Antiguided vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

Novel single-mode VCSEL designs based on antiguided structures are discussed. Modal characteristics of single-element, 8-12 mum-dia, ARROW-type VCSELs and two-dimensional phase-locked arrays (4x4 elements) of antiguided VCSELs are studied. ARROW-type VCSELs exhibit low loss for the fundamental mode and strong high-order mode suppression as a result of edge radiation leakage. Preliminary results are 1mW single-mode (thermally limited) from 12 mum-dia devices. Two-dimensional arrays of antiguided VCSELs are shown to exhibit resonant coupling if the interelement spacing corresponds to an integer number of half-waves of the lateral radiation leakage. Single-mode emission with all array elements locked "in-phase" is demonstrated for the first time from a monolithic 2-D array of VCSELs. Large phase-locked arrays have potential for > 100mW of single-mode output power with further optimization and efficient heatsinking.