Simulation of visible vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

The finite difference beam propagation method (FD-BPM) is used for the simulation of oxide-confined visible vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). In our calculation model, all the major physical processes including the current density distribution, the self-heating effect of devices, the carrier lateral diffusion in quantum wells and optical field modes are considered and calculated consistently. Based upon this model, the current density and temperature distributions, as wall as the carrier density distribution in quantum wells are obtained. The threshold properties, the transverse modes and the optical output characteristics are also calculated and analyzed. The results show that the threshold current would be 0.67 mA when the radius of oxide-hole is 6 μm, and the optical output power might be as high as 4.5 mW.