Enhanced Supermode Stability in Weakly Anti-Guided Dual-Cavity Photonic Crystal VCSEL Arrays

We report on 940 nm dual-cavity photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays fabricated at a commercial foundry. These arrays leverage an anti-guided design enabled by reduced electrical resistance between optically coupled cavities. Characterization of output power and far...

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Main Authors: Dan W. Pflug, Chloe Armstrong, Erin Raftery, Nusrat Jahan, William North, Luke Graham, Jim Tatum, Kent D. Choquette
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Photonics Journal
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10985754/
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author Dan W. Pflug
Chloe Armstrong
Erin Raftery
Nusrat Jahan
William North
Luke Graham
Jim Tatum
Kent D. Choquette
author_facet Dan W. Pflug
Chloe Armstrong
Erin Raftery
Nusrat Jahan
William North
Luke Graham
Jim Tatum
Kent D. Choquette
author_sort Dan W. Pflug
collection DOAJ
description We report on 940 nm dual-cavity photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays fabricated at a commercial foundry. These arrays leverage an anti-guided design enabled by reduced electrical resistance between optically coupled cavities. Characterization of output power and far-field beam profiles reveals distinct in-phase and out-of-phase supermode operation across expanded regions of coherent operation. A maximum output power in either supermode exceeding 4 mW under continuous wave operation is achieved. An iterative analysis of the cross-talk currents highlights their role in stabilizing supermode operation by enabling inter-cavity current coupling. Our results demonstrate that these arrays provide robust and stable coherent supermode lasing using a wide range of current combinations. The ability to selectively operate in either distinct supermode, combining the output from two elements, positions these VCSEL arrays as promising candidates for high-brightness applications requiring efficient beam control.
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issn 1943-0655
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publishDate 2025-01-01
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spelling doaj-art-1c714a60746f47e0b2c8be446f1240f62025-08-20T03:07:14ZengIEEEIEEE Photonics Journal1943-06552025-01-011731410.1109/JPHOT.2025.356698610985754Enhanced Supermode Stability in Weakly Anti-Guided Dual-Cavity Photonic Crystal VCSEL ArraysDan W. Pflug0https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0864-4023Chloe Armstrong1Erin Raftery2https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3055-5053Nusrat Jahan3William North4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7852-948XLuke Graham5Jim Tatum6Kent D. Choquette7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6399-5733Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USAUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USAUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USADallas Quantum Devices, Mckinney, TX, USADallas Quantum Devices, Mckinney, TX, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USAWe report on 940 nm dual-cavity photonic crystal vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays fabricated at a commercial foundry. These arrays leverage an anti-guided design enabled by reduced electrical resistance between optically coupled cavities. Characterization of output power and far-field beam profiles reveals distinct in-phase and out-of-phase supermode operation across expanded regions of coherent operation. A maximum output power in either supermode exceeding 4 mW under continuous wave operation is achieved. An iterative analysis of the cross-talk currents highlights their role in stabilizing supermode operation by enabling inter-cavity current coupling. Our results demonstrate that these arrays provide robust and stable coherent supermode lasing using a wide range of current combinations. The ability to selectively operate in either distinct supermode, combining the output from two elements, positions these VCSEL arrays as promising candidates for high-brightness applications requiring efficient beam control.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10985754/Vertical cavity surface emitting laserscoherent laser arraysbeam combiningoptically coupled cavities
spellingShingle Dan W. Pflug
Chloe Armstrong
Erin Raftery
Nusrat Jahan
William North
Luke Graham
Jim Tatum
Kent D. Choquette
Enhanced Supermode Stability in Weakly Anti-Guided Dual-Cavity Photonic Crystal VCSEL Arrays
IEEE Photonics Journal
Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers
coherent laser arrays
beam combining
optically coupled cavities
title Enhanced Supermode Stability in Weakly Anti-Guided Dual-Cavity Photonic Crystal VCSEL Arrays
title_full Enhanced Supermode Stability in Weakly Anti-Guided Dual-Cavity Photonic Crystal VCSEL Arrays
title_fullStr Enhanced Supermode Stability in Weakly Anti-Guided Dual-Cavity Photonic Crystal VCSEL Arrays
title_full_unstemmed Enhanced Supermode Stability in Weakly Anti-Guided Dual-Cavity Photonic Crystal VCSEL Arrays
title_short Enhanced Supermode Stability in Weakly Anti-Guided Dual-Cavity Photonic Crystal VCSEL Arrays
title_sort enhanced supermode stability in weakly anti guided dual cavity photonic crystal vcsel arrays
topic Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers
coherent laser arrays
beam combining
optically coupled cavities
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10985754/
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