Lecture-22 - Laser Diode

Semiconductor Physics (BBS01T1002) Program: B Tech First Year
Lecture 22: Laser diode
Introduction
The name laser comes from the words Light Amplification by

Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Lasers operate because of a
phenomenon called stimulated emission that was first postulated by
Albert Einstein before 1920. Although a number of media including
gases liquids and amorphous solids can be used for lasers the first
ones were realised in the 1960s using rubies. A helium-neon gas laser
followed this in 1961 but it was not until 1970 that semiconductor
laser diodes were made to run at room temperature by Hayashi. This
represented the final step in research work that had been
undertaken by a number of people and organisations over the years.
It had required an in depth study of the properties of gallium
Arsenide, the material that is used as the basis for many laser diodes
and much work on the properties of the diode structures.
Laser diode construction and operation
Laser diodes are very similar to LEDs since they also consist of a p-n
diode with an active region where electrons and holes recombine
resulting in light emission. However, a laser diode also contains an
optical cavity where stimulated emission takes place. The laser cavity
consists of a waveguide terminated on each end by a mirror. As an
example, the structure of an edge-emitting laser diode is shown in
Figure below. Photons, which are emitted into the waveguide, can
travel back and forth in this waveguide provided they are reflected at
the mirrors.
Fig: Structure of an edge-emitting laser diode
Fig a : Laser Diode Symbol Fig b: Basic laser diode construction

and operation.
The basic construction of a laser diode is shown in Figure (b). 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.
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. 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 “snow-

balls” 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. So a single
wavelength of intense light emerges from the laser diode, as indicated in Figure (c). 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.
Laser Diode P-I Characteristics

The below diagram is a graphical plot between output optical power on y-axis and the
current input to the laser diode on x-axis. One of the important characteristics of a laser
diode is that the threshold. It is given that, the lasing action will not take place until a
minimum power is applied to the material. This is illustrated in the following figure
As we increase the current flow to the laser diode, the optical power of output
light gradually increases up to a certain threshold. Until this point, most of the
light emitted is due to spontaneous emission. Above this threshold current, the
process of stimulated emission increases. This causes the power of output light
to increase a lot even for smaller increases in input current. The output optical
power also depends on temperature and it reduces with decrease in
temperature.
Condition of lasing action:
The stimulated emission process yields an increase in photons as they travel along the
waveguide. Combined with the waveguide losses, stimulated emission yields a net gain per
unit length, g. The number of photons can therefore be maintained if the roundtrip
amplification in a cavity of length, L, including the partial reflection at the mirrors with
reflectivity R1 and R2 equals unity.
If the roundtrip amplification is less than one, then the

number of photons steadily decreases. If the roundtrip
amplification is larger than one, the number of photons
increases as the photons travel back and forth in the
cavity. The gain required for lasing therefore equals:
Properties of Laser Light:
1. Monochromatic (Single wavelength)

2. Coherent (Constant phase)
3. Least divergent
4. Highly directional
5. Very Intense
6. Polarised
Applications:
1. Barcode reader
2. Source of Optical fibre communication
3. Telecommunication
4. CD, DVD reader
5. Medical industry etc.
Questions
1. Explain laser diode structure and working.
2. Write the Difference between laser diode and LED
3. What is the mathematical expression which decide the lasing action
4. Draw the power and current graph for laser diode and explain threshold current
5. Describe the optical cavity in laser diode
6. Write the properties of laser light
7. Write the major applications of Laser diode.

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Semiconductor Physics (BBS01T1002) Program: B Tech First Year

Lecture 22: Laser diode

The name laser comes from the words Light Amplification by

Laser diode construction and operation

Fig: Structure of an edge-emitting laser diode

Fig a : Laser Diode Symbol Fig b: Basic laser diode construction

This back-and-forth movement of photons increases as the generation of photons “snow-

Laser Diode P-I Characteristics

Condition of lasing action:

If the roundtrip amplification is less than one, then the

Properties of Laser Light:

1. Monochromatic (Single wavelength)

1. Explain laser diode structure and working.

2. Write the Difference between laser diode and LED

3. What is the mathematical expression which decide the lasing action

5. Describe the optical cavity in laser diode

6. Write the properties of laser light

7. Write the major applications of Laser diode.

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