Lateral integration of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser and slow light Bragg reflector waveguide devices

Abstract

We present the modeling and the experiment on the lateral integration of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and slow light Bragg reflector waveguide devices. The modeling shows an efficient direct-lateral coupling from a VCSEL to an integrated slow light waveguide. The calculated result shows a possibility of 13 dB chip gain and an extinction ratio over 5 dB for a compact slow light semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and electroabsorption modulator integrated with a VCSEL, respectively. We demonstrate an SOA-integrated VCSEL, exhibiting the maximum output power over 6 mW. Also, we fabricate a sub-50-μm long electroabsorption modulator laterally integrated with a VCSEL. An extinction ratio of over 15 dB for a voltage swing of 2.0 V is obtained without noticeable change of threshold. In addition, we demonstrate an on-chip electrothermal beam deflector integrated with a VCSEL.