Selectively oxidized vertical-cavity lasers

Summary form only given. During 1995 there has been rapid advance in the performance of vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) fabricated using the conversion of AlGaAs into a stable oxide. VCSELs with Al-oxide current apertures have exhibited the highest wall plug efficiency and lowest threshold current reported to date for VCSELs. We discuss the fabrication and performance of IR and visible VCSELs employing buried oxide layers within monolithic distributed Bragg reflectors for efficient electrical and optical confinement.