Patent ID: 8576890

Claim:
A vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser comprising: a grating layer having a non-periodic, sub-wavelength grating, wherein the non-periodic, sub-wavelength grating comprises a first section composed of a plurality of first elements arranged in a first pattern and a second section composed of a plurality of second elements arranged in a second pattern, wherein the first section is physically separated from the second section, and wherein the first section has a first reflection coefficient and the second section has a second reflection coefficient that is higher than the first reflection coefficient to cause light to be reflected in a predetermined, non-Gaussian, spatial mode across the sub-wavelength grating; a reflective layer; and a light emitting layer disposed between the grating layer and the reflector, wherein the sub-wavelength grating and the reflector form a resonant cavity, and wherein the sub-wavelength grating and the reflector are to cause light having a predetermined pattern to be emitted from the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser.