Self-Heating Effects in a Gain-Guided Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser

Abstract

In this paper, we present the effects of self-heating on the characteristics of a gain-guided long-wavelength verticalcavity surface emitting laser (LW-VCSEL) virtual model. The device employs InGaAsP multi-quantum wells sandwiched between GaAs/AlGaAs and GaAs/AlAs distributed Bragg reflectors modeled using an industrial-based numerical simulator. We were able to obtain a working model at an optical wavelength of 1.55 μm. This paper provides key results of the device characteristics upon lattice temperature heating including the DC I-V, the light power versus electrical bias, the optical gain versus electrical bias and the various elements of heat sources within the modeled device. Keywords-VCSEL, 1550 nm, DBR, InGaAsP, self-heating effects