Signal distortion in a short wavelength vertical cavity surface-emitti
ng laser (VCSEL) is studied. The spurious free dynamic range is found
to be 104.3 dB Hz(2/3) at 102 MHz and 98 dB Hz(2/3) at 1 GHz, which ap
proaches the dynamic range of Fabry-Perot and DFB lasers, and is 20 dB
higher than previously reported for VCSELs.