Highly Reliable VCSEL With Nonquarter-Wave DBR

In this letter, we propose a novel design method for distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs). Different from the traditional design, the newly proposed algorithm abandons the long-term used quarter-wave theory. Instead, the reflectivity of DBR is considered as a whole and a unique phenomenon that the optimal thickness is period-number dependent has been revealed. Owing to the superiority of the new design, we also find that a thinner p-DBR is adequate for the same reflectivity as that of traditional 1/4-λ design. Therefore, higher reliability has been predicted theoretically and measured in our home-made VCSELs due to less heat generation from the thinner DBR. Our new design scheme has been testified feasible in both laboratory experiments and industrial level tests.