Micromachined Semiconductor Vertical Cavity for Temperature Insensitive Surface Emitting Lasers and Optical Filters

Abstract

We propose a micromachined vertical cavity resonator enabling temperature insensitive operation for surface emitting lasers or optical add/drop filters. The strain-induced displacement from differential thermal expansion is used to compensate the wavelength shift caused by temperature variation. Also, a wavelength-trimming technology using the same principle with precise strain control is suggested. The possibility of a drastic reduction in the temperature sensitivity of wavelengths, as well as precise wavelength adjustment, is presented. We fabricated a micromachined vertical cavity filter with a GaAlAs/GaAs multilayer reflector, which is mechanically tuned by differential thermal expansion. We observed a large negative temperature coefficient of the resonant wavelength. It is demonstrated that its temperature dependence can be widely controlled by the proposed concept. The possibility of temperature-insensitive operation is discussed.

Characteristics and Reliability of 10 Gbps/Channel 1 ×10 Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser Array of 850 nm Wavelength

“…As a light source for this purpose, the verticalcavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is very promising owing to its low power consumption, circular beam profile, two-dimensional array fabrication, and wafer-level testing for mass production. 4) Recently, the long-wavelength (1.3 and 1.55 mm) VCSEL on GaAs and InP substrates [5][6][7][8][9][10] as a light source for data communications, the visible VCSEL on sapphire 11) as a light source for optical data storage, and other applications of VCSELs [12][13][14][15] have been studied in many laboratories. The 670-, 780-, 850-, and 980-nmwavelength VCSELs are commercially available as key devices for data communications, high-resolution laser printers, laser mouse devices, and sensors.…”