Thermal analysis of oxide-confined VCSEL arrays

A thermo-electric 3-D analysis of 980 nm vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays based on thefinite elementmethod (FEM) is presented in this paper. High performanceVCSEL array structureswith square mesas are modeled by applying a steady-state 3-D heat dissipation model. Several oxide aperture diameters (Da), substrate thicknesses, current densities, array sizes, heat flux, and temperature profiles are considered. The analysis shows that themaximum internal temperature of a VCSEL array ranges from 306.5 K for a 20 mm Da, 100 mm substrate thickness, 666 A/cm current density, and a 1 1 array size to 412 K for a 5 mm Da, 300 mm substrate thickness, 1200 A/cm current density, and a 4 4 array size. & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.