Department of Physics

Unit – IV
Optical Properties of Materials

INTRODUCTION
The optical characteristics of materials are determined by the type of interaction between the
electromagnetic radiation and the electrons of the atoms in the material.
We see many of the common optical characteristics of materials such as their colour, brightness,
transparency, reflectivity etc.
Besides, these common properties, there are many more special optical properties of materials
which make useful in a wide range of optical devices.
Some of the commonly used optical materials and devices are window glasses, lenses, mirrors,
antireflection coatings etc.
Some of the most recently developed high-technology optical devices are lasers, optical fibers,
photodiodes, optical memories (CD-ROM), electro-optic modulators.
DEFINITION
The materials which are sensitive to light are known as Optical materials. These optical materials
exhibit a variety of optical properties.
CLASSIFICATION OF OPTICAL MATERIALS
Generally optical materials are classified into three types based on the nature of propagation of
light namely,
(i) Transparent

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(ii) Translucent
(iii) Opaque
(i) Transparent
Transparent materials are the materials which transmit the light with little absorption and
reflection. These materials are transparent in nature and hence, one can clearly view the object
through the material.
Electrical insulated materials are transparent. Similarly, few semiconducting materials are also
transparent.
(ii) Translucent
The incident light gets scattered within the materials and hence, the diffused light is transmitted
With the order side of the materials.
One cannot clearly view the object while viewing through the materials. these materials are
known as translucent material.
(iii) Opaque
The material which absorbs the visible light is termed as opaque. When an electromagnetic
radiation in the entire visible spectrum is incident on this material, either it gets reflected or
absorbed.
Thus, the materials are opaque. Few semiconducting materials also exhibit this opaque nature.

Interaction of light with solids

When a light beam (electromagnetic radiation) incidents on a solid, the light radiation undergoes
three processes (fig .1)
They are
(i) Scattered by the sample at various angles
(ii) Absorbed by the sample
(iii) Transmitted through the sample
Light scattered in the opposite direction of the incident
Beam leads to reflection. Light scattered in the same
direction as the incident beam and recombining with it
gives rise to refraction. Scattered incoherent radiation
on the other hand leads to other forms of scattering such
as Rayleigh scattering. For a total incident flux of
photons Io, energy conservation requires that
Io = IT + IR + IA …(1)
Fig. 1 Various interactions between light
Where Where IT – transmitted light intensity
radiation with solids
IR – reflected light intensity
IA – absorbed light intensity

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Let Io be the energy flux per unit area (J/m2 s). Dividing both sides of the eqn (1) by Io we have

1=T+R+A
Where T – fraction of light transmitted
R – fraction of light reflected
A – fraction of light absorbed

SCATTERING OF LIGHT
It is a process by which the intensity of the wave attenuates as it travels through a medium.
Light scattering is a common phenomena occurring in nature.
Let us understand three types of scattering of light.
(i) Rayleigh scattering
(ii) Raman scattering
(iii) Compton scattring
Rayleigh scattering:
In elastic scattering of light, the wavelength of the scattered light is the same as that of the
incident light. This is known as Rayleigh scattering.(Fig. 1)

Rayleigh scattering in air. He observed that the molecules of air are responsible for this
scattering.
In this scattering, the light behaves like a wave. The molecules behave like dipoles by which the
electromagnetic waves get scattered.
The intensity of the scattered light is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength
. Therefore, the light of shorter wavelengths are more than the longer wavelength.
Note: the sunlight appears yellow because the blue part of the spectrum is scattered out. The sky
appears blue because in all directions the blue light is scattered as it suffered multiple scattering.
During the sunset, the sun appears red as the sunlight travels a larger distance and even larger part
of its blue region is lost by scattering.
Raman scattering
When the wavelength of the scattered light is different from that of incident light, then it is called
Raman effect. This is inelastic scattering light. The intensity of the scattered light by Raman
scattering is about 0.001% of the Rayleigh scattering. (Fig.1)
Compton scattering
A smaller wavelength of ultraviolet and X-ray scattering occurs by the electrons. This results in
scattered radiation having smaller frequency (longer wavelength) than the incident wave.
Such scattering is called Compton scattering.

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ABSORPTION AND EMISSION OF LIGHT IN METALS
Metals are opaque because the incident light radiation (visible range) excites electrons into
unoccupied energy states above the Fermi energy as shown in fig. 2(a).
As a result, the incident radiation is absorbed. Total light absorption is within a very thin outer
layer, usually less than 0.1µm.
Thus, only metallic films thinner than 0.1µm are capable of transmitting visible light.
All frequencies of visible light are absorbed by metals. This is due to the continuously available
empty electron states which permit electron transitions as in fig. 2(a).

Fig .2 (a) Photon absorption in which an electron is excited into a higher energy unoccupied state
(b) Photon emission by the direct transition of an electron from a higher to a lower energy state

In fact, metals are opaque to all electromagnetic radiation on the lower end of the frequency
spectrum from radio waves, through infrared, visible and about to the middle of the ultraviolet
radiation.
Metals are transparent to high-frequency (shorter wavelength) X-rays and γ-rays.
Most of the absorbed radiation is re-emitted from the surface in the form of visible light of the
same wavelength which appears as reflected light.
An electron transition accompanying emission is shown in fig. 2(b). The reflectivity of most
metals is between 0.90 and 0.95. some small fraction of the energy from electron decay processes
is dissipated as heat.
The colour of a metal is determined by the wavelength distribution of the reflected radiation.
Some metals when exposed to while light show a bright ‘silvery’ appearance. It indicates that the
metal is highly reflective and strongly reflects all parts of the visible spectrum.
Note: the frequency and wavelength of the reflected beam is approximately the same as that of
the incident beam. Aluminium and silver are two metals which exhibit this reflective behaviour.
In the case of copper and gold, there is a greater absorption of the shorter wavelengths of blue
and green and a greater reflection of longer wavelengths of yellow, orange and red.
Thus, smooth surfaces of these metals show the reflected colours and hence copper and gold
appear red-orange and yellow respectively.

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ABSORPTION AND EMISSION OF LIGHT IN INSULATORS
Absorption of a light photon may occur in an insulator. It results in excitation of an electron from
valance band to conduction band after crossing the energy gap Eg as shown in fig. 3(a).

Fig. 3 (a) Electron excitation due to absorption of photon of energy ∆E in insulators

(b) Electron deexcitation resulting in the emission of photon in insulators

A free electron in the conduction band and a hole in the valance band are created.
The excitation of an electron due to absorption of light can take place only if the photon energy
(∆ E = hv) is greater than that of band gap Eg.
ie., ∆ E = hv …(1)
Where h – Planck’s constant
v – frequency of the light photon.
Hence, light photon absorption can take place only if
hv > Eg …(2)

Where c – velocity of light.

λ – wavelength of the light photon.
The minimum wavelength λmin for visible light is about 0.4 µm and since c = 3 x 108 m / s and
6.62 x 10-34 Js the maximum band gap energy Eg (max) for which absorption of visible light is
possible ie.,

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Thus no visible light is absorbed by materials having band gap energies greater than about 3.1 eV.
These materials appear transparent and colourless if they are high purity state.
ABSORPTION ANS EMISSION OF LIGHT IN SEMICONDUCTORS
In semiconductors, light photons is absorbed in several ways. In intrinsic (pure) semiconductors
such as Si, Ge and GaAs, light photons is absorbed to create electron-hole pairs.
This absorption causes electrons to jump across the energy band gap from the valance band to the
conduction band as shown in fig. 4(a).

This transition occurs ie., the excitation of electrons due to absorption can take place if the
photon energy is greater than that of the band gap Eg, that is if
hv > Eg …(1)
Where h – Planck’s constant
v – Frequency of the light photon.
In terms of wavelength λ

The maximum wavelength for visible light λmin is about 0.7 µm. Therefore, the minimum band
gap energy Eg (min) for which there is absorption of visible light is given by

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The result indicates that all visible light is absorbed by those semiconductors having band gap
energies less than about 1.8 eV. Thus, these semiconductors are opaque.
In extrinsic (impure) semiconductors, the presence of acceptor and donor impurities creates new
energy levels namely acceptor level (Ea) (p-type semiconductor) and donor level (Ed)
(n-type semiconductor) as shown in fig .4 (b) and (c). These impurity levels lie within the band
gap of the material.
Light radiation of specific wavelength may be absorbed as a result of electron transitions from or
to these impurity levels within the band gap.

CARRIER GENERATION AND RECOMBINATION PROCESSES

The carrier generation is the process whereby electrons and holes are created. The recombination
is the process whereby electrons and holes are annihilated.
Carrier Generation
Basically, there are three types of carrier generations. They are
(i) Photogeneration
(ii) Photon generation
(iii) Impact ionization

(i) Photogeneration
In photogeneration, light of frequency v falls on
a semiconductor. Let hv be the energy of light
photon greater than the band gap of the
semiconductor.
By absorption of light photon, one electron
jumps from valance band to conduction band
generating an electron-hole pair.
Figure .5 shows the absorption of light of
energy hv (> Eg).
For different wavelengths of light with different
energies (hv2, hv3) it can take an electron in higher
Conduction band states.
(ii) Photon Generation
Photon generation occurs when a semiconductor is under thermal excitation. With increase of
temperature of the semiconductor, lattice vibrations increase which give rise to more phonons.
Due to more down and electron-hole pairs are generated.

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(iii) Impact ionization
In this process, one energetic charge carrier will create another charge carrier. When a
semiconductor is under an electric field, electrons gain energy from the applied electric field and
hit other Si-atoms.
In this process, a bond breaks out generating more carriers. For a very high electric
field, it results in a avalanche breakdown. (Fig .7).

Recombination
In recombination, a pair of electron and hole gets recombined. When a free electron in the
conduction band falls to valance band recombines with a hole, it becomes a bound electron in
valance band.
Free electron in Bound electron in
Conduction band + hole
Recombination valance band
Recombination occurs in three ways:
(a) Radiative Recombination
(b) Shockley-Read-Hall Recombination
(c) Auger Recombination

(a) Radiative Recombination

It occurs for direct band semiconductors (like GaAs). In this process, electrons from conduction
band minimum falls to valance band maximum without changing the momentum. In this
process, one photon of energy hv (= Eg) is emitted.
Electrons which are excited to higher energy states in conduction band will come to the
conduction band minimum by releasing energy as heat.

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Then, from conduction band minimum it falls to
valance band maximum emitting light of energy
hv = Eg. It is also called direct recombination. (fig .8).
Shockley-Read-Hall Recombination
In this recombination process, electrons from
conduction band minimum come to a defect level
intermediate between Ec and Ev by radiating energy as
photons or phonons. Then, electron turns from that
intermediate level to the valance band.
This type of recombination is basically seen in impure
semiconductor which has defects levels. Generally, the
defect level lies in the middle of the forbidden gap.
(Fig .9).

Auger Recombination
In Auger recombination, three carriers are involved. In this process, an electron and a hole
recombine and the energy is given to the third free electron in the conduction band.

Then, the third excited electron comes back to the conduction band edge by emitting energy as
heat. Generally, an Auger recombination occurs for heavily doped material. (fig .10)

EXCITONS
The recombination of an electron in an excited state (below conduction band) and the associated
hole in valance band (electron – hole pair) is known as an exciton.
Explanation
When the photons of energy less than the band gap (Eg) is absorbed by a crystal, the electrons
from the filled valance band will not go to the empty conduction band exactly.
But, instead they will go to a level below the conduction band called excited state or excited
level.

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It is noted that the electron in the excited state does not become free even after leaving valance
band. That is, it is still bound to some extent by the coulomb force of attraction .
[ +o] o
[Bound electron + hole] exciton.
In general, exciton as a whole is neutral and hence, the contribution to the electrical conductivity
in a material is zero. But, it will transfer its energy from one ion to the next ion.
The bound state has energy less than that of separated electron – hole pair. Therefore, the exciton
energy levels lie in the forbidden gap just below the conduction band. These exciton energy
levels are called exciton bands.
The transitions leading to the formation of excitons below the conduction bands are shown in
fig.11.
The energy required to from an exciton is less than
the band gap energy and it is given by
hv = Eg – Eex
Where Eex is the exciton binding energy. Its value is
in the range of 1 meV to 1 eV and hence, the
exciton levels fall very slightly below the edge of
the conduction band as shown in fig. 11

Excitons are formed in all types of crystals. They are unstable due to the recombination band as
shown in fig. 11.
Types of excitons
Excitons are classified into two types
(i) Frenkal excitons – strongly (tightly) bound excitons
(ii) Mott and wannier excitons – weakly bound excitons
(i) Frenkel exciton
This model is due to Frenkel. The electron and holes are bound
together within a short distance which is less than the lattice
constant.(ie., electron-hole interparticle distance is small in
comparison with lattice constant (ie., r < α)
This means that excitation in this type of exciton is localized on
or near a single atom in the sense that the hole is present on
the same as of electron. (Fig. 12).
Thus a Frenkel exciton may be thought as an excited state of a
single atom. But, the excitons may jump from one atom to
Another as the atoms are coupled. Therefore, these excitons
are also known as strongly bound

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excitons or tightly bound excitons.
Example
This type of excitons present in alkali halide crystals like
NaBr and KBr.
(ii) Mott and wannier exciton
This model of excitons is due to Mott and Wannier. The
electrons and holes are bound at larger distance which is
higher than lattice constant. The electron – hole interparticle
distance is large as compared with a lattice constant i.e.,
r > α (Fig. 13). These excitons are also known as weakly
bound excitons.
Example
This type of exciton found in Cuprous oxide (Cu2 O).
Importanace of excitons
•The excitons play an important role in the luminescence of solids.
•Excitons are unstable and they will separate at high temperature.
•The excitons can move through the semiconductor and transport energy.
•The excitons does not transport any charge as it is electricity neutral.

PHOTO CURRENT IN P-N-JUNCTION DIODE

[PHOTO DIODE]
Principle
When a p-n junction diode is exposed light (photons),
under reverse bias, it produces electron and hole pairs. Due
to the flow of these charge carriers, it produces a reverse
current.
Fabrication
The photo-diode is made up of ‘p’ and ‘n’ type materials
with a small glass window on the top for the light to pass
through it and strike the p-n-junction as shown in Fig. 4.
the p – n junction mounted on the insulated substrate is
sealed inside the metal case for safety.
The symbol of the photo-diode is as shown in Fig. 15.
Operation
1. The photo-diode is reverse biased as shown in Fig. 16.
2. When no light is incident on the p – n junction of the photo-diode, then no charges are created
and therefore no current (or) a very little reverse current (IR) flows through the circuit.

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3. Now, when light is made to incident on the p – n-
junction, then each photon creates an electron –
hole pair at the junction.
4. These photo-generated charge carriers move
towards the potential and therefore constitute a
current known as photo current.
5. The photo current increases with the increase in
intensity of light falling on the p-n junction.
6. The current reaches a maximum and is called as
saturation current.
Modes of operation
The photo-diode operates in 3 modes viz.
1. photo-voltaic mode
2. Photo-conductive mode and
3. Avalanche diode mode.
Types
Based on the modes of operation, there are different types of photo-diodes viz.
1. PIN [p type – intrinsic – n type] photo diode

2. APD [Avalanche pin photo-diode]

3. Schottky photo-diode
Solar cell etc.
Advantages
1. They have long life period
2. It is light in weight
3. It is very compact (small in size)
4. Noise of the photo diode is very less
5. It can be rugged mechanically
6. The response of the photo-diode is wide spectral
Disadvantages
1. Here the dark current is temperature dependent.
2. The thermal stability is very poor.
3. Amplification is compulsorily required for better performance.
4. Efficiency is poor in rainy/winter seasons.
Applications
1. photo-diodes are used in charge-couple devices [CCD], photo-conductors and photo-multiplier
tubes.

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2. They have wide applications in clocks, radio, camera, street lights, etc.
3. They are used for lighting regulation and in optical communication systems.
4. Photo-diodes are used in electronic devices such as smoke detectors, CD players, TVs, remote
controls etc.
5. In medicine they are used in computed tomography (CT) instrument.
SOLAR CELL
Principle
A solar cell is a basically a large area photo-diode
which converts sunlight [solar energy] directly
into electricity [Electrical energy], with larger
efficiency, of photon absorption.
Fabrication
A solar cell is made up to a heavily doped ‘p’ and
‘n’ type materials grown over the substrate as
shown in Fig. 17, with larger exposure area for
the sunlight to pass through it.
Here, the thickness of the p-region and n-region is
made small, so that the charge carriers

generated in this region can easily diffuse to the

junction. The ‘p’ and ‘n’ type material is
connected to the load resistance RL through the
ohmic contacts. The symbol of the solar cell is
as shown in Fig. 18.
Operation
1. The solar cell is exposed to the light without load
resistance (RL) and the photons are allowed to fall
on the ‘p’ and ‘n’ type materials.
2. These photons collide with the valance electrons
and eject it out from the parent atoms, thus
electron-hole pairs are generated as shown in Fig.
19.
3. There electrons and holes quickly diffuses and
reaches the depletion region as shown in Fig. 20.
4. Now, due to strong barrier field, the electrons
(minority) charge carrier) from ‘p’ type moves

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 Towards the ‘n’ side and similarly holes from ‘n’
type move towards the ‘p’ –side, as shown in
Fig. 21.
5. As the p-n-junction diode is open circuited, the
electrons and holes accumulate on either side of
the junction, which gives rise to a open-circuit
voltage (V0) as shown in Fig. 22.
6. Now if a load resistance RL is connected across
the diode, then a reverse current flows IR
through the circuit as shown in Fig. 17.
7. Here, the magnitude of the current generated in
the solar cell is proportional to the intensity of
light falling on it.

Note : Large number of solar cells added together

forms a solar panel.

Advantages
1. The energy used by solar cell is a renewable energy source i.e., sun.
2. These cells are eco-friendly and save electricity charges.
3. It is pollution free device with higher efficiency.
4. life time and durability is longer.
Disadvantages
1. Investment / installation cost is high.
2. It is a seasonal energy, which can’t work under winter / rainy seasons.
3. The solar panels occupy more space during installation.
4. The electrical energy generated should always be converted from DC to AC, which is
practically difficult.
Applications
1. Solar cells are used in the production of electricity to our daily
2. Solar cells also provide electricity which may be used for commercial purposes.
3. They are used in artificial satellites and in space probes.
4. Solar panels are used in calculators, watches, street lights, toys etc.

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 PHOTO DETECTERS
Photo detectors are the devices which convert the light signal into electrical signals. The two
main photo detectors used in optical fiber communication system are
(i) p-i-n – photodiode (PIN Diode)
(ii) Avalnche Photo Diode (APD)
Principle
This diode works in reverse bias. Under reverse bias when light is made to fall on the neutral (or)
intrinsic region ‘i’ electron hole pairs are generated. These electrons and holes are accelerated
by the external electric field, which results photo-current. Thus light is converted into electrical
signal.
Construction
It consists of three regions viz., p, i, and n, with necessary biasing as shown in fig. 23.
The p-n regions are heavily doped. The ‘i’ region is a neutral region and hence it can be doped
either by ‘p’ (or) by ‘n’. Here in this case the ‘i’ region is lightly doped with n-material. The
intrinsic layer ‘i’ is made as large as possible in order to have more absorption of the incident
photons. Since the p-n region is separated by an intrinsic region (i), it is called as
positive – intrinsic – negative (p-i-n) photo diode.

Working
The PIN photo diode is given very high reverse
bias voltage. Since, the intrinsic region has very
less mobile charges the width of the depletion
region gets increased.
Now, when a photon of energy greater than (or)
equal to the band gap energy of the photo-diode
incidents on the depletion region, the electron
hole pair is created due to the absorption of
photon.
The mobile charges are accelerated by the applied
voltage, which gives rise to photo current in the
external circuit.
The pin photo-diode acts as a linear device because the photo-current
is directly proportional to the optical power incident on the PIN photo-diode.

i.e., Photo current (ip) α P (Optical power incident on PIN photo-diode)

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(ii) Avalanche Photo Diodes (APDs)
The Reach through Avalanche Photo Diode (RAPD)
has more sophisticated structure in order to create
more current. The avalanche mechanism i.e., creation
of shower of electron-hole pairs from a single
electron-hole pair, by the collision process is used to
increase the gain, thus known as avalanche gain.
Principle
This diode also works in reverse bias. Under bias
when light is made to fall on the neutral (or) intrinsic
region ‘i’ electron hole pairs are generated.

By avalanche effect more number of electron hole pairs are created, which results in large photo-
current than of the PIN photo diode. Thus, light energy is converted into electrical energy.
Construction
The Reach through Avalanche photo diode consists four regions viz, p+, i, p and n+ with
necessary biasing as shown in fig. 24. the layer- 1 consists of a heavily doped n-region, denoted
by n+. The layer- 2 is made up of p-region and layer- 4 is heavily doped with the same

p-region, denoted by . Te intrinsic (neutral) region is lightly doped with the p-material.
Totally we can imagine the diode as p-n junction diode in which the ‘p’ region is composed of
three layers viz, ‘p’, ‘i’ and ‘p+’ .
Working
Initially before the light incident on the diode, a reverse bias voltage is applied. At a certain
voltage the depletion region (intrinsic region) gets widen. Though both the ‘i’ and ‘p’ is lightly
doped, the intrinsic region ‘i’ gets more depleted because of its larger area. This is called as
depleted mode.
When the light is made to fall over the diode, the light is absorbed by the intrinsic region and
hence this region is also called as collection region. The incident light (photon) creates an
election-hole pair in the intrinsic region.
Now, when the biasing voltage is increased the photo-generated electrons moves/drifts through
the intrinsic region to p (layer- 2) and n (layer- 1) junction. Here, they collide with free electrons
in the valance band and releases more number of free (or) conduction electrons. Thus avalanche
effect is produced.
Therefore, a single photo generated electron releases/ liberates 1000’s of free electrons by
avalanche effect and in turn increases the out put current enormously.
Since large current is produced even when a single photon incidents on the diode, these diodes

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Are termed as highly sensitive detectors.
LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (LED)
Definition
LED is a semiconductor p-n junction diode which converts electrical energy to light energy under
Forward biasing. It emits light in both visible and IR region.
Types of LED
There are two types of LED. viz.,
(i) Planar (or) Surface emitting LED and
(ii) Dome shaped LED.
Let us discuss in detail about the planar (or) surface emitting LED.
Principle
Injection luminescence is the principle used in both the LED’s. when LED is forward biased, the
majority charge carriers moves from p to n and similarly from n to p region and becomes excess
minority carriers. Then these excess minority charge carriers diffuses through the junction and
recombines with the majority charge carriers in n and p region respectively to produce light.
Construction
The surface emitting LED is as shown in fig. 25. here the p-n junction is formed by diffusion
Or epitaxial techniques. The p-n junction is made by doping silicon with GaAs crystal. Since

Silicon can act both as donar (when it replaces

Gallium) and acceptor (when it replaces
arsenide) it is used as the impurity atom (or)
dopent. Therefore a shallow p-n junction is
formed on GaAs substrate such that p-layer is
formes by diffusion on ‘n’ layer.
In order to increase the probability of radiative
recombination, the thickness of the ‘n’ layer is
taken higher than that of the thickness of the ‘p’
layer.
Ohmic contacts are made with the help of
aluminium in such a way that top layer of the
‘p’ material is left uncovered, for the emission
of light. Proper biasing can be applied at the
losses due to reflection can be minimized.
Working
The diode forward biased. Due to forward bias,
the majority charge carriers from ‘n’ and ‘p’

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regions cross the junction and become minority
charge carriers in the other junction (i.e)
electrons, which are majority charge carriers in
‘n’ region cross the junction and go to ‘p’ region
and become minority charge carriers in p-region
as shown in fig. 26.
Similarly, holes which are majority charge
carriers in ‘p’ region cross the junction and go to
‘n’ region and become minority charge carriers in
‘n’ region.
By the similar process, excess of minority
carriers (shades electrons and holes) are injected
in both ‘p’ and ‘n’ regions as shown in fig. 26
and this phenomenon is called minority carrier
injection.
Now, if the biasing voltage is further increased, these excess minority carriers diffuse away from
the junction and they directly recombine with the majority carriers. (i.e) the electrons, which are
excess minority carriers in ‘p’ region recombine with the holes which are the majority carriers in

‘p’ region and emit light. Similarly, the holes which are excess minority carriers in ‘n’ region
recombine with the electrons which are majority carriers in ‘n’ region and emit light.
Therefore electron-hole recombination process occurs more and more and thereby light (photons)
is emitted through the top layer of the p-material which is left uncovered as shown in Fig. 25.
Advantages
(i) They are smaller in size
(ii) Its cost is very low.
(iii) It has long life time.
(iv) LED’s are available in different colours at low cost.
(v) It operates even at very low voltage.
(vi) Response time of LED is very fast, in the order of 10-9 seconds.
(vii)Its intensity can be controlled easily.
(viii)It can be operated at a wide range of temperature (0 – 70oC).
(ix) Dome shaped LED has less scattering losses.
Disadvantages
(i) Power output is low
(ii) Intensity is less than laser.

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(iii) The light cannot travel through longer distance.
(iv) The light output is incoherent and are not in phase
(v) The light will not have directionality.

DOME SHAPED LED

In the planer LED, the reflection loss is more because most of the emitted light strikes the
Material interface at an angle greater than the critical angle. Therefore they are totally internally
Reflected and will not come out of the interface. Thus the light is lost.
This loss of light due to internal reflection can be minimized by two ways viz.
(i) By making the ‘p’ material in the shape of a hemisphreical dome (Fig.27). The angle at
which the light strikes the interface can be made less than the critical angle and hence the
light will not be lost by total internal reflection.

(ii) By covering the p-n junction by a plastic medium of higher refractive index in the shape of
hemispherical dome (Fig. 28), the total internal reflection can be reduced. This LED is used
for commercial purpose. Hence, usually the dome shaped hemispherical LED is preferred
than planer LEDs.
ORGANIC LED [OLED]
Introduction
Organic Light Emitting Diode, shortly called as OLED is new type of electronic device which
emits light, consuming very less energy. It overcome the drawback of LCD, in which we suffer
from poor viewing angle.
Organic LEDs are generally made up of many layers with organic molecules of different
conductivity levels, ranging from insulators to conductors.
Let us discuss a 2-Layer OLED in detail.

Principle
An electron moves from the cathode to the emissive layer and the hole moves from the anode to
the conductive layer and they recombine to produce photons. This is the principle used to emit
light in OLED.

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Fabrication
The 2-layer OLED consists of a cathode and an anode, in between which we have two organic
layers viz.
1. Emissive layer and
2. Conductive layer, made up of different conductivities.
All the layers are grown over a transparent substrate, through which the light has to be emitted.
Necessary biasing is given for the OLED, in such a way that the anode is given positive and the
Cathode is given negative as shown in Fig. 29.
Working
1. Voltage is applied across the OLED.
2. Due to the applied voltage, the cathode gives
electrons to the emissive layer.
3. The anode withdraws an electron from the
conductive layer and creates a hole in the
conductive layer as shown in Fig. 29.
4. In other words, we can say that the anode gives
electron-hole i.e., polarons [A quasiparticle – A
positive (or) negative ion slightly attracted to a

negatively (or) positively charged carriers respectively ].

5. Soon, the emissive layer becomes rich in negatively charged particles [Electrons] and the
conductive layer becomes rich is positively charged particles [holes].
6. Now, due to the electrostatic forces between these electrons and holes , they come closer and
recombine with each other.
7. In OLED, the recombination occurs closer to the emissive layer, because in organic
semiconductors, holes moves faster than electrons.
8. Thus, the recombination of electrons and holes produces light and is emitted through the
transparent substrate as shown in Fig. 29.
Note: the device does not work when the anode is given with negative potential with respect to
cathode, because, at this condition, the hole moves to anode and electron moves to cathode.
Since the charges move away from each other, recombination will not happen and hence light
will not be emitted.
Advantages
OLED’s have more advantages, when compared to CRT, LCD and LEDs. Some of them are as
follows.
1. OLED is very thin and more flexible.
2. They are light in weight.

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3. Light emission is brighter than normal LED’s.
4. The conductive and emissive layers can be increased to increase the efficiency of OLED.
5. OLED’s do not require backlighting like LCD’s.
6. They have large field of view [About 170o].
Disadvantages
1. Cost of manufacturing is very high.
2. OLED’s can be easily damaged when water falls on it.
3. Blue OLED have less life time, when compared to Red OLED.
4. Maintenance cost also increases due to different life time.
Applications
1. OLED’s are widely used in cell phones, digital cameras etc.
2. They are also used in TV screens, computer monitors.
3. They are nowadays used in Automotive dash boards & backlight in cars.
4. OLEDs are used in flexible display boards, for displaying video’s in real time.
5. In future, news papers also have OLED displays to refresh us with the latest or breaking
news.

LASER DIODE (GaAlAS- Laser)

Laser diode is of two catogories viz.
1. Homojunction semiconductor diode
2. Hetrojunction diode
Let us discuss in detail about hetero junction semiconductor laser diode.
Characteristics
Type : Heterojunction semiconductor laser
Active Medium : p-n- junctions (with various layers)
Active Centre : Recombination of electrons and holes
Pumping Process : Direct pumping
Optical Resonator : Polished junctions of diode
Power Output : 10mw
Nature of Output : Continuous wave form
Wavelength of Output : 8000 Å
Band Gap : 1.55 eV

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Principle
The electron in conduction band combines with a hole in the valance band and hence the
recombination of electron and hole produces energy in the form of light. This photon, in turn may
induce another electron in the conduction band (CB) to valance band (VB) and thereby stimulate
the emission of another photon.
Construction
It consists of five layers as shown in fig. 30.
a layer of GaAs- p-type (3rd layer) which has a
narrow band gap will act as the active region. This
layer (3rd layer) is sandwiched between the two
layers having wider band gap viz.
GaAlAa – p-type (2nd layer) and GaAlAs – n-type
(4th layer).
A contact layer made of GaAs – p-type (1st layer) is
made to form at the top of the 2nd layer for
necessary biasing. All these four layers are grown
over the substrate (5th layer) made of GaAs-n-type.

The junctions of GaAs – p-type (3rd layer) and GaAlAs – n-type (4th layer) are well polished and
hence it act as an optical resonator. The upper and lower electrodes helps in forward biasing the
diode.

Working
The working of a heterojunction laser is similar to that of the working of a homojunction laser.
1. The diode is forward biased with the help of upper and lower electrodes.
2. Due to forward biasing the charge carriers produced in the wide band gap layers (2 and 4).
3. These charge carriers are injected into the active region (layer 3).
4. The charge carriers are continuously injected from 2nd and 4th layer to the 3rd layer, until the
population inversion is achieved.
5. At this state some of the injected charge carriers recombines and produces spontaneously
emitted photons.
6. These spontaneously emitted photons stimulates the injected charge carriers to emit photons.
7. As a result more number of stimulated emission arises and thus large number of photons are
produced.
8. These photons are reflected back and forth at the junction and hence an intense, coherent

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 beam of LASER emerges out from the P-N junctions of active region i.e., between layer-3
and
layer-4 as shown in fig. 30.
9. The wavelength of the emitted radiation is given by

∴λ = 8014 Å
This wavelength lies in IR region.
Advantages
(i) Power output is very high.
(ii) It produces continuous wave output.
(iii) It has high directionality and high coherence.
(iv) It has low threshold current density compared to homojunction laser.
(v) These diodes are highly stable and has longer life time.
Disadvantages
1. Cost is higher than homojunction laser.
2. Practical difficulties arises while growing the different layers of p-n junction.

THE QUANTUM-CONFINED STARK EFFECT

INTRODUCTION
The quantum-confined stark effect describes the response of a quantum confined system to an
external electric field. This makes it a type of electro-optic effect. The response will be either
linear or quadratic.
We found that relatively small electric fields can ionize the excitons by pushing the electrons and
holes in opposite directions. The situation in quantum wells is different if the field is applied
along the z direction. The field still pushes the electrons and holes in opposite directions, but the
barriers prevent the exciton from breaking apart. Hence the excitons interact with the field and
shift to lower energy. In atomic physics, the shift to the energy levels in an electric field is called
the Stark effect.
Quantum-confined stark effect
The shift of the quantum-confined energy levels in a quantum well due to the application of
electric field is therefore called the quantum-confined Stark effect.
Theory
When an electric field is ɛz applied to a semiconductor along the z axis, the potential energy of the
electron is given by:

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Where pz is the z component of the electron dipole. The electron is negatively charged, and so we
can write:

Where e is the modulus of the electrons charge and z is the position along the z axis. The potential
energy of the electron is then given by

Illustration
The application of the field therefore causes the potential energy of the electrons to change-
linearly as a function of distance along the z axis.

Fig. 31 illustrates the quantum-confined Stark effect for the first electron and heavy-hole states of
a GaAs/Al0.3 Ga0.7 for a quantum well with a thickness of 10nm.
Fig. 31(a) shows the probability densities for the electron (e1) heavy hole (hh1) wave functions at
zero field, while Fig. 31(b) shows the equivalent quantities at field ɛz = 107 Vm-1.
In Fig. 31(b) the linear increase of the valance and conduction band energy as a function of z is
caused by adding a potential of the form given by eqn (3) to the potential well shown in Fig. 31
(a).
The energies of the e1 and hh1 levels are indicated in both figures.
Inference
The following points are observed on comparison of Fig. 31(a) and 31(b).
1. The applications of electric field causes a decrease of the energies in the confined states.
2. The stark shift of the levels causes the energy difference between the e1 and hh1 levels
(i.e. Ee1 – Ehh1) to decrease from 1462.4 meV at zero field to 1438.5 meV at ɛz = 107 Vm-1.
We thus expect a red shift to the transition energy.
3. The displacement of the electron relative to the hole causes the red shift to the transition.
Further it is found that for the energy shift, the hole contribution is more than the electron,
because of its large effective mass.
4. The shift of the electron creates a positive dipole which has a magnitude that is proportional

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 ɛz to small fields.
5. At zero field the wave functions are symmetric about the centre of the well, but the
applications of the field breaks the symmetry and causes the electron and hole probability
densities to shift in opposite directions.
6. The electron-hole overlap at zero field is nearly perfect with . The
skewing of the electron and hole wave functions in opposite directions at ɛz = 10 Vm-1
7

reduces the overlap to 0.38.

Experiment
The quantum-confined Stark effect can be observed by
growing the quantum wells in the i-region of a p – i – n diode,
as shown in Fig. 32. by operating the diode in reverse bias like
a photodiode, strong DC electric fields can be applied in the
growth direction. The magnitude of the field is given by:

Where
Vbi is the built-in voltage of the diode,

V0 is the applied bias, and l ɛz is the i-region thickness.

V0 is negative in reverse bias and thus the applied voltage augments the fields due to the
built-in voltage.
We know, the photocurrent generated in the device follows the frequency dependence of
the absorption.
Example (optional)
Fig. 33 shows the photocurrent spectra of a
GaAs.Al0.3 G0.7. As MQW p – i – n diode at the bias
voltages of 0V and – 10V. The well width was 9.0
nm, and the temperature was 300 K. the i-region
thickness was 1µm, and Vbi was 1.5V.
From eqn (4) we see that the voltages correspond
the field strengths of 1.5 X 105 Vm-1.
Conclusion
The spectrum at – 10V shows a clear red-shift for
both the heavy and light-hole (lh) excitons. As
expected, the shift is larger for the heavy hole (hh)
excitons due to their larger mass. The decrease in

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The exciton absorption at the higher field strength is caused by the reduction in the electron-hole
overlap integral, as discussed in inference. Two parity-forbidden transitions are clearly identified
in Fig.33 namely the hh2 e1 and hh1 e2 lines.
Applications
1. It is used to control the shape of the absorption spectrum by applying a voltage.
2. It is used for making different types of electro-optic devices.
3. It can used to switch ON and OFF the optical devices by applying the bias.
4. It is used to make a voltage-tunable photo-detector.
5. It is also used as phase modulator device.

QUANTUM DOT LASER [QD LASER]

INTRODUCTION
A quantum dot laser is a semiconductor laser that uses quantum dots as the active laser medium
in its light emitting region.
In quantum dot lasers, the confinement is in all three spatial directions.
Conventional laser operation requires the presence of a laser medium containing active atoms
with discrete energy levels between which the laser emission transition takes place. It also
needs a mechanism for population inversion whereby an upper energy level acquires a

Population of electrons exceeding that of lower-lying ground-state level.

In a He-Ne laser, the active atoms are mixed with He and in a Nd: YAG solid state laser the active
atoms are neodymium ions substituted in Yittrium aluminium garnate crystal.
In quantum dot laser, quantum dots play the role of active atoms.
Construction

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The Fig. 34 shows a quantum-dot near infrared laser diode grown on an n-doped GaAs substrate.
The top p-metal layer has a GaAs contact layer. Immediately below it, there are a pair of 2 µm-
thick Al0.85 Ga0.15 as cladding or bounding layers that surround a 190-nm-thick waveguide made
of Al0.05 Ga0.95 as in between p-metal and n-substrate. The front view of quantum laser diode is
shown in Fig. 35.

Here, the waveguide plays the role of conducting the emitted light to the exit ports at the edges of
the structure.
The waveguide [dark dotted on the figure labeled QD] is a 30-nm thick GaAs region, and
centered in this region are 12 monolayers of In0.5 Ga0.5 as quantum dots with a density of

1.5 X 105 cm2. The details of the waveguide region is drawn below the bottom of Fig.34.

Working
1. The electron and hole recombination causes the emission of laser light.
2. By varying the length L [1 to 5 mm] and width w [4 to 60 µm], the laser light with particular
wavelength will be emitted.
3. A particular wavelength of 1.32 µm which is in the near-infrared region can be produced for a
current setting just above the 4.1 mA threshold value, labelled point ‘a’, is shown in Fig. 35.
4. The faces of the layer were coated with high reflectively material [ZnSe/MgF2] where the
light is reflected back and forth to increase the stimulated emission and in turn the laser
emission is enhanced.

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