Micromechanical tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Abstract

We report the study on a short wavelength-tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser utilizing a monolithically integrated bridge tuning microelectromechanical system. A deformable-bridge top mirror suspended above an active region is utilized. Applied bridge-substrate bias produces an electrostatic force which reduces the spacing of air-gap and tunes the resonant wavelength toward a shorter wavelength (blue-shift). Good laser characteristics are obtained: such as continuous tuning ranges over 11 nm near 940 nm for 0–9 V tuning bias, the peak output power near 1 mW and the full-width-half-maximum limited to approximately 3.2–6.8 nm. A detailed simulation of the micromechanical and optical characteristics of these devices is performed, and the ratio of bridge displacement to wavelength shift has been found to be 3:1.