Near-field characterization of micro-aperture surface emitting laser for near field data storage

Summary form only given. We have fabricated a 400 nm square micro-aperture VCSEL with single transverse mode operation. We carried out the near field characterization using a sharpened fiber probe. The FWHM of intensity below threshold was 250 nm, and our metal micro-aperture VCSEL may have a potential for a high resolution optical head.