1300 nm horizontal cavity surface emitting BH-DFB-lasers for uncooled operation

Alternatives to VCSEL-lasers are horizontal cavity lasers using second or gratings or 45 deg angled reflecting mirrors to achieve surface emission. In this paper, a novel type of 1300 nm Horizontal Cavity Surface Emitting (HCSE) Buried heterostructure (BH)-DFB-laser device showing high optical output power and uncooled operation capability is presented. These lasers can be fabricated and tested using on-wafer techniques only. Therefore the overall fabrication costs are considerably lower when compared to conventional edge emitting DFB lasers. Surface emission was achieved with an optimized facet etching step, reducing thus both, fabrication and characterisation costs, as compared with conventional DFB lasers. A maximum modulation bandwidth of 7.5 GHz has been obtained at 90 deg C operation temperature. These types of devices are promising candidates to replace VCSELs in applications where high optical output and/or a high emission wavelength accuracy are needed.