Laser Diode

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LASER DIODE
Definition: A semiconductor device that generates coherent light of high
intensity is known as laser diode.
LASER is an abbreviation for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission
of Radiation.
Stimulated emission is the basis of working of a laser diode.
Laser diode is similar to LED, however, different from LED, the PN
junction of laser diode produces coherent radiation.
Coherent radiation means the light waves generated by the device have
the same frequency and phase.
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Construction of laser diode
Fig-1
The figure shows the basic
construction of a laser diode:
It is formed by doping aluminum
or silicon to gallium arsenide
material in order to generate
n-type and p-type layer.
Along with this, an additional
active layer of undoped GaAs
is placed between the two layers.
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The thickness of this active layer is of few nanometers.
The aim of sandwiching this layer in between p and n-type layers is to
increase the area of electron and hole combination.
Resultantly increasing the emitted radiation.
The laser output is taken from active region of the laser diode.
In laser diodes, polishing at the two ends of the junction is done in order
to provide a mirror-like surface.
Through reflection from this surface, more electron and hole pair gets
produced.
Resultantly that produces more radiation through the device.
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The basic construction of a laser diode is shown in Figure-1.
A pn junction is formed by two layers of doped gallium arsenide.
The length of the pn junction bears a precise relationship with the
wavelength of the light to be emitted.
There is a highly reflective surface at one end of the pn junction and a
partially reflective surface at the other end, forming a resonant cavity for
the photons.
External leads provide the anode and cathode connections.
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Laser Diode Operation
The basic operation is as follows:
The laser diode is forward-biased by an external voltage source.
As electrons move through the junction, recombination occurs just as in
an ordinary diode.
As electrons fall into holes to recombine, photons are released.
A released photon can strike an atom, causing another photon to be
released.
As the forward current is increased, more electrons enter the depletion
region and cause more photons to be emitted.
Eventually some of the photons that are randomly drifting within the
depletion region strike the reflected surfaces perpendicularly.
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Fig-2
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These reflected photons move along the depletion region, striking atoms
and releasing additional photons due to the avalanche effect.
This back-and-forth movement of photons increases as the generation of
photons “snowballs” until a very intense beam of laser light is formed by the
photons that pass through the partially reflective end of the pn junction.
Each photon produced in this process is identical to the other photons in
energy level, phase relationship, and frequency.
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So a single wavelength of intense light emerges from the laser diode, as
indicated in Figure-2.
Laser diodes have a threshold level of current above which the laser
action occurs and below which the diode behaves essentially as an LED,
emitting incoherent light.
 APPLICATIONS:
Laser diodes and photodiodes are used in the pick-up system of compact
disk (CD) players.
Audio information (sound) is digitally recorded in stereo on the surface of
a compact disk in the form of microscopic “pits” and “flats.”
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A lens arrangement focuses the laser beam from the diode onto the CD
surface.
As the CD rotates, the lens and beam follow the track under control of a
servomotor.
The laser light, which is altered by the pits and flats along the recorded
track, is reflected back from the track through a lens and optical system to
infrared photodiodes.
The signal from the photodiodes is then used to reproduce the digitally
recorded sound.
Laser diodes are also used in laser printers and fiber-optic systems,etc.
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