Recent Progress in Wafer-Fused VCSELs Emitting in the 1550-nm Band

Record-high fundamental mode output power of 1.5 mW at 100 degrees C is achieved with InAlGaAs-InP/AlGaAs-GaAs 1550 nm wavelength vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) produced by a modified wafer fusion technique. A broad wavelength setting on the same wafer in a spectral range of 40 nm is demonstrated with these devices. This performance positions wafer-fused 1550 nm VCSELs as prime candidates for many applications in photonics, including air-space fiber-optic communications and WDM-PON as well as in spectroscopy and sensing.