Novel bistable VCSEL for efficient and compact optical pickup applications

Abstract

Summary form only given. We use a novel bistable vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with an intracavity quantum-well absorber to create a compact, integrated optical pickup head. By careful design of the relative wavelengths of the quantum-well absorption edge and the Fabry Perot peak, we achieve significant negative differential resistance (NDR) in the absorber, which under proper bias conditions leads to a large signal amplification of the integrated monitor.