ELECTROMAGNETIC CHARACTERIZATION OF VERTICAL-CAVITY SURFACE-EMITTING LASERS BASED ON A VECTORIAL EIGENMODE CALCULATION

A complete theoretical approach to the electromagnetic properties of v ertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) is presented. The solu tion of the 3D vector Maxwell equations is obtained by means of a gene ralized vectorial transform matrix. Results for the characterization o f laser modes include modal frequencies, cavity losses, and eigenmode light-field vector patterns. As an example, modal properties of air-po st index-guided VCSELs are analyzed for various cavity design paramete rs. Scattering losses due to modal mismatch at cavity interfaces are f ound to be small and, hence, would not overcompensate potential cavity design improvements based on increased relative index steps. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.