MEASUREMENT OF SPONTANEOUS EMISSION FACTOR FOR VERTICAL-CAVITY SURFACE-EMITTING SEMICONDUCTOR-LASERS

Using a method based on measurement of modulation frequency harmonics, we have determined experimentally the spontaneous emission factors of vertical cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers with square win dows of widths 10, 15, and 30 mu m. The values obtained are of the ord er 10(-4) and scale as the reciprocal of the window width. We have als o assessed the reliability and accuracy of the modulation frequency ha rmonic measurement technique by comparison with the prior technique ba sed on curve fitting to the light-current characteristic.