Lasers operating in the transmission window of tissue at wavelengths between 700 and 800 nm are needed in numerous medical and biomedical applications, including photodynamic therapy and fluorescence microscopy. However, the performance of diode lasers in this spectral range is limited by the lack of appropriate compound semiconductors. Here, we review our recent research on 750 nm VECSELs. Two approaches to reaching the 750 nm wavelength will be discussed. The first approach relies on intra-cavity frequency doubling a wafer-fused 1500 nm VECSEL. The VECSEL gain chip comprises a GaAs-based DBR and an InP-based gain section, which allows for optical pumping with low-cost commercial diodes at 980 nm. With this scheme we have achieved watt-level output powers and tuning of the laser wavelength over a 40 nm band at around 750 nm. The second approach is direct emission at 750 nm using the AlGaAs/GaAs material system. In this approach visible wavelengths are required for optical pumping. However, the consequent higher costs compared to pumping at 980 nm are mitigated by the more compact laser setup and prospects of doubling the frequency to the ultraviolet range.
We report for the first time on wafer-fused InGaAs-InP/AlGaAs-GaAs 1550 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) incorporating a InAlGaAs/InP MQW active region with re-grown tunnel junction sandwiched between top and bottom undoped AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) all grown by molecular beam epitaxy. InP-based active region includes seven compressively strained quantum wells (2.8 nm) optimized to provide high differential gain. Devices with this active region demonstrate lasing threshold current < 2.5 mA and output optical power > 2 mW in the temperature range of 10-70°C. The wall-plug efficiency (WPE) value-reaches 20 %. Lasing spectra show single mode CW operation with a longitudinal side mode suppression ratio (SMSR) up to 45 dB at > 2 mW output power. Small signal modulation response measurements show a 3-dB modulation bandwidth of ~ 9 GHz at pump current of 10 mA and a D-factor value of 3 GHz/(mA)1/2. Open-eye diagram at 30 Gb/s of standard NRZ is demonstrated. Achieved CW and modulation performance is quite sufficient for fiber to the home (FTTH) applications where very large volumes of low-cost lasers are required.
The progress of 1.3- and 1.5-μm waveband wafer-fused VCSELs is reported. The emission of single mode power of 6 - 8 mW at room temperature and up to 3 mW at 80°C were demonstrated. 10-Gb/s full wavelength-set VCSEL devices for CWDM systems with high yield and Telcordia-reliability were industrially manufactured. By increasing the compressive strain in the QWs and reducing the cavity photon life time the modulation bandwidth was increased to 11.5 GHz, and large-signal data transmission experiments show error-free operation and open eye diagrams from 25 to 35 Gb/s in both B2B and after 10-km, respectively.
We report on a semiconductor disk laser emitting 1.5 W of output power at the wavelength of 745 nm via intracavity frequency doubling. The high power level and the < 40 nm tuning range make the laser a promising tool for medical treatments that rely on photosensitizing agents and biomarkers in the transmission window of tissue between 700 and 800 nm. The InP-based gain structure of the laser was wafer-fused with a GaAs-based bottom mirror and thermally managed with an intracavity diamond heat spreader. The structure was pumped with commercial low-cost 980 nm laser diode modules. Laser emission at 1490 nm was frequency-doubled with a bismuth borate crystal that was cut for type I critical phase matching. At the maximum output power, we achieved an optical-to-optical efficiency of 8.3% with beam quality parameter M2 below 1.5. The laser wavelength could be tuned with an intracavity birefringent plate from 720 to 764 nm.
Over the last years we have continuously improved the performance of 1300 nm band VECSELs with wafer fused gain mirrors in the intra-cavity diamond and the flip-chip heat dissipation configurations. In this work we present recent results for gain mirrors that implement both heat-dissipation schemes applied to the same fused gain mirror structure. We demonstrate record high output powers of 7.1 W in the intra-cavity diamond heat-spreader configuration and 6.5 W in the flip-chip heat dissipation scheme. These improvements are achieved due to optimization of the wafer fused gain mirror structure based on AlGaInAs/InP-active region fused to AlAs-GaAs distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and application of efficient methods of bonding semiconductor gain mirror chips to diamond heatspreaders.
Emission wavelength setting of 1310nm-waveband VCSELs designed for coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) 4x10 Gbps fiber-optics transmission can be controlled thanks to the wafer fusion fabrication approach. This approach allows performing the cavity adjustment before bonding the distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) to the active cavity of the device. Cavity adjustment was performed by digital etching with nanometer precision and proves to be very effective in compensating for epitaxial growth thickness off-set relative to nominal design and thickness nonuniformity across the wafer. With this fabrication approach we reach on fused VCSEL wafers more than 90% yield of devices that fit the CWDM wavelength slots.
Optically pumped wafer fused 1310 nm VECSELs have the advantage of high output power and wavelength agility. Gain mirrors in these lasers are formed by direct bonding of InAlGaAs/InP active cavities to Al(Ga)As/GaAs DBRs. We present for the first time Watt-level 1310 nm wafer-fused VCSELs based on gain mirrors with heat dissipation in the “flip-chip” configuration. Even though output power levels in this approach is lower than with intra-cavity diamond heat-spreaders, the “flip-chip configuration demonstrates higher quality optical emission and is preferable for industrial applications in optical amplifiers, intra-cavity doubled lasers, etc.
We present the optimization of the carrier injection, heat flow and optical confinement aimed at single mode operation in anti-guiding long-wavelength VCSEL arrays. The analyzed structure incorporates InP/AlGaInAs quantum wells within an InP cavity. The cavity is bounded by GaAs/AlGaAs DBRs. The tunnel junction is responsible for carrier funneling into the active region. The air-gap etched at the interface between cavity and top DBR provides the confinement of the lateral modes. To rigorously simulate the physical phenomena taking place in the device we use a multi-physical model, which comprises three-dimensional models of optical (Plane Wave Admittance Method), thermal and electrical (Finite Element Method) phenomena. We perform an exhaustive modal analysis of a 1x3 VCSEL arrays. In the analysis we investigate the influence of the size and the distance between the emitters. As the result we illustrate the complex competition of the modes and determine the geometrical parameters favoring specific array modes in the considered array designs.
Building coarse wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), 4×10 Gbps VCSEL transmitter modules has the promise for
dramatic decreasing power consumption. Over the last years, we have demonstrated continuous improvements of
parameters and reliability of wafer fused long-wavelength VCSELs. Progress and challenges in industrial fabrication of
wafer-fused VCSELs emitting in the 1310 nm band for high speed WDM applications are reviewed.
We report on transverse mode discrimination in long-wavelength wafer-fused vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) incorporating ring-shaped air gap patterns at the fused interface between the active region and the top distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). These 60-nm deep patterns were implemented with the aim of favoring the fundamental mode while preserving high output power. The VCSELs under consideration emit in the 1310-nm band and incorporate an AlGaInAs-based quantum well active region, a regrown circular tunnel junction and undoped GaAs/AlGaAs DBRs. A large batch of devices with varying pattern dimensions was investigated by on-wafer mapping, allowing significant statistical analysis leading to conclusions on their typical behavior. We observe experimentally a dependence of the side-mode suppression ratio on the geometrical parameters of the patterns. In particular, we identified a design that statistically increases the maximal single-mode emitted power by more than 20%. Numerical simulations of the patterned-cavity VCSELs based on our fully three dimensional electrical, thermal and optical VCSEL computational model support these observations. They show that patterns with a large inner diameter actually confine the first-order transverse mode and enhance its modal gain. In smaller devices, this mode is pushed out of the optical aperture and suffers larger losses. Optimized parameters were found numerically for enhancing the single-mode properties of the devices with negligible penalty on emitted power and threshold current.
Recent developments of wafer-fused long-wavelength VECSELs resulted in reaching record high CW output power of
6.6 W at 1300 nm and a coherence length longer than 5 km in fiber and 1 Watt of output power in single frequency
regime at 1550 nm. First wafer-fused electrically pumped VECSELs emitting at 1470 nm demonstrate maximum CW output power of 6.5 mW which represents more than 10-times improvement compared with previously published results.
In the following paper a simulation of optically pumped vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSEL) with a
novel approach for the improvement of the heat management is presented. In recent VECSEL structures, it was common
to use one top diamond heat spreader in order to decrease the thermal resistance of the device by redistributing the heat
flow to the lateral regions and thus transporting heat down to the copper heat sink more efficiently. We present here
further improvement of the heat management by eliminating the bottom DBR from the heat flow path and substituting it
for a diamond with a High Contrast Grating (HCG). Hence the active region, which consists of 5 pairs of AlGaInAs
quaternary alloy quantum wells, is sandwiched between two diamond heat spreading layers.
The structure of Si HCG deposited on a diamond provides broad wavelength range in which reflectivity is close to 100%
for the emitted beam for perpendicular mode polarization with respect to the direction of the HCG trenches. The HCG
assures less than 20% reflection and near zero absorption of pumping light, hence it allows for on-axis bottom pumping
scheme and integration of the VECSEL with the pumping laser. According to the simulations 300 μm thick top diamond
heat spreader is enough to assure effective heat dissipation mechanism. Replacing the bottom DBR with the diamond
heat spreader will provide additional 10% reduction of the thermal impedance. The minimum of thermal impedance is
achieved for about 450 μm thick bottom diamond heat spreader.
We report the injection locking of specific spatial modes and polarization modes of 1.3μm wavelength vertical surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) in single-aperture devices and phase-coupled arrays. The optical injection is realized using a master laser (ML) VCSEL, the beam of which is directed onto the output facet of the slave laser (SL) VCSEL or VCSEL array. We measured the emission spectra of the SL as the ML operating conditions (frequency, power) were varied systematically, and present the results on two-dimensional stability maps of power versus detuning of the ML from the injected modes. In single-aperture devices, the high degree of circular symmetry allows the support of two modes with orthogonal polarizations with ~75 GHz frequency difference. With optical injection, we could induce a polarization mode switching and decrease the power of the free running mode by 25 dB. Model calculations confirm injection locking and specify the stability region. In a 1×2 VCSEL array defined by tunnel junction patterning and biased below threshold, we injection locked the fundamental mode (1×2 mode) and a « broad area » mode (1×3 mode). The spatial overlap between the ML spot and the array mode is shown to be a key factor in injection locking. Locking of the non-lasing 1×3 mode results in suppressed output power of the free running 1×2 mode. These studies are useful for understanding the mode structure of these VCSELs and suggesting ways for their discrimination.
Applications of long-wavelength (λ > 1 μm) vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) generally require
close control over wavelength and polarization of the emitted light. In most cases, single mode and
polarization stable lasing is desired. We report here on the detailed modal analysis of wafer-fused 1550-nm
wavelength VCSELs incorporating an AlGaInAs/InP active region, a re-grown circular tunnel junction (TJ) and
undoped AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). We experimentally determined the diameter of the
TJ that optimizes the output power and threshold current, finding a value between 7.0 μm and 9.5 μm depending
on the temperature. Moreover, we investigated the impact of the TJ aperture diameter on the mode structure.
A large batch of devices was investigated, allowing drawing conclusions on typical behavior of these devices.
The measured emission spectra show that the fundamental spatial mode is split into two orthogonal
polarization modes, which are spectrally separated in wavelength by δ, used as a birefringence parameter. We
observed that this parameter is independent of current but depends on the particular chip, suggesting that it is
caused by stress, growth inhomogeneities, or etched mesa shape. The higher order spatial modes show similar
polarization doublets with a splitting also equal to δ. This suggests that the birefringence results from effects not
particular to the mechanism of mode confinement. Finally, the spectral separation Δ0;1 between the fundamental
mode and the first-order transverse mode increases linearly with current, with a slope that depends only on the
TJ aperture diameter. This confirms that the mode confinement is induced by the structured TJ, and possibly
also by the temperature distribution induced by the current injection.
1300-nm, 1550-nm and 1480-nm wavelength, optically-pumped VECSELs based on wafer-fused InAlGaAs/InPAlGaAs/
GaAs gain mirrors with intra-cavity diamond heat-spreaders demonstrate very low thermal impedance of 4
K/W. Maximum CW output of devices with5 groups of quantum wells show CW output power of 2.7 W from 180μm
apertures in both 1300-nm and 1550-nm bands. Devices with 3 groups of quantum wells emitting at 1480 nm and with
the same aperture size show CW output of 4.8 W. These devices emit a high quality beam with M² beam parameter
below 1.6 allowing reaching a coupling efficiency into a single mode fiber as high as 70 %. Maximum value of output
power of 6.6 W was reached for 1300nm wavelength devices with 290μm aperture size.
Spatial transverse modes and polarization states are experimentally studied in single vertical cavity surface emitting
lasers (VCSELs) and phased-locked VCSEL arrays emitting at 1.3μm wavelength. Analysis of the polarization-resolved
near fields, far fields and emission spectra permit the observation of the competition between the different modes.
Possible ways for increasing single mode power and spectral purity are discussed.
A widely-tunable single-mode long wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser structure employing a MEMStunable
high-index-contrast subwavelength grating (HCG) is suggested and numerically investigated. A very large 80-
nm linear tuning range was obtained as the HCG was actuated by -220 to 250 nm. The large tuning range results from
making the air gap part of the optical cavity, which was achieved by inserting an antireflection layer below the air gap
and by the absence of partial top DBR for current spreading. The single mode operation was maintained throughout the
tuning range, thanks to the selective pumping of the fundamental mode and the moderate mode selection by the HCG
itself. Analytic expressions for tuning range and tuning sensitivity were derived, using the penetration depth of the HCG
for the first time.
A stable far-field and single-mode performance is of great interest for many applications in sensing or communications.
In this contribution an analysis of the far-field stability versus current and temperature is performed
for a long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) emitting around 1310 nm. Furthermore,
the single-mode stability is investigated by means of a technology computer aided design (TCAD) tool.
The electro-opto-thermal multi-dimensional simulations are fully-coupled and use microscopic models. The optical
modes are obtained by solving the vectorial Helmholtz equation, using a finite element approach. The
impact of temperature, free carrier absorption and gain on the refractive index is accounted for. The far-field is
calculated using Green's functions.
The investigated VCSEL features an InP-based cavity with multiple quantum wells and a tunnel junction as well
as wafer-fused AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors.
The comparison of simulated and measured L-I, V-I characteristics and far-field as well as the wavelength-shift
show good agreement for different ambient temperatures as well as driving current values. The simulations reveal
the impact of temperature, gain and carrier effects on the far-field. The design of optical guiding structures
(such as oxides or tunnel junctions) and its impact on the far-field behaviour over ambient temperature and bias
current is discussed.
High performance vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting in the 1310 nm waveband are fabricated by bonding AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) on both sides of a InP-based cavity containing 5 InAlGaAs quantum wells using the localized wafer fusion technique. A tunnel junction structure is used to inject carriers into the active region. Devices with 7 μm aperture produce single mode emission with 40 dB side-mode suppression ratio.
Maximum single mode output power of 1.7 mW is obtained in the temperature range of 20-70°C. Modulation capability at 3.2 Gb/s is demonstrated both at room temperature and 70°C with rise time and fall time values of eye diagrams bellow 120 ps. Overall device performance complies with the requirements of 10 GBASE-LX4 IEEE.802.3ae standard.
Long wavelength vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are ideally suited for applications in Metro networks which are currently dominated by 1.3 μm distributed feedback (DFB) and 1.3 μm Fabry-Perot laser diodes. 1.3 μm GaInNAs/AlGaAs VCSELs have been first to satisfy requirements of OC-48 standards and can also play a role in the 10Gb/E technology for medium reach transmission. The high temperature performance of 1.5 μm VCSELs still needs to be improved before challenging the positions of 1.5 μm un-cooled DFB lasers. With the introduction of agile, reconfigurable WDM systems, tunable optically pumped 1.5 μm VCSELs may have a considerable play in Metro networks.
We have evaluated the resonant photodetection characteristics of long wavelength double fused InGaAsP/AlGaAs vertical cavity lasers. Using VCSEL structures fabricated by the localized fusion technique for laser generation, light detection is also possible in open circuit, short circuit and forward biased (FB) regimes. The wavelength selectivity of the detection increases with driving current in FB regime. Detection spectrum with FWHM as low as 0.02 nm is demonstrated in the FB regime at currents above threshold. Investigated structures emit and detect light with high spectral selectivity and may be very useful as multifunctional elements for signal generation a d detection in wavelength division multiplexing systems.
We have demonstrated InGaAsP/AlGaAs double fused 1.5 micrometers multiple wavelength vertical cavity lasers and arrays in which element definition is obtained by localized fusion. Laser elements emit in continuous wave under electrical and optical pumping. Multiple wavelength single element VCSELs have been fabricated in the same batch taking advantage of layer thickness nonuniformity of InGaAsP/InP material close to the edge of the wafer. To obtain multiple wavelength arrays a controllable cavity length variation using anodic oxidation has been performed. The wavelength span in an 8 by 1 laser array is 10 nm. Single mode operation with more than of 40 dB side mode suppression ratio is characteristic for laser elements in the array.
This paper present the fabrication and mirrors passivation process of InGaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs narrow stripe 980 nm emission wavelength laser diodes. After mesa-stripe definition and Au-contact deposition procedures, a procedure of in-vacuum cleaving and in-situ passivation with (lambda) /2-thick ZnSe layers was performed. 960 micrometers and 500 micrometers length laser diodes bars was fabricated as a result. Antireflection-high reflectivity coating were formed on the bars facets. Laser diodes were soldered p-junction-side down on copper submounts. The room temperature CW threshold current value of 20 mA and CW maximum output power of 440 mW at 760 mA pumping current were obtained. The far-field emission pattern of laser diodes is lateral single mode in large range of output powers. These laser diodes were used for laser diode module fabrication. In this module the laser diodes was coupled with tapered single mode 9 micrometers /125 micrometers optical fiber with a fused microlens at the end. CW output optical power of 40 mW from the fiber was obtained at 240 mA operating current of the laser diode module.
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