Optoelectronic devices

Overview and introduction

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Energy-momentum relationship
Outline
• What is optoelectronics?
• Electrons vs photons
• Electrical and optical signal
• Optoelectronic devices
• Motivation and examples
• Course plan
• Course evaluation
Energy-momentum relationship
Optoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices which involve interaction with light, e.g.,
generation, detection and control of light. Two elementary particles:
Electron Photon

Vs.

 Electrons together with protons and neutrons make
atoms and atoms make molecules and matter.
 Electrons can also fly about freely as a free electron.
 Electrons have a negative charge.
 Electrons have a rest mass of 9.10938356×10-31
kilograms (in a 1kg cupper, electrons weigh ~
0.25grams, see support slides for the calculations).
 Electron can travel at a speed of 5 × 105 m/s and lower.
Optical communications  Photons travel the speed of light (~3×10 ) when in a
 The most abundant atom in the Universe, the hydrogen
window: 1300-1600 nm
atom, is build of one electron and one proton.
(Why?)
 Photons are units (packets of energy) of an
electromagnetic wave (e.g. visible light) and one of the
force carrier particles.
 Light is just one type of electromagnetic energy. Other
types of electromagnetic energy are X-rays (a high-
energy wave), waves that carry radio signals and TV
signals, microwaves in a microwave oven, etc.
 Photons have neither charge nor mass.
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vacuum and lower in a dielectric materials.

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 Energy-momentum relationship
They have one thing in common, though:

Electrons and photons exhibit properties of both waves and particles!!!

λ
p

Wavelength λ
λ Wave–particle duality
p Momentum p

de Broglie relationship:
λ = 𝒉/𝒑
h: Planck's constant
 Energy of electrons/photons from the special relativity is E2 = p2 c2 + m2 restc
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(6.62607004 × 10-34 m2 kg / s)

Electron: E2 = p2 c2 + m2restc4. Photon: mrest=0, E = p c

At rest with p=0, E = mrestc2 E = h υ (υ=c/λ light frequency)
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Energy-momentum relationship
Electrons and photons are complementary to each other!
Electrons can produce and absorb photons.

Example 1: Electrons in the antenna of your cell phone emit and detect the photons that make up the cell
phone signal...

Example 2: Electrons in your screen making the photons that are travelling from your screen right now to
reach your eyes and be turned into more complex that will eventually decode into this message.

Energy Energy

E=hυ
E=hυ
Absorption of light
Emission of light
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 Energy-momentum relationship
Energy conversion by optoelectronic devices
Electrical signal Optical signal

Time Time

Electrical Energy Optical Energy

Optoelectronics devices
(Electrical signal) (Optical signal)

Conversion from optical energy to electrical energy or vice versa

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 Energy-momentum relationship
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voltage

5 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

time
Electrical signal Power Power
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

OR OR …
Transmitter Optical signal Optical signal

Non-return to zero (NRZ) Return to zero (RZ)

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2

Power
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Electrical signal

Optical signal
Optical fiber
Transmitter

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Energy-momentum relationship
2

Power Power
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Electrical signal

Optical signal Optical signal

Transmitter
Optical fiber Attenuation
Power
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

Optical signal
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Energy-momentum relationship
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Noise!!
Power Power

1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Electrical signal

Optical signal Optical signal

Transmitter OA OA R

Power
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

Optical signal
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Energy-momentum relationship
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Noise!!
Power Power

1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Electrical signal

Optical signal Optical signal

Transmitter OA OA R

Power
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

Optical signal
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Energy-momentum relationship
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Power
Power
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1

Electrical signal
Optical signal
Optical signal

Transmitter OA OA R OA Receiver

Electrical signal
voltage

5 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
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time
Energy-momentum relationship
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Amplifier:
Er-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) 3R:
Electrical signal Raman amplifier Re-amplification
Semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) Re-shaping
Re-timing

Transmitter OA OA R OA Receiver
Semiconductor lasers
Modulators
Electrical signal

Photodetectors (p-i-n or travelling wave)

The broad objective of this course is to provide working knowledge to design
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and model the optoelectronic devices used in an optical communication link
Optical networks by Reach
Reach: maximum distance that a system can link transparently (without optical-electronic-optical
conversion)

• One can distinguish fiber-optic systems by their reach

Systems with longer reach generally require more advanced system technologies and better fiber
infrastructures!

https://networks.nokia.com 14
Optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC)

Optical communications is preferred over long distances (speed and bandwidth)

• Need for high data rates for every day applications (streaming video etc.)
• Even further: data transmission between computer boards, inter-chip and intra-chip (??)
• Advantage of optical over copper interconnect:
- Large bandwidth & high speed data transmission
- Immunity to mutual interference and cross-talk
- Freedom from capacitive loading effects (energy consumption!!!)
• price per unit has to be low (this is challenging)

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Optoelectronic integrated circuits (OEIC)
CMOS technology

Computation capability of electronics

+
High speed of photonics

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Required Functionalities

- Light source: Semiconductor lasers

- Guiding light: waveguides
- Modulators: Electro-optic, thermo-optic modulators
- Photo-detectors: p-i-n photodetectors, travelling-wave
photodetectors
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- Assembly, packaging, testing, reliability
Semiconductor
Silicon: Good and Bad!!!

Silicon is cheap; microelectronics industry is based on Silicon (Si)

Easily integrated with existing CMOS processes

Problems
Indirect bandgap  inefficient light emitter, not
appropriate for lasers
k1

k2
III-V Semiconductors (such as InP and GaAs) with
direct bandgap can be Used for light emission!

Ability to build efficient photonic components such as lasers

and detectors.

Silicon GaAs 18
Energy-momentum relationship

CW Tunable InP Laser

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Free-space optical communication

Interest in free-space optical communications (between satellites, satellite-to-earth etc.)

Components used for this:
- Telecom photonic components (around 1550 nm)
- Low power lasers with modulators and amplifiers
- Magnification optics
- Beam tracking, steering optics
- Adaptive optics for turbulence correction
- High sensitivity detectors (InGaAs APDs)
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Energy-momentum relationship

Visible light communication: communication with visible light (transmitter, receiver, medium etc.)
• Li-Fi: Light fidelity, the communication protocol, handover etc.
• Advantages of VLC: high data rates, restricted space (privacy), use existing infrastructure
• Applications of VLC: communication, localization etc.
• Components:
- Light source (visible or Near-IR LEDs)
- Dectectors (photodiode to APDs to single-photon APDs) 21
- Optics (lens, scanning mirrors etc.)
Energy-momentum relationship
Consumer Electronics: LEDs are slowly replacing lamps/ tube lights for lighing
applications
Cameras • Key enabler: GaN LED technology

displays & TVs

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Wearable Gadgets

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Recap
The basic optoelectronic devices that make a photonic system

Transmitter OA R Receiver
Options for light sources: Options for Amplifier: 3R:
• Incoherent or coherent Er-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) Re-amplification
• LEDs Raman amplifier Re-shaping
• Lasers: semiconductor, solid state Semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) Re-timing
Options for light detectors:
fibre lasers, nonlinear optical
• Speed/ sensitivity
• PMTs, photodiodes
Avalanche PDs,
Options for modulators:
Single photon counters
Direct modulation,
Electro-optic
EA
• Thermo-optic

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