19-element 2D honeycomb VCSEL array

An electrically parallel, optically uncoupled, 19-element 980 nm top-surface-emitting vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array with inter-VCSEL metal and top mesa ridge connectors, processed using a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice basis with oxide aperture diameters of ϕ ~10.5 m per VCSEL exhibits a record combination of continuous wave optical output power (150 mW), -3 dB small-signal modulation bandwidth (17 GHz), and wall plug efficiency (30%) at a conservative operating bias current density of 10 kA/cm2. To demonstrate the potential of the VCSEL array as an optical source for future fifth generation free-space optical communication systems we perform a data transmission test at 25 Gb/s across OM1 multiple-mode optical fiber using simple 2-level pulse amplitude modulation and pseudorandom binary patterns of word length 27-1. We achieve a bit rate of 25 Gb/s with a bit error ratio below 1 x 10-12.