Demonstration of piezoelectric actuated GaAs-based MEMS tunable VCSEL

Abstract

We report the first experimental demonstration of a novel piezoelectric actuated microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). A large physical deflection was obtained with the piezoelectric actuated MEMS cantilever beam monolithically integrated with the VCSEL distributed Bragg reflector. Single-mode emission and continuous tuning were achieved at room temperature under continuous-wave operation.