Optical Fiber Communication Deepak Khadka

Chapter 4: Optical Sources

• Optical transmitter coverts electrical input signal into corresponding optical signal. The
optical signal is then launched into the fiber. Optical source is the major component in an optical
transmitter.
• LED (Light Emitting Diode) and LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation) are the devices that are used widely as optical sources.

Characteristics (Properties) of Light Source of Communication

To be useful in an optical link, a light source needs the following characteristics:

• It must be possible to operate the device continuously at a variety of temperatures for many years.
• Must have compatible size and configuration to effectively launch light into an optical fiber.
• Emit light at wavelength where fiber has low losses and low dispersion.
• Must have high intensity light output.
• Their light must be nearly monochromatic as much as possible.
• Allow direct modulation over wide bandwidth.
• For fiber links, the wavelength of the output should coincide with one of transmission windows
for the fiber type used.
• The power requirement for its operation must be low. .
• High coupling efficiency.
• High optical output power.
• High reliability.
• Low weight and low cost.

4.1 LED( Light Emitting Diode)

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits incoherent light, through
spontaneous emission, when a current is passed through it. Typically LEDs for the 850-nm region are
fabricated using GaAs and AlGaAs. LEDs for the 1300-nm and 1550-nm regions are fabricated using
InGaAsP and InP.

The basic LED types used for fiber optic communication systems are the surface-emitting LED
(SLED), the edge-emitting LED (ELED), and the superluminescent diode (SLD). LED performance
differences help link designers decide which device is appropriate for the intended application. For short-
distance (0 to 3 km), low-data-rate fiber optic systems, SLEDs and ELEDs are the preferred optical
source. Typically, SLEDs operate efficiently for bit rates up to 250 megabits per second (Mb/s). Because
SLEDs emit light over a wide area (wide far-field angle), they are almost exclusively used in multimode
systems.

For medium-distance, medium-data-rate systems, ELEDs are preferred.

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ELEDs may be modulated at rates up to 400 Mb/s. ELEDs may be used for both single mode and
multimode fiber systems. Both SLDs and ELEDs are used in long-distance, high-data-rate systems. SLDs
are ELED-based diodes designed to operate in the superluminescence mode. A further discussion on
superluminescence is provided later in this chapter. SLDs may be modulated at bit rates of over 400 Mb/s.

• A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source.

Modern versions are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, with very high
brightness.

When a light-emitting diode is forward biased (switched on), electrons are able to recombine with holes
within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is called electroluminescence, and
the color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photon) is determined by the energy band gap of
the semiconductor.

Electronic symbol Pin configuration anode and cathode

The LED consists of a chip of semiconducting material doped with impurities to create a p-n junction. As
in other diodes, current flows easily from the p-side, or anode, to the n-side, or cathode, but not in the
reverse direction. Charge-carriers—electrons and holes—flow into the junction from electrodes with
different voltages. When an electron meets a hole, it falls into a lower energy level and releases energy in
the form of a photon.

Note : The light emitting region of both leds

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The recombination of excess minority carriers is the mechanism by which optical radiation is
generated.

LED configurations

At present there are two main types of LED used in optical fiber links –

1. Surface emitting LED.

2. Edge emitting LED.

Both devices used a DH structure to constrain the carriers and the light to an active

layer.

Surface Emitting LEDs

• In surface emitting LEDs the plane of active light emitting region is oriented
perpendicularly to the axis of the fiber

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• A circular well is etched through the substrate of the device. A fiber is then connected to accept
the emitted light.

• In addition, the epoxy resin that binds the optical fiber to the SLED reduces the refractive index
mismatch, increasing coupling efficiency

• At the back of device is a heat sink. The current flows through the p-type material and forms
the small circular active region resulting in the intense beam of light. The circular active area in
practical surface emitters is nominally 50 µm in diameter and upto 2.5 µm thick.

• The emission pattern is essentially isotropic with a 120 degree half-power beamwidth

• The isotropic emission pattern from surface emitting LED is of Lambartian pattern. In
Lambartian pattern, the emitting surface is uniformly bright, but its projected area
diminishes as cos θ, where θ is the angle between the viewing direction and the normal to the
surface as shown in Fig. 3.1.3. The beam intensity is maximum along the normal.

• The power is reduced to 50% of its peak when θ = 60 therefore the total half-power
beamwidth is 120degree. The radiation pattern decides the coupling efficiency of LED.

Edge-Emitting LED:

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Fig: Structure of Edge Emitting. DH, strip Contact LED

The demand for optical sources for longer distance, higher bandwidth systems operating at longer
wavelengths led to the development of edge-emitting LEDs.

Figure shows a typical ELED structure.

• In order to reduce the losses caused by absorption in the active layer and to make the
beam more directional, the light is collected from the edge of the LED. Such a device is
known as edge emitting LED or ELED.

• It consists of an active junction region which is the source of incoherent light and two
guiding layers. The refractive index of guiding layers is lower than active region but
higher than outer surrounding material. Thus a waveguide channel is form and optical
radiation is directed into the fiber.

• Edge emitter‘s emission pattern is more concentrated (directional) providing improved

coupling efficiency.

The beam is Lambartian in the plane parallel to the junction but diverges more slowly in
the plane perpendicular to the junction. In this plane, the beam divergence is limited. In
the parallel plane, there is no beam confinement and the radiation is Lambartian. To
maximize the useful output power, a reflector may be placed at the end of the diode opposite the
emitting edge. Fig. 3.1.5 shows radiation from ELED

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ELEDs emit light in a narrow emission angle allowing for better source-to-fiber coupling. They couple
more power into small NA fibers than SLEDs. ELEDs can couple enough power into single mode fibers
for some applications. ELEDs emit power over a narrower spectral range than SLEDs. However, ELEDs
typically are more sensitive to temperature fluctuations than SLEDs.

Examples of SLED structure:

Examples of ELED structure:

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4.2 Lasers
A laser is a device that produces optical radiation by the process of stimulated emission. It is necessary to
contain photons produced by stimulated emission within the laser active region.

Figure 3 shows an optical cavity formed to contain the emitted photons by placing one reflecting mirror at
each end of an amplifying medium. One mirror is made partially reflecting so that some radiation can
escape from the cavity for coupling to an optical fiber.

Figure 3. - Optical cavity for producing lasing.

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Only a portion of the optical radiation is amplified. For a particular laser structure, there are only certain
wavelengths that will be amplified by that laser. Amplification occurs when selected wavelengths, also
called laser modes, reflect back and forth through the cavity. For lasing to occur, the optical gain of the
selected modes must exceed the optical loss during one round-trip through the cavity. This process is
referred to as optical feedback.

The lasing threshold is the lowest drive current level at which the output of the laser results primarily
from stimulated emission rather than spontaneous emission. Figure 4 illustrates the transition from
spontaneous emission to stimulated emission by plotting the relative optical output power and input drive
current of a semiconductor laser diode. The lowest current at which stimulated emission exceeds
spontaneous emission is the threshold current.

Before the threshold current is reached, the optical output power increases only slightly with small
increases in drive current. However, after the threshold current is reached, the optical output power
increases significantly with small changes in drive currents.
Figure 4. - The optical output power as a function of input drive current of a semiconductor laser diode.

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Many types of materials including gas, liquid, and semiconductors can form the lasing medium. However,
in this chapter we only discuss semiconductor laser diodes. Semiconductor laser diodes are the primary
lasers used in fiber optics. A laser diode emits light that is highly monochromatic and very directional.
This means that the LD's output has a narrow spectral width and small output beam angle.
A semiconductor LD's geometry is similar to an ELED with light-guiding regions surrounding the active
region. Optical feedback is established by making the front facet partially reflective. This chapter
provides no diagram detailing LD structures because they are similar to ELEDs in design. The rear facet
is typically coated with a reflective layer so that all of the light striking the facet is reflected back into the
active region. The front facet is typically left uncoated so that most of the light is emitted. By increasing
the drive current, the diode becomes a laser.

At currents below the threshold current, LDs function as ELEDs.

Laser Action:

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The basic principle of operation is the same for each type of laser. Laser action is the result of three key
processes. There are photon absorption , spontaneous emission and stimulated emission.
These three processes are represented by the simple two-energy-level diagrams. Where E1 is the ground
state energy and E2 is the exited- state energy level.

Normally the

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4.3 Source Characteristics

Comparision between LED and LASER

Output Power: refers to the intensity of light emitted by source.

Spectral width: refers to the width of light beam emitted by the source or the area covered by the emitted
light.
Output pattern: refers to the output light being scattered or confined.
Speed: refers to the time required for production of light after a changing pulse is given as input
Lifetime: refers to the lifetime of sources
Ease of use
Other differences:
S.N. Parameter LED LD (Laser Diode)
1. Principle of operation Spontaneous emission. Stimulated emission.
2. Output beam Non – coherent. Coherent.

3. Transmission distance Smaller. Greater.

4. Temperature sensitivity Less sensitive. More temperature
sensitive.
5. Coupling efficiency Very low. High.
6. Compatible fibers Multimode step index Single mode Sl
multimode GRIN. Multimode GRIN.
7. Circuit complexity Simple Complex

4.4 Types of LASERS

4.4.1 Fabry Perot LASERS:

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Light propagating along the axis of the interferometer is reflected by the mirrors back to the amplifying
medium providing optical gain. The dimensions of cavity are 250-500 µm longitudinal
5-15 µm lateral and 0.1-0.2 µm transverse. Fig. 4-18 shows Fabry-Perot resonator cavity for a laser diode.
The two heterojunctions provide carrier and optical confinement in a direction normal to the junction.
The current at which lasing starts is the threshold current. Above this current the output power increases
sharply.

4.4.2 Distributed Feedback LASER

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In DFB laster the lasing action is obtained by periodic variations of refractive index along the longitudinal
dimension of the diode. Fig. shows the structure of DFB laser diode.

Distributed feedback lasers (DFB) are the most common transmitter type in DWDM-systems. To stabilize
the lasing wavelength, a diffraction grating is etched close to the p-n junction of the diode. This grating
acts like an optical filter, causing a single wavelength to be fed back to the gain region and lase.

Since the grating provides the feedback that is required for lasing, reflection from the facets is not
required. Thus, at least one facet of a DFB is anti-reflection coated. The DFB laser has a stable
wavelength that is set during manufacturing by the pitch of the grating, and can only be tuned slightly
with temperature. DFB lasers are widely used in optical communication applications where a precise and
stable wavelength is critical.

The DFB laser has a diffraction grating on its active region, this diffraction grating function as a Bragg
reflector. The grating provides the optical feedback for the laser.

The threshold current of this DFB laser, based on its static characteristic, is around 11 mA. The
appropriate bias current in a linear regime could be taken in the middle of the static characteristic (50
mA).

4.4.3 CD LASERS

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In computing, an optical disc drive (ODD) is a disk drive that uses laser light as part of the process of
reading or writing data to or from optical discs. Some drives can only read from discs, but recent drives
are commonly both readers and recorders, also called burners or writers.
Used to read data from CDs. Basically a wavelength of 850 nm is used for the purpose. As the CD spins
over the laser, the laser reads the digital code on the CD's surface (digital code is made up of 1's and 0's) .
The numbers are "encoded" by tiny indentations, called pits, that determine whether the laser reads a
number 1 (on) or a number 0 (off). Initially, CD lasers with a wavelength of 780 nm were used, being
within infrared range.

4.4.4 Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting LASER

Diagram of a simple VCSEL structure;

The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser, or VCSEL is a type of semiconductor laser

diode with laser beam emission perpendicular from the top surface.The laser resonator consists of two
distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirrors parallel to the wafer surface with an active region consisting of
one or more quantum wells for the laser light generation in between. The planar DBR-mirrors consist of
layers with alternating high and low refractive indices. Each layer has a thickness of a quarter of the laser
wavelength in the material, yielding intensity reflectivities above 99%. High reflectivity mirrors are
required in VCSELs to balance the short axial length of the gain region.

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In common VCSELs the upper and lower mirrors are doped as p-type and n-type materials, forming a
diode junction. In more complex structures, the p-type and n-type regions may be embedded between the
mirrors, requiring a more complex semiconductor process to make electrical contact to the active region,
but eliminating electrical power loss in the DBR structure. VCSELs have lower output powers when
compared to edge-emitting lasers.

There are several advantages to producing VCSELs when compared with the production process of edge-
emitting lasers. Edge-emitters cannot be tested until the end of the production process. If the edge-emitter
does not work, whether due to bad contacts or poor material growth quality, the production time and the
processing materials have been wasted. Additionally, because VCSELs emit the beam perpendicular to
the active region of the laser as opposed to parallel as with an edge emitter, tens of thousands of VCSELs
can be processed simultaneously on a three inch Gallium Arsenide wafer. Furthermore, even though the
VCSEL production process is more labor and material intensive, the yield can be controlled to a more
predictable outcome. However, they normally show a lower power output level.

4.4.5 Pump LASER

Laser pumping is the act of energy transfer from an external source into the gain medium of a laser. The
energy is absorbed in the medium, producing excited states in its atoms. When the number of particles in
one excited state exceeds the number of particles in the ground state or a less-excited state, population
inversion is achieved. In this condition, the mechanism of stimulated emission can take place and the
medium can act as a laser or an optical amplifier. The pump power must be higher than the lasing
threshold of the laser.

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The pump energy is usually provided in the form of light or electric current, but more exotic sources have
been used, such as chemicalor nuclear reactions.

Lecture Note by: Deepak Khadka,

Reference:
• Optical fiber communication by Gerd Keiser
• Optical fiber communications by John M Senior
• Prabal Dhaubhadel doc.
• And the web

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