Bistable operation of a coupled-resonator vertical-cavity laser diode

Summary form only given. Coupled-resonator vertical-cavity lasers have shown a variety of interesting behavior including dual wavelength operation, picosecond pulse generation, and coupled-cavity modulation. Previous coupled-cavity structures with two active cavities have had current injection into only one cavity. We believe we have fabricated the first active-active coupled-resonator vertical-cavity laser with independent current injection into either active region. We have observed bistable operation in these devices and demonstrate that this behavior can be used as a very efficient switch to modulate the laser intensity. The devices presented in this summary will enable simple and efficient data encoding for future generations of high speed optical data links.