LIGHT EMITTING DIODELLKMKXMKZXN

LIGHT EMITTING DIODE

 OPERATING WAVELENGTH

Fiber optic communication systems operate in

the
 850-nm,
 1300-nm, and
 1550-nm wavelength windows.
 Semiconductor sources are designed
to operate at wavelengths that minimize
optical fiber absorption and maximize
system bandwidth
 SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHT-EMITTING DIODES CONT…

 The use of LEDs in single mode systems is

severely
limited because they emit unfocused incoherent light.

 Even LEDs developed for single mode systems are

unable to launch sufficient optical power into single
mode fibers for many applications.

 LEDs are the preferred optical source for

multimode systems because they can launch
sufficient power at a lower cost than semiconductor
LDs.
TYPES OF LED

The basic LED types used for fiber optic communication

systems are

 Heterojunction LED
 Planar LED
 Dome LED
 Surface-emitting LED (SLED),
 Edge-emitting LED (ELED), and
 Super luminescent LED (SLD)
HOMO- AND HETRO-JUNCTION

 Homojunction is a p-n junction made out of

two differently doped semiconductors that are of the
same material (i.e having the same band gap).

 Hetero junction structure device is a

semiconductor device structure that has junctions
between different bandgap materials.
WHY HOMOJUNCTION IS BAD?

 Shallow p-region  narrow to allow photons to

escape .
 If the p-region is too shallow, electrons can escape the p-
region by diffusion and recombine through crystal defect
in the surface of the layer.
 This recombination is non-radiative and decreases the
efficiency of the LED.

 Thick p–region  then reabsoprtion will be the main

problem as the photons will have a long way to go before it
can be successful emitted.
 Create a heterojunction instead since heterojunction solves:
 Reabsorption problem (photon confinement)
 Also carrier confinement
HETEROJUNCTIONS
 Heterojunctions are classified into either an isotype (n–n or p–p) or an
anisotype (p–n).
 The isotype heterojunction provides a potential barrier within the structure
which is useful for the confinement of minority carriers to a small active
region (carrier confinement).
 It effectively reduces the carrier diffusion length and thus the volume within
the structure where radiative recombination may take place.
 This technique is widely used for the fabrication of injection lasers and
high- radiance LEDs.
 Isotype heterojunctions are also extensively used in LEDs to provide a
transparent layer close to the active region which substantially reduces
the absorption of light emitted from the structure.
 Anisotype heterojunctions with sufficiently large bandgap differences

improve the injection efficiency of either electrons or holes.

For optical fiber transmission applications an LED must have high
radiation and high quantum efficiency.

To achieve it LED structure must provide carrier confinement and

photon confinement to the active region of pn junction .

Carrier confinement is used to achieve a high level of radiative

recombination in the active region of the device which provides a
high quantum efficiency.

Optical confinement is of importance for preventing absorption of

the emitted radiation by the material surrounding pn junction.

Double hetero junction is the most effective structure which provides

carrier and optical confinement.

It’s a device comprising of two different alloy layers on each side of

active layer.
The band gap difference of adjacent layers confine charge carriers

The refractive index difference of adjoining layers confine optical

field to the central active layer.

This dual confinement leads to high efficiency and high radiance.

Radiance measure in watts , is defined as optical power radiated into

a unit solid angle per unit area of the emitting surface.

Quantum efficiency is defined as the fraction of injected electron hole

pair that recombine radiatively.
 DOUBLE HETEROJUNCTION LED
 Consists of a p type GaAs layer sandwiched between a p type AlGaAs and a
n type AlGaAs layer.
 When Forward biasing is applied electrons from the n type layer are injected
through the p-n junction into the p type GaAs layer where they become
minority carriers .
 These minority carriers diffuse away from the junction, recombining with
majority carriers (holes).
 Photons are produced with energy corresponding to the bandgap energy of
the p type GaAs layer.
 The injected electrons are inhibited from diffusing into the p type AlGaAs
layer because of the potential barrier presented by the p-p heterojunction.
DOUBLE HETEROJUNCTION LED
DOUBLE HETEROJUNCTION LED
HETEROJUNCTION LED
 PHOTON CONFINEMENT -
REABSORPTION PROBLEM

Source of electrons

Active region (micron

in tShoicukrnceesosf)
holes

Active region (thin layer of GaAs) has smaller band gap energy of
photons emitted and is smaller then the band gap of the P and N-
GaAlAs hence could not be reabsorbed.
REABSORPTION PROBLEM
In order to prevent reabsorption, the upper layer (one that is above
the active region) needs to have higher band gap therefore the
emitted photons will not be absorbed by the upper layer .

1.4eV 2eV

n-AlGaAs p-GaAs p-AlGaAs

Epoxy
Metal contact
n AlGaAs Active region – Photons will
p GaAs (active region) not be absorbed by the
p Al GaAs n- AlGaAs since the band
gap is much higher than
n+
GaAs GaAs
Metal contact
 CARRIER CONFINEMENT

electrons

holes
n+-AlGaAs p-GaAs p+-AlGaAs

Simplified band diagram of the ‘sandwich’ top show carrier confinement.

Drastically reduce nonradiative recombination at the surface states.
DOUBLE HETEROSTRUCTURE
 Provides good
internal quantum efficiency and high
radiance
emission.
 The double heterostructure is therefore used to
provide the most efficient incoherent sources
for optical fiber communication.
 Heterostucture can be used to increase:
 Efficiency by carrier confinement
 Efficiency by photon confinement

 The optical power generated per unit volume is