A surface emitting laser has been developed for use in a multimode opt
ical fiber data link. The laser can operate in a high-order spatial mo
de, resulting in a spectral width as wide as one nanometer and a relat
ive intensity noise (RIN) lower than -125 dB/Hz in a multimode fiber s
ystem. Electrical and optical characteristics of the surface emitting
laser and the epitaxial growth methods are discussed.