This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 10122, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and Conference Committee listing.

This paper will review the device design and performance of Broadcom’s 50Gb/s PAM-4 VCSEL to enable the next generation of transceivers using a PAM-4 advanced modulation scheme at 25-28 GBd. The VCSEL has been optimized to minimize noise and improve dynamic performance for cleaner eyes. Preliminary wear out lifetime studies indicate that the time to 1% failure exceeds 10 years, making the VCSELs suitable for data communication applications.

We introduce the characteristics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for use in optical communications. In the field of optical interconnections and networks, 850 nm VCSELs are key optical transmitters due to their high-speed modulation and low power consumption. One promising candidate for achieving high-speed modulations exceeding 50 Gbps is the transverse-coupled-cavity (TCC) VCSEL. In this talk, we demonstrate the characteristics of 850 nm transverse-coupled-cavity VCSELs, which helped us achieve a high 3dB modulation bandwidth (30 GHz) at 0 °C and realize eye-opening at the large-signal modulation rate of 48 Gbps. The VCSEL's epilayer structure was grown by MOCVD. The active region consists of three strained InGaAs QWs surrounded by AlGaAs barriers. The n-type and p-type DBRs are composed of AlGaAs/AlGaAs, respectively. A line-shaped H+ ion was implanted at the center of the bowtie-shaped post, dividing it into two cavities. The threshold current of the TCC VCSEL with an oxide aperture of 3.6 μm is 0.33 mA. Only the left-side cavity is pumped, while the right cavity is unpumped. The effect of modulation bandwidth enhancement was observed over a wide temperature range of 120K thanks to an optical feedback in the coupled cavities. These results show the possibility of achieving high-speed VCSELs without any temperature or bias control. We also demonstrate an ultra-compact photodetector-integrated VCSEL with two laterally-coupled cavities. An output power and a photocurrent exhibit similar tendencies under a wide range of temperature changes. This device could be also used for monitoring output power without a conventional photodetector mounted separately.

VCSELs and VCSEL arrays are an ideal light source for time-of-flight based sensors. The narrow emission spectrum and the ability for short pulses make them superior to LEDs. Combined with fast photodiodes or special camera chips spatial 3D information can be obtained which is needed in diverse applications like camera autofocus, indoor navigation, 3Dobject recognition or even autonomously driving vehicles. VCSEL arrays are the way to tailor the output power. For pulse operation at low duty cycle average heat dissipation is no longer the upper limit to the operating point of VCSELs but over-pulsing becomes possible. Taking into account electrical boundary conditions and optimum conversion efficiency arrays can be designed for specific operating conditions. Measurements of arrays under short pulse operation are presented using a package with integrated driver.

scalable optical power outputs and the capability to separately address sub-array regions while maintaining fast turn-on and turn-off response times. Performance of these devices is critically dependent both on the design of the VCSEL devices and the design of the sub-mount, which provides both the electrical and thermal contacts for the array. Recent results for modelling and optimization of the VCSELs and their corresponding sub-mounts are discussed.

High power 808nm semiconductor lasers are widely used for pumping neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) crystal to produce high-brightness lasing at 1064nm. In addition, there are growing interest to use such high power 808nm lasers in the field of automotive infra-red (IR) illumination and medical aesthetic treatment. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have emerged as a promising candidate and attracted increased interests for those applications, due to their combined advantages of high efficiency, low diverging circular beam, narrow emission spectrum with reduced temperature sensitivity, low-cost manufacturability, simpler coupling optics, and increased reliability, especially at high temperatures. They can emit very high power with very high power density as they can be conveniently configured into large two-dimensional arrays and modules of arrays. We report recent development on such high-power, high-efficiency 808nm VCSELs with industrial leading ~55% power conversion efficiency (PCE). Top emitting VCSELs were grown by MOCVD and processed into single devices and 2D arrays using selective wet oxidation process and substrate removal technique for efficient current confinement and heat removal. Peak PCE of 51% and peak power of 800W were achieved from 5x5mm array, corresponding to peak power density of ~4kW/cm2. Pumped with new generation of 2.3kW VCSEL module, Q-switched laser pulse energy at 1064nm reached 46.9mJ, more than doubled from previously reported results.

We have designed and fabricated single mode proton-implanted photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and subsequently performed DC and small signal modulation analysis. Impedance characteristics and electrical parasitics are studied for various photonic crystal designs to understand factors which limit high speed modulation. Photonic crystal designs are found to have low differential resistance, but high parasitic capacitance. By including a diffusion capacitance term in the modulation response equation, scattering parameter fitting suggests the diffusion capacitance to be the limiting factor of intensity modulation. Extracted parameters from DC, impedance, and modulation response measurements are cross-checked to verify accuracy.

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.

In this work, we have used a tunable VCSEL for high-speed optical data transmission. To obtain wide tunability, a MEMS-DBR is surface micromachined onto a short-cavity high-speed VCSEL operating at 1550 nm. Ultra-wide continuous tuning is realized with electro-thermal actuation of the MEMS with built-in stress gradient within SiO_x/SiN_y dielectric layers. The MEMS-VCSEL operates in single-mode with SMSR > 40 dB across the entire tuning range. Quasi-error-free transmission of direct-modulation at record 15 Gbps is reported for 20 nm tuning, showing the potential towards the standard requirements for the SFP+ modules in the tail-ends of the WDM transmission system.

In this paper, using our model of capacitance in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), we analyze certain differences between an oxide-confined arsenide VCSEL emitting in the NIR region, and a nitride VCSEL emitting violet radiation. In the nitride laser its high differential resistance, caused partially by the low conductivity of p-type GaN material and the bottom contact configuration, is one of the main reasons why the nitride VCSEL has much worse modulation properties than the arsenide VCSEL. Using the complicated arsenide structure, we also analyze different possible ways of constructing the laser’s equivalent circuit.

We are reporting the first successful fabrication of 850-nm buried tunnel junction (BTJ) VCSELs. Multiple parameters were considered for the design. First, n-type dopants other than silicon had to be considered for an abrupt junction. Second, proper layer thickness had to be chosen. Finally, compatibility with regrowth and processing had to be ensured. In this paper the successful fabrication and performance of 850-nm BTJ VCSELs with tunnel junctions comprised of GaAs and AlGaAs materials is demonstrated. Key achieved parameters include a significant improvement in the slope efficiency from approximately 0.45 W/A in an oxide-aperture VCSEL to over 0.6 W/A.

Substrate-emitting GaAs based oxide-confined 980-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with top-surface high-frequency ground-source-ground contact pads are designed, fabricated, and characterized. The devices are composed of standard top and bottom epitaxially-grown AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). The top (p)DBR is capped with p-contact Ti then Au thin-film metals for uniform current injection and laser emission is through the GaAs substrate. The devices are realized on a single epitaxial wafer with n-ohmic-contacts placed on a thick (n+)GaAs buffer layer beneath the bottom (n)DBR and alternatively with the n-ohmic-contacts placed on an (n)GaAs intra-cavity layer lying within the same bottom (n)DBR. Static device parameters including threshold current and rollover current, differential resistance, peak optical output power, and wall-plug efficiency are extracted for VCSELs with oxide-aperture diameters ranging from about 3 to 9-µm and at different temperatures. At room temperature threshold currents are achieved from the sub-mA range up to about 3.5-mA with maximum output powers exceeding 15-mW. Increasing the temperature up to 85 °C slightly increases the threshold current while the peak output power is about halved. The differential resistance at the thermal rollover current is comparable for standard and intra-cavity n-metal-contacts. Small-signal analysis is performed for different bias currents, temperatures, oxide-aperture diameters, and the two n-contact options. Under optimal bias conditions the 3-dB bandwidth exceeds 15 GHz. Direct current modulation-based on-off keying signal generation is investigated from 10 to 40-Gb/s. The influence of an anti-reflection-coated substrate, a thinned substrate, and the combination of both is investigated and discussed.

Reliable and rapid test structure fabrication and characterisation techniques are required in a high volume production environment to assess material quality and suitability for end product applications. As materials and growth techniques continue to evolve an increasing number of methods are required to investigate the relationship between layer design, material growth and device performance. Reliability, speed and the cost-effectiveness of these techniques are key considerations. Simple production techniques exist to examine the emission spectrum of VCSEL material in the direction of the lasing cavity. This work investigates an ultra-fast method to obtain detail of the active region emission wavelength independent of the distributed Bragg mirror stack by examining the electronic structure of the material. Rather than directly observing light emission perpendicular to the lasing direction, which can result in a convolution of the emission and absorption spectrum, a technique that measures a photo-voltage spectrum by illuminating the edge of the wafer (perpendicular to the lasing direction) is employed. Illumination in this configuration can also allow information regarding the strain of the quantum wells to be determined. This technique requires very few fabrication steps and is highly cost effective. Rapid techniques to fabricate VCSEL test structures for comparison between material characteristics and device performance are also investigated.

Modulation rates of VCSELs within multimode fiber links are now 25Gbps as standardized by both IEEE and Infiniband. Yet the need continues to advance the serial data rates to 50Gbps and higher to more readily support 100Gbps links with manageable fiber count. At these higher modulation rates the multimode VCSEL dynamics cannot be accurately modeled as single mode sources coupled into a MMF modeled as a simple filter. Specifically, our recent experimental results demonstrate the limitations of the standard mode partition noise and relative intensity noise models. By direct measurement of VCSEL mode dynamics we have shown modal statistics to be comprised of a mix of both correlated and anti-correlated components with a correlation time of a few symbol periods at 100G. Through simulations and experiments we demonstrate that MPN is significantly over estimated in the standard modeling tools and that RIN is enhanced by fiber dispersive effects, an effect not currently captured by current standard modeling methods and potentially underestimated.

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) has become the most important light source in the booming market of short-reach (< 300 meters) optical interconnect (OI). The next generation OI has been targeted at 56 Gbit/sec data rate per channel (CEI-56G) with the total data rate up to 400 Gbit/sec. However, the serious modal dispersion of multi-mode fiber (MMF), limited speed of VCSEL, and its high resistance (> 150 Ω) seriously limits the >50 Gbit/sec linking distance (< 10 m) by using only on-off keying (OOK) modulation scheme without any signal processing techniques. In contrast to OOK, 4-PAM modulation format is attractive for >50 Gbit/sec transmission due to that it can save one-half of the required bandwidth. Nevertheless, a 4.7 dB optical power penalty and the linearity of transmitter would become issues in the 4-PAM linking performance. Besides, in the modern OI system, the optics transreceiver module must be packaged as close as possible with the integrated circuits (ICs). The heat generated from ICs will become an issue in speed of VSCEL. Here, we review our recent work about 850 nm VCSEL, which has unique Zn-diffusion/oxide-relief apertures and special p- doping active layer with strong wavelength detuning to further enhance its modulation speed and high-temperature (85°C) performances. Single-mode (SM) devices with high-speed (~26 GHz), reasonable resistance (~70 Ω) and moderate output power (~1.5 mW) can be achieved. Error-free 54 Gbit/sec OOK transmission through 1km MMF has been realized by using such SM device with signal processing techniques. Besides, the volterra nonlinear equalizer has been applied in our 4-PAM 64 Gbit/sec transmission through 2-km OM4 MMF, which significantly enhance the linearity of device and outperforms fed forward equalization (FFE) technique. Record high bit-rate distance product of 128⋅km is confirmed for optical-interconnect applications.

We present our recent work on high-speed optical interconnects with advanced modulation formats and directly modulated 850 nm VCSELs. Data transmission at nearly 100 Gbps was achieved with 4-PAM. Forward error correction, equalization and preemphasis are also explored. The system aspects of the advanced modulation formats and their impact on the VCSEL requirements are discussed. Requirements on the optical output power, frequency response and the relative intensity noise are discussed. Finally, co-optimization of the VCSELs and VCSEL driver amplifiers in CMOS and InP technologies is discussed.

The hybrid vertical-cavity laser is a potential low current, high-efficiency, and small footprint light source for silicon photonics integration. As part of the development of such light sources we demonstrate hybrid-cavity VCSELs (HC-VCSELs) on silicon where a GaAs-based half-VCSEL is attached to a dielectric distributed Bragg reflector on silicon by adhesive bonding. HC-VCSELs at 850 nm with sub-mA threshold current, >2 mW output power, and 25 Gbit/s modulation speed are demonstrated. Integration of short-wavelength lasers will enable fully integrated photonic circuits on a silicon-nitride waveguide platform on silicon for applications in life science, bio-photonics, and short-reach optical interconnects.

Record-large modulation bandwidths of 30 GHz and larger have been achieved with state-of-the art directly and indirectly modulated VCSELs and VCSEL arrays. One next big challenge is to make VCSELs viable for integration onto silicon while maintaining large bandwidth values. Various integration schemes of VCSELs might require process variations potentially detrimental for large modulation bandwidths. We present and compare directly modulated oxide-confined top-emitting 980-nm VCSELs processed from one single epitaxial wafer design into four different extracavity and intracavity contact variations.

Design of the oxide–confined vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) with enhanced engineered lateral leakage of high–order transverse optical modes is studied by three–dimensional optical modeling to evaluate the robustness of the leakage selection approach with respect to thermal effects. Both Joule heat and heat generated by the free carrier absorption of the optical mode in the doped semiconductor layers and their impact on the refractive index profile are considered. We show that for typical regimes of the VCSEL design and operation absorption–induced heat exceeds by several times the Joule heat while the shape of the generated heated domains strongly differ. Modeling shows that well defined spectral separation between the transverse optical modes persists upon increase in injection current. Further, upon increase in current the lateral extension of the fundamental mode decreases and the mode shrinks towards the center of the VCSEL structure thus reducing the lateral leakage and increasing the mode lifetime, whereas similar effect for high–order transverse modes is much weaker. Thus the preferred conditions for the lasing of the fundamental mode persist and even improve upon current increase. At high currents the fundamental mode becomes favorable at all aperture diameters, also for those where the cold cavity approximation predicts preference for the excited mode lasing.

A novel method for controlling the transverse lasing modes in both proton implanted and oxide-confined vertical- cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a multi-layer, patterned, dielectric anti-phase (DAP) filter is pre- sented. Using a simple photolithographic liftoff process, dielectric layers are deposited and patterned on individual VCSELs to modify (increase or decrease) the mirror reflectivity across the emission aperture via anti-phase reflections, creating spatially-dependent threshold material gain. The shape of the dielectric pattern can be tailored to overlap with specific transverse VCSEL modes or subsets of transverse modes to either facilitate or inhibit lasing by decreasing or increasing, respectively, the threshold modal gain. A silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) anti-phase filter is used to achieve a single-fundamental-mode, continuous-wave output power greater than 4.0 mW in an oxide-confined VCSEL at a lasing wavelength of 850 nm. A filter consisting of SiO₂ and TiO₂ is used to facilitate injection-current-insensitive fundamental mode and lower order mode lasing in proton implanted VCSELs at a lasing wavelength of 850 nm. Higher refractive index dielectric materials such as amorphous silicon (a-Si) can be used to increase the effectiveness of the anti-phase filter on proton implanted devices by reducing the threshold modal gain of any spatially overlapping modes. This additive, non-destructive method allows for mode selection at any lasing wavelength and for any VCSEL layer structure without the need for semiconductor etching or epitaxial regrowth. It also offers the capability of designing a filter based upon available optical coating materials.

We propose semiconductor-metal subwavelength grating (SMSG) which can be implemented as VCSEL mirror. Such new type of SMSG plays a double role of the electric contact and mirror simultaneously. It facilitates high optical power reflectance, perfectly vertical current injection. Such construction eliminates the inbuilt current confinement and allows scaling of emitted power by simple variation of SMSG spatial dimensions. To give the credibility to proposed design we perform numerical analysis of VCSEL with SMSG using fully vectorial optical model. We discuss properties of the proposed design realized in arsenide-based material configuration.

Top emission 850-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) demonstrating transverse mode selection via impurity-induced disordering (IID) are presented. The IID apertures are fabricated via closed ampoule zinc diffusion. A simple 1-D plane wave model based on the intermixing of Group III atoms during IID is presented to optimize the mirror loss of higher-order modes as a function of IID strength and depth. In addition, the impact of impurity diffusion into the cap layer of the lasers is shown to improve contact resistance. Further investigation of the mode-dependent characteristics of the device imply an increase in the thermal impedance associated with the fraction of IID contained within the oxide aperture. The optimization of the ratio of the IID aperture to oxide aperture is experimentally determined. Single fundamental mode output of 1.6 mW with 30 dBm side mode suppression ratio is achieved by a 3.0 μm oxide-confined device with an IID aperture of 1.3 μm indicating an optimal IID aperture size of 43% of the oxide aperture.

Compared to conventional vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), spin-pumped VCSELs offer the possibility of polarization control and fast polarization dynamics. It has been demonstrated that oscillations in the circular polarization degree can be excited. In short, the frequency of these polarization oscillations is determined by the frequency splitting between the two orthogonal linearly polarized cavity modes and therefore by the cavity birefringence. The polarization oscillation frequency is the resonance frequency of the VCSEL’s polarization dynamics and can be compared to the conventional resonance frequency for intensity modulation. We have demonstrated polarization oscillations up to 44 GHz, exceeding the direct intensity resonance frequency of the investigated devices by far. As the polarization oscillation frequency can be increased by increasing the cavity birefringence and a VCSEL cavity birefringence of more than 250 GHz has been demonstrated, using polarization dynamics is a possible way of substantially increasing the modulation speeds of VCSELs. This is for instance interesting for high-bandwith short-haul optical interconnects. The experimental results associated with the polarization oscillation effects can be simulated by the widely used spin-flip model. In this work we focus on the amplitude of the polarization oscillations. Previous publications have shown a decrease with increasing oscillation frequency. Here, we show amplitude dependencies on several system parameters like the photon and carrier lifetimes as well as pumping conditions. Based on this, we investigate how to increase the polarization oscillation amplitude, since a significant amplitude is necessary for, e.g., data transmission applications.

Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) with isotropic optical feedback are studied especially in the so-called low frequency fluctuations regime. Correlation properties between linear polarizations are analyzed both analytically and numerically. The RF spectrum shows a double peak structure close to the external cavity frequency which can be predicted by our adapted Spin-Flip Model (SFM). We provide here numerical evidence of the interplay between modes and anti- modes which are solutions of the stability analysis of the VCSEL with feedback and demonstrate that this interplay is responsible for the double peak structure.