1.3-(mu)m GaInNAs surface-normal devices

The compatibility of GaInNAs/GaAs active regions with AlGaAs Bragg mirror technology opens up a range of surfacenormal device formats for the spectral region around 1.3 (mu)m. The authors report recent progress on the development of diode-pumped vertical external-cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) and vertical cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers (VCSOAs) based on this technology. Pertinent performance characteristics are reported for GaInNAs 1.3-(mu)m VECSELs capillary-bonded to diamond heatspreader platelets. In a conventional three-mirror air-spaced laser cavity up to 0.6 W of TEM/sub 00/ output power was obtained. With the outer surface of the diamond platelet coated to form a dielectric output coupler mirror, it was possible to obtain the first monolithic microchip operation of a GaInNAs VECSEL, where a Gaussian beam with output power up to 120 mW was obtained. The influence of temperature on the performance of a six-quantum-well VCSOA with on-chip gain values of up to 16 dB was also reported. It reveals that on-chip gain of 9 dB can be achieved over a range of 85(degree)C, allowing the amplifier characteristics to be tuned over more than 9.5 nm. Further investigations of the influence of optical feedback on the performance of these vertical amplifiers demonstrate that a three-mirror analysis explains the observed phenomena.