Title :
Structured Nanoaperture Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers
Author :
Sulkin, J.D. ; Ferreira, Pedro M. ; Choquette, Kent D.
Author_Institution :
Space Exploration Technol., Hawthorne, CA, USA
Abstract :
We report nanoscale patterning of concentric ring-shaped metal corrugations around a subwavelength aperture in Ag deposited on the top facet of a vertical cavity surface-emitting laser. The presence of the patterned rings results in more than doubling the collected far-field power and a significant reduction in far-field angular width. These plasmonic aperture lasers thus have the unique property of both a small near-field spot and a relatively low beam divergence. Finite-difference time-domain simulations are consistent with the experimental results and show that the far-field pattern is highly sensitive to misalignment of the aperture and to the presence of multiple transverse laser modes.
Keywords :
finite difference time-domain analysis; laser modes; nanophotonics; surface emitting lasers; Ag; beam divergence; collected far-field power; concentric ring-shaped metal corrugations; far-field angular width; far-field pattern; finite-difference time-domain simulations; multiple transverse laser modes; nanoscale patterning; patterned rings; plasmonic aperture lasers; structured nanoaperture vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers; subwavelength aperture; Apertures; Gratings; Metals; Optical surface waves; Plasmons; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers; Low divergence; plasmonic aperture; vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL);
Journal_Title :
Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JSTQE.2012.2231056