85 °C error-free operation at 38 Gb/s of oxide-confined 980-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

Extremely temperature stable oxide-confined high-speed 980-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) for optical interconnects are presented. Error-free performance at 38 Gb/s and 40 Gb/s is demonstrated at temperatures as high as 85 degrees C and 75 degrees C, respectively. No adjustment of driving conditions was found to be necessary from room temperature up to 85 degrees C. In addition, energy-efficient 35 Gb/s operation at a very low pump current of only 4 mA is demonstrated with a low dissipated heat-to-bit rate ratio of 233 mW/Tbps. These are by far the highest bit rates reported for VCSELs at such temperatures. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3688040]