Coherent polarization stabilization in large-aperture rectangular post bottom-emitting vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The output characteristics of large-aperture rectangular post bottom-emitting vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) were investigated. It was shown that the output power of the rectangle VCSELs can be up to 660 mW at a current of 5 A. Both H-polarization (horizontal) and V-polarization (vertical) demonstrated a coherent stabilization over the entire range of operation current, and coherent spectrum blue-shift of H-polarization light occurred with respect to V-polarization light at three different injected currents. The polarization states of output light were stabilized in the two orthogonal directions and H-polarization was the most principal polarization which was parallel to the longer side of the rectangular aperture. From the relationship between polarization ratio and aspect ratio of the oxidation confinement aperture (OCA), it was found that the highest polarization ratio (about 2:1) took place when the appropriate aspect ratio was 5:3, which meant better polarization stabilization in large-aperture VCSELs.     

矩形结构垂直腔顶发射激光器的偏振特性

为了获得高功率的偏振激光,对矩形结构的980 nm大口径顶发射垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSEL)进行了研究.实验结果显示,对于400 μm×80μm出光口径的矩形VCSEL器件,在工作电流内,水平偏振光和竖直偏振光共同存在,并且水平偏振光一直占据主导地位;而且水平偏振光的光谱相对于竖直偏振光有蓝移.这些现象和理论模型的分...     

High-power VCSELs with a rectangular aperture

We show how VCSELs with elongated shapes of the emission area can achieve higher output powers and wall-plug efficiency compared to standard circular or quadratic VCSELs. We identified an improved homogeneity of the carrier concentration in the quantum wells as well as a reduced thermal resistance as the main reasons for the better performance of the rectangular shaped VCSELs presented in this article.     

Improvement in Light Output of Thin-Film Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers Transferred onto A1N Substrates

Thin-film 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) were improved in light output power by designing both the reflectivity of the distributed Bragg reflector on the light-emitting side and also the degree of de-tuning between the photoluminescence peak and the etalon wavelength. Thin-film VCSELs, which were fabricated on A1N substrates by a functional layer transfer technique, are attractive components for the hybrid integration of optoelectronic devices. Their maximum output power was 2.8 mW and their slope efficiency was 0.40 W/A for the 15μm diameter VCSEL devices that we studied. Uniform spontaneous emission over the entire mesa area, and a single transverse laser mode up to 1.3 times the threshold current were confirmed by observing the near-field images.     

Research of the use of silver nanowires as a current spreading layer on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Silver nanowire(AgNW) film was proposed to apply on the surface of the vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers(VCSELs) with large aperture in order to obtain a uniform current distribution in the active region and a better optical beam quality.Optimization of the AgNW film was carried out with the sheet resistance of 28.4 Ω/sq and the optical transmission of 94.8% at 850 nm.The performance of VCSELs with and without AgNW film was studied.When the AgNW film was applied to the surface of VCSELs,due to its better current spreading effect,the maximum output optical power increased from 23.4 mW to 24.4 mW,the lasing wavelength redshift decreased from 0.085 nm/mA to 0.077 nm/mA,the differential resistance decreased from 23.95 Ω to 21.13 Ω,and the far field pattern at 50 mA decreased from 21.6° to 19.2°.At the same time,the near field test results showed that the light in the aperture was more uniform,and the far field exhibited a better single peak characteristic.Various results showed that VCSELs with AgNW on the surface showed better beam quality.     

Diode pumped 850 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

Very little, if any, has been published on optically pumped 850 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), particularly for doped structures. This paper investigates GaAs-based VCSELs which have not been optimized for optical pumping work. Characterisation was carried out for both pulsed and continuous wave (CW). Pulsed operation causes a lower rise in temperature, thus postponing the onset of thermal rollover, and allowing the device to be operated at higher powers. A threshold of ∼160 kW/cm², and single mode output with incident power density of up to 225 kW/cm² were obtained. From the simulation work done, it has been observed that for optically pumped VCSELs, at higher pump density, there was faster turn on and higher output power, and that dilute nitride active material give better output performance compared to GaAs.     

1.55-μm InGaAs/InGaAlAs MQW vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with InGaAlAs/InP distributed Bragg reflectors

High-performance InGaAs/InGaAlAs multiple-quantum-well vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with InGaAlAs/InP distributed Bragg reflectors are proposed for operation at the wavelength of 1.55 μm. The lasers have good heat diffusion characteristic, large index contrast in DBRs, and weak temperature sensitivity. They could be fabricated either by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) or by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) growth. The laser light-current characteristics indicate that a suitable reflectivity of the DBR on the light output side in a laser makes its output power increase greatly and its lasing threshold current reduce significantly, and that a small VCSEL could output the power around its maximum for the output mirror at the reflectivity varying in a broader range than a large VCSEL does.     

New functions of VCSEL-based optical devicesInvited Paper

We have seen a lot of unique features off vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), such as low power consumption, wafer-level testing, small packaging capability, and so on. The market of VCSELs has been growing up rapidly in recent years and they are now the key devices in local area networks using multi-mode optical fibers. In addition, new functions on VCSELs have been demonstrated. In this paper, the recent advances of VCSEL photonics will be reviewed, which include the wavelength engineering and the athermal operation based on microelectro mechanical system (MEMS) technologies. Also, this paper explores the potential and challenges for new functions of VCSELs, including high-speed control of optical phase, slow light devices, plasmonic VCSELs, and so on.     

新型垂直腔面发射半导体激光器阵列

设计出四次质子注入工艺制备垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSEL)阵列的方法,实现了对阵列中单元器件间的隔离以及对单元器件注入电流限制的分别作用。一方面通过对VCSEL外延片上分布布拉格反射镜(DBR)两次较浅的质子注入形成高电阻区域实现对阵列中单元器件间的隔离,另一方面通过再次的两次较深度的可以达到有源区上表面的质子注入形成高电阻区域实现对单元器件注入电流的限制。由瞬态热传导方程对阵列中单元器件间的热相互作用进行了理论分析。采用四次质子注入工艺实现了2×2、3×3简单的二维GaAs/AlGaAs量子阱VCSEL阵列,并对器件的激射近场、光谱特性及功率等进行了测量。     

1.3μm GaAs基量子点垂直腔面发射激光器结构设计与分析

结合垂直腔面发射激光器（VCSEL）原理以及量子点增益特点，计算了不同结构VCSEL的腔内损耗和量子点的模式增益.分析了激光器阈值特性以及氧化限制层对光损耗的影响.设计了含 氧化限制层的13μm量子点VCSEL结构. 关键词： 量子点 垂直腔面发射激光器 增益     

Efficient high-order diffraction of extreme-ultraviolet light and soft x-rays by nanostructured volume gratings

We report what is believed to be the first demonstration that volume gratings diffract extreme-ultraviolet light (EUV) or soft x-rays into high orders approximately an order of magnitude more efficiently than predicted by classical thin-grating theory. At the 13-nm wavelength, copolymer grating structures with 200-nm period and aspect ratios of ~10:1 achieved diffraction efficiencies of 11.2%, 15.3%, 11.5%, and 9.1% in the orders m of 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. In addition, the measured transmission spectra are consistent with electrodynamic calculations by coupled-wave theory. High-order diffraction can now be employed for substantially improved diffractive EUV and x-ray optics, e.g., highly resolving diffractive lenses and large-aperture condensers.     

Comparative analysis of lasing performance of oxide-confined and proton-implanted vertical-cavity surface-emitting diode lasers

The comprehensive optical-electrical-thermal-recombination self-consistent VCSEL model is used to compare the performance of oxide-confined (OC) and proton-implanted (PI) VCSELs and to optimise their structures. Generally index-guided (IG) OC VCSELs demonstrate lower lasing thresholds whereas both gain-guided (GG) OC and PI ones manifest much better mode selectivity. Therefore, their either low-threshold IG or mode-selective GG versions may be intentionally used for different VCSEL applications. Lasing thresholds of OC IG VCSELs have been found to be very sensitive to the exact localisation of their thin oxide apertures, which should be shifted as close as possible towards the anti-node position. PI VCSELs, on the other hand, are simpler and cheaper in their manufacturing than OC ones. Although lower threshold currents are manifested by PI VCSELs with very thick implanted regions, lower threshold powers are achieved in these devices with much thicker upper unaffected layer used for the radial current flow from the ring contact towards the laser axis. Paradoxically poor thermal properties of PI VCSELs enable lower lasing thresholds of slightly detuned devices. To conclude, cheaper and mode-selective PI VCSELs may be used instead of OC ones in many of their applications provided ambient temperatures and laser outputs are not too high.     

Influence of polarization mode competition on chaotic unpredictability of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with polarization-rotated optical feedback

The chaotic unpredictability of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with polarization-rotated optical feedback is evaluated quantitatively via the normalized permutation entropy H. The effect of polarization mode competition (PMC) is explored. For weak PMC, the H for X-polarization mode, Y-polarization mode, and total output are close to each other, while for strong PMC, the H for the total output is the highest one, which indicates that the permutation entropy is an effective tool for quantifying chaotic unpredictability of VCSELs and provides valuable information for choosing the proper chaotic carrier.     

Enhanced single-fundamental LP01 mode operation of 650-nm GaAs-based GaInP/AlGaInP quantum-well VCSELs

Minimal optical attenuation of plastic (polymer) optical fibres (POFs) corresponds to the 650-nm wavelength. Currently the GaInP/AlGaInP quantum-well (QW) oxide-confined (OC) vertical-cavity surface-emitting diode lasers (VCSELs) are undoubtedly the laser devices most suited to be used in 650-nm POF optical communication, for which the stable single-fundamental-mode LP₀₁ emission (SFM) is definitely the one most desired. In the present paper, the comprehensive fully self-consistent VCSEL model is used to examine mode selectivity of the above VCSELs. An increase in the VCSEL active-region diameter leads to a gradual modification of the current injection into this region and subsequent carrier radial diffusion within it before their recombination, which is followed by an essential transformation of active-region optical-gain profiles deciding upon an excitation of successive transverse modes. In standard arsenide OC VCSELs, SFM operation is usually limited to relatively small active regions. But for a room-temperature continuous-wave operation of the GaInP/AlGaInP VCSELs, the fundamental LP₀₁ mode remains surprisingly the lowest-threshold one up to relatively large active regions of 9-μm diameters. Nevertheless, in such VCSELs, thresholds of many LP modes become very similar to one another, which leads to their relatively poor mode selectivity and an unwanted multi-mode operation for higher output powers.     

On the thermal resistance of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Thermal properties of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are studied using their comprehensive, three-dimensional, self-consistent, thermal-electrical simulation. The thermal resistance versus operation current relation is found to be completely different for two basic VCSEL configurations, i.e. for proton-implanted top-surface-emitting lasers (top-emitting VCSELs) and etched-well lasers (bottom-emitting VCSELs). The above fact is explained using a concept of the average centre of heat generation within a laser volume and its shift with an increase in an operation current. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

强光注入提高光反馈VCSELs混沌载波基频

研究了外部光注入对光反馈垂直腔表面发射半导体激光器(VCSEL)混沌载波基频的影响.研究结果表明：当外部注入光频率与VCSEL自由运行的振荡频率失谐一定时,随着外部光注入强度的增加,混沌载波基频总体呈现上升的趋势;通过调整失谐频率和注入强度大小,外部光注入可以使混沌载波基频得到大幅度的提高;当归一化的注入系数K=330, 失谐频率为42 GHz,可得到基频位于47.3 GHz的混沌信号输出. 关键词： VCSEL 光注入 光反馈 混沌载波基频     

Active Micromachined Integrated Terahertz Circuits

Schottky barrier diodes have been integrated into on-chip rectangular waveguides. Two novel techniques have been developed to fabricate diodes with posts suitable for integration into waveguides. One technique produces diodes with anode diameters of the order of microns with post heights from 90 to 125 microns and the second technique produces sub-micron anodes with post heights around 20 microns. A method has been developed to incorporate these structures into a rectangular waveguide and provide a top contact onto the anode which could be used as an I.F. output in a mixer circuit. Devices have been fabricated and D.C. characterized.     

光反馈诱发长波长垂直腔面发射激光器低功耗偏振开关

基于扩展的自旋反转模型,对光反馈诱发下长波长垂直腔面发射激光器中的低功耗偏振开关进行了理论研究.研究表明:长波长垂直腔面发射激光器在自由运行下未能获得的偏振开关现象,可以通过引入中等强度的偏振旋转光反馈来实现.对比强弱两种不同的线性色散效应,发现了一些有趣的现象:弱线性色散条件下更易于在低注入电流下获得偏振开关,并且产生偏振开关所需的反馈强度具有更大的调控范围;强色散效应中未能始终获得偏振开关,会出现两模共存区,并且偏振开关出现的注入电流值较高.同时,观察到的偏振模跳变和多偏振开关现象类似于短波长垂直腔面发射激光器,因而证实这两类激光器在偏振开关的本质规律上是相似的.此外,还对长波长垂直腔面发射激光器不易在低注入电流下获得偏振开关的原因进行了分析,并给出了合理的解释.     

Rectangular Lattice Boltzmann Equation for Gaseous Microscale Flow

The lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) is considered as a promising approach for simulating flows of liquid and gas. Most of LBE studies have been devoted to regular square LBE and few works have focused on the rectangular LBE in the simulation of gaseous microscale flows. In fact, the rectangular LBE, as an alternative and efficient method, has some advantages over the square LBE in simulating flows with certain computational domains of large aspect ratio (e.g., long micro channels). Therefore, in this paper we expand the application scopes of the rectangular LBE to gaseous microscale flow. The kinetic boundary conditions for the rectangular LBE with a multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) collision operator, i.e., the combined bounce-back/specular-reflection (CBBSR) boundary condition and the discrete Maxwell's diffuse-reflection (DMDR) boundary condition, are studied in detail. We observe some discrete effects in both the CBBSR and DMDR boundary conditions for the rectangular LBE and present a reasonable approach to overcome these discrete effects in the two boundary conditions. It is found that the DMDR boundary condition for the square MRT-LBE can not realize the real fully diffusive boundary condition, while the DMDR boundary condition for the rectangular MRT-LBE with the grid aspect ratio a≠1 can do it well. Some numerical tests are implemented to validate the presented theoretical analysis. In addition, the computational efficiency and relative difference between the rectangular LBE and the square LBE are analyzed in detail. The rectangular LBE is found to be an efficient method for simulating the gaseous microscale flows in domains with large aspect ratios.     

Polarization switching and synchronization of mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers

Polarization switching (PS) dynamics and synchronization performances of two mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are studied theoretically in this paper. A group of dimensionless rate equations is derived to describe our model. While analysing the PS characteristics, we focus on the effects of coupling rate and frequency detuning regarding different mutual injection types. The results indicate that the x-mode injection defers the occurrence of PS, while the y-mode injection leads the PS to occur at a lower current. Strong enough polarization-selective injection can suppress the PS. Moreover, if frequency detuning is considered, the effects of polarization-selective mutual injection will be weakened. To evaluate the synchronization performance, the correlation coefficients and output dynamics of VCSELs with both pure mode and mixed mode polarizations are given. It is found that performance of complete synchronization is sensitive to the frequency mismatch but it is little affected by mixed mode polarizations, which is opposite to the case of injection-locking synchronization.