Half-symmetric cavity tunable microelectromechanical VCSEL with single spatial mode

A new class of microelectromechanically tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with a half-symmetric cavity structure is described, The cavity is realized by inducing a curvature (R similar to 320 mu m) in the top movable dielectric mirror. The microcavity forces lasing oscillations in a single fundamental spatial mode of approximately 6 mu m despite the 20 mu m electrical aperture of the device. The device wavelength was tunable from 863 to 833 nm under a 13-V voltage swing. The device operates in a single fundamental mode with sidemode supression ratio of >20 dB throughout the tuning range.