PUMP INTENSITY PROFILING OF VERTICAL-CAVITY SURFACE-EMITTING LASERS USING NEAR-FIELD SCANNING OPTICAL MICROSCOPY

We have mapped the internal pump intensity distribution of an opticall y pumped vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. Spontaneous emission from quantum wells placed throughout the distributed Bragg reflectors is correlated to the pump intensity. The emission is monitored along t he cleaved edge using the high spatial resolution and shallow depth of field provided by near-field scanning optical microscopy. Our results show a distinct buildup of optical intensity between the mirror stack s, Simulations performed using the transfer matrix method march well w ith the: experimental data. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.