Matrices of 960-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Matrices of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with individual addressing of elements and radiation output through a gallium arsenide substrate are implemented. Individual laser emitters with a current aperture diameter of 6–7 μm exhibit continuous-wave room-temperature lasing at a wavelength of 958–962 nm with threshold currents of 1.1–1.3 mA, differential efficiency of 0.5–0.8 mW/mA, and a maximum output power of 7.5–9 mW. The parameter variation of individual emitters within a matrix chip containing 5 × 7 elements does not exceed ±20%.     

Development of bottom-emitting 1300-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We present experimental results on the development of bottom-emitting GaInNAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) operating at wavelengths near 1300 nm. This development effort is based on the modification of oxide-apertured top-emitting structures to allow emission through the GaAs substrate. Similar device performance was seen in both the top- and bottom-emitting structures. Single-mode output powers (adjusted for substrate absorption) of /spl sim/0.75 mW, with threshold currents of 1.3 mA, were achieved with /spl sim/3.5-/spl mu/m aperture diameters. Larger multimode devices exhibited a maximum adjusted output power of 2.2 mW. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first bottom-emitting flip-chip compatible 1300-nm VCSELs fabricated with GaInNAs-GaAs active regions.     

Polarization properties of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Polarization-state selection, polarization-state dynamics, and polarization switching of a quantum-well vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) for the lowest order transverse spatial mode of the laser is explored using a recently developed model that incorporates material birefringence, the saturable dispersion characteristic of semiconductor physics, and the sensitivity of the transitions in the material to the vector character of the electric field amplitude. Three features contribute to the observed linearly polarized states of emission: linear birefringence, linear gain or loss anisotropies, and an intermediate relaxation rate for imbalances in the populations of the magnetic sublevels. In the absence of either birefringence or saturable dispersion, the gain or loss anisotropies dictate stability for the linearly polarized mode with higher net gain; hence, switching is only possible if the relative strength of the net gain for the two modes is reversed. When birefringence and saturable dispersion are both present, there are possibilities of bistability, monostability, and dynamical instability, including switching by destabilization of the mode with the higher gain to loss ratio in favor of the weaker mode. We compare our analytical and numerical results with recent experimental results on bistability and switchings caused by changes in the injection current and changes in the intensity of an injected optical signal     

InGaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The authors give theoretical and experimental results for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). The modeling is applied to the design of InGaAs VCSELs. A simple method to calculate the reflectivity of semiconductor stack mirrors with graded interfaces and compound metal/semiconductor stack mirrors is introduced. The theoretical predictions are compared to results from actual device measurements. A novel technique is introduced to determine material parameters: fabrication of in-plane lasers from VCSEL material. The procedure used to determine the optical mode in such an in-plane laser is described. Using the insight gained from modeling, the external efficiency was increased to >30% with a threshold current density of 1 kA/cm²     

High-speed modulation of 850-nm intracavity contacted shallowimplant-apertured vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

GaAs-AlGaAs quantum-well (850 nn) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, with lateral current injection and shallow implanted apertures, show small signal modulation bandwidths of at least 11 GHz and large signal data rates of at least 10 Gb/s. The devices achieved a maximum output power of 2.1 mW, with a threshold current and voltage of 1 mA and 1.71 V, respectively. The shallow implantation step provides photolithographically precise aperture formation (using O⁺ ions), for efficient lateral current injection into the quantum-well active region of the laser, from intracavity contacts. The device aperture was 7 μm in diameter, and the opening in the annular top contact was 13 μm in diameter. The optical spectrum showed several transverse modes     

Mid-IR vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We theoretically investigate the feasibility and potential performance of optically and electrically pumped vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting in the mid-IR spectral region. Our model includes spontaneous, stimulated, and nonradiative recombination, numerical dispersion relations and optical matrix elements from a multiband finite-element algorithm, carrier and lattice heating, three-dimensional heat flow, electrical injection, photon propagation, and diffraction. Each modeled structure consists of a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) semiconductor bottom mirror, a λ, 2λ, or 3λ optical cavity incorporating the type-II active region, and a dielectric top mirror through which the output beam is emitted. The optically pumped VCSEL structure with a 10-μm-diameter spot is predicted to operate up to a heat-sink temperature of 250 K and to be capable of producing >2 mW of CW output power. Furthermore, by collimating the pump beam with a microlens array, gain-guided VCSEL arrays with output powers in the watt range should be attainable. Comparable powers and operating temperatures are predicted for patterned devices with electrical injection through annular contacts. By far the most attractive properties are expected for structures employing a type-II interband cascade active region with electron recycling. The simulation predicts single-element threshold currents of 150 μA at 200 K and 1.1 mA at 300 K and CW output powers of 4.7 and 1.2 mW, respectively     

光子晶体垂直腔面发射激光器特性研究

本文介绍了光子晶体垂直腔面发射激光器的制备工艺、工作原理、基本特性和研究进展,重点评述了光子晶体垂直腔面发射激光器的优良特性及应用前景.我们认为光子晶体垂直腔面发射激光器是一种新型的半导体激光器,它具有大出光孔径、较高的出光功率、稳定的单模、多芯传输等特点,而且具有优良的热特性和高速调谐特性,可在二维光信息处理的GaAs基近红外波段激光器、面阵集成等方面具有很大的应用潜力.     

Beam propagation model for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers:threshold properties

A novel beam propagating method model for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers is presented. The Bloch wave concept is used for wave propagation in the Bragg region, and the numerical model includes the structure of Bragg reflectors, carrier, and thermal effects. Based on this model the optical field in the cavity is calculated. The numerical results show that weak index guiding should be introduced to maintain the low threshold current property when the temperature difference between the center and edge is comparable with that of edge-emitting laser diodes, especially in the small contact case. The effects of the mismatch between the lasing wavelength and the gain peak and the reflectivity of the facet are investigated     

Temperature-dependent characteristics and single-mode performanceof AlGaInP-based 670-690-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We report on temperature dependent characteristics and single mode performance of one-wave cavity, planar implanted, AlGaInP-based vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers. By optimizing the overlap between the gain peak and the cavity mode of the structure, we demonstrate record device performance, including 8.2 mW maximum output power and 11% power conversion efficiency for multimode operation and 1.9 mW and 9.6% power conversion efficiency for single mode operation at 687 nm. Improved performance at elevated temperatures is also achieved, with 1.5 mW output power demonstrated at 50°C from a 15-μm-diameter device     

Electrically gain-switched vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The authors report electrical gain-switching of a packaged vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). Pulse durations as short as 24 ps at repetition rates up to 2 GHz were obtained from a four-quantum-well GaAs/AlGaAs VCSEL, which emits 0.8 mW continuous wave power in a single mode at room temperature and has a current threshold of 5 mA. Simultaneous measurement of the optical spectrum showed an almost transform limited linewidth indicating ultralow chirp. Optical pumping with subpicosecond pulses of the same packaged devices, held at a constant electrical bias, yielded 22 ps pulses, in good agreement with the electrical pumping. Simple calculations show that the pulse duration obtained by gain-switching is limited by the design constraints necessary to operate the VCSEL continuous wave at room temperature with low-threshold current, high-quantum efficiency, and reasonable output power     

长波长GaInNAs垂直腔面发射激光器

新出现的直接跃迁GaInNAs与具有高反射率的AlAs／GaAs分布布拉格反射镜相结合构成了GaAs基长波长(1．3—1．6μm)垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSEL)，将成为光纤通信、光互联和光信息处理等的关键元件。本文从材料的选取、外延技术和GaInNAs VCSEL国外和国内的发展状况等方面对长波长GaInNAs VCSEL进行了综合阐述。     

Optical properties of metamorphic hybrid heterostuctures for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers operating in the 1300-nm spectral range

The possibility of fabricating hybrid metamorphic heterostructures for vertical-cavity surfaceemitting lasers working in the 1300-nm spectral range is demonstrated. The metamorphic semiconductor part of the heterostructure with a GaAs/AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflector and an active region based on InAlGaAs/InGaAs quantum wells is grown by molecular-beam epitaxy on a GaAs (100) substrate. The top dielectric mirror with a SiO₂/Ta₂O₅ distributed Bragg reflector is formed by magnetron sputtering. The spectra of the room-temperature microphotoluminescence of these vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser heterostructures are studied under 532-nm excitation in the power range of 0–70 mW (with a focused-beam diameter of ~1 μm). The superlinear dependence of the photoluminescence intensity on the excitation power, narrowing of the photoluminescence peaks, and a change in the modal composition may be indications of lasing. The results obtained give evidence that the technology of the metamorphic growth of heterostructures on GaAs substrates can be used for the fabrication of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers working in the 1300- nm spectral range.     

High-speed modulation of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The IM (intensity modulation) and FM (frequency modulation) characteristics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers are studied. The laser has high FM efficiency and broad IM bandwidth (near 8 GHz) at a very low bias (4.5 mA). Five Gb/s pseudorandom direct intensity modulation of this laser with open eyes is demonstrated.<>     

Optical feedback in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Optical feedback in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser due to a fiber facet of varying position is studied in experiment and theory. Measured spectra and light-current curves show periodic variations in resonant wavelength, threshold current, differential quantum efficiency, and output power as a function of fiber position. Theoretical results were obtained using a 2 × 2 vector propagation matrix method which models the laser and fiber in a single structure and shows good agreement with experimental results. A novel method for determining the linewidth enhancement factor α by analyzing the wavelength variation as a function of fiber position is presented and a value of α = 2.8 was obtained     

Mode-partition noise in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We present a numerical study of the effects of carrier diffusion and spatial hole-burning on the noise characteristics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's) under both single-mode and multimode operations. In the case of single-mode operation, VCSEL noise characteristics are similar to those of edge-emitting lasers except for a diffusion-induced damping of relaxation oscillations. Under multimode operation, VCSEL's exhibit low-frequency noise enhancement due to mode partition. However, depending on the spatial distributions of the transverse modes excited, the mode-partition noise characteristics can be quite different.     

Transverse-mode control of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Transverse-mode control of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) has been investigated. A theoretical model takes into account the distributions of carriers, optical field, and temperature. Using a method of finding self-consistent solutions for the carrier diffusion, optical field, and thermal conduction equations, we have studied the influence of current spreading, injected current density, gain-guided aperture, and window diameter on the transverse modes. The calculated results agree well with those of experiments and show that the transverse-mode evolution of VCSELs depends on the changes of gain and refractive index induced by carriers and heating; decreasing temperature rise and profile width, current spreading, and gain-guided aperture dimension, increasing homogeneity of the injected carriers at the lasing region, and decreasing window diameter are effective methods to suppress high-order transverse modes.     

ESD-induced degradation of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The sensitivity of proton implanted, vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) to electrostatic discharge (ESD) pulses is investigated under human body model test conditions. Rather low degradation threshold pulse amplitudes were observed in forward bias (+1500 V) as well as reverse bias (-800 V) step stress tests. Monitoring both the electrical and optical parameters of the VCSELs during ESD stress, it was found that in forward bias ESD stress tests the optical degradation precedes the electrical degradation     

Nonlinear dynamics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The dependence of the transient response of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) on its aperture size is investigated subject to direct current modulation and external optical feedback. It is shown that lasers with small aperture size suppress higher order bifurcations and chaos even under large-signal modulation and external optical feedback. Furthermore, the noise characteristics of VCSELs under the influence of external optical feedback are studied via the calculation of relative intensity noise. It is found that the level of external optical feedback for the onset of coherence collapse is high for devices with small aperture size. On the other hand, the small-signal response of lasers is also analyzed through the calculation of third-order harmonic distortion. It is shown that harmonic distortion is minimized in small devices. Therefore, VCSELs with small aperture size have better immunity to irregular response under direct current modulation and external optical feedback     

Dynamic behavior of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

A quasi-three-dimensional dynamic model of index-guided vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers is developed. Detailed structure of Bragg reflectors and lateral optical confinement are considered into the model. A three-dimensional waveguide problem is reduced to one dimension by using the effective-index method. The dynamic response of optical field is solved by the time-domain algorithm. In addition, the lateral variation of carrier concentration, refractive index, and spontaneous-emission profile are also determined in a self consistent manner. Using this model, the influence of carrier transport and hot carriers on the dynamic behavior of vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers is studied. It is found that these nonlinearities have significant influence on the relaxation-oscillation frequency and modulation bandwidth of the devices     

Low threshold planarized vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers fabricated utilizing a self-aligned process to provide planarized contacts are discussed. A single 80-Å In_0.2Ga_0.8As strained quantum well was used in the active region. Emission was at 963 nm. Threshold currents under continuous-wave room temperature operation of 1.1 mA, at 4.0-V bias, were measured for numerous 12-μm×12-μm devices. Corresponding threshold current densities were 800 A/cm² (600 A/cm² for broad area devices). These are the lowest figures yet reported for this type of device. It was found that grading of the mirror had a marked effect on mirror resistance