Intensity noise and polarization stability of GaAlAs-GaAs surface emitting lasers

The intensity noise characteristics of GaAlAs-GaAs vertical cavity surface emitting (SE) lasers have been investigated. A low-intensity noise of -145 dB/Hz was obtained with an output power of 2.2 mW. The spontaneous emission factor is estimated to be 2*10/sup -5/, both from the bias dependence of the intensity noise and from the relative mode intensity below threshold. This is in good agreement with theoretical expectation. The possibility of low-noise operation of a microcavity SE laser with an extremely low output power of less than approximately 100 mu W is shown. The polarization stability of the surface emitting laser is demonstrated by measuring the intensity fluctuations of an individual polarization state.>