title: Tunable VCSEL with ultra-thin high contrast grating for high-speed tuning.
abstract: We report a nano-electromechanical optoelectronic (NEMO) tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with an ultra-thin (145 nm) electrostatically actuated high-index-contrast subwavelength grating (HCG) designed to strongly reflect TE-polarized light. Single mode emission (SMSR >45 dB) and continuous wavelength tuning (approximately 4 nm) were obtained at room temperature with output power up to 2 mW under continuous wave (CW) operation. A record short wavelength tuning time (approximately 90 ns) is experimentally demonstrated, which is >100 times faster than previously reported DBR-based tunable VCSELs and a 1.7 times improvement over the previously reported TM polarized NEMO tunable VCSELs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Connie J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chang-Hasnain
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007834:Lasers; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*