Abstract

To reduce thermal loading and on-chip power dissipation, optical links have been proposed for information transfer to and from cryogenic environments. In previous work we have shown that VCSELs designed for room-temperature operation are able to work at 77 K. However, the high device currents and voltages needed to align the blue-shifted gain peak with the cavity mode were drawbacks. In this work VCSELs optimized to operate in the temperature range of 77 to 200 K are reported. Submilliampere lasing thresholds, low voltage drops across the mirrors, and high modulation bandwidths are observed.

© 1995 Optical Society of America