Oblong-shaped VCSELs with pre-defined mode patterns

The polarization bistable characteristics of 980 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a mesa structure were experimentally studied. To achieve this, a distributed Bragg reflector mirror was processed into a rectangular mesa structure waveguide using inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching and was buried with a polyimide layer. The VCSELs oscillated with single frequency and the lowest order transverse mode under CW operation at room temperature. Additionally, the VCSELs with a nearly-square mesa structure oscillated in either of the two orthogonal linear polarization states. Bidirectional polarization switching was demonstrated by two injection lights for the orthogonal linear polarization states. These results, together with the former results of polarization bistablity, which were observed in another type of VCSEL [Kawaguchi et al.: Electron. Lett. 31 (1995) 109], suggest that polarization bistability is a basic characteristic of square-shaped waveguide VCSELs.

New generation of datacom standards require vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) operating at data rates beyond 50 Gbaud in on-off-keying (NRZ) and pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) formats. New applications in Ethernet also demand extended wavelength range of the devices to enable wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) in multimode fiber. We report on 850 nm and 910 nm single mode industrial technology VCSELs capable for error free NRZ data transmission at 60 Gb/s over 800 m and 400 m of OM5 multimode fiber (MMF), respectively. Both types of VCSELs are also suitable for PAM4 transmission up to 60 Gbaud.

It is well known that vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) can abruptly switch between two orthogonal linear polarization states if the current is changed. The impact of externally induced in-plane anisotropic strain on this switching was experimentally demonstrated in proton-implanted devices. In this contribution we present a further and thorough experimental investigation of the polarization behavior of different types of VCSELs (proton-implanted, air-post and oxide-confined), under varying strain conditions. We first measure the influence of the strain on the orientation of the axes of the linear polarization states. These axes can be rotated from the crystallographic direction [110] over [100] to [110]. At the same time, we monitor the exact birefringence. From the combination of these two measurements the amount of residual strain in these devices is deduced. Applying strain not only changes the frequency splitting between the two modes (due to birefringence) and their orientation, but also lifts the degeneracy in the gain of the polarization modes. We therefore also measure the gain difference (dichroism) as a function of the applied strain, via the mode suppression ratio and the optical spectrum. Due to the effect on both the birefringence and the dichroism, strain also changes the position of the polarization switching point as a function of current and can lead to the observation of double (consecutive) polarization switching. All this experimental evidence will help to build up a better understanding of the physics of polarization switching in VCSELs.

The round-trip operator technique is widely used for dispersionless optical resonators beginning from pioneering studies of Fox and Li. The resonator modes are determined as eigenfunctions of the round-trip operator and may be calculated by means of numerical linear algebra. Corresponding complex eigenvalues determine the wavelength shifts relative to reference value and threshold gains. Dispersion elements, for example, Bragg mirrors in a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) cause a dependence of the propagation operator on the wavelength and threshold gain. We can determine the round-trip operator in this case also, but the unknown values of the wavelength and threshold gain enter into the operator in a complicated manner. Trial-and-error method for determination of the wavelength shifts and the threshold gains is possible but it is rather time consuming method. The proposed approximate numerical method for calculation of resonator modes is based on the solution of linear eigenvalue problem for the round-trip operator with reference wavelength and zero attenuation. The wavelength shifts and threshold gains can be calculated by simple formulae using the eigenvalues obtained and the computed effective length of the resonator. Calculations for a cylindrical antiresonant-reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) VCSEL are performed for verification of the model.

Single transverse mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with high output power are important for high-speed data links, optical recording, laser processing, and so on. We demonstrate a single high-order transverse mode VCSEL with narrow trenches formed on its top surface by using a focused ion beam. The formation of four straight cross trenches resulted in the selection of a stable LP/sub 41/ mode oscillation. A large far-field angle of the LP/sub 41/ mode, which causes a low coupling efficiency even with a multimode fiber, was drastically reduced by loading a phase shift layer. A single-lobe far-field pattern with low scattering loss was realized by loading a spatial phase shift of SiO/sub 2/. We evaluated a coupling efficiency with a single-mode fiber including its alignment tolerance. The controlled far-field pattern enables lens-free direct coupling with a single-mode fiber even for large active-area VCSELs.

High-bandwidth single-mode selectively oxidized vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays operate at 980 nm or 850 nm emission wavelength for substrate or epitaxial side emission. Coplanar feeding lines and polyimide passivation are used to reduce electrical parasitics in top-emitting GaAs and bottom-emitting InGaAs VCSELs. To enhance fundamental single-mode emission for larger devices of reduced series resistance a surface relief transverse mode filter is employed. Fabricated VCSELs are applied in various interconnect schemes. InGaAs quantum-well based VCSELs at 935 nm emission wavelength are investigated for use in perfluorinated graded-index plastic-optical fiber (GI-POF) links. We obtain a 7 Gb/s pseudo random bit sequence (PRBS) nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) data transmission over 80 m long 155 /spl mu/m diameter GI-POF. We investigate data transmission over standard 1300 nm, 9 /spl mu/m core diameter single-mode fiber with selectively oxidized single-mode GaAs and InGaAs VCSELs. We achieve biased 3 Gb/s and bias-free 1 Gb/s pseudo-random data transmission over 4.3 km at 830 nm emission wavelength where a simple fiber mode filter is used to suppress intermodal dispersion caused by the second order fiber mode. For the first time, we demonstrate 12.5 Gb/s data rate transmission of PRBS signals over 100 m graded-index multimode fiber or 1 km single-mode fiber using high performance single-mode GaAs VCSELs of 12.3 GHz modulation bandwidth emitting at /spl lambda/=850 nm.

Multimode VCSEL(Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) coupling into MMF (Multimode Optical Fiber) and its influence on MMF link has been numerically studied. Considering the transverse misalignment between VCSEL and MMF, coupling efficiency between VCSEL higher-order modes and modes of MMF is calculated and the Mode Power Distribution in the MMF is obtained. Simulation of MMF link with multimode VCSEL indicates that the higher-order VCSEL modes lead to decreasing of the eye opening of received signal. The transverse misalignment of VCSEL between MMF greatly deteriorates the eye opening. With 300m OM3-MMF link , the EOP (eye-opening-penalty) is greater than 14dB when the misalignment between VCSEL and MMF is lager than 5μm.

The static characteristics of 850 nm-range vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL) based on strained InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells were studied in the wide range of oxide current aperture sizes and the origins of their anomalous behavior at large gain-to-cavity detuning was analyzed. The higher-order modes localized at the periphery of the oxide current aperture can appear in the studied VCSELs due to the lateral carrier spreading in the quantum wells and the specific profile of the oxide aperture (leading to the formation of a two-stage effective waveguide). Inhomogeneous carrier injection over the current aperture area in wide-aperture lasers leads anomalous start of lasing via high-order transverse modes, and the subsequent transition to the classical lasing via low-order modes with an increase in the current is due to a change of the gain-to-cavity detuning with an increase in the internal laser temperature. Anomalous lasing via higher-order modes in the case of narrow-aperture VCSELs becomes possible due to the increase in diffraction losses at the edge of the oxide current aperture for the fundamental mode, while the subsequent switching to the two-mode lasing is due to not only a decrease in the gain-to-cavity detuning, but also the thermal lens effect.

ABSTRACTAn electrically pumped 1.24um GaxIn1-xAsyP1-y Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) has been designed and simulated. Threshold gain of 153cm-1 and threshold current of 1.00mA was obtained. The external efficiency predicted is 0.31. Also the optimized design of VCSEL structure is presented in this article. GaInAsP and AlInAs constitute the Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBRs) multilayer stack. Reflectivity of the top DBRs is 0.97 and reflectivity of the bottom DBRs is 0.9978 and is shown to provide a good resonant cavity and sufficient lasing intensity. Compared with other reported structures, the present VCSEL has a lower threshold current and higher threshold gain.

The threshold gain and the cavity loss are important parameters for the optimum design of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL). Here we try to determine the cavity loss by varying the amount of light fed back to the VCSEL using an external mirror. The tested VCSEL consists of a superlattice active region surrounded by AlAs/Al/sub 0.3/Ga/sub 0.7/As distributed Bragg reflectors. The nonlinear gain effect is introduced in estimating the internal parameters of VCSELs. Since most VCSELs operate at a carrier density much higher than the transparency level, the nonlinear gain effect should be nonnegligible and be considered. Therefore, this method is appropriate even for a large threshold-gain (like the VCSEL) and/or a large amount of the feedback light (more than a few percents).

Scalabilities of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with tunnel-regenerated multi-active-region (TRMAR) structure were investigated. It was found that the output optical power and quantum efficiency of these new LEDs with TRMAR increased with the number of its active regions, but the threshold gain and threshold current density decreased. However, for VCSELs with TRMAR, the differential quantum efficiency and optical power increased with the number of the active region. The results suggest that LEDs and VCSELs with the TRMAR structure have some potential advantages over the conventional LEDs or VCSELs in high internal quantum efficiency, low heat generation, high round-trip gain, and so on. These advantages will make TRMAR LEDs or VCSELs more attractive for the industrial application.

Understanding the mechanism of mode-locking in a laser with high-order transverse mode is important for achieving an ultrashort pulses train under more complicated conditions. So far, mode-locking with high-order transverse mode has not been reported in other lasers except the multimode fiber laser. This paper demonstrates robust mode-locking with high-order transverse mode in a Kerr-lens mode-locked vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. While the longitudinal modes are locked, continuous mode-locking accompanied by high-order transverse mode up to TEM40 is observed. The threshold of the mode-locking is only a little bigger than that of the lasing. After the laser oscillation is built up, the mode-locked pulse train can be obtained almost immediately and maintained until the thermal rollover of the laser. Output powers of 717 mW under fundamental mode and 666 mW under high-order transverse mode are achieved with a 4.3 ps pulse duration and 1.1 GHz pulses repetition rate, and some phenomenological explanations to the related characteristics of the mode-locked operation of high-order transverse mode in the vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser are proposed.

Colloidal quantum‐dot (CQD) vertical‐cavity surface‐emitting lasers (VCSELs) enable a solution‐processable directional‐emitting coherent light source, which is desirable for various applications, including near‐eye display, sensing, and communication. However, it remains challenging to construct a controllable, high‐quality VCSEL cavity without damaging the photoluminescence of CQDs to achieve the desired lasing characteristics. Here, high‐quality CQDs with an engineered CdZnSe/ZnSe/ZnxCd1‐xS core/interlayer/graded shell structure are developed to ensure excellent stability and sub‐single‐exciton gain threshold, facilitating the achievement of high‐performance VCSEL. Subsequently, CQD VCSELs with distributed Bragg reflectors deposited on CQDs in situ by thermal evaporation are demonstrated. The proposed fabrication process not only enables precise control over the cavity structure but also a high cavity quality without compromising the optical properties of CQDs. Consequently, the developed CQD VCSEL exhibits a low lasing threshold of 58 µJ cm−2 and a high lasing quality factor up to 2395, setting a record for VCSELs based on CQDs or colloidal quantum‐wells. It also demonstrates stable operation for 300 h at room temperature, corresponding to 1.08 × 108 stable lasing pulses, placing it among the most stable nanocrystal lasers reported. This work presents an effective strategy for achieving high‐performance CQD‐based VCSEL, which is significant for the future development towards non‐epitaxial laser diodes.

In this article, a record-high single-mode output power from a multi-junction vertical-cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) emitting at 905 nm is achieved. Single spectral mode emission of the VCSEL is realized by using an anti-phase mode filter, placed at the top surface of the device, that acts as a relief layer to suppress the higher order transverse modes. Placement of such anti-phase layer at the surface areas in which the higher order modes are expected to emit, leads to reduction in the effective mirror reflectivity at those areas, increased optical losses, and consequently, increased threshold gain for the higher order modes compared to the fundamental mode. The room-temperature light-current-voltage characteristics of a 6-junction 905 nm VCSEL with an oxide aperture size of ∼8 μm and mode filter size of 5 μm shows a single-mode optical power of 12.55 mW and maximum power conversion efficiency of 56.48%. Moreover, the emission spectrum of this device shows a stable side-mode suppression ration of >30 dB in the single-mode operation regime. The VCSEL remains reliably single-mode at higher temperatures, generating a maximum optical output power of 9.48 mW at 60 °C. Such remarkable single-mode performance can be mainly attributed to the multi-junction epitaxial structure of the device, in which the output optical power is expected to proportionally increase according to the number of bipolar cascade active regions.

We explored in detail the dynamics of multitransverse-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), which are important for optical interconnection applications. We found that the small-signal modulation response exhibits a rich structure including multiresonance peaks as well as response notches. The detailed theoretical and experimental study enabled us to attribute the various features to the coupling level between the participating modes. The generality of the predictions was tested and approved for several types of multitransverse-mode VCSELs and even for a coherent VCSEL array.