Modeling, fabrication, and characterization of large aperture two-dimensional antiguided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays

We have investigated the modal behavior of two-dimensional (up to 400 elements) active-photonic-lattice-based antiguided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays by both modeling and device characterization. A two-dimensional (2-D) model based on the effective index method has been constructed to analyze 2-D resonance and calculate array mode frequencies in rectangular geometry arrays. A more comprehensive three-dimensional bi-directional beam propagation code has also been developed to theoretically describe 2-D antiguided arrays with the VCSEL structure in the primary wave propagation direction. Gain spatial hole burning (GSHB) effects above laser threshold are applied to find conditions favorable for in-phase mode lasing and high intermodal discrimination. Three rectangular geometry array structures based on different interelement loss mechanisms have been designed and fabricated. Both far-field and spectral characterization were conducted on the devices to make detailed comparison with theoretical results. We found that introducing higher loss within the interelement region can allow the in-phase mode to exhibit the lowest threshold gain for a wide range of interelement widths around the in-phase resonance condition. A detailed spectral study of 5/spl times/5 arrays with the highest interelement loss design has demonstrated suppression of competing guided array modes and higher order leaky array modes at drive currents up to 10 times threshold.

[1]  S. Noda,et al.  Polarization Mode Control of Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Laser by Unit Cell Structure Design , 2001, Science.

[2]  Active-cavity vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser eigenmodes with simple analytic representation , 2001 .

[3]  K. Iga,et al.  GaInAsP/InP Surface Emitting Injection Lasers , 1979 .

[4]  Yong-Hee Lee,et al.  Single-fundamental-mode photonic-crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 2002 .

[5]  D. V. Vysotsky,et al.  Modeling of and Experimentation on Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Arrays , 2004 .

[6]  Mial E. Warren,et al.  On-axis far-field emission from two-dimensional phase-locked vertical cavity surface-emitting laser arrays with an integrated phase-corrector , 1992 .

[7]  Comprehensive above-threshold analysis of antiguided diode laser arrays , 1995 .

[8]  J. P. Harbison,et al.  Large two‐dimensional arrays of phase‐locked vertical cavity surface emitting lasers , 1992 .

[9]  John E. Bowers,et al.  Modal reflection of quarter-wave mirrors in vertical-cavity lasers , 1993 .

[10]  Hans Zappe,et al.  Continuous-Wave Operation of Phase-Coupled Vertical - Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser Arrays , 2000 .

[11]  L. Mawst,et al.  Simplified-antiresonant reflecting optical waveguide-type vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 2000 .

[12]  G. R. Hadley,et al.  Two-element phased array of antiguided vertical-cavity lasers , 1999 .

[13]  G. R. Hadley,et al.  Effective index model for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. , 1995, Optics letters.

[14]  Dan Botez,et al.  Phase-locked arrays of antiguides: model content and discrimination , 1990 .

[15]  E. Yablonovitch,et al.  Inhibited spontaneous emission in solid-state physics and electronics. , 1987, Physical review letters.

[16]  Kent D. Choquette,et al.  Two-dimensional photonic crystal confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 2003 .

[17]  M Orenstein,et al.  Light flowers from coherent vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays. , 2002, Optics letters.

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

[19]  T. Holcomb,et al.  Bloch‐function analysis of resonant arrays of antiguided diode lasers , 1992 .

[20]  D. M. Kuchta,et al.  Spatial hole burning and self‐focusing in vertical‐cavity surface‐emitting laser diodes , 1994 .

[21]  J. P. Harbison,et al.  Two‐dimensional phase‐locked arrays of vertical‐cavity semiconductor lasers by mirror reflectivity modulation , 1991 .

[22]  M. Kicherer,et al.  Improving single-mode VCSEL performance by introducing a long monolithic cavity , 2000, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[23]  Dan Botez,et al.  Coupled-mode analysis of phase-locked injection laser arrays , 1984 .

[24]  Kent D. Choquette,et al.  Modal frequencies of vertical-cavity lasers determined by an effective-index model , 2000 .

[25]  John,et al.  Strong localization of photons in certain disordered dielectric superlattices. , 1987, Physical review letters.

[26]  E Kapon,et al.  Supermode analysis of phase-locked arrays of semiconductor lasers. , 1984, Optics letters.

[27]  L. Mawst,et al.  Modal properties of two-dimensional antiguided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays , 2002 .

[28]  H Opower,et al.  Power-scalable system of phase-locked single-mode diode lasers. , 1999, Applied optics.

[29]  Marlin W. Focht,et al.  High‐power coherently coupled 8×8 vertical cavity surface emitting laser array , 1992 .

[30]  Eli Kapon,et al.  MODAL EXPANSION ANALYSIS OF STRAINED PHOTONIC LATTICES BASED ON VERTICAL CAVITY SURFACE EMITTING LASER ARRAYS , 1999 .

[31]  Mial E. Warren,et al.  Coherent beams from high efficiency two‐dimensional surface‐emitting semiconductor laser arrays , 1991 .

[32]  Delai Zhou,et al.  Two-dimensional phase-locked antiguided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays , 2000 .

[33]  Nikolay N. Elkin,et al.  Near-diffraction-limited coherent emission from large aperture antiguided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays , 2004 .

[34]  Dan Botez,et al.  Watt‐range, coherent, uniphase powers from phase‐locked arrays of antiguided diode lasers , 1991 .

[35]  G. R. Hadley,et al.  Modes of a two-dimensional phase-locked array of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. , 1990, Optics letters.

[36]  Pierluigi Debernardi,et al.  Features of vectorial modes in phase-coupled VCSEL arrays: experiments and theory , 2003 .

[37]  K. Kojima,et al.  Optical characteristics of two-dimensional coherently coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays. , 1993, Optics letters.

[38]  Kent D. Choquette,et al.  High single-mode power observed from a coupled-resonator vertical-cavity laser diode , 2001 .

[39]  Anatoly P. Napartovich,et al.  Modal characteristics of 2D antiguided VCSEL arrays , 2002, SPIE OPTO.

[40]  L. Mawst,et al.  "Anti" up the aperture [antiguided VCSEL structures] , 2003, IEEE Circuits and Devices Magazine.

[41]  Dan Botez,et al.  Coupled‐mode analysis of phase‐locked injection laser arrays , 1984 .

[42]  Susumu Noda,et al.  Multidirectionally distributed feedback photonic crystal lasers , 2002 .