Dynamic mode stability analysis of surface relief VCSELs under strong RF modulation

We demonstrate that a carefully designed fundamental-mode stabilized vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) using a shallow surface relief can maintain a large sidemode suppression ratio (SMSR) under strong radio frequency modulation. A number of VCSELs emitting at 850 nm, with different surface relief and oxide aperture diameters, have been experimentally investigated. For certain combinations of these diameters, the SMSR exceeds 30 dB at 2- and 5-GHz operation, even for as much as 15 dBm of input modulation power.