Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Guilan

Optical Communication Systems: Problem Set 3 (Optical Transmitters)

P3-1 Find the following quantities for an InGaAsP as semiconductor laser with the parameters:

 Operating wavelength: λ=1300 nm,  Refractive index of the gain medium:

(a) The turn-on-delay time (i.e. time td for N to reach Nth) at I/Ith =1.5 by using
 I 
t d   c ln  .
 I  I th 
(b) The group velocity vg and the length of the laser cavity by using L=c/(2ng ΔvL).
(c) The photon lifetime and the threshold electron density (use Fig. 3.4).
I th  2 d e N th 
(d) The threshold current and its density by using J th   .
Lw   c 
(e) The relationship between the light output power and the injection current.

Figure P3-1

P3-2 The refractive index of the InGaAsP active region of an injection laser at a wavelength of
1.5 μm is 3.5 and the device has an active cavity length of 400 μm. For laser operation at a
wavelength of 1.5 μm, determine:
(a) the number of longitudinal modes m;
(b) the frequency separation of the modes δf;

P3-3 A 250-μm-long InGaAsP laser has an internal loss of 40 /cm. It operates at 1.55-μm in a
single mode, with the modal index 3.3 and the group index 3.4. Assume that the gain varies as
G = GN(N — No) with GN = 6 × 103 /s and N0 = 1×l08 . Further assume that the internal quantum
efficiency is 90%.

(a) Calculate the photon lifetime. What is the threshold value of the electron population?
(b) Determine the threshold current by taking 2 ns as the carrier lifetime.
(c) How much power is emitted from one facet when the laser is operated twice above threshold?

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 Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Guilan

(d) Calculate the differential quantum efficiency and the external quantum efficiency for the
laser operating twice above threshold. What is the device (wall-plug) efficiency if the external
voltage is 1.5 V?
(e) Calculate the frequency and the damping time of the relaxation oscillations for the laser
operating twice above threshold. Also, calculate the 3-dB modulation bandwidth for the laser.
Assume ∂G/∂P=-4 × 104 /s and Rsp=2/τp .

P3-4 The power spectral density of the relative intensity noise, SRIN(f), is related to the mean
optical power at the output of a single-mode semiconductor laser , P , and the relative intensity
noise, RIN, by:
2
S R IN ( f )  R IN ( f ) P
2
The mean square noise current in the output of the detector, i RIN , due to the fluctuation in the
incident optical power at the detector to result from the RIN in the laser emission is given by
2
2  e  2
i RIN   RIN P f
 hv 
where Δf is the optical bandwidth, η is the quantum efficiency, e is the electronic charge, and h
is the Planck’s constant.
The output from a single-mode semiconductor laser with a RIN value of −150 dB/Hz is
incident directly on an optical detector which has a bandwidth of 100 MHz. The device is
emitting at a wavelength of 1.55μm, at which the detector has a quantum efficiency of 60%. If
the mean optical power incident on the detector is 2 mW, determine:
(a) the RMS value of the power fluctuation,
(b) the RMS noise current at the output of the detector.

P3-5 Assume that the injected minority carrier lifetime of an LED is 5 ns and, the optical output
power when a constant dc current is applied is 0.30 mW. Plot the frequency response of this
LED (the optical output power versus the driving ac current frequency).
(a) What is the optical 3-dB bandwidth of this LED?
(b) What is the electrical 3-dB bandwidth of this LED?
(c) What is the optical output power at 100 MHz?

P3-6 A GaAs planar LED emitting at a wavelength of 0.85 μm has an internal quantum
efficiency of 60% when passing a forward current of 20 mA/s. Estimate the optical
power emitted by the device into air, and hence determine the external power efficiency if the
potential difference across the device is 1 V. It may be assumed that the transmission factor at
the GaAs–air interface is 0.68 and that the refractive index of GaAs is 3.6. Comment on any
assumptions made.

Answers:
(3-1) (a) 4.4 ns; (b) 8.82×107 m/s , 200 ηext=0.25, ηtot=0.133; (e) ΓR=3.594×109/s,
μm; (c) 1.42 ps , 1.5×1024 /m3; (d) 24 mA , TR=278 ps, ΩR=6.955 GHz, f3dB=12.05 GHz
3×107 A/m2; (e) P=0.352 (I - Ith) W (3-4) (a) 3.16 ×10−4 , (b) 0.47 μA
(3-2) (a) 1866 , (b) 107.14 GHz (3-5) (a) f 3dB-opt = 55 MHz, (b) f 3dB-elec =
(3-3) (a) 1.258 ps, Nth=2.324×108; (b) 31.8 MHz, (c) P o-opt= mW
18.6 mA, (c) 4.14 mW; (d) ηd=0.5 , (3-6) 7.7 230 μW, 1.15%