Temperature dependence of GaAs-AlGaAs vertical cavity surface emitting lasers

Abstract
The temperature performance of GaAs‐AlGaAs vertical cavity surface emitting lasers has been studied from 60 to −160 °C. A minimum threshold current occurs considerably below room‐temperature where the wavelength of the Fabry–Perot resonance of the cavity matches the wavelength of the maximum gain of the active region. The laser quantum efficiency increases for decreasing temperature, exhibiting a change of slope near the temperature of the threshold minimum.