Polarization switching and synchronization of mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers

Polarization switching （PS） dynamics and synchronization performances of two mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers （VCSELs） are studied theoretically in this paper. A group of dimensionless rate equations is derived to describe our model. While analysing the PS characteristics, we focus on the effects of coupling rate and frequency detuning regarding different mutual injection types. The results indicate that the x-mode injection defers the occurrence of PS, while the y-mode injection leads the PS to occur at a lower current. Strong enough polarization-selective injection can suppress the PS. Moreover, if frequency detuning is considered, the effects of polarization-selective mutual injection will be weakened. To evaluate the synchronization performance, the correlation coefficients and output dynamics of VCSELs with both pure mode and mixed mode polarizations are given. It is found that performance of complete synchronization is sensitive to the frequency mismatch but it is little affected by mixed mode polarizations, which is opposite to the case of injection-locking synchronization.

Micromechanical tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We report the study on a short wavelength-tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser utilizing a monolithically integrated bridge tuning microelectromechanical system. A deformable-bridge top mirror suspended above an active region is utilized. Applied bridge-substrate bias produces an electrostatic force which reduces the spacing of air-gap and tunes the resonant wavelength toward a shorter wavelength （blue-shift）, Good laser characteristics are obtained： such as continuous tuning ranges over 11 nm near 940 nm for 0-9 V tuning bias, the peak output power near 1 mW and the full-width-half-maximum limited to approximately 3.2-6.8 rim. A detailed simulation of the micromechanical and optical characteristics of these devices is performed, and the ratio of bridge displacement to wavelength shift has been found to be 3：1.

Investigation of the mode splitting induced by electro-optic birefringence in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser by polarized electroluminescence

The mode splitting induced by electro-optic birefringence in a P-I-N InGaAs/GaAs/A1GaAs vertical-cavity surface- emitting laser （VCSEL） has been studied by polarized electroluminescence （EL） at room temperature. The polarized EL spectra with E｜｜[110] and E ｜｜ [150] directions, are extracted for different injected currents. The mode splitting of the two orthogonal polarized modes for a VCSEL device is determined, and its value increases linearly with the increasing injected current due to electro-optic birefringence; This article demonstrates that the polarized EL is a powerful tool to study the mode splitting and polarization anisotropy of a VCSEL device.

Power dissipation in oxide-confined 980-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We presented 980-nm oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers （VCSELs） with a 16 -um oxide aperture. Optical power, voltage, and emission wavelength are measured in an ambient temperature range of 5 ℃-80 ℃. Measurements combined with an empirical model are used to analyse the power dissipation in the device and the physical mechanism contributing to the thermal rollover phenomenon in VCSEL. It is found that the carrier leakage induced selfheating in the active region and the Joule heating caused by the series resistance are the main sources of power dissipation. In addition, carrier leakage induced self-heating increases as the injection current increases, resulting in a rapid decrease of the internal quantum efficiency, which is a dominant contribution to the thermal rollover of the VCSEL at a larger current. Our study provides useful guidelines to design a 980-nm oxide-confined VCSEL for thermal performance enhancement.

Polarization-Stable 980 nm Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers with Diamond-Shaped Oxide Aperture

Polarization-stable 980 nm oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with 3 μm diamond-shaped aper- ture are fabricated by comprehensively utilizing the anisotropic properties of wet etching and wet nitrogen oxida- tion of Ⅲ-Ⅴ semiconductor materials. Polarization-stable operation along the major axis of the diamond-shaped oxide aperture with 11 dB orthogonal polarization suppression ratio is achieved in a temperature range of 15-55℃ from the threshold to 4 mA.

The improved output performance of a broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with an optimized electrode diameter

The output performance of a 980-nm broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser （VCSEL） is improved by optimizing the p-electrode diameter in this study. Based on a three-dimensional finite-element method, the current density distribution within the active region of the VCSEL is optimized through the appropriate adjustment of the p-electrode diameter, and uniform current-density distribution is achieved. Then, the effects of this optimization are studied experimentally. The L-I-V characteristics under different temperatures of the VCSELs with different p-electrode diameters are investigated, and better temperature stability is demonstrated in the VCSEL with an optimized p-electrode diameter. The far-field measurements show that with an injected current of 2 A, the far-field divergence angle of the VCSEL with an optimized p-electrode diameter is 9°, which is much lower than the far-field angle of the VCSEL without this optimization. Also the VCSEL with an optimized p-electrode diameter shows a better near-field distribution.

A low-threshold and high-power oxide-confined 850-nm AlInGaAs strained quantum-well vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

A low-threshold and high-power oxide-confined 850-nm AlInGaAs strained quantum-well （QW） vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser （VCSEL） based on an intra-cavity contacted structure is fabricated. A threshold current of 1.5 mA for a 22 μm oxide aperture device is achieved, which corresponds to a threshold current density of 0.395 kA/cm2. The peak output optical power reaches 17.5 mW at an injection current of 30 mA at room temperature under pulsed opera- tion. While under continuous-wave （CW） operation, the maximum power attains 10.5 mW. Such a device demonstrates a high characteristic temperature of 327 K within a temperature range from -12°C to 96 °C and good reliability under a lifetime test. There is almost no decrease of the optical power when the device operates at a current of 5 mA at room temperature under the CW injection current.

Graded index profiles and loss-induced single-mode characteristics in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with petal-shape holey structure

The 850-nm oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with petal-shape holey structures are presented. An area-weighted average refractive index model is given to analyse their effective index profiles, and the graded index distribution in the holey region is demonstrated. The index step between the optical aperture and the holey region is obtained which is related merely to the etching depth. Four types of holey vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with different parameters are fabricated as well as the conventional oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. Compared with the conventional oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser without etched holes, the holey vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser possesses an improved beam quality due to its graded index distribution, but has a lower output power, higher threshold current and lower slope efficiency. With the hole number increased, the holey vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser can realize the single-mode operation throughout the entire current range, and reduces the beam divergence further. The loss mechanism is used to explain the single-mode characteristic, and the reduced beam divergence is attributed to the shallow etching. High coupling efficiency of 86% to a multi-mode fibre is achieved for the single-mode device in the experiment.

Analytical modelling of end thermal coupling in a solid-state laser longitudinally bonded by a vertical-cavity top-emitting laser diode

The intrinsic features involving a circularly symmetric beam profile with low divergence, planar geometry as well as the increasingly enhanced power of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers （VCSELs） have made the VCSEL a promising pump source in direct end bonding to a solid-state laser medium to form the minimized, on-wafer integrated laser system. This scheme will generate a surface contact pump configuration and thus additional end thermal coupling to the laser medium through the joint interface of both materials, apart from pump beam heating. This paper analytically models temperature distributions in both VCSEL and the laser medium from the end thermal coupling regarding surface contact pump configuration using a top-emitting VCSEL as the pump source for the first time. The analytical solutions are derived by introducing relative temperature and mean temperature expressions. The results show that the end contact heating by the VCSEL could lead to considerable temperature variations associated with thermal phase shift and thermal lensing in the laser medium. However, if the central temperature of the interface is increased by less than 20 K, the end contact heating does not have a significant thermal influence on the laser medium. In this case, the thermal effect should be dominated by pump beam heating. This work provides useful analytical results for further analysis of hybrid thermal effects on those lasers pumped by a direct VCSEL bond.

Quantum dot vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers covering the ‘green gap’

Semiconductor vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers(VCSELs)with wavelengths from 491.8 to 565.7 nm,covering most of the‘green gap’,are demonstrated.For these lasers,the same quantum dot(QD)active region was used,whereas the wavelength was controlled by adjusting the cavity length,which is difficult for edge-emitting lasers.Compared with reports in the literature for green VCSELs,our lasers have set a few world records for the lowest threshold,longest wavelength and continuous-wave(CW)lasing at room temperature.The nanoscale QDs contribute dominantly to the low threshold.The emitting wavelength depends on the electron–photon interaction or the coupling between the active layer and the optical field,which is modulated by the cavity length.The green VCSELs exhibit a low-thermal resistance of 915 kW^(−1),which benefits the CW lasing.Such VCSELs are important for small-size,low power consumption full-color displays and projectors.

Time-delay signature concealment of polarizationresolved chaos outputs in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with variable-polarization filtered optical feedback

Through employing permutation entropy and the self-correlation function, the time-delay signature （TDS） of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser （VCSEL） with variable-polarization filtered optical feedback （VPFOF） is evaluated theoretically. The work shows that the feedback rate η, polarizer angle Op, and filter bandwidth A have an obvious influence on the TDS. The evolution maps of the TDS in parameter space （η, A） and （ηθp） are simulated for searching the chaos with weak TDS. Furthermore, compared with a VCSEL with polarization-preserved filtered optical feedback and a VCSEL with variable-polarization mirror optical feedback, this VPFOF-VCSEL shows superiority in TDS suppression.

Light-current characteristics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with external optical feedback

The influence of external optical feedback （OFB） on the light-current characteristics of the vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers （VCSELs） was investigated theoretically and experimentally. By calculating the OFB sensitivity parameter, the OFB sensibility of the VCSELs was compared with the edge emitting lasers. Based on the compound cavity theory, the light-current characteristic parameters of the VCSELs with external OFB, such as the threshold current and the slope efficiency, were calculated. The experimental results indicated that the threshold current of the VCSELs with different DBR refleetivities decreased to different degrees, accompanied with a decrease of slope efficiency when under 10% feedback ratio of the external OFB, which is in good agreement with the theoretical calculation.

Stable anticipation synchronization in mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers system

Two vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers（VCSELs） are mutually coupled through a partially transparent mirror （PTM） placed in the pathway. The PTM plays the role of external mirror, which controls the feedback strength and coupling strength. We numerically simulate this system by establishing a visible SIMULINK model. The results demonstrate that the anticipation synchronization is achieved and it can tolerate some extent frequency detuning. Moreover, the system shows similar chaos-pass filtering effect on unidireetionally coupled system even both VCSELs are modulated. This system allows simultaneously bidirectional secure message transmission on public channels.

Analysis of optical coupling behavior in twodimensional implant-defined coherently coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays

Optical coupling behavior and associated effects in two-dimensional implant-defined coherently coupled verticalcavity surface-emitting laser(VCSEL) arrays are studied via both experiments and theoretical calculations.Experiments show that optical coupling between array elements can enhance the array's output power.Additionally, optical coupling via leaky optical fields can provide extra optical gain for the array elements, which can then reduce the thresholds of these elements. Elements can even be pumped without current injection to emit light by receiving a strong leaky optical field from other array elements. Optical coupling can also cause unusual phenomena: the central elements in large-area coherently coupled VCSEL arrays that lase prior to the outer elements when the arrays are biased, or the average injection current required for each element to lase, which is much lower than the threshold for a single VCSEL. Theoretical calculations are performed to explain the experimental

Mode hopping and polarization switching of mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We perform a theoretical study on the polarization-resolved compound lasing mode （CLM） of two mutually coupled vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers （VCSELs）. Different solutions of CLMs are derived though stability analysis of the spin-flip model. The dynamical evolvements of CLMs with the existence of polarization degrees of freedom are also charactered. The most stable CLM with the smallest carrier density tend to be excited, since the gain needed for this mode to emit is the lowest. In the given system, varying values of injection rate or birefringence, etc., will change the generation of the preferred CLMs in the two polarization directions, and thus influence the polarization switching （PS） characteristics. Thus, hoppings between CLMs are also companied by PSs. Through mapping of average power in the parameter space, the influences of coupling rate and anisotropy parameters （linear dichroism and linear birefringence） on PS and hopping between CLMs are discussed.

Power-induced polarization switching and bistability characteristics in 1550-nm VCSELs subjected to orthogonal optical injection

The polarization switching（PS） and polarization bistability（PB） characteristics of a 1550-nm vertical-cavity surfaceemitting laser（VCSEL） subjected to orthogonal optical injection are systematically investigated.The simulated results show that the PS and polarization-resolved nonlinear dynamical states of the VCSEL are critically dependent on the changing paths of the injected power.The polarization dynamics for different scanning directions of the injected power is presented to explain the polarization evolution during the formation of PS.In the case of forward scanning injected power,with the increase of frequency detuning level between the VCSEL and the injected light,the injected power required for PS gradually increases for negative frequency detuning but exhibits fluctuations for positive frequency detuning.In the case of reversely scanning injected power,the injected power required for PS displays fluctuant changes within the whole frequency detuning range.Specifically,PS may disappear under certain negative frequency detuning and large bias current.Furthermore,the hysteresis width as a function of the frequency detuning is calculated,and the regions for the appearance and disappearance of PB have been determined in the parameter space of the bias current and frequency detuning.

Reconfigurable dynamic all-optical chaotic logic operations in an optically injected VCSEL

In a chaotic system of vertical cavity surface emitting laser （VCSEL） with external optical-injection, we propose a novel implementation scheme for reconfigurable dynamic all-optical chaotic logic operations （AOCLOs）. Under different key parameters, such as the bias current, the injection strength and the frequency detuning of the injected light field and the VCSEL, we also explore the evolutions of the polarization-bistability with the amplitude of the injected light field when the output of VCSEL is chaotic wave. According to the dynamic evolutions, we find out the optimal value of the frequency detuning that is considered as a control logic signal, and further implement different AOCLOs, such as AND, NAND, OR, NOR, XOR, and XNOR, by controlling the logic operation of the control logic signal between two logic inputs. Moreover, the ability to reconstruct these logic operations is demonstrated under relatively low noise strength of the spontaneous emission.

Characteristics of selective oxidation during the fabrication of vertical cavity surface emitting laser

Taking into account oxidation temperature, N2 carrier gas flow, and the geometry of the mesa structures this paper investigates the characteristics of selective oxidation during the fabrication of the vertical cavity surface emitting laser （VCSEL） in detail. Results show that the selective oxidation follows a law which differs from any reported in the literature. Below 435℃ selective oxidation of Al0.98Ga0.02As follows a linear growth law for the two mesa structures employed in VCSEL. Above 435℃ approximately increasing parabolic growth is found, which is influenced by the geometry of the mesa structures. Theoretical analysis on the difference between the two structures for the initial oxidation has been performed, which demonstrates that the geometry of the mesa structures does influence on the growth rate of oxide at higher temperatures.

Optimal oxide-aperture for improving the power conversion efficiency of VCSEL arrays

The maximum power conversion efficiencies of the top-emitting,oxide-confined,two-dimensional integrated 2×2 and4×4 vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser（VCSEL） arrays with the oxide-apertures of 6 μm,16 μm,19 μm,26 μm,29 μm,36 μm,39 μm,and 46 urn are fabricated and characterized,respectively.The maximum power conversion efficiencies increase rapidly with the augment of oxide-aperture at the beginning and then decrease slowly.A maximum value of27.91%at an oxide-aperture of 18.6 μm is achieved by simulation.The experimental data are well consistent with the simulation results,which are analyzed by utilizing an empirical model.

An Economic Phase-Mdulation to Intensity-Modulation Converter

A novel phase-modulation to intensity-modulation (PM-to-IM) converter is proposed and experimentally demonstrated basing on a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). Comparing with the published schemes, in which the employed DI, FBG, OBPF or dispersion devices can only process a certain phase-modulated RF signal, the proposed scheme can achieve the conversion process in an economic and resourceful manner. To be the first one of achieving such PM-to-IM conversion process by a VCSEL, the feasibility of the proposal is experimentally demonstrated with an open eye diagram when it is employed to convert phase-modulated RF signal.