IMPROVED MODE-STABILITY IN LOW-THRESHOLD SINGLE-QUANTUM-WELL NATIVE-OXIDE DEFINED VERTICAL-CAVITY LASERS

Single quantum well active region vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) fabricated using a "native-oxide" technique are compared with three quantum well active region VCSELs. The single quantum well active region exhibits improved transverse mode stability under a variety of operating conditions. The suggested reason is due to the reduced gain of the single quantum well, which results in greater lasing mode selectivity. For the single quantum well active region, a continuous wave threshold current of 178 μA at room temperature is measured for a 5 μm diam VCSEL and a pulsed threshold of 160 μA. © 1994 American Institute of Physics.