Microscopic opto-electro-thermal VCSEL device simulation

Optical modes of microcavities are determined by solving Maxwell´s vectorial wave equation subject to an open boundary taking radiation, diffraction effects, optical gain and absorption into account. Using a continuation scheme the optical problem is solved together with the electro-thermal device equations in a self-consistent fashion. The model is suitable for the analysis of a wide range of VCSEL device types with realistic device structures and sizes. Simulation results are compared to measurements for a multimode device. The practical use of the simulator as a computer aided design tool is demonstrated.