Vertical cavity lasers: device advances and new applications

Central to the photonic revolution is the development of miniature light sources such as the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). VCSEL manufacturing has been established to provide inexpensive optical sources for data communication applications. Recent progress in materials and fabrication technologies has enabled a new generation of high performance VCSELs. We report recent device advances, including short (650 nm) and long (1300 nm) wavelength VCSELs, structures producing high single mode output, and hybrid integrated 2-dimensional transmitter arrays for spatial multiplexed optical interconnects.