A historical perspective of the development of the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is emerging as a key element for next-generation information processing systems and technologies. This laser has the ease of manufacture of the light-emitting diode and the versatility of the conventional edge-emitting laser for high-speed interconnect applications in communication networks. Its size, manufacturability, and potential ease of heterogeneous integration with electronics promise a range of applications that have yet to be explored. The paper outlines the history of the development of the surface-emitting laser and the role that fortuitous timing and the creation of an infrastructure have played in its successful development.

[1]  F.J. Leonberger,et al.  Optical interconnections for VLSI systems , 1984, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[2]  Amnon Yariv,et al.  Scaling laws and minimum threshold currents for quantum-confined semiconductor lasers , 1988 .

[3]  N. Hatori,et al.  A low-threshold polarization-controlled vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser grown on GaAs (311)B substrate , 1998, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[4]  L. Coldren,et al.  Efficient, narrow-linewidth distributed-Bragg-reflector surface-emitting laser with periodic gain , 1989, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[5]  Larry A. Coldren,et al.  Low threshold, high power, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 1991 .

[6]  D. Deppe,et al.  Native-Oxide Defined Ring Contact for Low Threshold Vertical-Cavity Lasers , 1994 .

[7]  A. R. Sugg,et al.  Hydrolyzation oxidation of AlxGa1−xAs‐AlAs‐GaAs quantum well heterostructures and superlattices , 1990 .

[8]  L. Coldren,et al.  Electrically tunable Fabry–Perot mirror using multiple quantum well index modulation , 1988 .

[9]  Larry A. Coldren,et al.  Submilliamp threshold vertical‐cavity laser diodes , 1990 .

[10]  D. Miller,et al.  Optical bistability in semiconductors , 1981 .

[11]  J. L. Jewell,et al.  GaAs-AlAs Monolithic Microresonator Arrays , 1987, Other Conferences.

[12]  Harvard Scott Hinton,et al.  An ATM-based intelligent optical backplane using CMOS-SEED smart pixel arrays and free-space optical interconnect modules , 1996 .

[13]  L. Coldren,et al.  Low threshold planarized vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 1990, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[14]  H. Uenohara,et al.  An 850-nm InAlGaAs strained quantum-well vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser grown on GaAs (311)B substrate with high-polarization stability , 2000, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[15]  I. Melngailis.  LONGITUDINAL INJECTION‐PLASMA LASER OF InSb , 1965 .

[16]  Jack L. Jewell,et al.  Room-Temperature Continuous-Wave Vertical-Cavity Single-Quantum-Well Microlaser Diodes , 1989 .

[17]  William H. Steier,et al.  Wide-bandwidth distributed Bragg reflectors using oxide/GaAs multilayers , 1994 .

[18]  R. Henderson,et al.  Strain and crystallographic orientation effects on interband optical matrix elements and band gaps of [11l ]‐oriented III‐V epilayers , 1995 .

[19]  J. P. Harbison,et al.  Low threshold electrically pumped vertical cavity surface emitting microlasers , 1989, Annual Meeting Optical Society of America.

[20]  A. Gossard,et al.  GaAs-AlAs monolithic microresonater arrays , 1987 .

[21]  V. Dneprovskii,et al.  Optical bistability in semiconductors , 1985 .

[22]  Yong-Hee Lee,et al.  Vertical Cavity Single-Quantum-Well Laser , 1989, Photonic Switching.

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

[24]  L. Coldren,et al.  InGaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers , 1991 .

[25]  Axel Scherer,et al.  Lasing characteristics of GaAs microresonators , 1989 .

[26]  K. Iga,et al.  GaInAsP/InP surface emitting laser (λ = 1.4 μm, 77 K) with heteromultilayer Bragg reflector , 1985 .

[27]  Y. Okabe,et al.  Bridge type Josephson junctions as high speed digital devices , 1984 .

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

[29]  Kenichi Iga,et al.  Room‐temperature pulsed oscillation of GaAlAs/GaAs surface emitting injection laser , 1984 .

[30]  E. Towe,et al.  Polarization control of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers through use of an anisotropic gain distribution in [110]-oriented strained quantum-well structures , 1995 .