Near-diffraction-limited coherent emission from large aperture antiguided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser arrays

We demonstrate that in-phase mode operation with a near-diffraction-limited beam can be realized in large aperture (up to 100 elements) antiguided vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays. A selective etching process with two-step metalorganic chemical vapor deposition is used for fabrication of the antiguided VCSEL array structures. Modal discrimination is enhanced by intentionally choosing a GaAs cap thickness so as to introduce suitable loss to array interelement regions. Far field patterns indicate in-phase mode operation from both triangular and rectangular geometry antiguided VCSEL arrays, which is in good agreement with theory. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.