Development of vertical cavity transistor laser and microcavity laser

An energy-efficient semiconductor laser is of great interest for the massive data transmission demands in butt computing servers and supercomputing technologies. Currently, commercial vertical-cavity surface-emitting diode lasers (VCSELs) have achieved a data transmission rate of 25 Gbit/s per channel. However, the VCSEL bandwidth is limited by the slow recombination lifetime in the active region, which is the major challenge to transmitting at a data rate greater than 60 Gbit/s for a single VCSEL. To push the modulation speed, Purcell enhancement in the small volume and high Q cavity can be applied in microcavity VCSELs, enhancing the spontaneous recombination rate. In the first part of the dissertation we demonstrate that the microcavity VCSEL has a reduced recombination rate of 0.5 ns when the aperture size is less than 3 μm. With improved RF layout design and fabrication, we demonstrate a microcavity laser operating error-free at 40 Gbit/s. In the second part of the dissertation, we demonstrate the first vertical cavity transistor laser (VCTL) operation. Due to the dynamic charge transport in the active region, the transistor laser can achieve shorter carrier lifetime (~ 29 ps), making it especially suitable for high-speed lasers. We discuss the VCTL material and layout design, including how to reduce the parasitics via layout and process development. With three design iterations, we achieve a highly efficient VCTL.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical & Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Wu, Mong-Kai

Contributors dc:contributor

• Feng, Milton
• Schutt-Ainé, José E.
• Dallesasse, John M.
• Goddard, Lynford L.

• vertical cavity transistor laser
• microcavity laser
• surface-emitting vertical-cavity lasers
• energy efficient

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2014 Mong-Kai Wu

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/49650

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/49650