Vertical-cavity Surface-emitting Laser Cavity Research Articles

VCSEL Cavity Loss and Gain Measurement for High-Speed Optical Interconnects

Over 100 Gb/s Four-level Pulse-Amplitude Modulation (PAM4) Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) based optical interconnects require high speed, damped, and low relative intensity noise (RIN) VCSELs. Measurement techniques for intrinsic parameters are essential for optimizing VCSEL designs. The proposed VCSEL cavity round-trip loss and gain coefficient measurement provides the insight of VCSEL distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) and quantum well (QW) design. A simple VCSEL cavity model is described and excellent matching between the model and measurement is achieved.

Study on Supermode Control of External Cavity VCSEL Array with Parallel-Coupled Model

A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is easily made into a two-dimensional array to improve its output power. However, if the near-field complex amplitude output cannot be stabilized in the lowest supermode generated by the fundamental transverse mode, the spot cannot converge on the center normal of the far-field array geometry, and the energy will be diverged. The external cavity is prepared for the VCSEL array, and the output of the array can be stabilized in the lowest order supermode generated by the fundamental transverse mode by supermode control through diffraction coupling. In this study, the parallel-coupled model for the 2-dimensional VCSEL array based on Fresnel diffraction integration was established and used to numerically calculate and analyze the influence on the supermodes’ thresholds of different array distributions, array elements’ transverse modes and duty ratios versus the length of the external cavity. The simulation results show that the square array provides a wider range of external cavity control length (0.2d2/λ and approximately 0.9 to 1.0d2/λ). The lowest supermode of the fundamental transverse mode can be outputted. For the regular hexagonal array with the length of the external cavity of 0.15d2/λ and 0.6d2/λ. The results have important reference significance for the design of an external cavity VCSEL array, which can control the supermode and obtain VCSEL coherent array beams with high power and near diffraction limits.

High Speed VCSEL Technology and Applications

Historically optical links up to 100–300m distances are served by light emitting devices in the 850 nm spectral range in combination with multimode glass fibers (MMF). As the silicon scaling continues, a single channel data rate is to double each 24 months. Light-emitting diodes had to be replaced by vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and the data rate increased from 100 Mb/s to 10 Gb/s. At higher data rates problems with further scaling evolved. To avoid the collapse an anti-waveguiding VCSEL cavity design was invented, applied, and presently serves data links operating up to 50–100 Gb/s per channel. Another requirement in data communication is the bandwidth density scaling, with the number of channels per link increasing approximately 5-fold each 10 years, while keeping a similar space for connectors. A coarse short-wavelength division multiplexing allowing 850 nm, 880 nm, 910 nm, and 940 nm wavelengths in a single MMF is introduced. The bandwidth density increase is also possible by using multicore fiber (MCF) coupled to on-chip VCSEL arrays. The data rates up to 224 Gb/s are already reached by 850nm VCSELs. At such data rates significant transmission distance over MMF is only possible by applying ultra-narrow spectrum VCSELs minimizing the chromatic dispersion effects. On-chip mini-arrays of oxide-confined VCSELs allow a high coupling efficiency to MMFs, a narrow spectrum, a high power, a significant transmission distance at high data rates. Coherent lasing in such arrays allow photon-photon resonance engineering aimed at modulation bandwidths ∼50–100 GHz.

VCSEL with multi-transverse cavities with bandwidth beyond 100 GHz

Abstract To fulfill the demands of high-speed photonic applications, researchers, and engineers have been working to improve the modulation bandwidth (MBW) of semiconductor lasers. We extend our prior work on modeling a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with multiple transverse-coupled-cavities (MTCCs) to evaluate the feasibility of boosting MBW beyond 100 GHz in this study. Because of the strong coupling of slow-light feedback from nearby lateral transverse coupled cavities (TCCs) into the VCSEL cavity, the laser has a high modulation performance. The intensity modulation response of the VCSEL design using one, two, four, and six TCCs is compared. Due to the optical-feedback (OFB) from short TCCs, which achieves 3 dB MBW reaching 170 GHz, photon–photon-resonance (PPR) is projected to occur at ultra-high frequencies beyond 145 GHz. In terms of the Fourier spectrum of the relative intensity noise (RIN), we characterize the noise features of the MTCC-VCSEL in the ultra-high bandwidth domain.

Coupled mode analysis of high-speed transverse coupled cavity vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser for low frequency chirp operations

Coupled mode analysis of high-speed transverse coupled cavity vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser for low frequency chirp operations

Study of surface roughness of lifted-off epitaxial lateral overgrown GaN layers for the n-DBR mirror of a III-nitride vertical-cavity surface emitting laser

In this work, we propose using the low defect density wing region arising from epitaxial lateral overgrowth (ELO) for the development of Group III-nitride flip-chip vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs). The ELO wing is intended to be incorporated within the VCSEL cavity, supporting the n-side distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirror, and must therefore be very smooth. We measure the surface morphology of the interface surface of the ELO material after separation from the growth substrate, finding that the interface roughness changes with the composition and thickness of the ELO mask. Sub-nanometer surface roughness suitable for the placement of the DBR mirror is achieved using mask layers terminating in Si3N4, or via 300 nm thick sputtered SiO2.

Low Threshold 1550-nm Emitting QD Optically Pumped VCSEL

We present the first demonstration of a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) based on InAs quantum dots (QDs) on InP. A very high density of 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">11</sup> cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">-2</sup> per QD layer, and a thin spacing layer of 15 nm are used to enhance the QD modal gain within the VCSEL cavity. Continuous wave (CW) operation is demonstrated at room temperature on optically pumped devices emitting at telecommunication wavelength (1550 nm), being the ground state transition of QDs. A very low threshold of 1.4 mW is obtained, corresponding to a value 6 times smaller than the best threshold we obtained on similar VCSEL structures integrating 1550 nm strained quantum wells. Wavelength tuning experiments have been also conducted due to a wedge cavity design. Laser emission in CW operation has been achieved on a large spectral window: from 1530 nm up to 1573 nm. A stable output polarization state with a polarization ratio exceeding 20 dB is also measured.

Laser Characteristics for VCSELs for 77 K and 4 K Optical Data Applications

Small-sized vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) offer the possibility of very low power consumption along with high reliability for cryogenic data transfer. Cryogenic data transfer has applications in focal plane array cameras operating at 77 K, and at the lower temperature of 4 K for data extraction from superconducting circuits. A theoretical analysis is presented for 77 K and 4 K operation based on small cavity, oxide-free VCSEL sizes of 2 to $6~\mu \text{m}$ , that have been shown to operate efficiently at room temperature. Temperature dependent operation for optimally-designed VCSELs are studied by calculating the response of the laser at 77 K and 4 K to estimate their bias conditions needed to reach modulation speed for cryogenic optical links. The temperature influence is to decrease threshold for reducing temperature, and to increase differential gain for reducing temperature. The two effects predict very low bias currents for small cavity VCSELs to reach needed data speed for cryogenic optical data links. Changing the number of top-mirror pairs has also been studied to determine how cavity design impacts speed and bit energy. Our design and performance predictions paves the way for realizing highly efficient, ultra-small VCSEL arrays with applications in optical interconnects.

Nonlinear Distortion Reduction Effect of Graded-Index Plastic Optical Fiber

We experimentally demonstrate that a graded-index plastic optical fiber (GI POF) can significantly reduce transmitted signal distortion caused by the nonlinear response of a multimode fiber (MMF) link based on a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The low distortion of the signal transmission is attributed to the strong mode coupling in the GI POF, which suppresses the increment in signal distortion due to the external optical feedback, by reducing the self-coupling of problematic back-reflected light into the VCSEL cavity. The strong mode coupling is closely associated with polymer-specific microscopic heterogeneous structures in the fiber core materials, suggesting that the signal distortion can be further reduced by controlling the microscopic properties. The nonlinear distortion reduction effect of our developed GI POF will be invaluable for next-generation MMF links based on multilevel modulation in the ultrahigh-definition era.

Polarization-pinned emission of a continuous-wave optically pumped nonpolar GaN-based VCSEL using nanoporous distributed Bragg reflectors.

A nonpolar GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) using nanoporous bottom epitaxial distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) is demonstrated at room temperature (RT) under continuous-wave (CW) optical pumping. The porous layers enable the epitaxial growth of lattice-matched high-reflectance DBRs without sacrificing the conductive properties needed for high-performance VCSELs. The 2-λ cavity VCSEL reported here employs a hybrid design with top dielectric DBR and bottom nanoporous DBR. Single longitudinal mode lasing is observed at 462 nm with a threshold power density of ~5 kW/cm2 and a FWHM of ~0.12 nm. The emission polarization was pinned in the a-direction at all measured locations.

Electrically injected VCSEL with a composite DBR and MHCG reflector.

We achieve the continuous-wave (CW) lasing of electrically-injected, first-of-their-kind vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that use a subwavelength monolithic high-refractive-index-contrast grating (MHCG) mirror. The MHCG, unlike the well-known high-refractive-index-contrast grating (HCG) is neither a membrane suspended in the air nor a structure that requires a cladding layer. The MHCG is patterned in a semiconductor material atop the VCSEL cavity creating an all-semiconductor laser. Static measurements show CW operation of the VCSELs from room temperature up to 75 °C. The VCSEL with a 13.5 μm current oxide aperture diameter operates with quasi-single mode emission from threshold to rollover. Our results open a way to produce all-semiconductor surface emitting lasers emitting at wavelengths from the ultraviolet and the visible (GaN-based) to the infrared (InP- and GaSb-based) with a reduced vertical thickness and thus we believe the manufacturing costs potentially will be reduced by approximately up to about 90% in comparison to the typical DBR VCSELs. Our VCSELs have immediate and emerging applications in optical communication, illumination, sensing, and as light sources in photonic integrated circuits.

Intrinsically Stabilized Plastic Optical Fiber Link Subject to External Optical Feedback

We develop a graded-index plastic optical fiber (GI POF) that can significantly stabilize a multimode fiber (MMF) link with a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subject to external optical feedback. It is demonstrated that the dominant mechanism for this stabilization effect is the strong mode coupling of the GI POF, which is closely related to the polymer-specific microscopic heterogeneities in the GI POF core material. Such mode coupling decreases correlation between the problematic reflected light field and VCSEL cavity field, increasing tolerance of the MMF link for external optical feedback. Our developed GI POF with specific microscopic heterogeneities prevents the external-optical-feedback-induced critical destabilization observed for silica GI MMFs. These results suggest that the stabilization effect can be controlled by microscopic properties regardless of the fiber attenuations and core refractive indices.

Resonant-antiresonant coupled cavity VCSELs.

The wavelength tuning range of a tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is strongly influenced by the design of the interface between the semiconductor cavity and the air cavity. A simplified model is used to investigate the origin of the dramatic differences in free spectral range (FSR) and tuning slope observed in semiconductor cavity dominant, extended cavity, and air cavity dominant VCSELs. The differences arise from the positioning of the resonant and antiresonant wavelengths of the semiconductor cavity with respect to the center wavelength. The air cavity dominant design is realized by designing an antiresonant semiconductor cavity, resulting in a larger tuning slope near the center of the tuning range and a wider FSR toward the edges of the tuning range. The findings from the simplified model are confirmed with the simulation of a full VCSEL structure. Using an air cavity dominant design, an electrically pumped laser with a tuning range of 68.38 nm centered at 1056.7 nm at a 550 kHz sweep rate is demonstrated with continuous wave emission at room temperature. This epitaxial design rule can be used to increase the tuning range of tunable VCSELs, making them more applicable in swept-source optical coherence tomography and frequency-modulated continuous-wave LIDAR systems.

Ultrafast Zn-Diffusion and Oxide-Relief 940 nm Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers under High-Temperature Operation

We demonstrate 940-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with record-high −3 dB electrical-to-optical bandwidths of 40 and 32 GHz under room-temperature and 85 °C operations, respectively. The combination of Zn-diffusion with oxide-relief apertures inside the VCSEL cavity structure can greatly reduce the differential resistance and parasitic capacitance, which leads to an enhancement in the resistance-capacitance (RC)-limited bandwidth. Devices with different sizes of oxide-relief apertures are analyzed by use of the measured S 21 and S 11 two-port scattering parameters and equivalent circuit modeling techniques. For a device with a 3-μm diameter oxide-relief aperture, the extracted intrinsic bandwidth can be as high as 46.3 GHz. By using this novel device as the transmitter, we can achieve 60 Gbps error-free [bit-error-ratio (BER) on – off keying transmission over a 1-m OM5 fiber under room temperature (RT) operation, without using any signal processing. In addition, invariant 50-Gbps transmission performance from RT to 85 °C operations, over a 100-m OM5 fiber has also been successfully demonstrated (with a BER < 1 × 10−7).

Shaping vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser mode profiles with an antiresonant oxide island for improved single-mode emission

Single-mode emission is one of the most significant problems in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). To solve it, we propose to embed an antiresonant oxide island inside the VCSEL cavity using a novel planar oxidation technique. This oxide island has a strong impact on the shape of the lateral mode profiles and affects the values of photon lifetimes associated with each mode. In this work, we investigate the physical origin of this impact and determine the dimensions of the oxide island that provide the strongest modal discrimination.

Wavelength-Swept VCSELs

The ability to continuously tune the wavelength of a laser is of critical importance and is a fundamental building block for many optical systems, including wavelength division multiplexed optical fiber communication systems. Vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) structure offers a unique advantage to engineer the lasing wavelength because of its ultrashort cavity length, inherently supporting a single Fabry–Perot mode. Hence, a continuous change in VCSEL cavity thickness leads to a continuous sweep of VCSEL wavelength. Wavelength-tunable VCSELs have been a subject of intense interest for the last two decades. Incorporating part or entire top mirror of a VCSEL in an optical microelectromechanical structure (MEMS), continuous wavelength sweeps have been reported. The monolithic integration brings together the best of both technologies and leads to an unprecedented performance in the continuously swept wavelength range. In addition, with the advances of ultrathin high contrast gratings and metastructures (HCG/HCM), the wavelength tuning speed of MEMS-VCSELs has been increased to 1–10 MHz range. Such lasers, now referred as wavelength-swept lasers, are enabling new applications in optical coherent tomography and light detection and ranging systems. In this paper, we review various structures and recent progress of MEMS-VCSELs. We summarize some of the early breakthroughs in designs and properties of micromechanical tunable VCSELs, including advances in HCG/HCM-based MEMS-VCSELs emitting at 850, 1060, and 1550 nm wavelength regimes. In addition, we report a brand new design leading to a record high Δλ/λo = 6.9% tuning ratio with 600 kHz speed at center wavelength of 1060 nm.

Semiconductor surface emitting lasers for photon pairs generation

We study the feasibility of generating photon pairs in a resonant Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) as a result of a third-order non-linear, four wave mixing interaction. We focus on degenerate four wave mixing in the spontaneous regime where two pump photons are annihilated to create a pair of signal and idler photons. Using the methods of quantum optics, we calculate the two-photon production rate, the spectrum of the generated photons, and the signal-idler cross-correlations. We highlight how the dispersion of the medium in the VCSEL cavity (a regular GaAs configuration) significantly diminishes the two-photon production rate. Based on our results, we enumerate the characteristics of a VCSEL that would be suitable for photon pair generation.

Single orbital angular mode emission from externally feed-backed vertical cavity surface emitting laser

The single orbital angular momentum mode emission from a commercially available broad-area vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is realized with an optical feedback technique using a spatial light modulator, where a computer generated hologram (CGH) is optimized by taking into account the mode properties of the external cavity VCSEL. The flexibility with which the chirality of the orbital angular momentum mode can be selected is also demonstrated simply by changing the chirality of the CGH. The technique is very simple and easily applicable to other VCSELs without processing.

Mode Behavior of VCSELs With Impurity-Induced Disordering

This letter explores the modal behavior of oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with varying emission apertures defined by impurity-induced disordering (IID) via closed ampoule zinc diffusion. A 1-D plane wave propagation method is used to calculate the mirror loss as a function of IID strength and depth. The devices are fabricated with masked areas ranging from approximately 70%-110% of the oxide aperture defining an unmodified emission aperture designed to overlap mainly with the fundamental mode. An analysis of the transverse mode lasing characteristics and mode-dependent thermal characteristics demonstrates a decrease in thermal performance associated with the increasing overlap between the IID ring and supported optical modes of the VCSEL cavity. A single-mode output power of 1.6 mW with over 30 dBm side-mode suppression ration is achieved from a 3 μm device with an IID-defined output aperture of approximately 1.3 μm. The optimal IID emission aperture to oxide aperture ratio for maximizing the single-fundamental-mode output power is experimentally measured.

Thermal lensing effects on lateral leakage in GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser cavities.

Lateral leakage of light has been identified as a detrimental loss source in many suggested and experimentally realized GaN-based VCSELs. In the present work we include thermal effects to realistically account for the substantial Joule heating in these devices. In contrast to what could be expected from the previous results, the induced thermal lensing does not make antiguided cavities more positively guided, so that they approach the unguided regime with extremely high lateral leakage. Rather, thermal lensing strongly suppresses lateral leakage for both antiguided and guided cavities. This is explained in terms of lowered launch of power from the central part of the cavity and/or lower total internal reflection in the peripheral part; the former effect is active in all cavities whereas the latter only contributes to the very strongly reduced leakage in weakly antiguided cavities. Thermal lensing suppresses lateral leakage both for the fundamental and the first higher order mode, but a strong modal discrimination is still achieved for the antiguided cavities. Thus, strongly antiguided cavities could be used to achieve single-mode devices, but at the cost of slightly higher threshold gain and stronger temperature dependent performance characteristics.