Conventional vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) are constructed from two distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) and an active region placed between them. Every DBR consists of two types of materials that alternate eachother several or even several tens of times. One of the main technological problems in the production of VCSELs is relatively small number of materials that are suitable to create DBRs. Moreover, DBRs are sometimes as thick as few micrometers.
The goal of the project is to design more versatile mirrors that can be implemented in VCSELs in place of at least one of the DBRs. A proposed alternative that will be developed in the project is a subwavelength monolithic high contrast grating (MHCG) that will be used to design a flat focusing mirror with a thickness several times smaller than that of the DBRs.
As part of the project, it is planned to design and simulate the performance of focusing MHCG mirrors providing different reflectivities and focal lengths. The structures demonstrating the best performance (e.g., highest reflectivity) will be fabricated in collaboration with an international partner. The focusing properties of the fabricated mirrors will be investigated in Lodz. In addition, the designs of focusing MHCG mirrors will be used to simulate the operation of resonant cavities and determine the validity of their use in VCSELs. In the final stage of the project we will investigate the thermal, electrical and optical parameters of an entire VCSEL designed for 980 nm, in which a focusing MHCG mirror wil be implemented.
Funding:
The project "Planar focusing reflectors based on high-contrast-gratings for application in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers" is supported by the HOMING programme of the Foundation for Polish Science and co-financed by the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund.
Value of the project: 797 678 PLN
Contribution of European Funds: 797 678 PLN
The results of the research were published in the following articles:
The results of the research were presented on the following conferences:
The following conference proceedings were published within the project:
The following presentations (along with recorded audio) show the research results obtained during the realization of the project. The results have been divided thematically, and in some cases a summary description of the presentation content has been listed under the link to the video.