Open AccessVCSEL Technology in the Data Communication Industry
Author(s) -
Pozo Jose,
Beletkaia Elena
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
photonicsviews
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2626-1308
pISSN - 2626-1294
DOI - 10.1002/phvs.201970607
Subject(s) - vertical cavity surface emitting laser , laser , materials science , optoelectronics , semiconductor laser theory , optics , resonator , reflector (photography) , perpendicular , wavelength , laser power scaling , diode , laser diode , tunable laser , distributed bragg reflector laser , distributed feedback laser , physics , light source , geometry , mathematics
A VCSEL – vertical‐cavity surface‐emitting laser – is a semiconductor laser diode with a monolithic laser resonator where the laser beam emission leaves the device in a direction perpendicular to the chip surface. VCSELs combine the high power density and simple packaging of an IRED with the spectral width and speed of a laser. Unlike laser diodes, VCSELs are much less sensitive to temperature fluctuations. The short resonator easily enables single‐frequency operation combined with some wavelength tunability. The wavelength of VCSELs may be tuned, within the gain band of the active region, by adjusting the thickness of the reflector layers.