Transverse modes in oxide confined VCSELs: Influence of pump profile, spatial hole burning, and thermal effects.

We present experimental studies on the transverse mode emission behaviour of oxide-confined Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs). VCSELs with aperture diameters of 6um and 11um exhibit a wide variety of emission patterns from low order Hermite- Gaussian modes to high order Laguerre-Gaussian modes. We obtain detailed information about the spatial gain distribution by recording spontaneous emission intensity profiles during lasing operation. We conclude from these profiles, that the spatial carrier distribution is primarily governed by the in uence of pump induced current spreading and is only secondarily in uenced by further effects such as spatial hole burning, and thermal gradients in the laser. The combination of these mechanisms causes a strong tendency towards the emission of high order transverse modes.

[1]  C. Chang-Hasnain,et al.  Transverse mode characteristics of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers , 1990 .

[2]  J. P. Harbison,et al.  Dynamic, polarization, and transverse mode characteristics of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers , 1991 .

[3]  Daryoosh Vakhshoori,et al.  Top‐surface emitting lasers with 1.9 V threshold voltage and the effect of spatial hole burning on their transverse mode operation and efficiencies , 1993 .

[4]  Robert A. Morgan,et al.  Transverse modes and patterns of electrically pumped vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers , 1994 .

[5]  Diana L. Huffaker,et al.  TRANSVERSE MODE BEHAVIOR IN NATIVE-OXIDE-DEFINED LOW THRESHOLD VERTICAL-CAVITY LASERS , 1994 .

[6]  Kent D. Choquette,et al.  Modal analysis of a small surface emitting laser with a selectively oxidized waveguide , 1995 .

[7]  W. Nakwaski.  Current spreading and series resistance of proton-implanted vertical-cavity top-surface-emitting lasers , 1995 .

[8]  Hans W. Lehmann,et al.  Mode behavior and high resolution spectra of circularly‐symmetric GaAs‐AlGaAs air‐post vertical cavity surface emitting lasers , 1996 .

[9]  Karl Joachim Ebeling,et al.  Spectrally resolved near‐field mode imaging of vertical cavity semiconductor lasers , 1996 .

[10]  John G. McInerney,et al.  Transverse-mode control of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 1996 .

[11]  Rainer Michalzik,et al.  4.8 mW singlemode oxide confined top-surface emitting vertical-cavity laser diodes , 1997 .

[12]  Karl Joachim Ebeling,et al.  Amplitude noise squeezed light from polarisation singlemode VCSEL , 1998 .

[13]  Robert P. Sarzała,et al.  Transverse modes in gain-guided vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 1998 .

[14]  Robert P. Sarzała,et al.  The spatial hole burning effect in gain-guided vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 1998 .

[15]  J. P. Woerdman,et al.  Pinning of daisy modes in optically pumped vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 1998 .

[16]  Andrew G. Glen,et al.  APPL , 2001 .