A model to simulate Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) operation above threshold is presented. The power - injected current (PI) curves are computed accounting for mode competition arising from spatial hole-burning and temperature profiles. The latter affect many laser parameters, such as the gain spectra and the optical modes, which change their shapes and wavelengths during operation. This comprehensive model aims to describe the details of VCSEL operation above threshold, in a non-circularly symmetric geometries, preserving at the same time computational efficiency. The optical treatment is vectorial, using the in-house developed VELM code. The model is based on a solution of the dynamical equations for field-carrier interactions. Similarly to the more mature vectorial optical treatment, the numerical efficiency is achieved by expanding in proper basis of simple and analytical functions all the involved 3D variables: carrier densities, temperature and optical fields.

Date Published: 6 February 2009
PDF: 15 pages
Proc. SPIE 7229, Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers XIII, 72290D (6 February 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.807832

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7229:
Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers XIII
Kent D. Choquette; Chun Lei, Editor(s)