (a) absorption,
(b) spontaneous emission, and (c) stimulated emission.
In a radiative recombination process, it is usually the case to assume that the emitted photons
have the same energy (i.e., the energy band gap of the material). However, at temperatures
above absolute zero, the additional thermal energy causes the electrons and holes in the
conduction band to reside just above the band edge and holes in the valence band just below the
band edge. Hence, the photon energy in a radiative recombination will be slightly higher than the
band energy. The frequency and the wavelength of the emitted or absorbed photon is related to
the difference in the energy E as given by
ℎ𝑐
𝐸 = 𝐸2 − 𝐸1 = ℎ𝑓 =
𝜆
where h = 6.626 × 10−34 J.s is the Planck constant, f is the frequency, c is the speed of light 3 ×
108 m/s, and λ is the wavelength of the absorbed or emitted light.

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Both LEDs and LDs are semiconductor p-n junction devices and offer several advantages,
including ease of integration due to their compact and small size; high conversion efficiency of
current to optical power; high reliability; and the possibility of direct modulation at relatively high
data rates.
3.3 The Light-Emitting Diode
LEDs emit incoherent light through spontaneous emission when subjected to electronic
excitation. The electronic excitation is achieved by applying a forward bias voltage across the p-
n junction. When a free electron encounters a hole in the semiconductor structure, the two
combine, and in the process they give up energy in the form of light. The radiated photons could
be in the ultraviolet (UV), visible, or IR part of the EM spectrum, depending on the energy band-
gap of the semiconductor material. In LEDs, the conversion process is fairly efficient, thus
resulting in very little heat compared to incandescent lights.
LEDs can be designed to emit virtually any color light desired. The LEDs used for fiber-optic
transmission are usually in the red and near-infrared ranges. Typical wavelengths of LED light
commonly used are 0.85, 1.31, and 1.55 μm, more commonly designated 850, 1310, and 1550
nm where 1 micrometer (μm) equals 1000 nm. These frequencies are all in the near-infrared
range just below red light, which is not visible to the naked eye. These frequencies have been
chosen primarily because most fiber-optic cables have the lowest losses in these frequency
ranges.
LED STRUCTURE
LEDs are similar to other forms of diodes, but what makes them different is that they have a
transparent package that allows infrared or visible energies to pass through, and the p-n junction
area can be tailored to specific applications. In the structure of an LED, there is nothing like a
resonant cavity or gain medium; hence, its radiation is not going to be as intense as that of a LD.
One physical arrangement of the LED is shown in Figure 3.2(a). A P-type material is diffused into
the N-type substrate, creating a diode. Radiation occurs from the P-type material and around the
junction. Fig. 3.2(b) shows a common light radiation pattern.
The light output from an LED is expressed in terms of power. Typical light output levels are in the
10- to 50-μW range. Forward bias current levels to achieve this power level are in the 50- to 200-
mA range. High output LEDs with output ratings in the 600- to 2500-μW range are also available.

Figure 3.2: (a) Typical LED construction. (b) Light radiation pattern.

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LED EFFICIENCIES
Internal Quantum Efficiency
This term relates to the conversion of carriers into photons within the device. It can, therefore,
be expressed as the ratio of the number of internally emitted photons Nin-ph to the number of
carrier Nca passing through the p-n junction, as given by
𝑁𝑖𝑛−𝑝ℎ
𝜂𝑖𝑛 =
𝑁𝑐𝑎
The internal quantum efficiency can also be related to the fraction of injected carriers that
recombine radiatively to the total recombination rate, and this is directly linked to the carrier
lifetimes as given by
𝑅𝑟 𝜏𝑟 𝜏𝑛𝑟 −1
𝜂𝑖𝑛 = = = (1 + )
𝑅𝑟 + 𝑅𝑛𝑟 𝜏𝑟 + 𝜏𝑛𝑟 𝜏𝑟
where Rr and Rnr represent the radiative and non-radiative recombination rates, respectively,
and τr and τnr stand for the radiative and non-radiative lifetimes respectively.
External Quantum Efficiency
This quantum efficiency is different from the internal quantum efficiency previously described in
that it relates to the number of photons emitted externally by the device. As such, it is defined
as the ratio of the radiative recombination to non-radiative recombination and by the absorption
of the generated light by the semiconductor material, which is given by
𝑁𝑒𝑥−𝑝ℎ
𝜂𝑒𝑥 =
𝑁𝑐𝑎
Note that both the number of photons emitted externally by the optical source and indeed the
external quantum efficiency depend on the loss mechanisms within the device. These losses
could be from a combination of
(i) Critical angle loss—Due to the total internal reflection of photons incident to the surface
at angles greater than the critical angle.
(ii) Absorption loss—This accounts for the loss due to photon absorption by the LED material.
For LEDs made using the opaque GaAs substrate, up to 85% of the total generated
photons could be absorbed; for transparent substrate like the GaP with isoelectronic
centres, the value is much lower, around 25%
(iii) Fresnel loss—Fresnel reflection, which is always present at the interface of materials with
different indexes of refraction, causes some of the generated photons to be reflected
back to the semiconductor material instead of being emitted externally.
Power Efficiency
This is simply the ratio of the optical power output Po to the electrical power input Pe to the LED.
That is

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 𝑂𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑜
𝜂𝑝 =
𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑃𝑒
LED Modulation Bandwidth
The amount of modulation bandwidth and the frequency response of an LED depends on
(i) the injected current;
(ii) the junction capacitance;
(iii) the parasitic capacitance;
(iv) the doping level in the active region; and
(v) the injected carrier lifetime in the recombination region τic.
The capacitance values are almost invariant while the response increases with the current . As
such, the effects of the aforementioned factor can be reduced by superimposing the AC signal
onto a constant DC bias current. Knowing that charge carrier has a definite and finite lifetime,
then LEDs have a low-pass transfer function, which is modelled as an equivalent first-
order RCjlow-pass filter, and is given by
1
𝐻(𝑗𝜔) =
1 + 𝑗𝜔𝑅𝐶𝑗
where R and Cj are the resistance and junction capacitance of the LED. Thus the 3 dB bandwidth
is given by
1
𝑓𝑐 =
2𝜋𝑅𝐶𝑗
Note that, in the optical domain, the electrical current I is directly proportional to the optical
power; thus we can define electrical bandwidth and optical bandwidth separately as
𝐼(𝜔)
𝐵𝑒𝑙𝑒 = 20 log ⌈ ⌉
𝐼(0)
𝐼(𝜔)
𝐵𝑜𝑝 = 10 log ⌈ ⌉
𝐼(0)

Figure 3.3: shows both the optical and electrical 3 dB bandwidth.

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3.4 THE LASER
OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF A LASER
In a conventional incoherent light source like a light bulb and an LED, an atom excited to a higher
state randomly emits a single photon based on a given statistical probability. This process
resulting in radiation in all directions with a broad spectrum and no interrelationships between
individual photons is best known as spontaneous emission. Einstein predicted that the excited
atoms at higher levels also could be excited to return to the lower state and release their stored
energy in the form of light by a process known as stimulated emission (i.e., the gain needed for
continuous oscillation). In order to describe the basic principle of stimulated emission, a two-
level atomic system will be considered. In this simple system, an atom in the upper-level E2 can
fall into level E1 (see Figure 3.1), producing a photon by spontaneous emission. When this photon
reaches another excited atom, the interaction stimulates that atom to emit a second photon.
This process has two important characteristics (i) multiplicative—one photon becomes two, and
so on, via multiple interactions of photons with two other excited atoms; and (ii) the two photons
generated have an identical wavelength, direction, phase, and polarization. Therefore, this ability
to “amplify” light in the presence of a sufficient number of excited atoms leads to the “optical
gain” needed to maintain continuous oscillation—this is the basis of the laser (i.e., Light
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation).
POPULATION INVERSION
In the two energy levels in the atomic system under consideration, under thermal equilibrium,
the number of atoms N1 in the lower level E1 is greater than the number of atoms N2 in the upper
level E2 as stipulated by the Boltzmann statistics given by
𝑁2 −(𝐸2 − 𝐸1 )
= 𝑒𝑥𝑝 ( )
𝑁1 𝑘𝑇
To attain the optical amplification necessary for lasing to take place, we require a non-equilibrium
distribution of atoms such that the population at E1 is lower than that of E2 (i.e. N2 > N1). This
condition is called population inversion. By using an external excitation, otherwise called
“pumping”, atoms from the lower level are excited into the upper level through the process of
stimulated absorption. A two-level atomic system is not the best in terms of lasing action as the
probability of absorption and stimulated emission are equal, providing at best equal populations
in the two levels E1 and E2. A practical laser will have one or more metastable levels in between.
An example is the four-level He-Ne laser illustrated in Figure 3.4. To attain population inversion,
atoms are pumped from the ground state level E0 into level E3. The atoms there then decay very
rapidly into a metastable level E2 because they are unstable at E3. This increases the population
at E2, thereby creating population inversion between E2 and E1. Lasing can then take place
between E2 and E1.

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Figure 3.4: An illustration of lasing action based on a four-level He-Ne laser.
PROPERTIES AND SPECIFICATIONS OF A LASER
The key properties of a laser source follow:
(i) High monochromaticity—A photon's energy determines its wavelength through the
relationship E = hc/λ. An ideal laser would emit all photons with exactly the same
energy, and thus the same wavelength, and it would be perfectly monochromatic.
Many applications are dependent on monochromaticity. For example, in
telecommunications, several lasers at slightly offset wavelengths can transmit in
parallel streams of pulses down the same optical fibre without crosstalk.
(ii) Narrow spectral width—The spectral (line) width of a laser is extremely narrow. In
fact, it is quite common for LDs to have <1 nm or less spectral width at both 1300 nm
and 1550 nm compared to 30–100 nm for LEDs.
(iii) High temporal coherence—Where the wave is uninterrupted.
(iv) High spatial coherence—The wave is well behaved, in space. Therefore, it can predict
both amplitude and phase at any position at a given time.
(v) Diffraction limited—A high degree of collimation is very important in optical
communications.
(vi) Small spot size
(vii) Brightness (or, more correctly, radiance)—The most strikingly visible difference
between lasers and conventional light sources is that all the emitted light travels in
the same direction as an intense beam. Radiance is defined as the amount of light
leaving the source per unit of surface area and unit of solid angle.
3.5 LED Transmitter.

Figure3.5: Optical transmitter circuit using an LED.

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A light transmitter consists of the LED and its associated driving circuitry. A typical circuit is shown
in Fig. 3.5. The binary data pulses are applied to a logic gate, which in turn operates a transistor
switch Q1 that turns the LED off and on. A positive pulse at the NAND gate input causes the NAND
output to go to zero.
This turns off Q1, so the LED is then forward-biased through R2 and turns on. With zero input, the
NAND output is high, so that Q1 turns on and shunts current away from the LED. Very high current
pulses are used to ensure very bright light. High intensity is required if data is to be transmitted
reliably over long distances. Most LEDs are capable of generating power levels up to
approximately several thousand microwatts. With such low intensity, LED transmitters are good
for only short distances. Furthermore, the speed of the LED is limited. Turn-off and turn-on times
are no faster than tens of nanoseconds, and so transmission rates are limited. Most LED-like
transmitters are used for short distance, low-speed, digital fiber- optic systems.

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