Design of a top spatial filter Bragg waveguide vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

We propose a new method for transverse-mode control in vertical-cavity surf ace-emitting lasers based on the idea of a Bragg waveguide. This method inv olves patterning concentric annuli into the top Bragg reflector of a vertic al-cavity surface-emitting laser, inducing a cylindrical Bragg waveguide ac ross the laser cavity. We use the effective-index approximation to evaluate the waveguiding effect of patterning the top Bragg reflector. A waveguide model has been developed to design the ideal Bragg waveguide for a specifie d HE11 mode. The model also calculates the field and power distributions an d the optical confinement for the given mode. (C) 1999 Optical Society of A merica [S0740-3224(99)00811-5].