Transverse-Mode Analysis of Red-Emitting Highly Polarized Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

We present experimental investigations of the transverse beam profile and polarization characteristics of GaInP-based oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers in dependence on the oxide aperture size, mesa size, current, and temperature. We demonstrate that these lasers with aperture diameters of less than
$6$
 
$\mu$
m are required for stable fundamental-mode operation. The influence of operation current and external temperature on the mode shape is investigated. We experimentally present a highly stable linearly polarized GaInP-based microcavity laser emitting at around
$655$
 nm, where the polarization characteristics originate from intrinsic material properties.