In vacuo responses of an AlGaAs vertical cavity surface emitting laser irradiated by 4.5 MeV protons

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) have high potential for space applications, yet little is known of their sensitivity to radiation under vacuum conditions. The first observations of a commercially available proton implanted quantum well AlGaAs VCSEL operating at 850 nm in vacuo and irradiated by 4.5 MeV protons by a scanning ion microbeam is presented. Degradation of L-I-V responses at a proton dose of 1.19 MGy are discussed with particular attention drawn to heating arising from increased nonradiative carrier recombination and that resulting from the vacuum environment.