Computer Simulation of Optoelectronic Components Containing Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers

In this program Photonics Research Inc. and subcontractor Gateway Modeling Inc., propose to develop improved Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELS) and optoelectronic integrated circuits incorporating VCSELs by employing a general purpose numerical computer simulation tool. VCSEL arrays are promising candidates for a whole new generation of communication, computation and signal processing applications. Integrated optoelectronic circuits incorporating VCSELs are candidates for future all-optical processors and myriad of other applications. The Phase I program goals will be i) to modify Gateway's existing two-dimensional numerical device simulator for use as a general optoelectronics simulation platform and ii) to implement and compare to experiment VCSEL, integrated VCSEL-HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor) and VCSEL test structure simulations. General purpose, verified and accurate numerical simulators capable of handling both photonic and electronic devices are expected to greatly reduce future optoelectronic development costs and hasten integrated optoelectronics performance improvement. Anticipated Benefits/Potential Applications - Little quantitative simulation work on VCSELs for the purpose of optimization has been conducted. Several applications including optical computing, signal processing, CD-ROM, parallel communications, and laser print heads can benefit from improved VCSEL performance. The availability of trusted simulation tools will greatly improve the likelihood of short term advances.