High-power, high-bandwidth, high-temperature long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Access, metro-area, and storage-area network technologies are undergoing a remarkable transition from copper and cable-based to fiber-based architectures. In order for fiber-based technologies to penetrate the lucrative market termed the 'last mile,' the optoelectronic component must be simple and inexpensive to manufacture and perform well over a wide range of rack temperature. Long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers operating between 1300 nm and 1600 nm present an attractive solution for low-cost optical networks requiring un-cooled sources.; The development of long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (LW-VCSELs) capable of transmitting at 10 Gbit/s has been met with significant challenges in the last decade due primarily to low quality Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBR) in the InP material system and large performance degradation at high temperature due to low gain active regions and carrier leakage out of the active region. Recent advances by several groups demonstrate an evolving maturity in the field, but a significant obstacle remains---high performance single mode device operation at high temperatures over the entire O-band (1260-1360 nm).; This thesis presents design principles intended to optimize the high temperature characteristics of a LW-VCSEL structure and demonstrates the state-of-the-art high temperature performance results for LW-VCSELs operating above 1300nm. By incorporating a tunnel junction current aperture with GaAs-based DBRs, we minimize the thermal impedance and optical loss in our devices and provide ourselves with a solid foundation by which to design for maximum performance at high temperature. We theoretically also analyze the effect of the room temperature gain peak-cavity mode offset on output power, thermal roll-over, threshold current and differential gain in order to maximize the relaxation resonance frequency of our devices at high ambient temperatures.; Fabricated devices demonstrate greater than 2 mW single mode output power at 20°C, 1.5 mW single mode output power at 70°C, 10 GHz 3-dB bandwidth at 20°C, 6 GHz 3-dB bandwidth at 70°C, and a maximum relaxation resonance peak of 8 GHz at 70°C by incorporating a single wafer-bonded GaAs/A1GaAs DBR, a AlInGaAs MQW active region, an InP/AlInAs TJ current aperture, and a TiO2/SiO2 output coupler.