Analysis of the static and dynamic characteristics of 1310 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

We present the static and dynamic simulation of a long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) operating at around 1310 nm. The device consists of AlGaAs/GaAs distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) which are wafer-fused to both sides of the InP-based cavity with InAlGaAs quantum wells. A tunnel junction is used for current injection into the active region. The structure is simulated with a modified version of the commercial device simulator Synopsys Sentaurus Device. The fully-coupled two-dimensional electro-opto-thermal simulations use a microscopic physics-based model. Carrier transport is described by the continuity and Poisson equations and self-heating effects are accounted for by a thermodynamic equation. To obtain the optical modes, the wave equation is solved using a finite element approach. The optical gain model includes many-body effects. The equations are solved self-consistently. Calibrations of static (L-I, V-I curves) and dynamic characteristics (RIN) show good agreement with measurements at different temperatures. On this basis, the simulations reveal the critical factors that determine the modulation-current efficiency factor (MCEF) of the device.