Micromachined tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Author

Larson, Michael C. ; Sugihwo, F. ; Massengale, A.R. ; Harris, J.S., Jr.

Author_Institution

Solid State Electron. Lab., Stanford Univ., CA, USA

fYear

1996

fDate

8-11 Dec. 1996

Firstpage

405

Lastpage

408

Abstract

We report a record continuous wavelength tuning range without mode hopping of up to 2.0% in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) utilizing a monolithically-fabricated electrostatically-movable micromirror. A device with a 30 /spl mu/m square top mirror and 4 /spl mu/m diameter active region exhibits a continuous wavelength range of 19.1 nm near 960 nm for 0-18 V tuning bias, a threshold current less than 0.4 mA, and a quantum efficiency of 6.5%. Microsecond wavelength switching is also observed.

Keywords

laser mirrors; laser tuning; micromachining; surface emitting lasers; 0 to 18 V; 0.4 mA; 6.5 percent; 960 nm; continuous wavelength tuning; electrostatically-movable micromirror; micromachining; monolithic fabrication; quantum efficiency; threshold current; vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser; wavelength switching; Biomembranes; Laser modes; Laser tuning; Mirrors; Optical filters; Optical refraction; Optical tuning; Surface emitting lasers; Tunable circuits and devices; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electron Devices Meeting, 1996. IEDM '96., International

Conference_Location

San Francisco, CA, USA

ISSN

0163-1918

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3393-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEDM.1996.553613

Filename

553613