Maximizing the temperature insensitivity, energy efficiency, and bit rate of 980-nm VCSELs via small oxide-aperture diameters and photon lifetime tuning

Energy-efficient oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting at 980 nm, particularly well suited for optical interconnects operating at up to 85°C are presented. The modulation bandwidth f3dB of our VCSELs increases at low currents with increasing temperature up to 23 GHz at 85°C. The impact of cavity photon lifetime and oxide-aperture diameter on the energy efficiency, temperature stability, and static and dynamic properties of our VCSELs are analyzed. Error-free 40 Gb/s operation at 85°C with an energy-to-data ratio below 100 fJ/bit and a current density close to 10 kA/cm2 is predicted based on small signal modulation experiments.

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