Praevium Research delivers three talks at Photonics West 2020
V. Jayaraman, B. Kolasa, et al.
During the last two years, our group has demonstrated the first room temperature continuous wave (RTCW) fixed wavelength VCSELs operating above 3 microns, in both optically pumped and electrically pumped devices. Our devices employ wafer bonding of GaSb-based active regions with GaAs-based mirrors. In this paper, we describe recent progress on tunable devices. These include CW optically pumped devices with >5nm of tuning near 3.3um using variation of pump power, and CW electrically pumped devices with >3nm tuning near 3.3um using variation of bias current, for methane sensing. We will also show recent progress on MEMS-tunable mid-IR VCSELs.
V. Jayaraman, Christopher Burgner, et al.
In recent years, MEMS-tunable VCSELs at 1050/1310nm have emerged as a leading swept source for optical coherence tomography imaging. Optically pumped 1050nm MEMS-VCSELs (MEMS-oVCSELs) have previously achieved >100nm tuning range, but electrically pumped MEMS-VCSELs (MEMS-eVCSELs) have lagged behind. In this work, we demonstrate 97nm continuous tuning range in a MEMS-eVCSEL operating near 1050nm, and 100nm total tuning range, representing the widest tuning ranges achieved to date, and rivaling the performance of optically pumped devices. Our devices employ a strain-compensated InGaAs/GaAsP gain region, a wideband fully oxidized GaAs/AlxOy back mirror, and 3 electrical contacts for current injection and MEMS actuation.
Christopher Burgner, John Carter, et al.
MEMS-tunable VCSELs at 1050nm have emerged as a high performance swept source for ophthalmic optical coherence tomography. Prior optically pumped MEMS-VCSELs exhibited over 100nm of tuning range but required pump lasers and external amplifiers which increased cost. In this work, we demonstrate the first electrically pumped 1050nm MEMS-eVCSEL co-packaged with a wideband amplifier to achieve over 70nm tuning at over 30mW of output power. Ophthalmic images acquired at A-scan rates of 800kHz showcase the simplicity of our single telecom grade 14pin butterfly co-package. Our wideband fully oxidized GaAs/AlxOy back mirror provides extensibility to ~100nm eVCSEL tuning, and ~20000 hour reliability.
