Optical Detectors

Dr. Kalyan Biswas

Assistant Professor, ECE Department
MCKV Institute of Engineering
 Optical Detectors
• Introduction
• Optical detection principle
• Absorption
• Sensitivity and Efficiency of optical Detectors
• The Quantum efficiency
• Spectral responsivity
• Operating principle of Photodiodes
• Diode Device structures
• The pn-diode
• The pin diode
• Avalanche Photodiode (APD)
 Introduction
• Photodiodes are designed to detect photons and can be used in
circuits to sense light.
• The function of an optical detector is to convert the optical signal in
an electrical signal, which can then be further processed.
 Criteria for Photo detectors
The following performance criteria of optical detectors are of major
important for applications in optical communication systems:
• High Sensitivity
• Linearity (Linear relationship between the intensity and the electrical
signal)
• Large electrical response to the received optical signal
• Short response time to achieve a suitable bandwidth
• A minimum noise introduced by the receiver
• Stability of performance characteristics
• Small size, low bias voltage
• High reliability
• Low Cost
 Device Types
• To detect optical radiation in near infrared region, mainly internal photo
emission of electrons may be utilized.
• Photodiodes are made of semiconductor materials such as Silicon,
Germanium and an increasing number of III-V alloys all of which satisfy
in various ways most of the detectors requirements.
• With intrinsic absorption, the received photon excite an electron from
valence band to the conduction band in the semiconductor.
• The device is reversed bias and the electric field across the p-n junction
sweeps mobile carriers to their respective sides.
 Optical detection principle
• The conversion of an optical signal into an electrical signal requires the
absorption of the incident light.
• The absorption leads to an excitation of an electron from the valence to the
conduction band. What is left in the valence band is a vacancy, which we call
a “hole”.
• That is a photo-generation of electron-hole pairs, because the absorption
always leads to the generation of a hole and an electron.
• If now a photon gets absorbed in the material the electron-hole pairs
have to be separated by an electric field.
• The energy of the photon has to be sufficiently high to excite an
electron from the valence to the conduction band
• When a semiconductor is illuminated by light having an energy E = hν
greater than its band gap energy Eg the light is absorbed in the
semiconductor and electron hole pairs are generated. ν is the
frequency of light.
• Incident photon, after passing through p-region will be absorbed in
the depletion layer. The absorbed energy creates EHP, Electron raises
to conduction band and hole fall to valance band. The free electron
travel down the barrier and the free hole will travel up the barrier to
constitute current flow.
• The photon absorbed in the neutral p or n regions, outside the
depletion region create EHP, but these free charges will not move
quickly due to lack of strong electric field. Most of the free charges
will diffuse slowly through the diode and may recombine before
reaching the junction. These charges produce negligible current, thus
reducing the detector’s responsivity.
• EHP created close to the depletion layer can diffuse and subsequently
be swept across the junction by the large electric field due to applied
reverse biased voltage. An external current is produced.
• It is desirable that photon be absorbed in the depletion layer so that
it can contribute maximum in generation of photocurrent.
• Typical p-n photodiodes have a rise time of the order of microseconds
making them unsuitable for high speed optical systems.
• The existence of electric field across the junction facilitate the rise of
photocurrent.
• The primary operating wavelength regions for FO communication
systems are 850nm, 1310nm and 1550 nm. The photodetectors which
are used in these systems are : - PN junction photodiodes - PIN
photodiodes - Avalanche photodiode
 Absorption
The absorption of the photons depends on the absorption coefficient, α0 in
the medium. The absorption coefficient is strongly wavelength, dependent.
The photocurrent caused by the absorption of photons can be calculated by

I Ph  P0
e.
h.c

(1  R) 1  e  0 d 
where P0 is the optical power, λ is the wavelength of the incident light, h is
the Planck constant, and e is the elementary charge. The term R accounts for
the reflection at the interface of the detector and air, (1-R) is the light
absorbed in the detector and the exponential term considers the absorption
in the medium. d is the thickness of the absorber
 Absorption
The absorption
coefficient strongly
depends on the
wavelength. This is
shown in the figure for
some common
semiconductor
materials.
• Based on the absorption coefficient, it is seen what material is
suitable for what kind of wavelength region.
• For example, in the case of silicon, the optical bandgap at room
temperature is 1.14eV, which corresponds to a wavelength of
1100nm. Up to 1100nm silicon is still absorbing even though the
absorption coefficient for wavelength >1000nm is already relatively
low. That means silicon is not suitable as an optical detector for
DWDM system which operates at a wavelength of 1550nm.
• Silicon is transparent for such a wavelength. The behavior of
germanium is different.
• The optical bandgap of germanium is 0.67eV, which corresponds to a
cut-off wavelength of more than 1850nm. However, the absorption
coefficient is already very low for such a high wavelength.
• Germanium detectors are reasonable
sensitive up to a wavelength of 1600nm.
Therefore, germanium can be (theoretically)
used as an optical detector for DWDM
systems. However, due to the small optical
bandgap the leakage current of germanium
diodes is very high.
• Gallium arsenide has an direct optical
bandgap of 1.43eV. It can be used for the
manufacturing of GaAs based LEDs and laser
diodes in the short wave band.
• In order to increase the absorption in the
infrared part of the spectrum, which is
necessary for the optical communication
system, we have to add indium to the
semiconductor. Indium will reduce the optical
bandgap of gallium arsenide.
• An overview of the optical bandgaps at room
temperature is given in the table.
 The Quantum efficiency
• The quantum efficiency is defined by:

η= (No. of electrons collected)/(No. of incident photons)

One of the major factors which influences the quantum efficiency is the
absorption coefficient. The quantum efficiency is generally below unity,
but can be for its maximum very close to unity.
 Spectral responsivity
• The quantum efficiency does not take into account the photon energy.
Therefore, the responsibility can be very helpful to describe the spectral
sensitivity of the devices. The spectral responsivity is given by:
I Ph
R
P0
where IPh it the photocurrent and P0 is the incident optical power. The unit
of the spectral responsivity is A/W.

The spectral sensitivity can be derived from the quantum efficiency by:
e.
R 
h.c
 Relationship of Quantum efficiency and Responsivity
The relationship for responsivity may be developed to include quantum
efficiency as follows:
Energy of a Photon, E=hf
Thus the incident photon rate rp may be written as,
The electron rate is given by,
Substituting value of rp, we get,

Therefore, the output photo current is

where, e is the charge of an electron

• Therefore, Responsivity, or,

• The frequency, f of the incident photon is related to wavelength λ and

velocity light in air c, as

• Therefore, final expression for responsivity is

It may be noted that Responsivity, R is proportional to quantum

efficiency for a particular wavelength.
 Spectral responsivity
• It can be seen that the responsivity is increasing with the wavelength
of the incident photons. The difference between the ideal and the
real diode can be explained by thermal losses for lower wavelengths
and a reduced absorption coefficient for higher wavelengths.

Responsivity of an ideal and a real

silicon photodiode.
Photodiode Responsivities
Problem:
Solution:
Problem:
Solution:
 Long wavelength Cut-off
• It is essential when considering the intrinsic absorption process that
energy of incident photon be greater than or equal to the bandgap
energy Eg of the material used to fabricate the photo detector
Therefore, the photon energy,

• Thus, the threshold for detection commonly known as the long

wavelength cut-off point, λc is

• The above expression allows the calculation of the longest

wavelength of light to give photo detection for various semiconductor
materials used in the fabrication of photo detectors.
Problem:
Solution:
 Operating principle of Photodiodes
• The electron-hole pairs generated in a photodiode
are separated by the electric field.
• The electric field distribution in the diode is
determined by an internal and an external electric
field component.
• The internal field is created by the build-in potential
which leads to the formation of a depletion region.
The build-in potential is formed due to the difference
in the Fermi level in the p- and the n-region.
• The external electrical field is due to the external
applied bias voltage.
• It is desirable to keep the electric field in the
depletion region as high as possible to extract all
photo-generated carriers.
• Only the extracted electron hole pairs contribute to
the overall photocurrent.
 Operating principle of Photodiodes
• The photocurrent of an optical detector should be linear. This means
that a linear relationship exists between the intensity of the incident
light and the photocurrent.
• In order to extract almost all photo-generated carriers out of the
device a reverse bias voltage can be applied to the diode. The reverse
bias voltage leads to an increase of the electric field in the depletion
region and the depletion region gets wider.
• Various diode device structures exist. In the following the realization
and the characteristic device behavior of pn-diodes, pin diodes, and
Avalanche photodiodes will be discussed.
• Furthermore, the different devices will be compared in terms of their
advantages and disadvantages.
p–n Photodiodes
• A reverse-biased p–n junction consists of a region, known as the depletion
region, that is essentially devoid of free charge carriers and where a large
built-in electric field opposes flow of electrons from the n-side to the p-
side (and of holes from p to n).
• When such a p–n junction is illuminated with light on one side, say the p-
side, electron–hole pairs are created through absorption. Because of the
large built-in electric field, electrons and holes generated inside the
depletion region accelerate in opposite directions and drift to the n- and p-
sides, respectively.
• The resulting flow of current is proportional to the incident optical power.
• Thus a reverse-biased p–n junction acts as a photodetector and is referred
to as the p–n photodiode.
p-n Photodiode
 p-n-diodes
• Due to the fact the depletion region is very thin (depends on the applied
reverse bias voltage and the doping levels in the p- and the n-region) the
quantum efficiency of a pn-diode is usually not very high.
• Most of the light that is absorbed will simply not contribute to the overall
photocurrent.
• In order to extend the region of carrier extraction an intrinsic layer or a
slightly doped layer is usually introduced between the p- and the n-region.
p-n photodiode output characteristics
 p–i–n Photodiodes
• A simple way to increase the depletion-region width is to insert a layer of
undoped(or lightly doped) semiconductor material between the p–n
junction. Since the middle layer consists of nearly intrinsic material, such a
structure is referred to as the p–i–n photodiode. Because of its intrinsic
nature, the middle i-layer offers a high resistance, and most of the voltage
drop occurs across it.
• As a result, a large electric field exists in the i-layer. In essence, the
depletion region extends throughout the i-region, and its width W can be
controlled by changing the middle-layer thickness. The main difference
from the p–n photodiode is that the drift component of the photocurrent
dominates over the diffusion component simply because most of the
incident power is absorbed inside the i-region of a p–i–n photodiode.
 p-i-n-diodes
• The pin-diode can be realized as an homo-junction or a
hetero-junction.
• If the structure is realized in silicon, the device will be
usually a homojunction.
• Under such conditions all three layers (p-,i- and n-region)
have the same optical bandgap. Depending on the
application the thickness and the individual layers can be
adjusted.
• The thicker the i-layer, the further the sensitivity can be
extend in the near infrared part of the optical spectrum.
• If there is only an interest in detecting blue or green light
the i-layer can be kept short. The pin diode shown on this
slide is a crystalline silicon pin diode. Therefore, the diode
is only sensitive up to a wavelength of 1100nm. In such a
case the i-layer would be already relatively thick (typically a
few 100μm.)
Reverse-biased pin photodiode
pin photodiode circuit
pin energy-band diagram
 p-i-n-diodes
• Typical materials used for the three optical communication bands:
• Short wave band (800nm – 900nm),
• Silicon pin diodes are the best choice for the short wave band. The
diodes are very inexpensive, reliable and easy to handle.
• Medium Wave band (1250 nm - 1350nm)
In this band, germanium and different compound semiconductors are of
interest. Germanium has a lower bandgap energy of 0.67eV, so that it
can theoretically be used up to 1600nm (but it is typically not used).
Indium gallium arsenide phosphide (InGaAsP) is an alternative. The
material has an optical bandgap of 0.89eV (depending on the
composition of the material) and is perfectly suitable for the medium
wavelength band. Of course all diodes based on compound
semiconductors are significantly more expensive in manufacturing.
• Long Wave Band (1500nm - 1600 nm)
For the long wave band the optical bandgap of the material has to be already
very small. This causes problems. At room temperature already a large
number of carriers is excited due to thermal excitation. This problem can be
solved to a certain extend by using heterostructures. A material used here is
usually InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide). InGaAs has a bandgap energy of
0.77 eV.
 Avalanche Photodiode (APD)
• One way of increasing the sensitivity of the receiver is amplification. APDs
amplify the signal during the detection process. The operating principle of a APD
is based on the avalanche effect, where a highly accelerated electron excites
another electron due to “impact ionization”. However, in the first step, a photon
has to be absorbed and a electron-hole pair has to be generated. The device
consists of two regions. In region 1 of the device the electron hole pairs are
generated and separated. In region 2 of the device the carriers are accelerated
and “impact ionized”.
Avalanche Photodiode (APD)

• More sophisticates structure than the p-i-n photo

diode.
• An extremely high electric field region is created.
• Carrier multiplication factor as great as 104 may be
obtained.
Silicon Reach Through Avalanche Photodiodes
• Arriving photons pass through thin n+ p junction. The carriers are
absorbed in a (nearly intrinsic lightly doped) π- region. The
absorption leads to the generation of electron-hole pairs in this
region. The electric field in the π-region is high enough to separate
the carriers. The electric field across the π-region is not high enough
for the charge carriers to gain enough energy for multiplication to
take place. The electric field, however, in the n+p region the electric
field is significantly higher, so that the charge carriers (in this case
electrons only) are strongly accelerated and pick up energy.
 Avalanche Photodiode (APD)
• The electrons collide with other atoms in the lattice, which leads to the
production of new electron-hole pairs (“impact ionization”).
• The newly released charge carriers again will collide with the lattice to
produce more electron-hole pairs. The structure shown on the previous
slide is a silicon based avalanche photodiodes. It is of interest to mention
that the carrier mobility of holes in silicon is significantly lower than the
electron mobility.
• Furthermore, the impact ionized holes have to travel all the way from the
n+p-region to the right p+-region, whereas the electron only have to travel
to the n+-region. The probability of having electron multiplication is much
higher than the probability of having hole multiplication. Therefore, the
electron mainly contribute to the overall current (which is intended).
Drawbacks with Avalanche Photodiodes
• Fabrication difficulties due to more complex structure and hence
increased cost.
• The random nature of the gain mechanism which gives an additional
noise contribution
• The high bias voltage required
• The variation of gain with temperature.
Current gain against reverse bias for silicon
RAPD operating at a wavelength of .825 μm
Multiplication factor
• Multiplication factor M is a measure of the internal gain of the APD. It
is defined as
M=I/Ip
Where I is total output current (where carrier multiplication occurs) at
operating voltage and Ip is the initial primary photocurrent (i.e. before
carrier multiplication occurs)
Problem:
Solution:
Typical Photodetector Characteristics