Maximizing The Temperature Insensitivity, Energy Efficiency, And Bit Rate Of 980-Nm Vcsels Via Small Oxide-Aperture Diameters And Photon Lifetime Tuning

Energy-efficient oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) emitting at 980 nm, particularly well suited for optical interconnects operating at up to 85 degrees C are presented. The modulation bandwidth f3dB of our VCSELs increases at low currents with increasing temperature up to 23 GHz at 85 degrees C. The impact of cavity photon lifetime and oxide-aperture diameter on the energy efficiency, temperature stability, and static and dynamic properties of our VCSELs are analyzed. Error-free 40 Gb/s operation at 85 degrees C with an energy-to-data ratio below 100 fJ/bit and a current density close to 10 kA/cm(2) is predicted based on small signal modulation experiments.