Postgrowth tuning of semiconductor vertical cavities for multiple-wavelength laser arrays

Author

Fiore, A. ; Akulova, Y.A. ; Ko, J. ; Hegblom, E.R. ; Coldren, Larry A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., California Univ., Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Volume

35

Issue

4

fYear

1999

fDate

4/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

616

Lastpage

623

Abstract

Combined lateral-vertical oxidation of AlGaAs is investigated as a means of tuning the resonant wavelength of a semiconductor microcavity after the epitaxial growth. It is shown that this technique can provide arrays with a wavelength spread equal to the cavity´s free spectral range with a single postgrowth processing step. Design issues for multiple-wavelength vertical-cavity laser arrays using this postgrowth tuning technique are discussed, comparing the performance of devices with all-semiconductor and partially or totally oxidized Bragg mirrors. Experimental results are presented on arrays with a 48-nm lasing span around 970 nm, using partially and totally oxidized mirrors

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; distributed Bragg reflector lasers; gallium arsenide; laser tuning; microcavity lasers; oxidation; semiconductor laser arrays; surface emitting lasers; 970 nm; AlGaAs; Bragg mirror; VCSEL; epitaxial growth; lateral-vertical oxidation; multiple-wavelength vertical-cavity laser array; postgrowth tuning; resonant wavelength; semiconductor microcavity; Epitaxial growth; Laser tuning; Microcavities; Mirrors; Optical arrays; Optical design; Oxidation; Resonance; Semiconductor laser arrays; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.753667

Filename

753667