Two-dimensional (2-D) active photonic lattice vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) have been extensively studied in recent years as a low-cost compact single-mode light source. To achieve single-mode emission, several different techniques have been developed. In this dissertation, we are investigating a novel approach, which is to achieve high-power single-mode emission from two-dimensional (2-D) active photonic lattice VCSELs.; The first method has been applied to excite a single traveling wave within the allowed photonic bands of the photonic lattice. In this way, spatially-coherent emission from large-aperture two-dimensional (2-D) active photonic lattice VCSELs (the antiguided VCSEL arrays) can be achieved. We demonstrate that in-phase mode operation with near-diffraction-limited beam, can be realized in large aperture (up to 200 elements) antiguided vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays. A 2-D model based on the effective index method has been constructed to analyze the 2-D resonance condition and calculate array mode frequencies in square-lattice arrays. A more comprehensive 3-D bi-directional beam propagation code has also been developed to theoretically describe 2-D antiguided arrays with the VCSEL structure in the primary wave propagation direction.; The second method has been focused on exciting a defect mode by introducing low-index defects into the two-dimensional (2-D) photonic lattices. Simulations demonstrate that this type of structure has potential for realizing single-mode operation from a relatively large emitting aperture (∼9mum), making it ideal for fiber coupling applications. A 2-D finite difference model is used to calculate the radiation loss of the modes in various low-index defect based two-dimensional photonic lattices. The simulation results are also compared to the results from a comprehensive the 3-D bi-directional beam propagation model. A device demonstrates 2.9mW CW single fundamental defect mode emission. Single mode emission with more than 8mW of peak pulsed power has been observed with short pulse width operation (0.1mus, 2%). Improvements in thermal management are required to achieve higher CW single-mode emission in these devices.