Dependence of wavelength control on dielectric structure for vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Calculated data are presented that compare the control of the lasing wavelength for different dielectric vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers that use a GaAs tuning layer of variable thickness to control the longitudinal cavity resonance. The advantages of high-contrast Bragg reflectors and a half-wave cavity spacer thickness become obvious in achieving both a wide tuning range and minimizing reflectivity changes.