Chapter 6

Photodetectors
Content
Physical Principles of Photodiodes
pin, APD
Photodetectors characteristics (Quantum efficiency,
Responsivity, S/N)
Noise in Photodetector Circuits
Photodiode Response Time
Photodiodes structures
Introduction
At the output end of an optical transmission line,
there must be a receiving device which interprets
the information contained in the optical signal.
The first element of this receiver is a
photodetector.
The photodetector senses the luminescent power
falling upon it and converts the variation of this
optical power into a correspondingly varying
electric current.
pin Photodetector
The high electric field present in the depletion region causes photo-generated carriers to
Separate and be collected across the reverse biased junction. This give rise to a current
Flow in an external circuit, known as photocurrent.
w
Energy-Band diagram for a pin photodiode
Photocurrent
Optical power absorbed, in the depletion region can be written in terms
of incident optical power, :



Absorption coefficient strongly depends on wavelength. The upper
wavelength cutoff for any semiconductor can be determined by its energy
gap as follows:



Taking entrance face reflectivity into consideration, the absorbed power in
the width of depletion region, w, becomes:





) 1 ( ) (
) (
0
x
s
e P x P
o
=
[6-1]
) ( o
s
) (x P
0
P
(eV)
24 . 1
) m (
g
c
E
=
[6-2]
) 1 )( 1 ( ) ( ) 1 (
) (
0 f
w
f
R e P w P R
s
=
o
Optical Absorption Coefficient
Responsivity
The primary photocurrent resulting from absorption is:




Quantum Efficiency:





Responsivity:
) 1 )( 1 (
) (
0 f
w
p
R e P
h
q
I
s
=
o
v
[6-3]
v
q
q
h P
q I
P
/
/
photons incident of #
pairs ated photogener hole - electron of #
0
=
=
[6-4]
[A/W]
0
v
q
h
q
P
I
P
= = 9
[6-5]
Responsivity vs. wavelength
Avalanche Photodiodes
Avalanche Photodiodes ( APDs ) are high sensitivity, high speed
semi-conductor "light" sensors. Compared to regular PIN
construction photodiodes.
APDs, have an internal region where electron multiplication occurs,
by application of an external reverse voltage, and the resultant
"gain" in the output signal means that low light levels can be
measured at high speed.
An APD is operated under a reverse-bias voltage which is sufficient
to enable avalanche multiplication (impact ionization) to take place.
vary large internal current gain
fast response to the light modulated at microwave frequencies
high sensitivity to low-level optical signals with about 1 ns
response time particular useful in fiber optic communication.
The avalanche action enables the gain of the diode to be increased
many times, providing a much greater level of sensitivity.
Avalanche Photodiode (APD)
APDs internally multiply the
primary photocurrent before it
enters to following circuitry.
In order to carrier multiplication
take place, the photogenerated
carriers must traverse along a
high electric field region. In
this region, photogenerated
electrons and holes gain
enough energy to ionize
bound electrons in VB upon
colliding with them. This
multiplication is known as
impact ionization. The newly
created carriers in the
presence of high electric field
result in more ionization
called avalanche effect.
Reach-Through APD structure (RAPD)
showing the electric fields in depletion
region and multiplication region.
Optical radiation
Responsivity of APD

The multiplication factor (current gain) M for all carriers generated in the
photodiode is defined as:


Where is the average value of the total multiplied output current &
is the primary photocurrent.

The responsivity of APD can be calculated by considering the current gain
as:
p
M
I
I
M =
[6-6]
M
I
P
I
M M
h
q
0 APD
9 = = 9
v
q
[6-7]
Current gain (M) vs. Voltage for different optical
wavelengths
Photodetector Noise & S/N
Detection of weak optical
signal requires that the
photodetector and its
following amplification
circuitry be optimized for a
desired signal-to-noise
ratio.
It is the noise current
which determines the
minimum optical power
level that can be detected.
This minimum detectable
optical power defines the
sensitivity of
photodetector. That is the
optical power that
generates a photocurrent
with the amplitude equal to
that of the total noise
current (S/N=1)
power noise amplifier power noise tor photodetec
nt photocurre from power signal
+
=
N
S
Noise Sources in Photodetecors
The principal noises associated with photodetectors are :
1- Quantum (Shot) noise: arises from statistical nature of the production
and collection of photo-generated electrons upon optical illumination. It has
been shown that the statistics follow a Poisson process.
2- Dark current noise: is the current that continues to flow through the
bias circuit in the absence of the light. This is the combination of bulk
dark current, which is due to thermally generated e and h in the pn
junction, and the surface dark current, due to surface defects, bias voltage
and surface area.
In order to calculate the total noise presented in photodetector, we should
sum up the root mean square of each noise current by assuming that those
are uncorrelated.

Total photodetector noise current=quantum noise current +bulk dark
current noise + surface current noise
Comparisons between PIN and APD detectors
APDs have greater sensitivity for a given material
detection of weaker signals over longer distances of fiber at a higher
bit rate.
APDs have higher dark current.
PIN diode may have greater sensitivity for long wavelength detection
than an APD.
PIN diodes are easier to fabricate.
Hence produce higher yield devices and array at lower cost.
PIN diodes are easier to integrate (with amplifiers)
APDs are very temperature sensitive for dark current and multiplication
factor.
Temperature stabilization circuitry is usually needed to increase their
reliability.
APDs require a high (tens or hundreds of volts) operating voltage.

The use of APDs is thus presently limited to applications where high gain
is of paramount important.
In an APD one has to maintain very stable voltage and temperature
values which males the system costly and somewhat unreliable
especially if it is placed in a region that is difficult to access (like in
undersea regenerators for long distant optical communications)
Comparison of various photodetectors
Comparison of photodetectors