Abstract

Vertical-cavity semiconductor laser amplifiers (VCSLAs) are very interesting devices with regard to their potential use in parallel optical data processing and short-distance data-links. Due to their circular cavity geometry they show no polarization sensitivity of amplification and high coupling efficiencies into silica fibers. Previous theoretical investigations have predicted the operating characteristics of VCSLAs to lie between those of standard edge-emitting traveling wave and Fabry-Perot devices.¹

© 1996 Optical Society of America