Room temperature continuous-wave operation of GaInNAs long wavelength VCSELs

Vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are becoming increasingly important for short-haul optical fiber transmission systems. Given the commercial success of GaAs-based 850 nm VCSELs, dramatic enhancements in transmission bandwidth and distance can be achieved in conventional single- and multi-mode fiber by extending the emission wavelength to the 1300 nm-1550 nm range. GaInNAs is a promising active layer material grown on GaAs that can achieve 1300 nm emission (Kondow et al., 1997), and electrically pulsed broad-area GaInNAs VCSELs (Larson et al., 1998; Coldren et al., 2000) have been realized. Here, we take advantage of the properties of GaAs-based materials-thermally-conductive high contrast mirrors and AlAs-oxide current apertures-to demonstrate for the first time low-threshold (/spl sim/1 mA) GaInNAs VCSELs emitting at a wavelength of 1200 nm under continuous-wave (CW) room temperature operation.