Bistable Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers

摘要

This work takes both theoretical and experimental paths in the study of howoptical microcavities influence light emission from semiconductors. Computer simulation is used to guide the development of physical models for spontaneous and stimulated emission under the cavity influence, with experimental demonstrations used as tests of the models and to gain further insight. Initial experimental device results have demonstrated that bistability can be achieved in the VCSEL, but the source of the bistability has not been clearly defined as of yet in our experimental work. We have demonstrated the usefulness of our particular device design, as evidenced in our optical switching to achieve optical memory, described in Publications 1 and 6. An intriguing possibility for the source of the bistability lies in the details of an optically thin gain region and its placement in the Fabry-Perot microcavity. The bistability then might arise due to changes in the field overlap with the gain region when the device bias is increased from below lasing to above threshold.