Vertical-short-cavity laser with a guided-mode-resonance external mirror

A cavity-resonator-integrated guided-mode resonance mirror (CRIGM) shows a narrowband reflection-phase variation. Laser oscillation of a vertical-external-short-cavity laser consisting of a CRIGM and a gain mirror was demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The oscillation wavelength stayed at around 1045 nm even when an air-gap length between the GRIGM and the gain mirror was varied by 0.35 μm. The dependence of an oscillation wavelength on the air-gap length was reduced by one order of magnitude in comparison to a case using a multilayer mirror instead of the CRIGM. This wavelength insensitivity expands positioning tolerance in fabrication and in operation to be suitable for surface-mounting a vertical-cavity laser on a photonic integrated circuit.