UNIT 5

Optical wireless Technologies

Conversion from Optical to RF Domain and Optical Microwave Mixing

Used for UWB Over Systems
 Conversion from Optical to RF
Domain
• The optical link speed is mainly determined by the performance of the modulation and
demodulation process at the transmitter and the receiver sides.
• The design constraints in analogue links are more stringent.
• RoF techniques that can operate from 1 to 100 GHz, with emphasis on the noise
performance and link linearity.
• High-speed photodetectors(HS PDs) are required for use in high-speed optical
interconnects, microwave photonic applications and many modern RoF communication
systems.
• Photodetectors are used to convert the optical signal back into electrical form and
recover the data transmitted through the lightwave system.
• A photodetector should have high sensitivity, fast response, low noise, low cost and
high reliability.
• Ultrafast photonic devices based on the microwave optical interactions are expected to
be developed and incorporated in future high-speed and high-capacity lightwave
 Cont…
• High-speed photodetectors (PDs) based on AIIIBV compounds are used in fibre-
optic communications, optical/wireless systems, detection and conversion of
optical signals, and other microwave photonics applications.
• The high speed and operation efficiency of PDs is essential for an optical-
electrical conversion of analogue signals in ultra-wide radio-over-fibre (UROOF)
technology. To that end, there is an interest in PD bandwidth increasing up to
100 GHz
• The main types of high-speed PD are the following:
• PIN PDs
• avalanche PDs
• Schottky PDs
• resonant-cavity-enhanced PDs
• waveguide PDs
• travelling wave PDs
• velocity-matched distributed PDs
Cont…
• Based on the method of optical radiation propagation, high-speed
PDs are divided into three classes:
• surface-illuminated PDs
• resonant-cavity-enhanced PDs
• edge-coupled PDs
Surface-illuminated PDs
• For surface-illuminated PDs this parameter does not exceed 20–30 GHz, being
limited by the trade off between quantum efficiency and bandwidth.
• In order to increase the quantum efficiency it is necessary to increase PD
absorption layer thickness.
• On the other hand, an increase of the PD thickness results in a decrease of the
bandwidth
Resonant-cavity-enhanced PDs
• In resonant-cavity-enhanced PDs, in which the PD is situated in a Fabry-Perot
resonator, optical radiation multiply passes through the thin absorption layer,
and quantum efficiency increases at the resonant wavelength.
• For this reason, the increase of the device thickness is unnecessary. Hence,
the bandwidth may be larger
Edge-coupled PDs
• In the edge-coupled PDs the directions of the optical radiation
propagation and charge carrier transport are perpendicular to one
another.
• In such a case it is necessary to increase the device length instead of
the thickness of the absorption layer
PIN PDs
• Typical PIN PD is based on p+ - InP / i - In0.47Ga0:53As /n+ - InP heterostructure.
• Wide bandgap p+= and n+=InP layers are hardly doped, while the absorption layer i –
In0.47Ga0.53As is not doped and has low background impurity concentration.
• Under the optical illumination at the wavelength λ = 1.1–1.6 µm the electron-hole
pairs are generated in the absorption i-layer and separated by an internal electrical
field of p-n junction by means of the drift mechanism in the depletion region and by
diffusion in the neutral region.
• The high-speed operation is determined by the reverse bias large enough for full
depletion of the i-layer. The quantum efficiency of the PIN PD is given by

where ς is the internal quantum efficiency, which is typically close to 1, R is the

reflection coefficient of the PD surface, α, d are the absorption coefficient of the PD
surface and the thickness of the absorption i-layer
 Cont…
• The PIN PD bandwidth 1f is limited by the transit time and the RC-time of the PIN
PD equivalent circuit

where ῡd is the average electron and hole drift velocities in the absorption i-layer, ϵ0, ϵr are
the permittivity of vacuum and of the absorption i-layer, respectively, S is the PIN PD
photosensitive area, Rs, Rl are the series and the load resistances.
• It can easily be shown that the optimum absorption layer thickness for a maximal
bandwidth for the given photosensitive area S is given by

• The numerical evaluations show that for the PIN PD a bandwidth larger than
several ten of GHz requires a small photosensitive area with a diameter of about
10–20µm.
• The absorption layer should not exceed 1µm
Avalanche PDs
• Used for increasing sensitivity of photoreceiver in fibre-optic link
• Increase of the APD sensitivity is due to the internal amplification
during an avalanche gain of photocarriers.
• The process of the avalanche gain is characterized by ionization
coefficients αn, αp for electrons and holes, respectively.
• The multiplication factor M is given by,

• where dm is the multiplication layer thickness

Cont…
• Low noise, fast response and high multiplication factor can be realized
only if the ionization coefficients αn, αp significantly differ from each
other.
• . The amplification in APDs occurs only at comparatively large reverse
bias voltage of about 30–40 V.
• Bandwidth of the high-speed APD is limited by the finite avalanche
formation time and does not exceed 10–20 GHz.
• The APD performance, including the bandwidth increase, can be
improved by use of InAlGaAs/InAlAs super lattice with ionization
coefficient ratio . (αn / αp) ≈ 3 - 4
 PDs based on Schottky Barrier
• The basic electrical characteristics of the Schottky PD are very similar to
the characteristics of the PIN PD.
• The main advantage of the PDs based on Schottky barriers is the smaller
capacitance per unit area compared to PDs based on p-n junction.
• For the high-speed Schottky PD creation, the thin barrier-enhanced
In0.52Al0:48As layer of Schottky barrier height 0.8 V with Ti/Au metal contact
is used.
• The main disadvantage of the Schottky PD is the lower quantum efficiency
compared to the PIN PDs.
• The Schottky PD bandwidth is limited by drift time and RC time.
Resonant-cavity-enhanced PDs
• It is possible to increase the quantum efficiency of the surface-
illuminated PDs by means of resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE)
structure.
• In the RCE PD the surface-illuminated PD is placed in a Fabry-Perot
resonator.
• The RCE PD quantum efficiency is given by
 Cont…
• R1, ψ1 and R2, ψ2 are the reflection coefficients and phase shifts of the forward
and reverse reflectors, n, α, d are the refractive index, absorption coefficient
and thickness of the absorption layer, n1; d1 and n2; d2 are the refractive index
and thickness of layers above and below the absorption layer.
• The quantum efficiency has a maximum at the wavelength λ0 that satisfies the
condition
 Cont…
• Due to multiple propagation of optical radiation at the resonant wavelength
through the absorption layer, its thickness can be reduced for receiving
necessary bandwidth without any loss of efficiency. In this case the
bandwidth-efficiency product can reach hundreds of gigahertz
• While various photodetectors such as PIN, metal-semiconductor-metal
(MSM) and APD can be used for high-speed applications, each of these
devices has certain drawbacks which make them rather unsuitable for use in
UWB-over-fibre communications.
• Lateral PIN and MSM devices are simple to fabricate, but are characterized
by low responsivity at wavelengths around 850 nm.
• APD devices, on the other hand, require relatively high bias voltages and
have increased noise.
Optically Controlled Microwave
Devices
• Novel photonic techniques for optical signal generation and
processing are required in ultra wideband systems.
• Microwave photonic links may serve efficiently in analogue
interconnects in state-of-the-art wideband microwave functions.
• Optical signals introduced into microwave devices or controlling them
may be used for signal detection
Advantages of Optically
Controlled Microwave Devices
• The absence of extra electronic circuits required to process the
detected signals before application to the microwave device.
• The absence of circuit parasitics limiting the response speed.
• Creation of optical control port to the microwave device.
• The optical control signal is not influenced by any microwave
electromagnetic disturbances.
Amplifiers

• The gain of MESFETs and high-electron mobility transistors (HEMTs)

can be controlled by illuminating the gate region and including an
appropriate series resistor in the gate bias in order to produce a
change in gate bias caused by the optically-generated current.
• Gain of up to 20 dB in MESFET amplifiers can be achieved using
optical powers of about several microwatts.
• HEMT amplifiers exhibit even larger optical sensitivity that is 7–10
times higher
 Oscillators
• There are three main forms of oscillator optical control:
i) optical switching
ii) optical tuning
iii) optical injection locking.
• In the case of optical switching, the oscillator optical power is changed depending
on the optical control signal intensity.
• The case of optical tuning is similar to optical switching, however the optical
intensities used are rather small, and the output power change is also small.
• In the case of optical injection locking, the optical control is optically modulated at
a frequency close to the free-running frequency of the oscillator, one of its
harmonics or sub-harmonics.
• The modulated optical signal fed into the device active region creates the current
at the modulation frequency.
• These phenomena occur in avalanche diodes, MESFETs and bipolar transistors.
Opto-electronic Mixers
• Two regimes can be realized.
• In the first case, the signal to be converted in frequency is supplied
electrically, and the local-oscillator signal is an intensity-modulated optical
source.
• In the opposite case, an electrical local-oscillator signal is used to down-
convert an intensity-modulated optical signal.
• Optoelectronic mixers have been realized using photoconductive
devices, diodes, field-effect transistors and bipolar transistors
Optically Controlled Microstrip
Converter (OCMC)
• A novel concept named OCMC is based on the generation of photocarriers
within semiconductor devices.
• The substrates possess a strongly manifested contrast between dark
conductivity and the photoconductivity under illumination by the optical
signal, allowing an electrical modulation from the incident light.
• As a result, in depletion regions a photocurrent occurs, and the built-in
potential is changing.
• In other cases, the conductivity of semiconductors increases due to the
photoconductive effect.
• Consequently, optically-controlled semiconductor devices such as MESFETs,
HEMTs, PIN diodes and APDs can be integrated as an optically-controlled load
with different types of microstrip and coplanar lines.
 Cont…
• Such a system combining all the advantages of microwave photonic devices
mentioned above can be successfully used as ultra wideband OCMC.
• Indeed, microwaves can be fed into microstrip and coplanar lines realized on GaAs, Si
or novel SiGe substrates.
• The optical signal modulated with an ultra wideband envelope is introduced into the
optically-controlled load that provides the rapid detection of the microwave signal.
• Different regimes of the signal transmission can be realized, including heterodyning.
• Microstrip antennas can also be integrated into the system, making possible the
detected ultra-wide signal radiation.
• The design of OCMC with a 60 GHz bandwidth and minimum losses is a substantial
challenge from the point of view of the optimization of microstrip and coplanar
waveguiding elements, efficient matching of the microwave transmission line with an
optically controlled load, and the choice of the high-speed operating PD devices.
Optical Microwave Mixing Used for
UWB-over-fibre Systems
• All-optical microwave mixing techniques could be used to up-convert a
UWB signal around a RF carrier in the 3.1–10.6 GHz bandwidth.
• Two configurations can be employed.
• The first possibility is to simultaneously modulate the optical carrier and realize the
RF up-converting.
• The second, after the optical transmission, is to simultaneously detect the
baseband UWB signal and up-convert it around the RF frequency.
 Optical-to-RF Conversion
• All-optical microwave mixing has been demonstrated by direct nonlinear
photodetection using CW signals.
• The simultaneous injection of a microwave signal at the electrical port of the
PD and a modulated optical signal permits the mixing of the two signals.
• The mixing process results from the nonlinearity of the PD current-voltage
relationship.
• Due to the fact that the characteristics exhibit the maximum nonlinearity in
the vicinity of 0 V, it is the optimal operation point for efficient mixing.
• The extended technique to optical UWB systems by replacing the optical CW
signal with an optical UWB one, the optical source (for example the VCSEL)
bandwidth could be even more reduced, to the value of the baseband UWB
bandwidth (500 MHz for MB-OFDM signals).
RF-to-optical Conversion
• One way to generate optical-microwave mixing is to insert a nonlinear
element in the optical transmission link.
• Mixing is achieved by the use of optical-intensity modulation (direct
modulation of laser diodes or external modulation) in different
configurations: two cascaded linear modulations or one modulation
working in a nonlinear regime.
• Other methods can be used by employing frequency modulation into
intensity-modulation conversion achieved by passive optical
interferometer or by chromatic dispersion properties.
 Cont…
• To implement low-cost optical UWB systems, direct modulation of VCSELs in a
nonlinear regime could be used to generate optical-microwave mixing.
• VCSELs are low-cost components but are today limited in modulation
bandwidth.
• Nevertheless, using optical-microwave techniques imposes less stringent
requirements on the modulation bandwidth because the VCSEL is modulated
by a UWB signal centred around an IF frequency, and by an unmodulated
signal at LO frequency, close to the IF one.
• The mixing process up-converts the signal at IFCLO frequency.
• More precisely, requirements concerning the VCSELs can be divided into two:
5.5 GHz modulation bandwidth is sufficient to generate signals in the 3.1–10.6
GHz range