OPTICAL |EC405|
COMMUNICATIO
N
PHOTO DETECTORS
Module III
Introduction & characteristics
◻ Converts intensity of light energy into electric current
◻ Since optical power will be very feeble at the ends of the
fiber, photo detector should show very high performance
◻ High response or sensitivity to in the emission wavelength
range of the optical source being used , minimum addition of
noise to the system ,fast response or sufficient bandwidth to
handle the desired data rate
◻ It should be insensitive to temperature variations, be
compatible with physical dimensions of fiber, have reasonable
cost and high operating life.
◻ Types: Photomultipliers, Pyroelectric detectors,
semiconductors
◻ Most extensively used is the semiconductor photodiode
Photodiode characteristics & types
◻ Small size
◻ Suitable material
◻ High sensitivity
◻ Fast response time
◻ Durability
◻ Types:
PIN Photo detector
Avalanche Photodiode (APD)
Pin diode
◻ Most common semiconductor photo detector
◻ P & N region separated by very lightly doped intrinsic
(i) region
◻ In normal operation a sufficiently large reverse bias
voltage is applied so that the intrinsic region is fully
depleted of carriers
◻ When a photon is incident in this junction, and if it has
an energy greater than the band gap energy, the photon
will give up the energy and excite electrons from the
valance band to conduction band .
◻ This generates electron-hole pairs known as photo
carriers .
Pin diode - Working
◻ Normally the PIN diode is made in such a way that this
electron hole pairs normally gets generated in the depletion
region
◻ The high electric field in the depletion region causes carriers
to separate and to be collected across the reverse biased
junction
◻ This gives rise to a current flow in the external circuit which
is known as photocurrent
◻ Some of the carriers may disappear in this process as they gets
recombined on the way
◻ On an average the carriers may travel a distance of Ln and Lp
for electrons and holes respectively. Diffusion Length,
◻ D is diffusion coefficient, t is carrier lifetime
Pin diode – energy band diagram
Pin diode – absorbed power
◻ Optical radiation is absorbed in the semiconductor
material according to the exponential law,
◻ is the absorption coefficient at wavelength
◻ P0 is the incident optical power level
◻ P(x) is the optical power absorbed in a distance
◻ Primary photocurerent Ip
◻ Two characteristics : Quantam efficiency,
responsivity
Avalanche photodiode (APD)
◻ Multiplies internal photon current before giving to amplifier
◻ This increases receiver sensitivity as no receiver noise is added
◻ HOW?
◻ In order to happen multiplication, carriers must pass through a
region where a strong electric field is present.
◻ In this region, the carriers obtain so much energy that it ionizes the
bound electrons in the valance band upon colliding with them
◻ This carrier multiplication mechanism is called impact ionization
◻ The newly created carriers are also accelerated by the high electric
field and cause further impact ionization – Avalanche effect
Avalanche photodiode (APD)
◻ Below the breakdown region, a finite total number of
carriers are created, but after breakdown, this number can be
infinite.
◻ Commonly used structure for carrier multiplication: reach
through construction
RAPD-Reach through avalanche photo diode
Construction
◻ Highly resistive P type material deposited as an
epitaxial layer on a p+ substrate
◻ A p type diffusion or ion implant is then made in
the resistive material followed by construction of
an n+ layer
◻ If silicon is used as substrate, boron and
phosphorous are dopants respectively
◻ This configuration is termed as reach
through structure
◻ layer is basically an intrinsic material that has
some p doping due to imperfect purification
RAPD-working
◻ Term reach through arises from RAPD operation
◻ When reverse bias is applied, most of the potential
drop is across the pn+ junction
◻ Depletion region widens with increasing bias until
a certain voltage is reached at which the peak
electric field at the pn junction is about 5-10%
below that needed to cause avalanche breakdown
◻ At this points, the depletion region just reaches
through the nearly intrinsic pi region
RAPD-working
◻ In normal usage, the RAPD is operated in fully depleted mode
◻ Light enters the device through the p+ region and is absorbed in
the material which acts as collection region for the photo
generated carriers
◻ Upon being absorbed, the photon gives up its energy creating
electron – hole pairs which are then separated by the electric
field in the region
◻ The electrons drift via the region to the pn+ junction where a
high electric field exists
◻ It is in this high field region that carrier multiplication takes
place
◻ This process is known by the name impact ionization
Noise in detectors
◻ Photo detector detects very weak signals
◻ For optimized detection, the SNR should be maintained
◻ 2 kind of noises may be present in detectors
Statistical nature of photon to electron conversion process
Thermal noises in amplification circuitry
◻ To achieve high SNR, following conditions must be met
Photodetector must have high quantum efficiency to generate
high signal power
Noises must be kept as low as possible
◻ Sensitivity of a photodetector in an OFC – Minimum
detectable Optical Power
Noise sources
◻ Rs : Series Resistance
◻ Cd: Total Capacitance, junction & packaging
capacitances
◻ RL: Load Resistance
◻ Ra & Ca: Amplifier’s input resistance &
capacitance
Optical receivers
◻ Photo detector + Amplifier + Signal Processing
Circuitry
◻ Consideration must be given in suppressing the noise
◻ Current generated by detector is weak and affected by
random noises in the photo detection process
◻ Additional noises from amplifier will also be present
◻ Mathematical model based testing and simulation is
necessary
◻ Average error probability
Fundamental receiver operation
◻ More complicated than transmitter.
◻ Actual signal need to be extracted from
distorted Signal
Tb – Bit
Period
ASK
Threshold
Level
Comparison
Quantum limit of detection
◻ Consider an ideal photo detector with unity
quantum efficiency
◻ Here, there is no dark current
◻ In this situation, the minimum received optical
power required for a specific bit error rate
performance in the digital system is known as
quantum limit of detection
◻ Here all system parameters are ideal and
performance is only limited by photo detection
statistics.
Quantum limit of detection
Optical receiver equivalent circuit
HW
Performance parameters Quantum
efficiency, responsivity
& multiplication factor
PROBLEMS
MODULE III
Quantum efficiency, responsivity
multiplication factor
◻ 3 important characteristics of a photodiode
◻ Depends on material bandgap, operating wavelength,
and doping thickness of P, I, N regions
◻ The efficiency of a photodiode in converting photos to
electron – hole pairs is known by the term Quantum
Efficiency
◻ Relation between optical power given to the photodiode
and the photocurrent generated – Responsivity
◻ Relation between Multiplied avalanche photo current to
primary photo current – Multiplication Factor
Quantum efficiency
◻ Number of carrier pairs generated Photo
per incident -19
Current 1.6 * 10 C
photon energy
Output Power 6.625 * 10-34
Level
responsivity
The performance of a photodiode is
◻
characterized by responsivity. This is related
to the quantum efficiency by:
Multiplication factor
◻ Only applicable in RAPD
