A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) array, comprising: a first sub-array includes a plurality of VCSEL units arranged along a first axis, and wherein the first sub-array includes: a first VCSEL unit includes a first upper contact and a first bottom contact; and a second VCSEL unit includes a second upper contact and a second bottom contact; a first contact electrically connected to the first upper contact and the second bottom contact; and a second contact electrically connected to the second upper contact and the first bottom contact, wherein the first VCSEL unit is operated when a first voltage is applied to the first contact and a second voltage smaller than the first voltage is applied to the second contact, and wherein the second VCSEL unit is operated when the second voltage is applied to the first contact and the first voltage is applied to the second contact.

Resonant optical cavity light emitting devices are disclosed, where the device includes an opaque substrate, a first reflective layer, a first spacer region, a light emitting region, a second spacer region, and a second reflective layer. The light emitting region is configured to emit a target emission deep ultraviolet wavelength and is positioned at a separation distance from the reflector. The second reflective layer may have a metal composition comprising elemental aluminum and a thickness less than 15 nm. The device has an optical cavity comprising the first spacer region, the second spacer region and the light emitting region, where the optical cavity has a total thickness less than or equal to K.Math.λ/n. K is a constant ranging from 0.25 to 10, λ is the target wavelength, and n is an effective refractive index of the optical cavity at the target wavelength.

A light modulation element according to example embodiments includes a substrate; a first lower DBR layer on the substrate including a first material layer alternately stacked with a second material layer having a different refractive index from the first material layer; a second lower DBR layer on the first lower DBR layer with a surface area less than the first lower DBR layer and including a third material layer alternately stacked with a fourth material layer having a different refractive index from the third material layer; an active layer on the second lower DBR layer, including a semiconductor material having a multi-quantum well structure and having a refractive index that varies according to an applied voltage; and an upper DBR layer on the active layer including a fifth material layer alternately stacked with a sixth material layer having a different refractive index from the fifth material layer.

A semiconductor laser includes a first mirror layer, a second mirror layer, an active layer, a first area provided continuously with the first mirror layer and including a plurality of first oxidized layers, and a second area provided continuously with the second mirror layer and including a plurality of second oxidized layers. The first mirror layer, the second mirror layer, the active layer, the first area, and the second area form a laminate. The laminate includes in the plan view a first section, a second section, and a third section disposed between the first section and the second section along a first axis and causing light produced in the active layer to resonate. The amount of strain per unit volume in the second mirror layer of the third section is measured along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis and passing through the center of the third section in the plan view, and the difference between the maximum of the amount of strain and the minimum thereof is smaller than 0.20%.

A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) may include a substrate layer, epitaxial layers on the substrate layer, and angled reflectors configured to receive an optical beam emitted toward a bottom surface of the VCSEL and redirect the optical beam through an exit window in a top surface of the VCSEL. In some implementations, the angled reflectors may be formed in the substrate layer. Additionally, or alternatively, the VCSEL may include molded optics, where the molded optics include the angled reflectors. In some implementations, the exit window may include an integrated lens.

A light-emitting element includes: a laminated structure body 20 which is formed from a GaN-based compound semiconductor and in which a first compound semiconductor layer 21 including a first surface 21a and a second surface 21b that is opposed to the first surface 21a, an active layer 23 that faces the second surface 21b of the first compound semiconductor layer 21, and a second compound semiconductor layer 22 including a first surface 22a that faces the active layer 23 and a second surface 22b that is opposed to the first surface 22a are laminated; a first light reflection layer 41 that is provided on the first surface 21a side of the first compound semiconductor layer 21; and a second light reflection layer 42 that is provided on the second surface 22b side of the second compound semiconductor layer 22. The first light reflection layer 41 includes a concave mirror portion 43, and the second light reflection layer 42 has a flat shape.

In example implementations of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL), the VCSEL includes a p-type distributed Bragg reflector (p-DBR) layer and a p-type ohmic (p-ohmic) contact layer adjacent to the p-DBR layer. The p-DBR layer may include an oxide aperture and the p-ohmic contact layer may have an opening that is aligned with the oxide aperture. The opening may be filled with a dielectric material. A metal layer may be coupled to the p-ohmic contact layer and encapsulate the dielectric material.

Disclosed herein is a laser structure comprising an active region overlying a GaAs substrate. The active region includes a dilute nitride material. The laser is configured to generate light at wavelengths greater than 1300 nm. Also disclosed herein is a photodetector comprising an absorber layer overlying a GaAs substrate. The absorber layer includes a dilute nitride material. The photodetector is configured to detect light at wavelengths greater than 1300 nm. Exemplary dilute nitride materials may include, but are not limited to, GaInNAs and GaInNAsSb. Embodiments of the disclosure may include a dilute nitride-on-GaAs laser structure and a dilute nitride-on-GaAs photodetector.

A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) in which the MEMS mirror is bonded to the active region. This allows for a separate electrostatic cavity that is outside the laser's optical resonant cavity. Moreover, the use of this cavity configuration allows the MEMS mirror to be tuned by pulling the mirror away from the active region. This reduces the risk of snap down. Moreover, since the MEMS mirror is now bonded to the active region, much wider latitude is available in the technologies that are used to fabricate the MEMS mirror. This is preferably deployed as a swept source in an optical coherence tomography (OCT) system.

A surface emitting laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes an active layer, a first DBR layer and a second DBR layer sandwiching the active layer, and a dielectric layer and a reflection metal layer corresponding to a terminal end of a reflecting mirror on a side of the second DBR layer when viewed from the active layer.