Optoelectronic Devices
Dr. Jing Bai
Assistant Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Minnesota Duluth
November 02, 2010
1
Outline
What is the optoelectronics?
Major optoelectronic devices
Current trend on optoelectronic
devices
Nanoscale optoelectronic devices
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Electronics
Optics
(electrons)
(light or photons)
Optoelectronics
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Photon
Eg
EV
Valence
band
Semiconductor materials: Si, Ge, GaAs, InGaAs, AlGaAs, InP, SiGe, etc
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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
Blue
Green
-9
Application of LEDs
Display
Solid-state lighting
Communication
Remote control, etc
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Absorption
Spontaneous emission
Photodetectors
LEDs
Stimulated emission
Lasers
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Operation Principle of a PD
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Silicon (Si)
1901100
Germanium (Ge)
4001700
8002600
<1000-3500
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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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Challenges:
cost reduction via: a) economy of scales b) building integration and
c) high efficiency cells
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Semiconductor Nanostructures
Quantum wells
Quantum dots
Nanowire
Buckyball
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UV
VIS
NIR
MIR (3~30 m)
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
3.0
2.0
1.5
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
Sun
(FIR)
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One layer
Electric field
Cascade effects
One electron emits N
photons to generate high
output power
Typically 20-50 stages make
up a single quantum
cascade laser
Dime coin
10m
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Applications of QCL
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0.5 m intrinsic
region containing
50 layers of
quantum dot layers
30 nm n GaInP
100 nm n GaAs
Si: GaAs
Si: GaAs
Si: GaAs
Si: GaAs
100 nm p GaAs
p+ GaAs substrate
Au contact
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