Photodetectors

Photodetectors
• The frontend device at the receiver of optical communication.
• Convert the received optical signal in to electrical domain to
recover the information signal.
• Photodetectors are many types:

 Photo multipliers
 Phototransisitors
 Pyroelectric photodetectors
 Semiconductor photodetectors (photodiodes)
• Among them, semiconductor photodetector are suitable for optical
communication because of their:
 Small size
 Fast response time
 High sensitivity
Semiconductor photodetectors
 Semiconductor photodetectors

1. pin photodetectors
2. Avalanche photodiodes (APD)
pin photodetectors
pin photodetectors
Energy-Band diagram for a pin photodiode
Photocurrent
Optical Absorption Coefficient
Responsivity
Responsivity vs. wavelength
 Responsivity vs. photon energy

Eg
R  Rmax 
E ph
Avalanche Photodiode (APD)
Avalanche Photodiode (APD)
Avalanche Photodiode (APD)
Responsivity of APD
Current gain (M) vs. Voltage for different optical
wavelengths
Photodetector Noise & S/N
Noise Sources in Photodetecors
Noise calculation (1)
Noise calculation (2)
S/N Calculation
Photodetector Response Time
 Various optical responses of photodetectors:
Trade-off between quantum efficiency & response time
Temperature effect on avalanche gain