Thermal analysis of high-bandwidth and energy-efficient 980 nm VCSELs with optimized quantum well gain peak-to-cavity resonance wavelength offset

Abstract

The static and dynamic performance of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) used as light-sources for optical interconnects is highly influenced by temperature. We study the effect of temperature on the performance of high-speed energy-efficient 980 nm VCSELs with a peak wavelength of the quantum well offset to the wavelength of the fundamental longitudinal device cavity mode so that they are aligned at around 60 °C. A simple method to obtain the thermal resistance of the VCSELs as a function of ambient temperature is described, allowing us to extract the active region temperature and the temperature dependence of the dynamic and static parameters. At low bias currents, we can see an increase of the −3 dB modulation bandwidth f−3dB with increasing active region temperature, which is different from the classically known situation. From the detailed analysis of f−3dB versus the active region temperature, we obtain a better understanding of the thermal limitations of VCSELs, giving a basis for next generation device designs with improved temperature stability.