Transverse mode selection in large-area oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers using a shallow surface relief

Transverse mode selection has been introduced in a large area oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) by etching a shallow (only 40-nm deep) surface relief. The circular relief pattern, intended for fundamental mode selection, selects low order modes, resulting in significantly reduced beam divergence (from 48/spl deg/ to 13/spl deg/ and less over the entire drive current range) and improved spectral purity (width of emission spectrum reduced from 5 to less than 0.3 nm) compared to VCSEL's without surface relief. A maximum output power of 10 mW was measured.