Power, Bandwidth, and Efficiency of Single VCSELs and Small VCSEL Arrays

Single-emitter vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) and multiple-emitter VCSEL arrays designed for emission at 980 nm, and with large oxide aperture diameters (φ) from ~10.5 to 33.5 μm and with φ of ~7.5 μm that are configured in three-emitter and seven-emitter electrically parallel triangular and hexagonal arrays, respectively, have record bandwidths and optical output powers for VCSELs with such large cumulative emitting areas. We demonstrate room temperature (RT) maximum small-signal modulation bandwidths (f
_3dBmax
) of 26.6 to 18.6 GHz with corresponding continuous wave (CW) optical output powers (L) of 16.2 and 47 mW for VCSELs with φ ~13.5 and 33.5 μm, respectively. For parallel 980 nm triple and septuple arrays with φ ~7.5 μm for each VCSEL, we demonstrate RT
_f3dBmax
of 25.5 and 24.8 GHz with corresponding CW L of 22.7 and 50.1 mW, respectively. We perform a comparative analysis of the RT results, which consist of standard static light output power-current-voltage (LIV) characteristics to determine the typical VCSEL figures-of-merit including wall plug efficiency (WPE), LI slope efficiency, spectral emission versus current (I), and small-signal frequency response curves. We examine the tradeoffs in optical output power, small-signal modulation bandwidth, and WPE for the various VCSEL designs, and find that while the combination of f
_3dBmax
and L are record values for single VCSELs and VCSEL arrays, these parameters fall off as the cumulative VCSEL array area increases to emit higher overall optical power.