High-speed characteristics of low-optical loss oxide-apertured vertical-cavity lasers

We characterize the high-speed modulation properties of thin-oxide-apertured vertical-cavity lasers. The modulation response scales with device diameter due to the negligible optical scattering loss present in these devices. A small diameter laser of 3.1 μm has a maximum 3-dB bandwidth of 15.2 GHz at a bias of only 2.1 mA. Modeling indicates a no-parasitic bandwidth of 18.2 GHz at this current level, with an intrinsic 3-dB bandwidth limit of 45 GHz due to gain compression. The present devices are limited by parasitic capacitance across the thin oxide layer.