A Novel Birefringent Distributed Bragg Reflector Using a Metal/Dielectric Polarizer for Polarization Control of Surface-Emitting Lasers

We propose a novel polarization control structure in vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers using a birefringent metal/dielectric polarizer terminating a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). Polarization-dependent reflectivity at the resonant wavelength is theoretically predicted by adjusting the phase condition in the DBR. An experimental result shows a reflectivity difference for two polarization states. The possibility of polarization control as well as polarization switching is suggested.