High brightness pulsed VCSEL sources

A high brightness VCSEL device, comprising:

• a mesa with a sidewall formed by a first mirror, a second mirror, a first metal contact, and an active region, the active region being positioned between the first metal contact and the first mirror, the active region being in electrical contact with the first metal contact and generating a light reflected between the first mirror and the second mirror, the mesa having a centralized thermal containment area and a thermal discharge area surrounding the centralized thermal containment area;
• a substrate upon which the mesa is positioned;
• a thermal lensing structure in electrical contact with the first metal contact for enhancing or controlling heat flow within the centralized thermal containment area and the thermal discharge area and creating and maintaining an index of refraction between the centralized thermal containment area and the thermal discharge area;
• and
• a dielectric layer surrounding at least the sidewall and in contact with the substrate and the first metal contact, the dielectric layer electrically isolating the substrate from the first metal contact, wherein the VCSEL device operates as a multimode device when the first metal contact is driven at a first current in a continuous wave and the VCSEL device operates as a single mode device when the first metal contact is driven at a second current at a pulse rate shorter than an overall thermal time constant of the VCSEL device.