Single-Mode High-Speed 1.5-μm VCSELs

Single-mode 1.5-μm InP-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a 1.5-λ-long semiconductor cavity and two dielectric distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) are presented. The electrical, thermal, and optical characteristics are studied as a function of tunnel junction diameter and for different temperatures ranging from -10 up to 65°C. Small-signal modulation bandwidths in excess of 21 GHz at room temperature are demonstrated for a DC power consumption below 10 mW. In this paper, the superior dynamic characteristics of these VCSELs are shown by demonstrating operation at data rates up to 50 Gb/s with bit-error-ratio slightly above 10
^-12
in back-to-back configuration by nonreturn-to-zero modulation and without any equalization. Neither forward error correction nor digital signal processing was required.