AlGaInAs/InP coupled-circular microlasers

AlGaInAs/InP coupled-circular microlasers with radius of 10- and 2-μm width middle bus waveguide are fabricated by photolithography and inductively coupled plasma etching techniques. Room-temperature continuous-wave single-mode operation is realized with an output power of 0.17 mW and a side-mode suppression ratio of 23 dB at 45 mA. A longitudinal mode interval of 11 nm is obtained from the lasing spectra, and mode Q factor of 6.2×10 3 is estimated from 3-dB width of a minor peak near the threshold current. The mode characteristics are simulated by finite-difference time-domain technique for coupled- circular resonators. The results show that, in addition to the coupled modes, high-radial-order whispering gallery modes with travelling wave behaviors can also have high Q factors in the coupled-circular resonators with a middle bus waveguide.