Experimental method for high-accuracy reflectivity-spectrum measurements

Abstract

An experimental method for accurate measurements of the reflectivity spectrum of mirrors is presented. It combines the noise reduction obtained with multiple beam reflections on two identical mirrors; high-beam quality, owing to the use of single-mode optical fibers; and high immunity against intensity variations of the beam. This method is demonstrated for characterizing a 30-period GaAs/Al(0.65)Ga(0.35)As distributed Bragg reflector designed for long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers. Its peak reflectivity is found to be 99.43 ? 0.04% at 1.562 mum, and an optical absorption coefficient of alpha = 36 ? 6 cm(-1) is derived. The peak internal reflectivity of this distributed Bragg reflector used as the top mirror in a wafer-fused vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser is calculated to be 98.87 ? 0.12%, and the transmission is 0.28%.