Cryogenic operation of AlGaAs-GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers at temperatures from 200 K to 6 K

Author

Goncher, G. ; Bo Lu ; Wen-Lin Luo ; Cheng, J. ; Hersee, S. ; Sun, S.Z. ; Schneider, R.P. ; Zolper, J.C.

Author_Institution

Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, OR, USA

Volume

8

Issue

3

fYear

1996

fDate

3/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

316

Lastpage

318

Abstract

We demonstrate for the first time the CW performance of AlGaAs-GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) at cryogenic temperatures from 6 K to 200 K. By detuning the cavity mode with respect to the gain peak so that optimum dc lasing operation is achieved at -100 K, we find that this optimum lasing performance can be maintained down to temperatures as low as 6 K. Across a broad range of temperatures from 200 K to 6 K, the minimum threshold current of a 16-μm diameter VCSEL stayed below 4 mA, while its -3-dB modulation bandwidth increased by about 70% to 11 GHz at 6 K, and the external slope efficiency is greater than 70%.

Keywords

III-V semiconductors; aluminium compounds; cryogenic electronics; distributed Bragg reflector lasers; gallium arsenide; laser cavity resonators; quantum well lasers; surface emitting lasers; 11 GHz; 16 mum; 4 mA; 6 to 200 K; 70 percent; AlGaAs-GaAs; AlGaAs-GaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers; CW performance; VCSEL; cavity mode detuning; cryogenic operation; external slope efficiency; gain peak; minimum threshold current; modulation bandwidth; optimum dc lasing operation; optimum lasing performance; Cryogenics; Distributed Bragg reflectors; High speed optical techniques; Laser modes; Performance gain; Surface emitting lasers; Temperature dependence; Temperature distribution; Threshold current; Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.481102

Filename

481102