GROUP NO-6

OPTICAL ISOLATOR

Kshitija Raut - 4237

Rasika Shaha - 4240
Saniya Shaikh - 4241
Shreya Vij - 4257
 WHAT IS OPTICAL ISOLATOR ?

 Is a device which allows propagation of light in one direction and

blocks the propagation in another direction Called as Passive Non-
Reciprocal device.

 Allows light to propagate in forward direction only blocks the

propagation of reflected light.

 Isolators are used in systems before optical amplifiers and laser

mainly to prevent reflections from entering these devices
otherwise performance will degrade
 E.g.-Consider an Optical System in which laser is used as light
source.

 Important Parameters of the Isolator are its Insertion loss (loss in

optical cable In Forward Direction) and Isolation loss (in Reverse
Direction).

 Insertion loss should be low as possible ,typical value- 1db

Isolation loss should be as large as possible , typical value-40 to 50db
 TYPES OF OPTICAL ISOLATOR:
1) Resistive Opto-isolators
 Earliest Opto-isolators (1960s)
 Source of light: -Incandescent light bulbs (initially)
-Neon lamp- When control intensity was not important or available current was too
low to drive incandescent bulbs (e.g. vacuum tube amplifier)
-LEDs
 In case of incandescent bulbs,
Response Time: Range of hundreds of milliseconds
Modulation Frequency: Limited to few hertz
 In case of LED,
Response Time: 5ms
Modulation Frequency: Up to 250 Hz
2) Photodiode Opto-isolators

 Source of light :-LEDS

 Sensors : Silicon photodiodes
 When the photodiode is reverse-biased with an external voltage source, incoming light increases the
reverse current flowing through the diode. The diode itself does not generate energy; it modulates
the flow of energy from an external source. This mode of operation is called photoconductive mode.
Alternatively, in the absence of external bias the diode converts the energy of light into electric
energy by charging its terminals to a voltage of up to 0.7 V. The rate of charge is proportional to the
intensity of incoming light. The energy is harvested by draining the charge through an external high-
impedance path; the ratio of current transfer can reach 0.2%. This mode of operation is
called photovoltaic mode.
 The fastest opto-isolators employ PIN diodes in photoconductive mode. The response times of PIN
diodes lie in the sub nanosecond range; overall system speed is limited by delays in LED output and
in biasing circuitry.
 Photodiode opto-isolators can be used for interfacing analog signals, although their non-
linearity invariably distorts the signal.
3) Phototransistor Opto-isolators

 Phototransistors are inherently slower than photodiodes.

 Phototransistors must be properly biased and loaded to achieve their maximum speeds, for
example, the 4N28 operates at up to 50 kHz with optimum bias and less than 4 kHz without
it.
 Design with transistor opto-isolators requires generous allowances for wide fluctuations of
parameters found in commercially available devices. Such fluctuations may be destructive,
for example, when an opto-isolator in the feedback loop of a DC-to-DC converter changes
its transfer function and causes spurious oscillations, or when unexpected delays in opto-
isolators cause a short circuit through one side of an H-bridge.
 Opto-isolators using field-effect transistors (FETs) as sensors are rare and, like vactrols, can
be used as remote-controlled analog potentiometers provided that the voltage across the
FET's output terminal does not exceed a few hundred mV. Opto-FETs turn on without
injecting switching charge in the output circuit, which is particularly useful in sample and
hold circuits.
4) Bidirectional Opto-isolators

 All opto-isolators described so far are unidirectional. Optical channel always works
one way, from the source (LED) to the sensor. The sensors, be it photoresistors,
photodiodes or phototransistors, cannot emit light.
 But LEDs, like all semiconductor diodes, are capable of detecting incoming light,
which makes possible construction of a two-way opto-isolator from a pair of LEDs.
 The simplest bidirectional opto-isolator is merely a pair of LEDs placed face to face
and held together with heat-shrink tubing. If necessary, the gap between two LEDs can
be extended with a glass fiber insert.
 Visible spectrum LEDs have relatively poor transfer efficiency, thus near infrared
spectrum GaAs, GaAs:Si and AlGaAs:Si LEDs are the preferred choice for
bidirectional devices. Bidirectional opto-isolators built around pairs of GaAs:Si LEDs
have current transfer ratio of around 0.06% in
either photovoltaic or photoconductive mode — less than photodiode-based
isolators, but sufficiently practical for real-world applications.
Device type Source of light Sensor Type Speed Current
transfer ratio
Resistive opto-isolator Incandescent light CdS or CdSe photoresistor Very low <100%
(Vactrol) bulb (LDRs)
Neon Lamp Low
GaAs infrared Low
LED
Diode opto-isolator GaAs infrared Silicon photodiode Highest 0.1–0.2%
LED
Transistor opto-isolator GaAs infrared Bipolar silicon phototransistor Medium 2–120%
LED
Darlington phototransistor Medium 100–600%

Opto-isolated SCR GaAs infrared Silicon controlled rectifier Low to medium >100%
LED
Opto-isolated triac GaAs infrared TRIAC Low to medium Very High
LED

Solid-state relay Stack of GaAs Stack of photodiodes driving Low to High Practically
infrared LED a pair of MOSFETs or an IGBT unlimited
 Operation of polarization-independent Isolator
 Optical isolators are devices that allow
light to pass through them in only one
direction
 The figure shows a design of polarization-
independent isolator
 It consists of three components
• Left birefringent wedge
• Faraday rotator
• Right birefringent wedge
 The core of the device consists of 45
degree Faraday rotator that is placed
between two wedge-shaped birefringent
plates made up of TiO2
 Light travelling in forward direction is
separated into ordinary and extraordinary
rays by first birefringent plate.
 The Faraday rotator then rotates
the polarization plane of each ray
by 45 degree.

 After exiting the Faraday rotator,

the two ray pass through the
second birefringent plate.

 When they exit the polarizer, they

both are refracted in an identical
parallel direction and converged
at the right bi-refringent wedge

 While in reverse direction, due to

nonreciprocity of Faraday
rotation, the rays diverge and are
not coupled to the fiber anymore.
 Operation of polarization-dependent Isolator

 The polarization dependent isolator, or Faraday isolator, is made of three

parts, an input polarizer (polarized vertically), a Faraday rotator, and an
output polarizer, called an analyser (polarized at 45°).
 Light traveling in the forward direction becomes polarized vertically by
the input polarizer. The Faraday rotator will rotate the polarization by 45°.
The analyser then enables the light to be transmitted through the isolator.
 Light traveling in the backward direction becomes polarized at 45° by the
analyser. The Faraday rotator will again rotate the polarization by 45°.
This means the light is polarized horizontally (the rotation is sensitive to
direction of propagation). Since the polarizer is vertically aligned, the
light will be extinguished.
 Polarization dependent isolators are typically used in free space optical
systems. This is because the polarization of the source is typically
maintained by the system. In optical fibre systems, the polarization
direction is typically dispersed in non polarization maintaining systems.
Hence the angle of polarization will lead to a loss.
Difference between polarization dependent and independent isolator

 Both of them consist of three parts and have a same principle based on Faraday effect.
However, to overcome the limitation of polarization dependent isolator, polarization
independent isolator has been developed.

 Regardless of the polarization state of the input beam, the beam will propagate through
the isolator to the output fiber and the reflected beam will be isolated from the optical
source.
 Advantages of Optical Isolator:
• Control circuits are well protected due to electrical isolation.

• Wideband signal transmission is possible.

• Due to unidirectional signal transfer, noise from the output side does not get coupled
to the input side.

• Interfacing with logic circuits is easily possible.

• It is small size & light weight device.

•It offers very good response at lower frequencies.

•Compact and cheaper optical isolator devices are available.

 Disadvantages of Optical Isolator

• Possibility of signal coupling for high power signals.

• Higher frequency response is poor.

 Applications:
Optical Isolator are used basically to isolate low power circuits from high power circuits.

• At the same time the control signals are coupled from the control circuits to the high power circuits.

• Some of such applications are:

(i) AC to DC converters used for DC motor speed control
(ii) High power choppers
(iii) High power inverters

• One of the most important applications of an Optical Isolator is to couple the base driving signals to a power
transistor connected in a DC-DC chopper.
THANK YOU !!