1.5-mW single-mode operation of wafer-fused 1550-nm VCSELs

We demonstrate 1.5-/spl mu/m waveband wafer-fused InGaAlAs-InP-AlGaAs-GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting high single-mode power of 1.5 mW at room temperature with sidemode suppression ratio of over 30 dB and a full-width at half-maximum far field angle of 9/spl deg/. These devices have thermal resistance value below 1.5 K/mW and are emitting 0.2 mW at 70/spl deg/C. VCSELs with a wavelength span of 40-nm emission are produced from the same active cavity material, which shows the potential of realizing multiple-wavelength VCSEL arrays.     

650-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers: laser properties and reliability investigations

650-nm AlGaInP-AlGaAs-based oxide-confined VCSELs are investigated in dependence on the current aperture size. VCSELs with small aperture (a=5 /spl mu/m) have a maximum continuous-wave (CW) output power of about 1 mW at room temperature. They reach higher operating temperatures (T/sub max/=55/spl deg/C), have narrower beam profiles, less transverse modes, and a higher side mode suppression compared to large aperture VCSELs (a>13 /spl mu/m). The latter devices emit a CW-output power P=3 mW at 20/spl deg/C. Reliability tests of 655-nm devices show at 20/spl deg/C an output power of P/spl ap/0.4 mW over more than 1000 h and at 40/spl deg/C P/spl ap/0.1 mW over 500 h.     

Fabrication and Characteristics of high-speed oxide-confined VCSELs using InGaAsP-InGaP strain-compensated MQWs

This paper presents the fabrication and characteristics of high-performance 850-nm InGaAsP-InGaP strain-compensated multiple-quantum-well (MQW) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The InGaAsP-InGaP MQW's composition was optimized through theoretical calculations, and the growth condition was optimized using photoluminescence. These VCSELs exhibit superior performance with characteristics threshold currents /spl sim/0.4 mA and slope efficiencies /spl sim/0.6 mW/mA. The threshold current change with temperature is less than 0.2 mA, and the slope efficiency drops less than /spl sim/30% when the substrate temperature is raised from room temperature to 85/spl deg/C. A high modulation bandwidth of 14.5 GHz and a modulation current efficiency factor of 11.6 GHz/(mA)/sup 1/2/ are demonstrated. The authors have accumulated life test data up to 1000 h at 70/spl deg/C/8 mA.     

High-performance 1.3 /spl mu/m InGaAs vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

A report is presented on high-performance InGaAs/GaAs double quantum well vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) with record long emission wavelengths up to 1300 nm. Due to a large gain-cavity detuning these VCSELs show excellent temperature performance with very stable threshold current and output power characteristics. For 1.27 /spl mu/m singlemode devices the threshold current is found to decrease from 2 to 1 mA between 10 and 90/spl deg/C, while the peak output power only drops from 1 to 0.6 mW. Large-area 1300 nm VCSELs show multimode output power close to 3 mW.     

High-speed modulation of 850 nm InGaAsP/InGaP strain-compensated VCSELs

High performance 850 nm InGaAsP/InGaP strain-compensated vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are demonstrated with superior output characteristics and modulation bandwidths up to 12.5 Gbit/s from 25 to 85/spl deg/C.     

Low threshold current 1.3-/spl mu/m GaInNAs VCSELs grown by MOVPE

The structure of the conventional contact 1.3-/spl mu/m GaInNAs-GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) was optimized and low threshold current 1.3-/spl mu/m GaInNAs VCSELs grown by metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy were reported. The idea is to optimize the active region, the doping profiles, and the pairs of p-distributed Bragg reflectors, and the detuning between the emission wavelength and the photoluminescence gain peak wavelength. The continuous-wave 1.0-mA threshold current was achieved for the single-mode VCSEL. For the multiple-mode VCSELs, the below 2-mA threshold currents at 5/spl deg/C-85/spl deg/C , the 1.13-mA threshold current at 55/spl deg/C, and 1.52-mA threshold current at 85/spl deg/C are the best results for 1.3-/spl mu/m GaInNAs VCSELs.     

Continuous-wave operation of single-transverse-mode 1310-nm VCSELsup to 115°C

Long-wavelength vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) have thus far not provided substantial continuous-wave (CW) output power above 70°C. We describe recent advances using a vertically integrated 850 nm optical pump with a 1310-nm VCSEL. Using this approach, the devices described demonstrate record high temperature performance. We show single-transverse mode CW operation from -40 to +115°C, 0.5 mw optical power up to +85°C, and excellent device uniformity     

MOVPE-grown GaInNAs VCSELs at 1.3 /spl mu/m with conventional mirror design approach

1.3 /spl mu/m oxide confined GaInNAs VCSELs designed using the same design philosophy used for standard 850 nm VCSELs is presented. The VCSELs have doped mirrors, with graded and highly doped interfaces, and are fabricated using production-friendly procedures. Multimode VCSELs (11 /spl mu/m oxide aperture) with an emission wavelength of 1287 nm have a threshold current of 3 mA and produce 1 mW of output power at 20/spl deg/C. The maximum operating temperature is 95/spl deg/C. Emission at 1303 nm with 1 mW of output power and a threshold current of 7 mA has been observed from VCSELs with a larger detuning between the gain peak and the cavity resonance.     

90/spl deg/C continuous-wave operation of 1.83-/spl mu/m vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Excellent lasing performance is demonstrated for a 1.83-/spl mu/m InGaAlAs-InP vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) utilizing the buried tunnel junction technology. Threshold currents as low as 190 /spl mu/A at 20/spl deg/C and operating temperatures as high as 90/spl deg/C have been measured. These values are the best ones reported so far for long-wavelength VCSELs.     

As/sup +/-implanted AlGaAs oxide-confined VCSEL with enhanced oxidation rate and high performance uniformity

We report the utilization of an As/sup +/-implanted AlGaAs region and regrowth method to enhance and control the wet thermal oxidation rate for 850-nm oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The oxidation rate of the As/sup +/-implanted device showed a four-fold increase over the nonimplanted one at the As/sup +/ dosage of 1/spl times/10/sup 16/ cm/sup -3/ and the oxidation temperature of 400/spl deg/C. 50 side-by-side As/sup +/-implanted oxide-confined VCSELs fabricated using the method achieved very uniform performance with a deviation in threshold current of /spl Delta/I/sub th//spl sim/0.2 mA and slope-efficiency of /spl Delta/S.E./spl sim/3%.     

High performance 1.55 /spl mu/m vertical external cavity surface emitting laser with broadband integrated dielectric-metal mirror

1.55 /spl mu/m room-temperature continuous-wave operation of a high performance optically pumped vertical external cavity surface emitting laser is reported. The structure includes an active region with strain compensated quantum wells, and a broadband SiN/sub x//Si/Au Bragg reflector transferred on an Si substrate by Au/In dry bonding. Output power of up to 45 mW is achieved at 0/spl deg/C, and continuous-wave operation is observed up to 45/spl deg/C.     

High-speed Modulation of InGaAs: Sb-GaAs-GaAsP quantum-well vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with 1.27-/spl mu/m emission wavelength

1.27-/spl mu/m InGaAs: Sb-GaAs-GaAsP vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition and exhibited excellent performance and temperature stability. The threshold current changes from 1.8 to 1.1 mA and the slope efficiency falls less than /spl sim/35% as the temperature raised from room temperature to 70/spl deg/C. With a bias current of only 5 mA, the 3-dB modulation frequency response was measured to be 8.36 GHz, which is appropriate for 10-Gb/s operation. The maximal bandwidth is measured to be 10.7 GHz with modulation current efficiency factor (MCEF) of /spl sim/5.25 GHz/(mA)/sup 1/2/. These VCSELs also demonstrate high-speed modulation up to 10 Gb/s from 25/spl deg/C to 70/spl deg/C.     

Single-frequency 1310-nm AlGaInAs-InP grating-outcoupled surface-emitting lasers

Single-frequency 1310-nm grating-outcoupled surface-emitting (GSE) semiconductor lasers with output slope efficiencies exceeding 0.1 mW/mA into multimode fibers, threshold currents below 22 mA, and >30-dB sidemode suppression ratios are reported. These GSE lasers consist of 500-/spl mu/m-long active ridges that excite one end of surface-emitting second-order outcoupling gratings with 200-/spl mu/m-long first-order distributed Bragg reflector gratings terminating the laser cavities at both ends. The grating outcouplers range from 10 to 50 /spl mu/m in length. These lasers have an open eye pattern for nonreturn-to-zero signals at 2.5 Gb/s into single-mode fibers. The full-width half-maximum far-field beam divergences range from 1.5/spl deg/ /spl times/ 8/spl deg/ to 5/spl deg/ /spl times/ 8/spl deg/.     

Quantum dot superluminescent diodes emitting at 1.3 /spl mu/m

We report ridge-waveguide superluminescent diodes based on five stacks of self-assembled InAs-GaAs quantum dots. Devices with output powers up to 10 mW emitting around 1.3 /spl mu/m are demonstrated. Spectral analysis shows a broad emission peak (26-nm full-width at half-maximum) from the dot ground state at low injection, and an additional peak from the excited state at higher bias. Temperature characteristics in the range 10/spl deg/C-80/spl deg/C are also reported. The experimental curves are in good agreement with simulations performed using a traveling-wave rate equation model.     

Near room-temperature continuous-wave operation of all-monolithic InAlGaAs/InP 1.3 /spl mu/m VCSELs

InAlGaAs/InP-based all-monolithic 1.3 /spl mu/m VCSELs operating continuous wave up to 18/spl deg/C are demonstrated. The whole structure is grown by a single step of MOCVD. Selective wet etching of an InP layer is used to form an air-gap aperture for the current confinement. The threshold current of an 8 /spl mu/m device at 15/spl deg/C is /spl sim/2.8 mA.     

High-precision high-yield laser source using DFB array

We present high-yield efficient distributed-feedback lasers with excellent wavelength control. An array of 12 lasers with highly reflecting/antireflecting facets is fabricated on a single chip with precisely controlled variations in the grating period or phase relative to the facets. The stripe that best meets requirements is selected for bonding. From 200 unscreened chips, 93% contained lasers that achieved the specified power of 25 mW at 175 mA, 55/spl deg/C, and 41% achieved a /spl plusmn/0.1-nm wavelength tolerance at 25 mW, 55/spl deg/C. This low-cost high-precision device requires little thermal tuning for wavelength-division-multiplexed applications and reduces the power consumption of the transmitter.     

Performance analysis of 10-/spl mu/m-thick VCSEL array in fully embedded board level guided-wave optoelectronic interconnects

We introduce a simple and effective heat sink structure for thin-film vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) in fully embedded board level guided-wave interconnects. A 50% quantum efficiency increase is experimentally confirmed for the 10-/spl mu/m thin-film VCSELs. The thermal resistance of a 1 /spl times/ 12 embedded thin-film VCSEL array in printed circuit board (PCB) is further analyzed. The experimental results show an excellent match with the simulated results. The 10-/spl mu/m-thick VCSEL had the lowest thermal resistance and the highest differential efficiency compared to 250-, 200-, 150-, and 100-/spl mu/m-thick VCSELs. A substrate removed VCSEL can be used in fully embedded board level optical interconnects without special cooling techniques.     

Electrically pumped room temperature CW VCSELs with 2.3 /spl mu/m emission wavelength

Continuous wave (CW) operation at room temperature of electrically pumped InGaAlAs/InP vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) at emission wavelengths as high as 2.3 /spl mu/m is demonstrated for the first time. Devices with 15 /spl mu/m active region diameter show a maximum output power of 0.75 mW at 20/spl deg/C and a maximum CW operating temperature of 45/spl deg/C.     

High-power single-mode antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide-type vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) techniques are employed in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) to achieve high-power single-mode emission. Using the effective-index method and fiber mode approximation, the cold-cavity lateral modal behavior for the circular shaped ARROW VCSEL demonstrates significant reduction of radiation loss from that of a single antiguide, while maintaining strong discrimination against high-order modes. The circular-waveguide is created by selective chemical etching and two-step metal-organic chemical vapor deposition growth, with proton implantation used to confine the current injection to the low-index core region. A single-mode CW power of 7.1 mW has been achieved from an 8 /spl mu/m diameter ARROW device (index step /spl Delta/n = 0.05, emission at /spl lambda//sub 0/ = 980 nm) with a far-field FWHM of 10/spl deg/. Larger aperture (12 /spl mu/m) devices exhibit multimode operation at lower drive currents with a maximum single-mode continuous-wave output power of 4.3 mW.     

Room-temperature optically-pumped GaSb quantum well based VCSEL monolithically grown on Si (100) substrate

Monolithic vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) on Si are demonstrated. The GaSb multi-quantum well active region embedded in an Al(Ga)Sb half-wave cavity spacer layer enables lasing under room-temperature optically-pumped conditions. The 13% lattice mismatch is accommodated by a spontaneously formed 2-D array of 90/spl deg/ misfit dislocations at the AlSb/Si interface. This growth mode produces very low defect density (/spl sim/8/spl times/10/sup 5//cm/sup 2/) and relaxed materials growth (98%) without the use of a buffer layer. Presented are VCSEL lasing spectra, light-in against light-out curves along with defect density measurements performed by microscopy and etch-pit density. A threshold excitation density of I/sub th/=0.1 mJ/cm/sup 2/ and a multimode lasing spectrum peaked at 1.62 /spl mu/m, results from a 3 mm pump-spot size.