CONTINUOUSLY TUNABLE MICRO-ELECTROMECHANICAL VERTICAL-CAVITY SURFACE-EMITTING LASERS

Continuous wavelength tuning is achieved micro-electromechanically in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. The device utilizes a monoli thic micromachined deformable-membrane top mirror suspended by an air gap above a p-i-n diode quantum well active region and bottom mirror. Applied membrane voltage bias produces an electrostatic force which re duces the air gap thickness and therefore tunes the lasing wavelength. Coupled-cavity effects play an important role in the device character istics, and the wavelength range is significantly larger than that of conventional diode lasers that rely on refractive index effects for tu ning.