Long-Wavelength Vertical-Cavity Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers

Abstract—This paper overviews the properties and possible ap-plications of long wavelength vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers (VCSOAs). A VCSOA operating in the 1.3- m wave-length region is presented. The device was fabricated using wafer bonding; it was optically pumped and operated in reflection mode. The reflectivity of the VCSOA top mirror was varied in the char-acterization of the device. Results are presented for 13 and 12 top mirror periods. By reducing the top mirror reflectivity, the ampli-fier gain, optical bandwidth, and saturation output power were si-multaneously improved. For the case of 12 top mirror periods, we demonstrate 13-dB fiber-to-fiber gain, 0.6 nm (100 GHz) optical bandwidth, a saturation output power of 3 5 dBm and a noise figure of 8.3 dB. The switching properties of the VCSOA are also briefly investigated. By modulating the pump laser, we have ob-tained a 46-dB extinction ratio in the output power, with the max-imum output power corresponding to 7-dB fiber-to-fiber gain. All results are for continuous wave operation at room temperature. Index Terms—Fabry–Perot resonators, laser amplifiers, optical filters, optical pumping, optical resonators, optical switches, semi-conductor optical amplifiers, wafer bonding. I