Design and analysis of anti-resonant reflecting photonic crystal VCSEL lasers

Anti-resonant reflecting photonic crystal structure is employed in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) to achieve photon confinement in lateral direction. Such a design is promising in supporting large-aperture single-mode emission. In the configuration, hexagonal arrays of high-index cylinders which run vertically in the cladding region are introduced in the VCSEL's top DBR (p-DBR) mirror region. The transverse modal property of the proposed structure, especially leakage loss, has been theoretically investigated. An optimum design for the minimum radiation loss while maintaining single-mode operation has been discussed in this paper.