Performance and reliability of oxide confined VCSELs

Abstract

We discuss the performance and reliability of oxide confined VCSELs optimized for datacom applications. The dcvices are employed in thc Siemens PAROLITM [ I ] high performance parallel optical link. This optical link provides 12 parallel channels with a total bandwidth exceeding 12GbiUs. The VCSEL threshold current is approximately 3mA. The thi-eshold current variation within the array is less than 50pA.The electrical series resistance is about Son. The emission wavelength of appro.rtimately XS0nm matches the specification of common standards like the HIPPI 6400. Life times of the oxide confined VCSELs are several million hours under normal operating conditions. The life time for an array drops compared tu a single device, but is still larger than 1 million Ihours. The devices exhibit Sood stability under cnvironmental stress conditions such as temperature cycling and damp heat storage.

Reliability and failure mechanisms of oxide VCSELs in non-hermetic enviroments

“…The Bellcore standards require >1000 hours without failure in 85/85 testing. A few researchers and manufacturers have reported the results of storage 85/85 testing without a bias [6] [7] although there was also a report including results from biased 85/85 testing [8]. It was believed that storage 85/85 testing was harsher than biased 85/85 testing since self-heating in the diode junction due to the bias current would increase the temperature and reduce the humidity in the vicinity of the VCSEL.…”