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Photodetectors
Unit6
5/3/2011 RKKEC831EC831 2
OpticalReceivers
Opticalreceiversconvertopticalsignal(light)to
electricalsignal(current/voltage).HencereferredO/E
Converter.
Photodetectoristhefundamentalelementofoptical
receiver,followedbyamplifiersandsignalconditioning
circuitry.
Thereareseveralphotodetectortypes:
Photodiodes,Phototransistors,Photonmultipliers,Photo
resistorsetc.
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PhotodetectorRequirements
Highsensitivity(responsivity)atthedesiredwavelengthandlow
responsivityelsewherehighwavelengthselectivity.
Sensitivityhastobematchedtotheemissionspectraoftheoptical
transmitter.
Linearity(Linearrelationshipbetweentheintensityandtheelectricalsignal).
Highquantumefficiency/highspectralsensitivity
Stabilityofperformance(Insensitivetotemperaturevariations).
Fastresponsetime.
SufficientBWtohandledesireddatarate.
Compatiblephysicaldimensions,Lownoiseandreasonablecost,and
Longoperatinglife
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Photodiodes
Duetoaboverequirements,only photodiodes areusedasphoto
detectorsinopticalcommunicationsystems.
PositiveIntrinsicNegative(PIN)Photodiode
Nointernalgain
AvalanchePhotoDiode(APD)
AninternalgainofMduetoselfmultiplication
Photodiodesaresufficientlyreversebiased duringnormaloperation
nocurrentflow,theintrinsicregionisfullydepletedofcarriers
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ThePINPhotoDetector
ThePINphotodiodeisstructuredwithp andnregionsseparatedbya
lightlyndopedintrinsic(i)region(Fig.61).
Fig.61:pin photodiodecircuit
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Incidentphotonwithenergy> bandgapenergyofthephotodiodewill
generatefreeelectronholepairs,knownasphotocarriers. (Fig.62).
Fig.62:pin energybanddiagram
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Thehighelectricfieldpresentinthedepletionregioncausesthecarriers
toseparateandbecollectedacrossthereversebiasedjunction.
Thisgivesrisetoaphotocurrent flowinanexternalcircuit,withone
electronflowingforeverycarrierpairgenerated.
Asthechargecarriersflowthroughthematerial,someelectronholepairs
willrecombineanddisappear.
Ontheaverage,thechargecarriersmoveadiffusionlength L
n
or L
p
for
electronsandholes,respectively.
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Thetimeittakesforanelectronorholetorecombineisknownasthe
carrierlifetime andisrepresentedby
n
and
p
,respectively.
Thelifetimesandthediffusionlengthsarerelatedby
L
n
=(D
n

n
)
1/2
andL
p
=(D
p

p
)
1/2
whereD
n
andD
p
aretheelectronandholediffusioncoefficients,
expressedinunitsofcm
2
/sec.
Opticalradiationisabsorbedinthesemiconductormaterialaccording
totheexponentiallaw
P(x)=P
o
[1 exp(
s
()x)] (61)
Here,
s
()istheabsorptioncoefficient atwavelength,P
o
isthe
incidentopticalpowerlevel,andP(x) istheopticalpowerabsorbedin
adistance x.
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Thecutoff
c
isdeterminedbythebandgapenergyE
g
ofthematerial:

c
(m)=hc/E
g
=12.4/E
g
(eV) (62)
Thecutoffwavelengthisabout1.06mforSiand1.6mforGe.
Example61:
AphotodiodeconstructedofGaAshasabandgapenergyof1.43eVat
300
o
K.
FromEq.(62),thelongwavelengthcutoffis

c
=hc/E
g
(6.625x10
34
J.s)(3x10
8
m/s)
= =869nm.
(1.43eV)(1.6x10
19
J/eV)
ThisGaAsphotodiodewillnotoperateforphotonsof >869nm.
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Forlongerwavelengths,thephotonenergyisnotsufficienttoexciteanelectron
fromthevalencetotheconductionband.
Atthelowerwavelengthend,thephotoresponsecutsoffduetoverylargevalues
of
s.
Thephotonsareabsorbedveryclosetothephotodetectorsurface,the
recombinationtimeofthegeneratedelectronholepairsisveryshort.
Ifthedepletionregionhasawidthw,thenthetotalpowerabsorbedinthe
distancew is
P(w)=P
o
[1 exp(
s
w)] (63)
TakeintoaccountthereflectivityR
f
attheentrancefaceofthephotodiode,the
primaryphotocurrentI
p
resultingfromthepowerabsorptionofEq.(63)isgiven
by
I
p
=(q/h)P
o
[1exp(
s
w)](1R
f
) (64)
whereP
o
istheopticalpowerincidentonthephotodetector,q istheelectron
charge,andhvisthephotonenergy.
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Thequantumefficiency isthenumberofthephotocarrierpairs
generatedperincidentphotonofenergyhvandisgivenby
numberofelectronholegenerated
= (65)
numberofincidentphotons
=(I
p
/q)/(P
o
/hv).
Here,I
p
istheaveragephotocurrentgeneratedbyasteadystateaverage
opticalpowerP
o
incidentonthephotodetector.
Toachieveahighquantumefficiency,thedepletionlayermustbethicker.
However,thethickerthedepletionlayer,thelongertimeittakesforthe
photogeneratedcarrierstodriftacrossthereversebiasedjunction.
Compromisehastobemadebetweenresponsespeedandquantum
efficiency.
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Example62:
Ina100nspulse,6.0x10
6
photonsat1300nmfallonan
InGaAsphotodetector.Ontheaverage,5.4x10
6
electron
holepairsaregenerated.
ThequantumefficiencyisfoundfromEq.(65)as
numberofehpairsgenerated
=
numberofincidentphotons
=(5.4x10
6
)/(6x10
6
)=0.9.
Thus,thequantumefficiencyat1300nmis90%.
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Theperformanceofaphotodiodeisoftencharacterizedbythe
Responsivity R.
Thisisrelatedtothequantumefficiency by
R =I
p
/P
o
=q/h (66)
TypicalPINresponsivitiesareshowninFig.63.
Representativevaluesare0.65A/WforSiat900 nmand0.45A/WforGeat1.3m.
ForInGaAs,typicalvaluesare0.9A/Wat1.3mand1.0A/Wat1.55m.
Fig.63:PhotodiodeResponsivities
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Example6.3:
Photonsofenergy1.53x10
19
Jareincidentonaphotodiodewhichhasa
responsivityof0.65A/W.
Iftheopticalpowerlevelis10W,thenfromEq.(66)thephoto
currentis
I
p
=RP
o
=(0.65A/W)(10W)=6.5A
Theresponsivityisalinearfunctionoftheopticalpower.ThephotocurrentI
p
isdirectlyproportionaltotheopticalpowerP
o
incidentuponthephoto
detector,sothattheresponsivityR isconstantatagivenwavelength.
Foragivenmaterial,asthewavelengthoftheincidentphotonbecomes
longer,thephotonenergybecomeslessthanthatrequiredtoexcitean
electronfromthevalencebandtotheconductionband.
Theresponsivitythusfallsoffrapidlybeyondthecutoffwavelength,ascanbe
seeninFig.63.
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Example64 :
AsshowninFig.63,forthewavelengthrange1300nm< <1600nm,
thequantumefficiencyforInGaAsisaround90%.Thus,inthis
wavelengthrangetheresponsivityis
R =q/h =q/hc
=(0.90)(1.6x10
19
C)/(6.625x10
34
J.s)(3x10
8
m/s)
=7.25x10
5

Forexample,at1300nmwehave
R =[7.25x10
5
(A/W)/m](1.30x10
6
m)
=0.92A/W
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ThePINPhotoDetector
Atwavelengthshigherthan1600nm,thephotonenergyisnotsufficient
toexciteanelectronfromthevalencebandtotheconductionband.
Forexample,In
0.53
Ga
0.47
AshasanenergygapE
g
=0.73eV,sothatfrom
Eq.(62)thecutoffwavelengthis

c
=1.24/E
g
=1.24/0.73=1.7m
Atwavelengths<1100nm,thephotonsareabsorbedveryclosetothe
photodetectorsurface,wheretherecombinationrateofthegenerated
electronholepairsisveryshort.Theresponsivitythusdecreasesrapidly
forsmallerwavelengths.
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AvalanchePhotodiodes(APDs)
APDsinternallymultiplytheprimarysignalphotocurrentinamechanismknown
asimpactionization.
Thecreatedcarriersareacceleratedbythehighelectricfield, gainingenough
energytocausefurtherimpactionization.Thisphenomenonistheavalanche
effect.
Acommonlyusedstructureforachievingcarriermultiplicationwithverylittle
excessnoiseisthereachthroughconstructionshowninFig.64.
Figure64.Reachthroughavalanchephotodiodestructure
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Innormalusage,theRAPDisoperatedinthefullydepletedmode.Lightenters
thedevicethroughthep
+
regionandisabsorbedinthe material,whichactsas
thecollectionregionforthephotogeneratedcarriers.
Thephotogeneratedelectronsdriftthroughthe regioninthepn
+
junction,
whereahighelectricfieldexists.
Itisinthishighfieldregionthatcarriermultiplicationtakesplace.
ThemultiplicationM forallcarriersgeneratedinthephotodiodeisdefinedby
M =I
M
/I
p
(67)
whereI
M
istheaveragevalueofthetotalmultipliedoutputcurrentandI
p
isthe
primaryunmultipliedphotocurrentdefinedinEq.(64).
TheperformanceofanAPDischaracterizedbytheresponsivitygivenby
R
APD
=(q/h)M =R
o
M (68)
whereR
o
istheunitygainresponsivity.
AvalanchePhotodiodes(APDs)
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AvalancheMultiplicationNoise
If mdenotesthestatisticallyvaryingAPDgain,then
m
2
>m
2
=M
2
(69)
wherethesymbols<
.
>denoteanensembleaverageand<m>=Mistheaverage
carriergaindefinedinEq.(67).
Sincethenoisecreatedbytheavalancheprocessdependsonthemeansquare
gain<m
2
>,thenoiseinanAPDcanberelativelyhigh.
Ithasbeenfoundthat,<m
2
>canbeapproximatedby
m
2
=M
2+x
(610)
wheretheexponentx variesbetween0and1.0dependingonthephotodiode
materialandstructure.
TheratiooftheactualnoisegeneratedinanAPDtothenoisethatwouldexistif
allcarrierpairsweremultipliedbyM iscalledtheexcessnoisefactor F andis
definedby
F =m
2
/m
2
=m
2
/M
2
(611)
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Thisexcessnoisefactorisameasureoftheincreaseindetector
noiseresultingfromtherandomnessofthemultiplicationprocess.
Fromtheempiricalrelationshipforthemeansquaregaingivenby
Eq.(610),theexcessnoisefactorcanbeapproximatedby
F =M
x
(612)
Theparameterx takesonvaluesof0.3forSi,0.7forInGaAs,and1.0
forGeavalanchephotodiodes.
AvalancheMultiplicationNoise
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PhotoDetectorNoise
ThepowerSNRattheoutputofanopticalreceiveris
(613)
ToachieveahighSNR,
1.PDmusthaveahigh togeneratealargesignalpower.
2.PDandamplifiernoisesshouldbekeptaslowas
possible.
Thesensitivityofaphotodiodeisdescribableintermsoftheminimum
detectableopticalpower.Thisistheopticalpowernecessarytoproducea
photocurrentofthesamemagnitudeasthetotalrmsnoisecurrent,or
equivalently,aSNRof1.
Signal power from photocurrent
Detector Noise + Amplifier Noise
SNR =
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NoiseSources
IfamodulatedsignalofopticalpowerP(t)fallsonthedetector,the
primaryphotocurrenti
ph
(t)generatedis
i
ph
(t)=(q/h)P(t) (614)
TheprimarycurrentconsistsofadcvalueI
p
theaveragephoto
currentduetothesignalpower,andasignalcomponenti
p
(t).
ForPINs,themeansquaresignalcurrent<i
s
2
>is
<i
s
2
>=
2
s,PIN
=<i
p
2
(t)> (615a)
where
2
isthevariance.
ForAPDs,themeansquaresignalcurrent<i
s
2
>is
<i
s
2
>=
2
s,APD
=<i
p
2
(t)>M
2
(615b)
whereM istheaverageavalanchegain.
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NoiseSources
Forasinusoidallyvaryinginputsignalofmodulationindexm,thesignal
component<i
p
2
(t)>isoftheform
<i
p
2
(t)>=
p
2
=(m
2
/2)I
p
2
. (616)
Thequantumorshotnoise followaPoissonprocess.Thequantumnoise
currenthasameansquarevalue
<i
Q
2
>=
Q
2
=2qI
p
BM
2
F(M) (617)
whereF(M)=M
x
,0< x < 1.0, isanoisefigureassociatedwiththerandom
natureoftheavalancheprocess.
ForPINphotodiodes,M and F(M) areunity.
Themeansquarevalueofthebulkdarkcurrent i
DB
arisenfrom
thermallygeneratedelectronsand/orholesisgivenby
<i
DB
2
>=
DB
2
=2qI
D
BM
2
F(M) (618)
whereI
D
istheprimary(unmultiplied)detectorbulkdarkcurrent.
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NoiseSources
The surfacedarkcurrentissimplyreferredtoasleakagecurrent.The
meansquarevalueofthiscurrentisgivenby
<i
DS
2
>=
DS
2
=2qI
L
B (619)
whereI
L
isthesurfaceleakagecurrent.Thesurfacedarkcurrentisnot
affectedbytheavalanchegain.
Thedarkcurrentsandthesignalcurrentareuncorrelated,themean
squarePDnoisecurrent<i
N
2
>canbewrittenas
<i
N
2
>=
N
2
=<i
Q
2
>+<i
DB
2
>+<i
DS
2
>
=
Q
2
+
DB
2
+
DS
2
(620)
=2q(I
p
+I
D
)M
2
F(M)B +2qI
L
B
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NoiseSources
ThePDloadresistorcontributesameansquarethermal
(Johnson)noisecurrent
<i
T
2
>=
T
2
=4k
B
TB/R
L
, (621)
wherek
B
isBoltzmann'sconstantandT istheabsolute
temperature.
ThisJohnsonnoisecanbereducedbyusingaloadresistorwhich
islargebutstillconsistentwiththereceiverbandwidth
requirements.
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SignaltoNoiseRatio
SubstitutingEqs.(615),(620),and(621)intoEq.(613)fortheSNRatthe
inputoftheamplifier,wehave
(622)
ForPINs,thedominatingnoisecurrentsarethoseofthedetectorload
resistor(thethermalcurrenti
T
)andtheactiveelementsoftheamplifier
circuitry(i
amp
).
ForAPDs,thethermalnoiseisoflesserimportanceandthephoto
detectornoisesusuallydominate.
FromEq.(618),itisseenthatthesignalpowerismultipliedbyM
2
and
thequantumnoiseplusbulkdarkcurrentismultipliedbyM
2
F(M).
2 2
2
2 ( ) ( ) 2 4 /
p
p D L B L
i M
SNR
q I I M F M B qI B k TB R
=
+ + +
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SignaltoNoiseRatio
TheoptimumgainatthemaximumSNRcanbefoundbydifferentiatingEq.
(622)withrespecttoM,settingtheresultequaltozero,andsolvingforM.
Forasinusoidallymodulatedsignal,withm =1andF(M)approximatedby
M
x
,willyield
(623)
Darkcurrentandsurfaceleakagecurrentnoisearetypicallynegligible,If
thermalnoiseisalsonegligible
(624)
Foranaloglinks,(RIN=RelativeIntensityNoise)
) (
/ 4 2
2
opt
D P
L B L x
I I xq
R T k qI
M
+
+
=
+
2
2 ( ) ( )
p
p
i
SNR
q I F M B
=
2 2
2 2
2 ( ) ( ) 4 / ( )
p
p D B L p
i M
SNR
q I I M F M k T R RIN I B
=

+ + +

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Theresponsetimeofaphotodiodetogetherwithitsoutputcircuit
dependsonthefactors:
1.Thetransittimeofthephotocarriersinthedepletionregion.
2.Thediffusiontimeofthephotocarriersgeneratedoutsidethe
depletionregion.
3. TheRCtimeconstantofthephotodiodeanditsassociatedcircuit.
Thetransittimet
d
thephotocarrierstaketotravelacrossthe
depletionregiondependsonthecarrierdriftvelocityv
d
andthe
depletionlayerwidthw,andisgivenby
t
d
=w /v
d
(624)
DetectorResponseTime
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ResponseTimeinpin photodiode
Transit time, t
d
and carrier drift velocity v
d
are related by
/
d d
t w v =
For a high speed Si PD, t
d
= 0.1 ns
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Riseandfalltimes
Photodiode has uneven rise and fall times depending on:
1. Absorption coefficient
s
() and
2. Junction Capacitance C
j
o r
j
A
C
w

=
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JunctionCapacitance
o r
j
A
C
w

=

o
= 8.8542 x 10(-12) F/m; free space permittivity

r
= the semiconductor dielectric constant
A = the diffusion layer (photo sensitive) area
w = width of the depletion layer
Large area photo detectors have large junction
capacitance hence small bandwidth (low speed)
A concern in free space optical receivers
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Theelectricfieldinthedepletionregionislargeenoughsothatthe
carriershavereachedtheirscatteringlimitedvelocity.
Atypicalresponsetimeofapartiallydepletedphotodiodeisshownin
Fig.65(b).
Thefastcarriersallowthedeviceoutputtoriseto50%ofits maximum
valueinapproximately1ns,buttheslowcarrierscausearelatively
longdelaybeforetheoutputreachesitsmaximumvalue.
DetectorResponseTime
Figure65.Typicalresponsetimeofaphotodiodethatisnotfullydepleted.
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Toachieveahighquantumefficiency,thedepletionlayerwidthmustbe
muchlargerthan1/,sothatmostofthelightwillbeabsorbed.
Theresponsetoarectangularinputpulseofalowcapacitancephotodiode
havingw >>1/ isshowninFig.66b.
DetectorResponseTime
Figure66.Photodiodepulseresponsesundervariousdetectorparameters.
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DetectorResponseTime
Ifthephotodiodecapacitanceislarger,theresponsetimebecomeslimitedby
theRCtimeconstantoftheloadresistorR
L
andthephotodiodecapacitance.
ThephotodetectorresponsethenbeginstoappearasthatshowninFig.66c.
Deviceswithverythindepletionregionstendtoshowdistinctslow andfast
responsecomponents,asshowninFig.66d.
Thefastcomponentintherisetimeisduetocarriersgenerated inthe
depletionregion,whereastheslowcomponentarisesfromthediffusionof
carriersthatarecreatedwithadistanceL fromtheedgeofthedepletionregion.
ThereisatradeoffbetweenwidthandQE.Itisshownthatthebestis:
s s
w / 2 / 1
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InthereceivermodelofFig.67,thephotodiodehasasmallseriesresistanceR
s
,
atotalcapacitanceC
d
consistingofjunctionandpackagingcapacitances,anda
bias(orload)resistorR
L
.
TheamplifierfollowingthephotodiodehasaninputcapacitanceC
a
anda
resistanceR
a
.
DetectorResponseTime
Figure67.(a)Simplemodelofaphotodetectorreceiver,and(b)itsequivalentcircuit.
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If R
T
isthecombinationoftheloadandamplifierinputresistancesandC
T
isthesumofthephotodiodeandamplifiercapacitances,asshowninFig.
68,
thedetectorbehaveslikeasimpleRC lowpassfilterwithapassband
givenby
B =1/(2R
T
C
T
) (625)
Example67:
Ifthephotodiodecapacitanceis3pF,theamplifiercapacitance is4pF,the
loadresistoris1k,andtheamplifierinputresistanceis1M,
thenC
T
=7pFandR
T
=1k,sothatthecircuitbandwidthis
B =1/(2R
T
C
T
)=23MHz
Ifwereducethephotodetectorloadresistanceto50,thenthecircuit
bandwidthbecomesB =455MHz.
DetectorResponseTime
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APDVsPIN
APDhashighgainduetoselfmultiplyingmechanism,usedin
highendsystems.
Thetradeoffistheexcessnoise duetorandomnatureoftheself
multiplyingprocess.
APDsarecostlyandneedhighreversebiasvoltage(Ex:40V)
APDshavethesameexcessnoiseatlongerwavelengths,butthey
haveanlowerordermagnitudeofavalanchegain.
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ProsandconsofAPD
Pros:
providesgainonphotocurrentgeneration
Cons:
fabricationdifficulties(complexstructure,highcost)
multiplicationprocess(random)givesadditionalnoise
highbiasvoltages(100400volts)
temperaturedependenceofdevice(canbe
compensatedbyfeedbackcontrol)
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CharacteristicsofPINPhotodiodes
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CharacteristicsofAPD