Photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers: tailoring waveguiding for single-mode emission

The concept of photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs) is introduced by etching a hexagonal pattern of small air holes into the top Bragg reflector of a conventional 980 nm-wavelength VCSEL structure. For certain current ranges, the resulting devices oscillate only on the fundamental transverse mode even for oxide aperture diameters up to 12 /spl mu/m, yielding device resistances in the 50 /spl Omega/-regime.