Abstract
For the first time a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with a single-mode wavelength-tuning over 102 nm in the range of 1550 nm is demonstrated. The fiber-coupled optical output power has a maximum of 3.5 mW and is > 2 mW over the entire tuning range. The sidemode suppression ratios are > 45 dB. The wavelength tuning is achieved with the micro-electro mechanical actuation of a mirror membrane fabricated with surface micro-machining for on-wafer mass production. The mirror membrane consists of low cost dielectric materials (SiOx/SiNy) deposited with low temperature (< 100°C) Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD).
Highlights
Tunable semiconductor lasers operating in the wavelength region around 1550 nm are an attractive tool for many applications, such as fiber Bragg-grating sensors [1], gas spectroscopy [2,3,4], or telecommunications [5]
The state of the art tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) especially at 1550 nm show tuning ranges limited to 22 nm [6], low output powers or need an external optical pump [7, 8]
We present a high performance electrically pumped single-mode Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) tunable VCSEL with a record tuning range of 102 nm, realized without wafer-bonding or -gluing [9,10], enabling a cost-effective mass production
Summary
Tunable semiconductor lasers operating in the wavelength region around 1550 nm are an attractive tool for many applications, such as fiber Bragg-grating sensors [1], gas spectroscopy [2,3,4], or telecommunications [5]. Plane-concave resonator geometries with a concave shaped top mirror exhibit a higher robustness, leading to a constant high sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR) and a nearly constant optical output power over the whole tuning range [17] These top mirrors are usually fabricated in a separate process [9, 10] and afterwards combined with the ”HalfVCSEL” consisting of the active semiconductor and the bottom mirror. Surface micromachined mirror membranes are fabricated directly on top of the Half-VCSEL and enable a cost-effective and reproducible mass production This technology has been successfully demonstrated for VCSELs operating at 850 nm and 1550 nm wavelength. In this letter we present the tuning characteristics of a surface micromachined VCSEL with wide continuous single-mode wavelength tuning
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