One-dimensional simulation of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers including energy transport

A self-consistent one-dimensional vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) simulator has been developed. The model incorporates drift-diffusion with carrier-capture and thermionic emission in the quantum regions. Microcavity effects on the stimulated and spontaneous emission are carefully included via the enhancement of the vacuum and radiating electromagnetic fields in a VCSEL. A modified photon rate equation is implemented which predicts lasing off resonance. The heat flow equation is solved in addition to the device equations and the resulting 4 x 4 system of equations is solved self-consistently with the full-Newton method. The calculated temperature increase within the structure results in experimentally observed degradation in performance in the L-I curve as well as in the modulation response. This is due to the shift in the gain spectrum away from the resonance of the microcavity as the temperature increases. The Minilase simulator is also shown to be an effective CAD tool in designing VCSELs by producing interesting simulation results for VCSELs with various Bragg reflector mirrors.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio