Development of a red VCSEL-to-plastic fiber module for use in parallel optical data links

This paper present results that have emerged from the European funded ESPRIT Project, Bright Red Surface Emitting Lasers (BREDSELS-23455). The project's main objective has been to develop arrays of Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSEL's) emitting in the region of 650 nm. These VCSEL arrays, suitably coupled to plastic fiber ribbon, are potentially ideal sources for high-speed plastic optical fiber networks. Linear 1×8 VCSEL arrays have been fabricated from wafers grown in multi-wafer MOVPE reactors. Individual VCSELs are shown to generate a peak room temperature power of 2 mW at 674 nm and are capable of operating continuous wave to a temperature of 60 °C. The use of selective oxidation in the fabrication process is found to be essential in terms of providing effective heat sinking to the active region, while free carrier absorption is found to be a significant loss mechanism. A detailed description of the device results including modal behavior is presented along with the initial results from the plastic fiber ribbon module.