OC 1819 – Optical Receivers

M. LIMA, A. TEIXEIRA
Outline
Photodetectors basics
Absorption, quantum efficiency, responsivity
PIN, APD
Noise sources (Shot, thermal)
Error probability estimation
Optical receiver types
Impact of transceivers bandwidth in
dispersion limit

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 Photodetectors
A photo detector (optical receiver) converts
an optical signal into an electrical signal

Basic requirements
• Sensitivity at the required wavelength
• Efficient conversion of photons to electrons
• Low capacitance and a fast response
• Low noise
• Sufficient area for efficient coupling to optical fiber
• High reliability
• Low cost
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 Basic Structure: PN Photodiode
Electron p-type n-type
semiconductor semiconductor
Ec
Eg - Ve + Ve
hf > Eg p n
Ev
Hole
Energy Electrons are attracted
to +ve contact
Detector
Current Detector
(Holes) Current
(Electrons)
Holes are attracted
to -ve contact
Distance
VPI (Photonics Curriculum) depletion
region

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 The Probability of Photon Absorption
Depends on
• Thickness of intrinsic region, d
• The material’s absorption coefficient, 
• The wavelength of the incident light, λ
• Surface reflection

Block
Input photons/s Output photons/s
of
A material Aexp(-d)

Absorbed photons/s
VPI (Photonics Curriculum)
A(1-exp(-d))

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 Reverse Bias and Photocurrent
Reverse biasing the photodetector
• Increases the electric field in the depletion region
• Decreases its capacitance (increase speed)
• Increases its sensitivity and frequency response

photocurrent

Field strength

Reverse p
bias
Depletion
Region
load
n

Distance
VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Light absorption

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 Bandgaps

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 Absorption
Absorption coefficient depends on wavelength,
and the material (bandgaps again)

105
Optical absorption coefficient

104
Si GaAs InGaAsP Ge
Band-
 (cm-1)

103 edges

102

10
0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 VPI (Photonics Curriculum)
Wavelength (m)

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 Responsivity
The responsivity, R0 (A/W), is the photocurrent produced per
unit of incident optical power

R0 = Ip/Pi = q/hf [A/W]

with Ip = (electron flux) • q [A]
Pi = (photon flux) • hf [W]

The responsivity of a device relates to its design:

R = (1 - r) exp(-Dc) [1 - exp(-d)] (q/hc)

Facet Contact Intrinsic Wavelength

factor absorption absorption factor
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 Responsivity & Wavelength Dependence
Different materials suit different wavelengths

R (A/W) 100% quantum efficiency

1.0

InGaAs
0.5 Ge
Si

0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8

VPI (Photonics Curriculum)
Wavelength (m)
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 PIN Photodetector
Adding an “intrinsic” region between P and N
• increases depletion region width
• increases absorption of incident light
• increases the quantum efficiency of the photo detector

Anti-reflection coating
Field strength

P-type

Distance
Metal
Depletion
contacts Intrinsic
Region

n-type
VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Avalanche Photodetector (APD)
Avalanche region – higher internal electric field
• Accelerates carriers – more kinetic energy
• High energy collision frees bound electrons
• Freed electrons can collide - free more bound electrons
• Results in current gain (avalanche multiplication)

Field strength
n+ Avalanche
Gain in this region p Region

Absorption in this region

Intrinsic
Region
intrinsic

p+ VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Comparison between APD & PIN

An APD:
• has gain, while a PIN does not
• can detect a weaker signal than a PIN
• requires a higher bias voltage than a PIN
• is noisier than a PIN (however SNR can be higher)
• is more sensitive to variations in temperature and
bias voltage than a PIN
• is more expensive than a PIN

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 Noise Sources in Photodetectors
Electronic Shot Noise
• associated with the quantum nature of the light
• each incident photon produces an electron’s worth of current.

The total shot noise associated with a photocurrent I flowing

through a potential barrier is:

<i2shot> = 2qIBe
Electrical
Electron charge
bandwidth

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 Noise Sources in Photodetectors
APD Excess Noise
• is present in avalanche photodiodes because the avalanche
multiplication is essentially a random process

This causes the shot noise of the photodiode to be

multiplied by:

Noise Multiplication factor = G2+x

(0.1 < x < 1.0)
where G is the avalanche gain

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What Causes Bit-Errors?
Incorrect decisions are made in a receiver
due to the presence of noise on the digital signal
Bit Error

+ +
Input signal Noisy signal

- Output signal

Additive noise Threshold

(amplifier, receiver, …)
VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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Bit Error Rate(BER)
Error Probability (Pe)

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BER measurement
BER test set – pattern generator and error detector
Pattern is pseudo-random to mimic real traffic

Errors are counted and then a BER is computed

Pattern Error
Generator Detector

Input Signal

Output
Modulator Attenuator
Signal
Transmitter Receiver
VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Error Probability (Pe) Estimation
Consider two-level modulation only:

Noise distribution on ‘1’s

1 Average ‘1’ level

s12 Variance ‘1’ level

0 Average ‘0’ level

s02 Variance ‘0’ level

Noise distribution on ‘0’s

VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Pe Estimation
Pe = p(1) P(0|1) + p(0)P(1|0)

P(1|0)

1 Average ‘1’level

yd Optimum decision threshold

0 Average ‘0’ level

td
Optimum
decision time
P(0|1) VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Pe Estimation
If the same number of ‘1’s as ‘0’s are sent

1 [P(0|1) + P(1|0)]
BER =
2

P(1|0)

1 Average ‘1’level

yd Optimum decision threshold

0 Average ‘0’ level

td
Optimum
decision time
VPI (Photonics Curriculum)
P(0|1)
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 Pe Estimation

VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Pe Estimation
For Gaussian noise, the BER is given by

1 1 - yd yd – 0
BER = [erfc( ) + erfc( )]
4 2 s1 2 s0

1 (yd - 1)2
p1(y) = exp[ - ]
2s1 2 s1 2

1
yd
0
td 1 (yd - 0)2
p0(y) = exp[ - ]
2s0 2 s0 2

VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Pe Estimation
Optimum yd - gives minimum BER:

p1(yd) = p0(yd)

p1(y)

1
yd

td
p0(y)

VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Pe Estimation
• a common (but accurate) approximation is that for an optimum threshold

s0 1 + s1 0
P(0|1) = P(1|0) yd =
s0 + s1

for which the BER is

Q 1 Q2
BER =
1
2
( 2 )
erfc 
2 Q
exp [ - 2]
1 - 0
where Q=
s0 + s1

• If noise is Gaussian, BER is determined fully by Q

VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Pe Estimation
Q is a measure of the “quality” of any signal
- defined for any signal, for which mean “1” and “0” levels
1 and 0, and the noise powers s12 and s02 are defined

s12

1
1 - 0
yd Q=
s0 + s1
0
td
s02

VPI (Photonics Curriculum)

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 Pe, Q

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 PIN – Analog systems, SNR

Signal to Noise Ratio:

2 2
Ip R 2 Pin
SNR  
s 2
2 q  RPin + I d  f + 4k B T / R L  f

◦ Considering low-impedance receivers, as RL is low,

thermal noise is dominant

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PIN – Digital systems, Pe
Error probability:

1 Q  1 -  0
Pe  erfc  ; Q
2  2  s1 + s 0
1  I p  RPin ; 0  0
 s s 2  2 q I p + I d  f
s1  sT + s s
2 2 2
 2
s T  4 k B T / R L  f
s0  sT
2 2

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 APD - Excess noise, SNR

2 2 2 2 2
G R Pin R Pin
SNR  2+ x
 -2
2 qI p  fG +sT 2 qI p  fG + G s T
2 x 2

Although APD leads to excess shot noise, its sensitivity

increases relatively to PINs (typically 6-8 dB)

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 Penalty associated to ER (PIN, APD)

ITU-T Rec. G.957 : the minimum value for the extinction ration is 8.2 𝑑𝐵

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 High/low impedance and
transimpedance receivers
Noise vs Bandwidth

RinRf/|A|; B=|A|/(2CRf)

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 Tx,Rx (Rise time):
impact in bitrate (B)
x distance (L)

SMF

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