Experimental demonstration of oxide-mode influence in a dual-purpose oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser/resonant detector

Abstract

We report on design, fabrication, and characterization of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) used as a resonant-cavity-enhanced detector for dual-purpose application. The geometry of this oxide-confined VCSEL takes advantage of the properties of the buried oxide layer to allow both single-mode laser emission and detection on a large surface. Here, we demonstrate the presence and the influence of oxide modes in the optical sensitivity spectrum of the device through spatially localized detection measurements. The wavelength of these modes has been correlated to the dip on the reflectivity spectrum measured at the same area of the device surface.

Real-timein situmonitoring of wet thermal oxidation for precise confinement in VCSELs

“…As at room temperature, the reflectivity difference, R, is found to be more important for some wavelengths (figure 1). Since R is hardly detectable around the VCSEL emitting wavelength [11], we propose to improve the sensitivity of the measurement by probing around the sidelobes for which R is most significant.…”