Cavity modes of dielectric microspheres and vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, in spite of their high Q, are never exactly bound, but have a finite width due to leakage at the borders. We propose types of microstructures that sustain three-dimensionally bound modes of the radiation field when dissipation is neglected. Unlike photonic crystals, the photonic systems that we consider here re...

Recent progress and achievements in creating single fundamental mode vertical cavity lasers with the technique of etching a 2dimensional pattern of photonic crystal holes into the top distributed Bragg reflector are described. A simulation method for the design of single mode lasers is described, along with accuracy and limitations in predicting modal properties in these devices. Progress in im...

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers are semiconductor lasers where the optical cavity is defined epitaxially, perpendicular to the surface of the wafer. This gives rise to optical and electrical properties that are quite different from the traditional edge emitting lasers that are now used in microwave photonic links. This work is an investigation into the suitability of using multimode VCS...

We report a novel individually addressable, individually wavelength tunable 8 x 6 vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array. A two-dimensional array of individually wavelength-tunable VCSELs is very attractive for free-space optical interconnect in massively parallel computers [ 1-21. VCSEL’s have large mode spacing due to the very short cavity and are particularly suitable for conti...

We analyze the performance of InP/GaAs fused 1.55μm vertical-cavity lasers (VCLs) under analog modulation. Our VCLs employ a strain-compensated InGaAsP/InP multi-quantum well (MQW) active region sandwiched between two AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs). The first AlGaAs layer of the p-doped top mirror is laterally oxidized for optical and electrical confinement. These devices exhib...

A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is a diode laser whose optical cavity is formed by growing or depositing DBR mirror stacks that sandwich an active gain region. The resulting short cavity supports lasing into a single longitudinal mode normal to the wafer, making these devices ideal for a multitude of applications, ranging fiom high-speed communication to high-power sources (fro...

We report the accuracy of the photonic crystal model in describing the characteristics of vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers with lateral optical confinement consisting of a periodic array of etched circular holes. Experiments were carried out to compare predictions of the photonic crystal model to observed modal device characteristics, and the oxide aperture size was optimized to give max...