Room-temperature continuous-wave vertical-cavity surface-emitting GaAs injection lasers

Abstract

Room-temperature continuous-wave oscillation with an emission power in excess of 1 mW was achieved in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers containing a 0.5-μm-thick GaAs active layer sandwiched between a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and a hybrid metal DBR. The devices have a cw threshold current of 40 mA in 15-μm-diam size and a T0 of 115 K. Fiber butt coupling and pseudorandom data modulation of these lasers with open eyes up to 500 Mbit/s were demonstrated.