Visible (660 nm) resonant cavity light-emitting diodes

The demonstration of the first visible resonant cavity light-emitting diodes (RCLEDs) is reported. The devices consist of an InAlGaP strained quantum well active region surrounded by AlAs/AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflectors. Linewidths from 0.9 mm (2.6 meV) to 45 nm (12.8 meV) were obtained by varying the cavity factor (Q).<>     

Dynamic properties of AlGaAs vertical cavity surface emitting lasers with active region based on submonolayer InAs insertions

It has been shown that the use of submonolayer InAs insertions as an active region of AlGaAs vertical cavity surface emitting lasers make it possible to attain resonant frequencies as high as 17 GHz. In this case, single-mode devices with a smaller diameter of the current aperture make it possible to attain higher frequencies at lower current densities than those of multimode devices with a larger aperture diameter. The maximum error-free data transmission rate in the direct modulation mode in NRZ format is 20 Gb/s and is limited by the parasitic cutoff frequency. The high resonant frequency suggests that further optimization of the device design, directed to decreasing the electrical capacitance and resistances, the data transmission rate in lasers based on submonolayer insertions can be increased to 40 Gb/s.     

Calculation and measurement of resonant-mode blueshifts inoxide-apertured VCSELs

As the aperture size of oxide-apertured vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) shrinks, the lasing wavelength blueshifts. We have calculated this effect using both a scalar effective index model and a full-vector weighted index model. Results were compared against experimental data for two different VCSEL designs emitting near 780 and 850 nm. We find that the full-vector weighted index calculation matches the data remarkably well, while the scalar effective index calculation underestimates the blueshift     

Analysis of microcavity VCSEL lasing modes using a full-vectorweighted index method

Presents a semi-analytic full-vector method for calculating the spatial profile, optical confinement factor resonant frequency, absorption loss, and mirror loss of lasing modes in cylindrically symmetric microcavity vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's). It can be shown that this method gives the best separable approximation for the electric and magnetic vector potentials. Our technique can model the entire VCSEL structure and can treat complex media. We apply the method to etched-post and oxide-apertured VCSEL's designed for 980-nm emission and find a blueshift in cavity resonance as the cavity radius shrinks. We also find a minimum optical cavity radius below which radially bound lasing modes cannot be supported. This radius depends on the device geometry and lies between 0.5 and 1 μm for the devices studied. Once this model is augmented to include diffraction losses-the dominant loss mechanism for conventional small aperture lasers-it will provide a complete picture of lasing eigenmodes in microcavity VCSEL's     

An investigation of the feasibility of utilizing GPS/TEC“signatures” for near-real time forecasting of auroral-Epropagation at high-HF and low-VHF frequencies

VHF propagation on ⩽5300 km polar paths has been documented during the maximum phase of sunspot cycle 19. Mode analysis on these polar paths has shown that auroral-E ionization (AEI) supported some modes. Electron densities and plasma frequencies which could support AEI modes at frequencies up to 46 MHz have also been measured. Long distance VHF propagation from AEI has also been reported by radio amateurs using frequencies in the 2 m band in a “sidescatter mode”. An AEI experiment has been in operation between Wales (Alaska) and Fairbanks (Alaska) where a 75-watt CW transmitter located in Wales transmits the Morse letter “R” every 5 s, and a receiver in Fairbanks detects the 25.5 MHz signal whenever AEI is present near the midpoint of the 960 km path. Another experiment is underway using a GPS total electron content (TEC) receiving station at Fairbanks also using AEI data from the Wales-Fairbanks experiment. From this, the authors examine 58 passes of GPS satellites whose E-layer penetration points lie close to the midpoint of the Wales-Fairbanks path and find that there is a threshold value of TEC above which auroral-E (AE) propagation occurs. They also find that AEI propagation is strongly correlated with large- and medium-scale E-region structures in TEC determined by the GPS measurements. When TEC ionospheric structures are not present near the Wales-Fairbanks path midpoint, no AEI signal is received. The authors tentatively conclude that the occurrence of these specific TEC signatures may be utilized as predictors of AEI forward propagation on paths within and parallel to the auroral oval     

AlGaInP visible resonant cavity light-emitting diodes

Visible (670-nm) resonant cavity light-emitting diodes (RCLEDs) composed entirely of AlGaInP alloys are discussed. The devices consist of a strained quantum well optical cavity active region surrounded by AlInP/(AlGa)InP distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). The bottom DBR is a 60.5 period high reflector while the top partial reflector, which determines the emission linewidth, is a five-period output coupling DBR with a reflectance of about 57%. The devices exhibit linewidths of 4.8 nm (13.3 meV) at 300 K and are promising for plastic fiber communication systems and monochromatic displays     

Electro-optic fiber sensor for amplitude and phase detection of radio frequency electromagnetic fields

We present a miniature fiber-optic electromagnetic field (EMF) sensor that is capable of simultaneously detecting the amplitude and phase of an EMF in the range of 0.1-6 GHz. We focus on magnetic field measurements, since the H-field is more significant in our target applications due its direct relation to the current. The sensor is based on an open optical platform to which various antennas can be attached and contains a radio-frequency amplifier for signal conditioning and a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser as an electro-optic converter. The millimeter size and the full electrical isolation of the sensor allow EMF detection with minimal disturbance. We have characterized the sensor in the near field of a lambda/2 dipole, a rectangular waveguide, and a microstrip line, and we explain the experimental results with a simple theoretical model confirming the mapped near-field distribution of the investigated field source.