Polarization of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) grown on (
001) GaAs substrate has been controlled by electro-optic birefringence. Bir
efringence was induced at the top distributed Bragg reflector by applying a
n electric field along the [001] direction. The cavity resonance of the pol
arized light along the [110] or [1 (1) over bar 0] direction shifted to sho
rter and longer wavelength, depending on the direction of the applied elect
ric field. By varying the direction and strength of the electric field, we
actively controlled the polarization of VCSELs. The dominant polarization m
ode occurred along the [110] direction for the negative electric field, and
along the [1 (1) over bar 0] direction for the positive electric field. (C
) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)04207-8].