Optical Detectors

Introduction

 A fiber optic receiver is an electro-optic

device that accepts optical signals from an
optical fiber and converts them into
electrical signals.

 Consists typically of :
• Optical Detector
• Low-noise amplifier
• Other circuitry.
 Optical Receivers
• Optical receivers convert optical signal (light)
to electrical signal (current/voltage)
 Hence referred ‘O/E Converter’
• Photodetector is the fundamental element of
optical receiver, followed by amplifiers and
signal conditioning circuitry
• There are several photodetector types:
 Photodiodes, Phototransistors, Photon multipliers,
Photo-resistors etc.
Block Diagram of Optical Receiver
 Optical Detectors

 These are Transducers that convert optical signals

into electrical signals.

 Transducers are devices that convert input energy

of one form into output energy of another.

 An optical detector does so by generating an

electrical current proportional to the intensity of
the incident optical light.
 Optical Detectors…cntd

For a general photo detector there are

basically three processes.
• Carrier generation by incident light

• Carrier transport and /or multiplication..

• Interaction of current with external circuitry to
provide the output signal.

 
 Photodetector Requirements

• High sensitivity (responsivity) at the

desired wavelength and low responsivity
elsewhere
• Low noise and reasonable cost
• Fast response time  high bandwidth
• Insensitive to temperature variations
• Compatible physical dimensions
• Long operating life
 Requirements of Optical
Detectors
• High sensitivity at the operating wavelength
• High Fidelity
• Large electrical response to the optical signal
• Short response time to obtain a suitable bandwidth
• A minimum noise introduced by the detector
• Stability of performance characteristics
• Small Size
• Low bias voltage
• High reliability
• Low cost
 Optical Detector Materials

 Si,GaAs, GaAlAs – 850nm

 Ge, InP, InGaAs -1300nm and 1550nm.

 Materials determine the Responsivity of the

detector .
 Types of Optical Detectors

 Photodiodes
• PN- junction photodiodes
• P-I-N photodiodes
• Avalanche photodiodes
• Phototransistor
 Photoconductors

 Photoemission type
• Phototubes
• Photo multiplier tubes
 Types of Photodiodes

• PN Photodiode
• P-I-N Photodiode
• Avalanche Photodiode
• Phototransistor
Parameters of Photodiodes

 Responsivity = Ip/P
Ip .. Photocurrent generated
P .. Optical power incident
 Quantum Efficiency = Ne/Np
Ne = No of electron-hole pairs generated
Np = number of photons
* Quantum efficiency of a regular communications
photodiode ranges from 50% to almost 100 %.
Input Output Characteristics
of Photodiode

Ip(mA)

P(mW)
• Input to a photodiode is light power P
• Output is current is Ip
Ip  P
Ip = R P
where R is the Responsivity and its value is constant
• Responsivity R ranges from 5A/W and this characteristics shows
how effectively a photodiode convert light into an electrical signal
 Responsivity ()

Quantum Efficiency () = number of e-h pairs

generated / number of incident photons
Ip / q I p q
    mA/mW
P0 / h P0 h
 APD   PIN M
Avalanche PD’s have an internal gain M
I M IM : average value of the total multiplied current
M
I p M = 1 for PIN diodes
 hc
c  Responsivity
Eg
 Signal to Noise Ratio
Signal power from photocurrent
SNR 
Detector Noise + Amplifier Noise

For high SNR

• The Photodetector must have a large quantum
efficiency (large responsivity or gain) to
generate large signal current
• Detector and amplifier noise must be low

SNR Can NOT be improved by amplification

Response Time in pin photodiode

Transit time, td and carrier drift velocity vd are related by

t d  w / vd For a high speed Si PD, td = 0.1 ns
 Rise and fall times

Photodiode has uneven rise and fall times depending on:

1. Absorption coefficient s() and
Cj 
 o  r A
2. Junction Capacitance Cj
w
 Various pulse responses

Absorbed optical power at

distance x exponentially decays P( x)  P0 (1  e s (  ) x )
depending on s
Signal path through an optical link
 PN Photodiode

 It is a reverse biased pn junction .

 When a photon having energy greater than
the bandgap falls on the pn junction, the
electron-hole pairs are generated in the
depletion region.This flow of charge
carriers generates the current ,called
photocurrent.
 The bandgap of Si is 1.1eV and the bandgap
of Ge is .72eV at 300°K.
 PN Photodiode
Ep

p n

• Applying external voltage (Reverse bias)

enhances the flow of electrons and holes
 Disadvantages of PN
Photodiode

 Narrow depletion Region

 So the need is to increase the width of the

depletion region without manipulating
unnecessarily the value of the reverse bias
voltage.
 P-I-N Photodiode

 A thick, lightly doped intrinsic layer

sandwiched between thin p and n regions.
 The purpose of the intrinsic layer is to
increase the depletion region so that light
collecting efficiency increases.

p i n
P-I-N Photodiode…cntd
Schematic of a P-I-N
Photodiode
P-I-N Photodiode…cntd

Photogenerated electron

Eg p

i
photon n
Photo
generated
hv ≥ Eg hole
W=1/α
Depletion region

Energy Band-Diagram
 Types of P-I-N photodiodes

• Front Illuminated
• Rear Illuminated
Front Illuminated Photodiode
. Ep
Metal
Contacts

Depletion
region 5um

Metal
Contacts
 Rear Illuminated Photo diode

.
Metal
Contacts

Depletion Ep
region

Metal
Contacts
 Response Time factors.

 Thickness of the active area.

 Related to the amount of time required for the
electrons generated to flow out of the detector
active area.
 Detector RC time constant
 Depends on the capacitance of the photodiode
and the resistance of the load.
 Advantage of PIN
Photodiodes
 The output electrical current is linearly
proportional to the input optical power
making it a highly linear device.
 Low bias voltage(<4v).
 Low noise
 Low dark current
 High-speed response
 Advantages of P-I-N
Photodiode
 Intrinsic layer is thick, so more number of incident
photons enter into this layer and generate electron
hole pair, so results in the high quantum efficiency
of the device.
• Reverse biasing voltage is small (usually 50)
because the thickness of the depletion region is
controlled by the thickness of the intrinsic layer, not
by reverse voltage.
• High bandwidth ( Efforts to improve the bandwidth
of 110 Ghz).
 Avalanche Photodiode

• Drawbacks of P-I-N photodiode

*Need of an amplifier to magnify the
photocurrent produced by the photodiode.

p+ i p n+
 Avalanche Photodiode…cntd

Most Promising solid state photodetector

with internal current gain.

It operates at high reverse bias voltage

(20V).
Avalanche Photodiode…cntd
Avalanche Photodiode…cntd

Ep
P+ p n+

Depletion region

Electric field Avalanche region

Minimum field required for

impact ionization

Distance

Reach Through Avalanche Photodiode

 Working of Avalanche
Photodiode
 Incident photon generate primary electron and
holes, called Primary carriers. The high reverse
voltage accelerates these primary carriers .
 These accelerated primary carriers further break
bonds and generates electrons and holes , called
Secondary carriers .This process of creating
secondary carriers is called Impact Ionization
These secondary carriers are also accelerated by
high electric field causing further impact
ionization. This phenomenon is called the
Avalanche Effect
 Working of Avalanche
Photodiode…cntd
 Photons pass through the heavily doped p+
region and enter the intrinsic layer, where they
produce electron-hole pairs (EHP).
Reverse bias voltage separates photo generated
electrons and holes and moves them towards pn+
junction, where the high electric field( 105 V/s)
exists.
This electric field accelerates the charge carriers,
resulting in Impact Ionization.
 Avalanche Photodiode…cntd

 The Multiplication Factor M is defined as

M= It /IP
 The Quantum Efficiency of the APD is M times
larger than that of a P-I-N photo diode.
R(APD)=M x R(PIN)
M depends upon
• Accelerating voltage
• Thickness of the gain region
• Ratio of electrons to holes participating in the ionization
process.
 M ranges from 10 to 500.
 Avalanche Photodiode…cntd

APD Bandwidth : The gain-bandwidth product of

an APD can be evaluated by

M*BW=1/2c
M is Zero-frequency gain
c is effective transit time

c = k tr
tr is transit time

k = / , where  is electron ionization rates

 Noise Sources in Photodiode

 The noise generated by a photodiode puts a

real limit on the Sensitivity of a fiber optic
communication receiver.
 The principal noises associated with photodetectors
that have no internal gain are :
• Shot Noise
• Thermal Noise
• Dark current Noise
• 1/f Noise
Noise sources and disturbances
at an optical receiver
Noise Sources in Photodiode..cntd

 Shot Noise :
• This noise arises from the statistical nature
of the production and collection of
photoelectrons when an optical signal is
incident on a photodetector.
• The deviation of the actual number of
electrons from the average number is
known as shot noise.
Noise Sources in Photodiode..cntd

Thermal Noise:
• It is originated by the random motion of
electrons due to temperature .
• The deviation of an instantaneous number
of electrons from their average value
because of temperature change is called
Thermal Noise.
• Thermal Noise is also called as Nyquist
noise or Johnson noise
Noise Sources in Photodiode..cntd

Dark-Current Noise:
• The photodiode dark current is the current
that continues to flow through the bias
circuit of the device even when no light is
incident on the photo diode.
• The RMS value of the Dark-Current noise
is given by
id = 2eId* BW
Noise Sources in Photodiode..cntd

1/f Noise:
• It is the noise generated by the photodiode
in complete darkness other than Dark-
Current noise .
• This noise is particularly important at very
low frequency.
 Photodiode Sensitivity

The Sensitivity of a photodiode used in a fiber optic

communication systems is the minimum optical power
required to provide the given bit- error rate.
The photosensitivity depends on
• Responsivity
• Load resistance
• Bandwidth
• Digital SNR
 Photo Transistor

 It is a photodetector employing bipolar or unipolor

transistor.The phototransistor are characterised by
very high value of gains as compared to the
ordinary transistor.
 Its construction differs from a conventional
bipolar photo transistor because of a
complementary large base collector junction.
 Photo Transistor

.
BIp

Ip
 Photo Transistor…cntd

 Large Base width is preferred to increase the light

collecting efficiency.
 But increase in base width also results in an
increase in the base capacitance, which ultimately
leads to an increase in the time constant i.e.
switching speed decreases.
 So a compromise is made between these two
mutually independent requirements.
 Photo Transistor...cntd

Principle of Working:
• In the Dark, there is no photocurrent . so that there
is no bias across the base emitter junction.The
current across the base collector junction is small
because it is reverse biased.
• When the light shines on it , The base collector
junction behaves much like photovoltaic detector
 Photoconductors

 A photoconductor is a device which is used

to detect optical signals .
 It consists of a slab of semiconductor with
ohmic contacts at both ends
 Photoconductors…cntd

 When radiation falls on the surface of the

photoconductor , electrons-hole pairs(EHPs) are
generated by the following two ways:
• Band-to-band transition (intrinsic )
• Transitions involving forbidden-gap energy levels (extrinsic )

As a result of which its conductivity increases, this

is called photoconducting effect .

 The major difference between a photoconductor and

photomultiplier tube is that an electron is excited into
the conduction band rather then being remove.
 Photoemissive Type

 The emission of electron from a

photocathode by the incident photon is
called the photoemission. Examples are
• Photo-Tubes
• Photo-Multiplier
 Photoemissive Type…cntd

 These are not used in OFC because

• Too Big
• Too Expansive
• Too fragile
 These are used to detect
• Ultraviolet
• Visible
• Near infrared light
 Digital Receiver Performance

Probability of error assuming P  1

 P1 (Vth )  P0 (Vth )
e 2
Equal ones and zeros

Where, P0 (Vth )   p( y / 0)dy
Vth

Vth
P1 (Vth )   p( y /1)dy


Depends on the noise variance at on/off levels and the

Threshold voltage Vth that is decided to minimize the Pe

Question: Do you think Vth = ½ [Von + Voff] ?

 Logic 0 and 1 probability distributions


P0 (Vth )   p ( y / 0)dy
Pe  1
2  P1 (Vth )  P0 (Vth ) Vth

Asymmetric distributions Vth

P1 (Vth )   p ( y /1)dy

Select Vth to minimize Pe
 Noise variances

Probability of error depends on Vth and noise power

  Vth 
Pe ( on   off )  1  erf 
1
2 
  2 2 
 Fig. 7-7:
BER (Pe) versus
Q factor
BER vs
SNR
(equal
standard
deviations
and boff = 0)
SNR vs.
received
power
Thank You