Abstract
Static and dynamic characteristics of weakly index-guided vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers in a multitransverse-mode regime are analyzed by use of a model that takes into account the transverse modes supported by the waveguide and a consistent spectral gain including many-body effects. Waveguide effects are addressed by consideration of different refractive-index steps. We show that stronger competition between transverse modes occurs when their confinement in the waveguide is increased. Selection of a particular high-order transverse mode by use of azimuthal-dependent current profiling can be obtained over a wide current range. We study the alternate current modulation of two orthogonal high-order transverse modes, taking into account thermal effects. This current-induced spatial switching leads to good-quality high-frequency beam steering in the laser azimuthal direction when an appropriate current profile is considered according to the refractive-index step.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2045-2054 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1999 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Statistical and Nonlinear Physics
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics