INTENSITY NOISE AND POLARIZATION STABILITY OF GAALAS-GAAS SURFACE EMITTING LASERS

The intensity noise characteristics of GaAlAs-GaAs vertical cavity surface emitting (SE) lasers have been investigated. A low intensity noise of -145 dB/Hz was obtained with an output power of 2.2 mW. The spontaneous emission factor is estimated to be 2 x 10(-5), both from the bias dependence of the intensity noise and from the relative mode intensity below threshold. This is in good agreement with theoretical expectation. We show the possibility of low noise operation of a micro-cavity SE laser with an extremely low output power of less than approximately 100-mu-W. In addition, the polarization stability of the surface emitting laser is discussed by measuring the intensity fluctuations of an individual polarization state.