Most resilient single-mode VCSEL

Spectroscopy applications, e.g., TDLAS for gas sensing, require very stable single-mode laser sources to avoid or reduce in-situ or undesirably frequent wavelength calibration. Such stability of laser characteristics can be achieved, in general, by the quality of epitaxial growth and quality of processing technology but must be complemented by a robust epitaxial and device design. In addition to outstanding electro-optical performance, we present exceptionally stable laser characteristics, like threshold current, slope efficiency, output power, and lasing wavelength over observation periods exceeding 4000 hours at accelerating operation conditions correspondent to 8 years of continuous operation.