The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 13, 2001
Filed:
Dec. 18, 1997
Scott W. Corzine, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Michael R. T. Tan, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Albert T. Yuen, Los Altos, CA (US);
Dubravko I. Babic, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Agilent Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A Vertical Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) assembly in which the polarization is locked to a specified direction that is the same for all VCSELs. A VCSEL according to the present invention includes a VCSEL having a top mirror region, a bottom mirror region, a light generation region between the top and bottom mirror regions, a conducting substrate and a bottom electrode. The bottom mirror region is sandwiched between the conducting substrate and the light generation region, and the conducting substrate is sandwiched between the bottom electrode and the bottom mirror region. The assembly also includes a mounting substrate having top and bottom surfaces, the VCSEL being mechanically coupled to the mounting substrate. The mounting substrate includes a means for defining a first axis. The assembly includes a means for causing the mounting substrate to flex about the first axis thereby inducing a strain in the light generation region which locks the polarization into a mode determined by the first axis. In one embodiment of the present invention, the first axis is defined by a channel in the mounting substrate. The mounting substrate is caused to flex by the application of an adhesive layer applied between the mounting substrate and a mounting surface. The adhesive layer has a thermal coefficient of expansion different from the mounting substrate. In another embodiment, trenches whose direction defines the first axis are located in the top mirror region of the VCSEL.