Abstract
A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) was born in Japan. The 38 years’ research and
developments opened up various applications including datacom, sensors, optical interconnects,
spectroscopy, optical storages, printers, laser displays, laser radar, atomic clock and high power sources.
A lot of unique features have been already proven, such as low power consumption, a wafer level testing
and so on. The market of VCSELs has been growing up rapidly and they are now key devices in local
area networks, and optical interconnections in data centers and supercomputers. In this paper, the
advances on VCSEL photonics will be reviewed. We present the high-speed modulation of VCSELs
based on a coupled cavity structure. For further increase in transmission capacity per fiber, the
wavelength engineering of VCSEL arrays is discussed, which includes the wavelength stabilization and
wavelength tuning based on a micro-machined cantilever structure. We also address a lateral integration
platform and new functions, including high-resolution beam scanner, vortex beam creation and largeport
free space wavelength selective switch with a Bragg refl ector waveguide.
