Patent ID: 6778581
Filing Date: 2004-08-17
Classification: B82Y,G02B,H01S

Abstract:
A tunable vertical cavity surface emitting laser comprising:a lower mirror layer formed on a substrate, wherein the lower mirror layer includes a plurality of distributed Bragg reflector layers; an active region formed on the lower mirror layer, wherein the active region includes a plurality of quantum wells; a plurality of semi-insulating regions formed in the active region; an upper mirror layer formed on the active region, wherein the upper mirror layer includes an upper photonic crystal with a central defect, wherein the central defect is surrounded by a plurality of cavities that are drilled in the upper photonic crystal and through the semi-insulating regions such that the plurality of semi-insulating regions become a plurality of semi-insulating rings, wherein the central defect comprises a region without cavities or holes; a tunable element formed on top of the upper photonic crystal of the upper mirror layer, wherein a wavelength of an emitted mode is changed by applying an electric field to the tunable element.