Coupled cavity anti-guided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

A laser structure adapted to lase at a wavelength lambda, said laser structure comprising:

• a first mirror stack;
• an active region disposed on said first mirror stack;
• and
• a second mirror stack disposed on said active region, said second mirror stack comprising a plurality of semiconductor layers, said second mirror stack having a resonant layer disposed therein, said resonant layer including a phase shifting region disposed about a current aperture, at least one said plurality of semiconductor layers being adjacent said phase shifting region, said phase shifting region having a lower index of refraction than said adjacent semiconductor layer, the thickness of said phase shifting region being a function of one-fourth of said lambda and the difference between the index of refraction of said adjacent semiconductor layer and the index of refraction of said phase shifting region, said phase shifting region creating a resonant coupled cavity positioned in said second mirror near said active region, said resonant coupled cavity reducing the reflectance of said second mirror stack.

A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) adapted to lase at a wavelength lambda, comprising:

• a first semiconductor mirror stack;
• an active region disposed on said first semiconductor mirror stack;
• and
• a second semiconductor mirror stack disposed on said active region, said second semiconductor mirror stack having a plurality of semiconductor mirror layer pairs, said second mirror stack having a phase shifting region disposed therein about a current aperture, said phase shifting region creating a coupled cavity near said active region, said phase shifting region being positioned such that reflectance of said second mirror stack is reduced, wherein said phase shifting region thickness is defined by the equation:
• 5 d = ( 1 + 2 ⁢ j ) * λ ( n semi - n oxide ) * 4
• wherein d is said phase shifting region thickness, j is an integer, nsemi is the index of refraction of a laterally adjacent semiconductor layer to said phase shifting region, and noxide is the index of refraction of said phase shifting region.

A method for manufacturing a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a first semiconductor mirror stack;
• forming an active region upon said first semiconductor mirror stack;
• forming a first portion of a second semiconductor mirror stack above said active region, said first portion of said second semiconductor mirror stack having at least one mirror layer pair;
• forming a phase shifting region disposed about a current aperture above said first portion of said second semiconductor mirror stack;
• forming a coupled cavity using said phase shifting region near said active region;
• and
• forming a second portion of a second semiconductor mirror stack above said phase shifting region.