Relative intensity noise of temperature-stable, energy-efficient 980 nm VCSELs

Abstract

The relative intensity noise (RIN) of temperature-stable, energy-efficient oxide confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have been investigated. Low energy consumption data transmission is achieved by using small oxide-aperture diameter VCSELs biased at small currents. We demonstrate that energy efficiency is not in conflict with our VCSELs’ RIN characteristics. The experimental results indicate that small oxide-aperture diameter VCSELs, which are most suitable for energy-efficient, temperature-stable operation, exhibit lower laser RIN due to less mode competition inside the smaller optical cavity volume. Our energy-efficient VCSELs fulfill the RIN requirements of the 32G Fibre Channel standard.