IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 27, NO.
18, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
Monolithic Subwavelength High-Index-Contrast
Grating VCSEL
Marcin Ge˛ bski, Maciej Dems, Michał Wasiak, James A. Lott, Senior Member, IEEE, and Tomasz Czyszanowski
Abstract— In this letter, we propose and numerically
investigate a new vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL)
structure consisting of a nearly lambda-thick active optical
cavity sandwiched between two planar monolithic subwavelength
high-index-contrast gratings (MHCGs) etched directly into
the semiconductor layers surrounding the optical cavity. The
structure allows the reduction of the vertical thickness of the
subsequent MHCG VCSEL to roughly 0.6 µm for emission
at 980 nm. Compared with a conventional all-semiconductor
VCSEL with distributed Bragg reflector mirrors, the MHCG
VCSEL has a shorter effective cavity length and thus a shorter
roundtrip cavity time. Our proposed design enables the fabrica-
tion of VCSELs with lattice-matched mirror layers in all common
semiconductor optoelectronic material systems, or alternatively
VCSELs with hybrid HCGs.
Index Terms— Numerical simulations, high contrast gratings,
vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers.
I. I NTRODUCTION
T HE development of semiconductor electronics continues
to follow the foundational principle of Moore’s Law,
i.e. to constantly seek to reduce device dimensions via
novel material introductions or replacements and advanced
lithographic and other processing technologies. As a result the
physical dimensions of silicon-based integrated devices are
proportionally-reduced over time leading to a substantially
increase of on-chip device density and a corresponding
increase in computing system functionality. Following the
technology “node” downsizing trend of modern electronics
the miniaturization of photonic devices that emit coherent
light is expected as well. The lower limit of the physical size
of the resonant optical cavity of semiconductor light sources,
however cannot be physically smaller than half of the vacuum
emission wavelength divided by the optical cavity’s index
of refraction, which is the minimum optical thickness of the
Manuscript received March 4, 2015; revised June 5, 2015; accepted
June 17, 2015. Date of publication June 22, 2015; date of current version
August 21, 2015. This work was supported by the Polish National Centre of
Research and Development through the Project “A Novel Photonic Crystal
Surface Emitting Laser Incorporating a High-Index-Contrast Grating.” The
work of M. Ge˛ bski was supported by the Polish National Science Centre
under Project PRELUDIUM 2013/11/N/ST7/02826.
M. Ge˛ bski, M. Dems, M. Wasiak, and T. Czyszanowski are with the
Photonics Group, Institute of Physics, Lodz University of Technology,
Łódź 90-924, Poland (e-mail: marcin.gebski@p.lodz.pl; maciej.dems@
p.lodz.pl; michal.wasiak@p.lodz.pl; tomasz.czyszanowski@p.lodz.pl).
J. A. Lott is with the Institut für Festkörperphysik and Zentrum
für Nanophotonik, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin 10623, Germany
(e-mail: james.lott@tu-berlin.de).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this letter are available
online at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LPT.2015.2447932
1041-1135 © 2015 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
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1953
cavity that can support a standing wave. In practice,
the vertical optical dimensions of vertical-cavity
surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), which are currently
the smallest practical commercially deployed coherent light
emitters, are equivalent to tens of wavelengths. This results
from the requirement of strong vertical optical feedback
that is implemented with top and bottom distributed Bragg
reflector (DBR) mirrors. The complex structure of a DBR
mirror hinders not only the miniaturization of GaAs-based
VCSELs but also the realization of GaN, InP, and GaSb-based
VCSELs monolithically integrated with the given substrate.
There have been many attempts to replace one or both of
the DBRs with a high-index-contrast grating (HCG) [1]–[3]
or with a dielectric DBR [4]–[7]. The disadvantage of the
HCG is the construction, which consists of two layers of
significantly different refractive indices. The lower refractive
index layer is typically an insulator or air that prohibits
current flow through the HCG.
In this Letter we investigate the innovative structure of a
highly reflecting subwavelength grating that does not require
a low refractive index layer which is inherent for conventional
HCG designs. Such a high power reflectance grating can
be implemented in any material with a real refractive index
larger than 1.75 [8] that does not appreciably absorb the
light at the emission wavelength. This monolithic high-index-
contrast grating (MHCG) design opens a new way to develop
simplified VCSEL constructions consisting of an active region
within a current confinement heterostructure (CCH) positioned
between two cladding layers of p-doped and n-doped material.
In these lasers the optical feedback is provided by two planar
monolithic subwavelength gratings etched into the cladding
material on either side of the optical cavity. The minimum
vertical thickness of such a laser can be the equivalent optical
thickness of only about one and a half emission wavelengths.
Based on our numerical simulations we suggest a new sim-
plified VCSEL structure, which utilizes two MHCGs [9], [10].
Such a design could possibly be realized in a vast variety of
optoelectronic materials as a potential on-chip integrated light
source system for very-short-reach optical interconnects (OIs).
For demonstration purposes we focus in this work on the
design of a 980 nm GaAs-based quantum well (QW) VCSEL
for which we investigate the modal properties as well as the
electrical and thermal characteristics. Although we investigate
the thinnest possible double MHCG VCSEL design with the
shortest possible cavity length, we note that a single MHCG
can also replace the top DBR in a conventional VCSEL while
retaining the bottom DBR or vice versa, which also simplifies
the VCSEL structure by reducing the vertical thickness and
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Fig. 1. Schematic illustrations (not to scale) of: a) the MHCG VCSEL
mounted on a copper heat sink with an intracavity metal contact scheme;
b) definition of the geometrical parameters including: h - height of the stripe;
L – period of the grating; s - width of the stripe; a - distance between the
stripes; and F - fill factor. c) Top view of the laser showing the dimensions (d)
and arrangement of the top and bottom MHCG and oxide aperture (A) used
in the calculations. The structures are illustrated in the z-y plane in a) and b),
and in the x-y plane in c).
thus the epitaxial material growth time and cost. The thinner
MHCG VCSEL could also serve to reduce the overall
structural strain leading to a reliable enabling technology for
high bandwidth density OIs, spectroscopic sensors, and much
more.
II. S TRUCTURE OF THE MHCG VCSEL
AND N UMERICAL M ODEL
In our study we use an ultrathin VCSEL structure emitting
at a wavelength of 980 nm as depicted in Fig. 1. The
CCH is within the optical cavity. The active zone consists
of five 4.2 nm-thick compressively strained In0.21 Ga0.79 As
quantum wells (QWs) with 6 nm-thick tensively-strained
GaAs0.88 P0.12 barrier layers. The QWs and barriers are
surrounded by Al0.8 Ga0.2 As spacer layers thus completing
the CCH. The transverse carrier confinement is created by
a circular 8 μm-diameter electrical aperture realized by a
selectively oxidized Al0.98 Ga0.02 As layer placed near the first
node of the standing wave just above the QWs. The CCH is
bounded by two (p- and n-type) GaAs layers in which MHCGs
are etched. The thickness of the unetched cavity is 265 nm.
We consider a MHCG structure which supports transverse-
electric (TE) polarization (i.e. the MHCG stripes are parallel
to the electric field). A structure which favors transverse-
magnetic (TM) polarization (i.e. the MHCG stripes are
perpendicular to the electric field) requires deeper grating
etching, hence it is not considered here. The
MHCG parameters are described by the period of the
grating L, the height of the stripe h, and the fill factor F
as shown in Fig. 1b. The parameters use in simulations are
as follows: L = 0.817 μm, h = 0.164 μm and F = 0.35.
We assume the stripes of the bottom and top MHCGs
are parallel. In such a configuration the alignment of both
mirrors is not crucial since the optical resonance takes
place where both opposing HCG mirrors overlap. For our
modeling purposes the lateral dimensions of the MHCGs
are 16 μm × 16 μm as shown in Fig. 1c, which have been
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IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 27, NO. 18, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
TABLE I
O PTICAL , E LECTRICAL , AND T HERMAL PARAMETERS OF THE 980 nm
MHCG VCSEL L AYERS U SED IN THE S IMULATIONS . T HE R ANGES
OF E LECTRICAL C ONDUCTIVITY C ORRESPOND TO D IFFERENT
D OPING T YPES AND L EVELS
Fig. 2. Calculated power reflectance (R) maps of the MHCG for R ≥ 0.9
for the wavelength of 980 nm and for a GaAs refractive index 3.521. The
maps of R are shown in the domain of: a) the etching depth (h) and the
wavelength (λ); and b) the fill factor (F) and the period (L). The parameters
of the MHCG that are not shown in the two respective power reflectance maps
are set to their optimal values as given in Table I.
chosen to assure the lateral confinement of the multiple
optical modes. To achieve high power reflectance of the
mirrors, the MHCGs cannot be in contact with material of
high absorption or high refractive index. Hence we suspend
the double MHCG VCSEL in air, which can be realized by
placing the laser on a metal ring contact that is bounded to a
heat sink (Fig. 1a).
To closely simulate the physical phenomena taking place in
the device, we use a multi-physical model [11], [12] com-
prising: 1) three-dimensional models of optical phenomena
(based on the Plane Wave Admittance Method); and
2) thermal, electrical, and diffusion phenomena (all three based
on the Finite Element Method). Such comprehensive models
enable precise observation of mode modifications driven by
different lasing conditions. The model previously revealed a
good agreement with the experimental results in [13] and [14]
and particularly with the experimental results of the 980 nm
VCSEL in [15]. The material parameters used in the analysis
are given in Table I.
III. M ONOLITHIC HCG M IRROR
Fig. 2a shows that regions of high reflectance (R > 0.9)
appear within the spectral range 1.0L < λ < 1.5L,
where L = 0.817 μm. By analyzing the power reflectance
 GE˛BSKI et al.: MONOLITHIC SUBWAVELENGTH HIGH-INDEX-CONTRAST GRATING VCSEL
Fig. 3. The Q-factor of the four lowest order transversal modes as a function
of the TE-polarized MHCG VCSEL’s vertical resonator length.
dependence on the etching depth (h) we find that regions
of high reflectance form periodic islands in the reflectance
maps. A close inspection reveals that the broadest islands are
those for the shallowest etching depth, thus for h∼0.16 μm
in Fig. 2a. Fig. 2b maps the power reflectance as a function
of L and F and shows a relatively broad range of
MHCG parameters for which the power reflectance is larger
than 0.9 (the central red area in Fig. 2b centered at L∼0.8 μm
and F ∼0.35). We define the normalized spectral stopband
as λ/λHCG , where λ is the 99% power reflectance stopband
and λHCG is the wavelength corresponding to the maximum
of the power reflectance. In our structure λ/λHCG = 0.06.
As a comparison the spectral stop-band of a typical 980 nm
GaAs/Al0.98 Ga0.02 As 28-period DBR with air as the exit
medium is 0.07.
IV. O PTICAL P ROPERTIES OF THE MHCG VCSEL
We calculate the Q-factor of the four lowest order transverse
modes (HE11, HE12 , HE12⊥ , HE22 ) for the MHCG VCSEL
as a function of the vertical resonator length and plot the
result in Fig. 3. The Q-factor decreases with the increasing
length of the cavity for a fixed oxide aperture diameter.
It reaches the largest value for the shortest possible
cavity. Such a cavity allows for many passes of the
electromagnetic (EM) waves, including those EM waves
whose wave-vectors have a nonzero angle with the optical
axis of the laser. The increase of the cavity length contributes
to more intense leakage of non parallel waves relative to the
optical axis which reduces the Q-factor.
To estimate the threshold gain within our modeling
formalism one can assume a gain region consisting of five
typical quantum wells and a spatial gain function within the
quantum wells that is larger than 0 for radii <4 μm and
equal to −1000 cm−3 (i.e. strong absorption) elsewhere. The
threshold gain of a 1λ-optically-thick MHCG VCSEL design
equals 200 cm−1 , and is 700 cm−1 which correspond to the
current of 0.28 mA and 0.82 mA, respectively in the case of a
3λ-optically-thick design. The distribution of the HE11 mode
in the z-y plane and along the z axis in the case of the shortest
possible cavity is shown in Fig. 4a and 4b. The light is confined
predominantly within the stripes and there is exactly one light
intensity lobe per stripe. Additional optical field intensity
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1955
Fig. 4. For the MHCG VCSEL the calculated normalized optical field
intensity distribution I of the: a) HE11 mode in the z-y plane and b) along
the z axis. Calculated optical field intensity distribution of the: c) HE11 ;
d) HE12 ; e) HE12⊥ ; and f) HE22 modes all in the x-y plane within
the active zone. In b) the vertical dashed lines indicate the edges of the
HCG stripes.
maxima are located in the active zone and at the interfaces
between the cavity and the MHCG stripes. The longitudinal
confinement factor  of our MHCG VCSEL is 20% lower
than confinement factors typically found for conventional
DBR VCSELs. The four lowest order modes confined within
the area of the MHCG are depicted in Fig. 4 c-f. In the case
of the MHCG that provides the largest power reflectance
all diffraction orders disappear except the 0th order [4].
Additionally the MHCG induces a higher effective index
of refraction than the surrounding regions, which provides
waveguiding sufficient to confine the lateral modes.
V. E LECTRO -T HERMAL P ROPERTIES
OF THE MHCG VCSEL
The calculated above-threshold differential resistance of the
MHCG VCSEL for an oxide aperture diameter of 8 μm
is about 230  in the case of a 1.5λ-vertical-optical-
thickness device design, and reduces to 80  for a
10.5λ-vertical-optically-thick cavity (Fig. 5a), which is com-
parable to the measured resistance near threshold of 980 nm
VCSEL structures with a similar active region but including
top and bottom all-semiconductor doped DBRs [16]. In the
considered designs with different vertical optical cavity lengths
the distance between the active region and the oxide layer
is kept constant. Hence the elongation of the cavity makes
the current spreading layer thicker which contributes to the
reduction of the differential resistance (Fig. 5a). The heat
 1956
Fig. 5. a) Resistance (R) close to threshold and thermal impedance (Z th )
as a function of the vertical resonator optical length; and b) the distribution
of the temperature (T ) within the x-z plane calculated for I = 2 mA. x = 0
corresponds to the position of the center of the structure.
transfer in the MHCG VCSEL is deteriorated by the lack
of bottom full-surface binding to the heat-sink. The heat
generated in the structure is transported laterally to the contacts
which is confirmed by the direction of the temperature gradient
in Fig. 5b. Such construction hampers the free flow of the heat
which is manifested in five times larger thermal impedance
of the smallest device with respect to the conventional
VCSEL [16], [17]. To improve the heat dissipation through
the bottom mirror the MHCG VCSEL could be placed on a
thermal conductor, provided that the nonoptically-absorbing
thermal conductor’s refractive index is lower than the
refractive index of the MHCG by at least 1.5 [8]. The elonga-
tion of the vertical cavity improves the thermal management,
and the thermal impedance approaches 2000 K/W in the case
of an effective 10λ-optically-thick cavity, which is a typical
value for conventional VCSELs [15].
VI. C ONCLUSIONS
A new VCSEL structure consisting of a current confinement
heterostructure sandwiched by bulk monolithic layers in which
subwavelength high-index-contrast gratings are etched has
been proposed and numerically investigated. The structure
enables the reduction of the vertical size of the VCSEL
to roughly 0.6 μm for emission at 980 nm, which reduces
the amount of required epitaxial material and the growth
time, simplifies the device construction, allows for strain-free
mirrors, facilitates the VCSEL fabrication in different material
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IEEE PHOTONICS TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, VOL. 27, NO. 18, SEPTEMBER 15, 2015
systems and can be considered as interesting design for single
photon micro-cavities [18]. In conventional VCSELs with
top and bottom DBR mirrors the top coupling DBR can be
replaced by a MHCG to reduce the vertical thickness of the
device. Aspects of the new VCSEL to investigate further
include heat flow, resistance, the ohmic contact and current
injection scheme, and fabrication techniques.
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