ENHANCED PERFORMANCE OF OFFSET-GAIN HIGH-BARRIER VERTICAL-CAVITY SURFACE-EMITTING LASERS

The temperature dependence and power output of vertical-cavity surface -emitting lasers (VCSEL's) are of great importance when considering th ese devices for real applications. We have deliberately offset the pea k wavelength of the quantum well from the wavelength of the device cav ity mode so that they are aligned at elevated temperatures. The result of this design change is to produce an 8 mum diameter VCSEL capable o f operation to 145-degrees-C, as well as CW operation of broad area (7 0 mum diameter) heat-sunk devices to record power levels. Fiber coupli ng experiments were also carried out, and a record 33 mW CW power was coupled to a multimode fiber.