Abstract

Resonant cavity light emitting diodes (RCLEDs) operating at 650 nm have drawn much attention because they are suitable light sources for cost-effective plastic optical fiber (POF) communication systems. RCLED makes use of the cavity effect, which influences the optical properties, such as extraction efficiency, optical spectrum and far field distribution. It has been also shown that RCLEDs exhibit a reduced carrier recombination time (about 10 % lower compared with a non-resonant LED) leading to a higher modulation bandwidth. Furthermore introducing a lateral confinement layer in the DBR mirror(s) can increase the carrier density and thereby significantly improves the modulation response. We have used this effect in order to obtain RCLEDs having an increased modulation bandwidth without a dramatic reduction in optical power.

© 2000 IEEE