Effect of Mesa Size on Thermal Characteristics of Vertical-cavity Surface-emitting Lasers

The effect of mesa size on the thermal characteristics of etched mesa vertical-cavity surfaceemitting lasers（VCSELs） is studied. The numerical results show that the mesa size of the top mirror strongly influences the temperature distribution inside the etched mesa VCSEL. Under a certain driving voltage, with decreasing mesa size, the location of the maximal temperature moves towards the p-contact metal, the temperature in the core region of the active layer rises greatly, and the thermal characteristics of the etched mesa VCSELs will deteriorate.