In this paper we present an extensive theoretical and numerical analysis of monolithic high-index contrast grating, facilitating simple manufacture of compact mirrors for very broad spectrum of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting from ultraviolet to mid-infrared. We provide the theoretical background explaining the phenomenon of high reflectance in monolithic subwavelength gratings. In addition, by using a three-dimensional, fully vectorial optical model, verified by comparison with the experiment, we investigate the optimal parameters of high-index contrast grating enabling more than 99.99% reflectance in the diversity of photonic materials and in the broad range of wavelengths.

A comprehensive, fully self-consistent, optical-electrical-thermal gain, three-dimensional model of edge-emitting nitride diode lasers has been generalized to simulate a room temperature (RT) continuous-wave (CW) threshold operation of possible designs of a one-dimensional array of these lasers. Nitride A III N materials exhibit higher thermal conductivities than arsenide A III As ones. Nevertheless, an operation of possible nitride arrays has been surprisingly found to be more influenced by thermal interactions between their emitters than in arsenide ones. Therefore, emitters in nitride arrays should be arranged more sparsely to enable their efficient RT CW operation.

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Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) yield single-longitudinal-mode operation, low-divergence circular output beam, and low threshold current. This paper gives an overview on theoretical, self-consistent modelling of physical phenomena occurring in a VCSEL. The model has been experimentally confirmed. We present versatile numerical methods for nitride, arsenide, and phosphide VCSELs emitting light at wavelengths varying from violet to near infrared. We also discuss different designs with respect to optical confinement: gain guidance using tunnel junctions and index guidance using oxide confinement or photonic crystal and we focus on the problem of single-transverse-mode operation.