Gigabit-per-second cryogenic optical link using optimized low-temperature AlGaAs-GaAs vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers

Journal Article · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996 · IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics

OSTI ID:376061

Lu, B; Lu, Y C; Cheng, J ^[1]; Schneider, R P; Zolper, J C ^[2]; Goncher, G ^[3]

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1. Univ. of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for High Technology Materials
2. Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
3. Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR (United States)

The authors describe the design of GaAs-AlGaAs vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) that are optimized for operation at very low temperatures and the experimental demonstration of a free-space optical interconnect for cryogenic electronic systems using a VCSEL. They demonstrate high-speed modulation of the optical link at a data rate of up to 2 Gb/s at 77 K, with a very low bit-error rate of <10{sup {minus}13}, and thermally stable operation is achieved over a wide range of cryogenic temperatures without laser bias current compensation. Cryogenic VCSELs with excellent lasing characteristics have been achieved over the entire temperature range from 150 K to 6 K, including high output power (22 mW), high power-conversion efficiency (32%), high slope efficiency ({approximately}100%), low threshold voltage (1.75 V) and current (1.7 mA), as well as a high-modulation bandwidth (12 GHz) for a 16 {micro}m diameter device at 80 K.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratory
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 376061
• Journal Information: IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Journal Name: IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 32; ISSN 0018-9197; ISSN IEJQA7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
ALUMINIUM ARSENIDES
DESIGN
GALLIUM ARSENIDES
HETEROJUNCTIONS
PERFORMANCE
SEMICONDUCTOR LASERS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0013-0065 K
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0065-0273 K