Lecture Notes for Chapter 1(1)

Overview
KEE4843 Opto-Electronics
Dr. Irneza Ismail

Dr. Irneza (KEE4843) Opto-Electronics 1

 Overview – Chapter 1
1.1 Motivations for Lightwave Communications
1.2 Optical Spectral Bands
1.3 Decibel Units
1.4 Network Information Rates
1.5 Optical Channel Multiplexing
1.6 Key Elements of Optical Fiber Systems
1.7 Evolution in Optical Communication Networks
1.8 Standards for Optical Fiber Communications
1.9 Modeling and Simulation Tools

Dr. Irneza (KEE4843) Opto-Electronics 2

 Outline

➢ What is optoelectronics?
➢ Major optoelectronic devices
➢ Current trend on optoelectronic
devices

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 What Did the Word “Opto-
Electronics” Mean?
➢ Optoelectronics is the study and application of
electronic devices that interact with light

Electronics Optics

(electrons) (light or photons)

Optoelectronics
4
Examples of Optoelectronic Devices

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 Major Optoelectronic Devices
─ Direct Conversion Between Electrons and Photons
➢ Light-emitting diodes (LEDs)
(display, lighting,···)
➢ Laser diodes (LDs)
(data storage, telecommunication, ···)
➢ Photodiodes (PDs)
(telecommunication, ··· )
➢ Solar Cells
(energy conversion)

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 Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

Light-emitting diode (LED) is a

semiconductor diode that emits
incoherent narrow-spectrum light
when electrically biased in the
forward direction of the p-n junction. 7
Photon Emission in Semiconductor

Conduction When an electron meets a

band hole, it falls into a lower
energy level, and releases
EC Photon energy in the form of a
Eg photon.
EF
The wavelength of the light
EV depends on the band gap
of the semiconductor
Valence material
band

Semiconductor materials: Si, Ge, GaAs, InGaAs, AlGaAs, InP, SiGe, etc
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Semiconductor Materials vs.
LED Color
General Brightness

GaP GaN GaAs GaAIAs --

Green, Red Blue Red, Infrared Red, Infrared --

Super Brightness

GaAIAs GaAsP GaN InGaN GaP

Red Red, Yellow Blue Green Green

Ultra Brightness

GaAIAs InGaAIP GaN InGaN --

Red Red, Yellow, Orange Blue Green --

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 Application of LEDs

➢ Display
➢ Solid-state lighting

➢ Communication

➢ Remote control, etc

LED lights on an Audi S6

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 Laser Diodes (LDs)
Lasers (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission)

Photon emission processes:

Absorption Spontaneous emission Stimulated emission

Photodetectors LEDs Lasers

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 Photo Diodes (PDs)

A photodiode is a semiconductor diode that functions as a

photodetector. It is a p-n junction or p-i-n structure. When a
photon of sufficient energy strikes the diode, it excites an
electron thereby creating a mobile electron and a positively
charged electron hole
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PDs’ Detection Range and Materials

Material Wavelength range (nm)

Silicon (Si) 190–1100

Germanium (Ge) 400–1700

Indium gallium arsenide 800–2600

(InGaAs)

Lead sulfide (PbS) <1000-3500

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Vision of Solar Cells (Photovoltaics)
Why solar cells?
Solar Energy • Free
• Essentially Unlimited
• Not Localized

Solar Cells
• Direct Conversion of Sunlight → Electricity
• No Pollution
• No Release of Greenhouse-effect Gases
• No Waste or Heat Disposal Problems
• No Noise Pollution — very few or no
moving parts
• No transmission losses — on-Site
Installation

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Residential and Commercial Applications

Challenges:
cost reduction via: a) economy of scales b) building integration and
c) high efficiency cells 15
 Trends in optoelectronic devices

➢ Long wavelength, high power light sources or

photodetectors
➢ Nanoscale devices
➢ Low cost, easy fabricated materials
➢ High opto-electronic conversion efficiency
➢ Multi-wavelength sources

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Advantages of Optical Comm.
 1.1 Motivations (1)
• Lifestyle changes from Internet growth and use
– Average phone call lasts 3 minutes
– Average Internet session is 20 minutes
• More and more bandwidth-hungry services are appearing
– Web searching, home shopping, high-definition interactive video,
remote education, telemedicine and e-health, high-resolution editing
of home videos, blogging, and large-scale high-capacity e-science and
Grid computing
• Increase in PC storage capacity and processing power
– 20G hard drives were fine around 2000; now standard is 160G
– Laptops ran at 300 MHz; now the speed is over 3 GHz
• There is an extremely large choice of remotely accessible
programs and information databases

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 1.1 Motivations (2)
Advantages of optical fibers
• Long Distance Transmission: The lower transmission losses in fibers
compared to copper wires allow data to be sent over longer distances.
• Large Information Capacity: Fibers have wider bandwidths than copper
wires, so that more information can be sent over a single physical line.
• Small Size and Low Weight: The low weight and the small dimensions of
fibers offer a distinct advantage over heavy, bulky wire cables in
crowded underground city ducts or in ceiling-mounted cable trays.
• Immunity to Electrical Interference: The dielectric nature of optical fibers
makes them immune to the electromagnetic interference effects.
• Enhanced Safety: Optical fibers do not have the problems of ground
loops, sparks, and potentially high voltages inherent in copper lines.
• Increased Signal Security: An optical signal is well-confined within the
fiber and an opaque coating around the fiber absorbs any signal
emissions.

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 Disadvantages of fiber optics

• Disadvantages include the cost of interfacing equipment

necessary to convert electrical signals to optical signals.
(optical transmitters, receivers) Splicing fiber optic cable
is also more difficult.
 1.2 Optical Spectral Bands (1)
O-Band E-Band S-Band C-Band L-Band U-Band

1260 1360 1460 1530 1565 1625 1675

Wavelength (nm)

• Original band (O-band): 1260 to 1360 nm

– Region originally used for first single-mode fibers
• Extended band (E-band): 1360 to 1460 nm
– Operation extends into the high-loss water-peak region
• Short band (S-band): 1460 to 1530 nm (shorter than C-band)
• Conventional band (C-band): 1530 to 1565 nm (EDFA region)
• Long band (L-band): 1565 to 1625 nm (longer than C-band)
• Ultra-long band (U-band): 1625 to 1675 nm

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Fiber Transmission

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 1.2 Optical Spectral Bands (2)
Optical communication uses wavelength to designate the
spectral operating region and photon energy or optical power
when discussing topics such as signal strength or electro-optical
component performance.
1. In a vacuum the speed of light c is equal to the wavelength λ times the
frequency ν, so that
c=λν
2. The relationship between the energy of a photon and its frequency (or
wavelength) is determined by Planck’s Law
E=hν
where h = 6.63 × 10–34 J-s = 4.14 × 10–15 eV-s is Planck’s constant.

3. In terms of wavelength (measured in units of μm), the energy in electron

volts is given by
E(eV) = 1.2406/λ(μm)

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 1.3 Decibel Units (1)
• The decibel (dB) unit is defined by

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 1.3 Decibel Units (2)
• Since the decibel is used to refer to ratios or relative
units, it gives no indication of the absolute power level.
• A derived unit called the dBm can be used for this
purpose.
• This unit expresses the power level P as a logarithmic
ratio of P referred to 1 mW.
• The power in dBm is an absolute value defined by

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 1.3 Decibel Units (3)
• A rule-of-thumb
relationship to
remember for
optical fiber
communications is
0 dBm = 1 mW.
• Therefore, positive
values of dBm are
greater than 1 mW
and negative values
are less than 1 mW.

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 1.3 Decibel Units (4)

Power levels differing by many orders of magnitude can

be compared easily when they are in decibel form.

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1.4 Network Information Rates (1)

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1.4 Network Information Rates (2)

• A standard signal format called synchronous optical

network (SONET) is used in North America
• A standard signal format called synchronous digital
hierarchy (SDH) is used in other parts of the world

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Applications
➢Electronics and Computers
➢ Broad Optoelectronic
➢ Medical Application
➢ Instrumentation
➢ Optical Communication Systems
 High Speed Long Haul Networks ✓
(Challenges are transmission type)
 Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) ✓?
 Access Network (AN)?
Challenges are:
- Protocol
- Multi-service capability
- Cost

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 Long Haul Fiber System Overview

• Types of Systems
• Pulse quality
• Bit Error Rate
• Noise

Metro
CATV
Long Haul

Metro
Access

Metro

Submarine networks

Dr. Irneza (KEE4843) Opto-Electronics

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 1.5 WDM Concepts
• Many independent information-bearing signals are sent
along a fiber simultaneously
• Independent signals are carried on different wavelengths
• Data rates or formats on each wavelength may be
different
• Coarse WDM (CWDM) and dense WDM (DWDM) are the
two major wavelength multiplexing techniques
• Wavelength routing and switching techniques based on
lightpaths are being developed

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 1.6 Key Elements of Optical Fiber Systems
• Transmitter: a light source and signal-formatting circuitry
• A cable offering mechanical and environmental protection to
the optical fibers contained inside
• A receiver consisting of a photodetector plus amplification
and signal-restoring circuitry
• Other components: Optical amplifiers, connectors, splices,
couplers, regenerators, and passive and active devices.

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 1.7 Standards
The three basic classes for fiber optics are primary standards,
component testing standards, and system standards.
• Primary standards deal with physical parameters:
attenuation, bandwidth, operational characteristics of fibers,
and optical power levels and spectral widths.
• Component testing standards define tests for fiber-optic
component performance and establish equipment-calibration
procedures.
– The main ones are Fiber Optic Test Procedures (FOTP)
• System standards refer to measurement methods for optical
links and networks.

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Figure 1.1

Dr. Irneza (KEE4843) Opto-Electronics 36

Figure 1.2

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 Figure 1.4

Dr. Irneza (KEE4843) Opto-Electronics 38

Figures 1.5 and 1.6

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Figures 1.8a and 1.8b (separate)

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Figure 1.11

Dr. Irneza (KEE4843) Opto-Electronics 41

Figure 1.12

Dr. Irneza (KEE4843) Opto-Electronics 42

Figure 1.13

Dr. Irneza (KEE4843) Opto-Electronics 43

Figure 1.14

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