Abstract

The resonant cavity light emitting diode (RCLED) [1] consists of a light-emitting active region placed within a resonant optical cavity and is a potential light source in applications such as wavelength division multiplexing, optical fiber communications, and free-space optical interconnects. Broad and continuous wavelength tunability is an attractive feature in many of these applications; however, because the resonant wavelength is determined by refractive indices and fixed vertical layer thicknesses, attempts to tune the resonance through refractive index modulation are limited to a few nanometers in the near IR [2]. Recently we achieved broadly-tunable light emission from an optically-excited vertical cavity utilizing the micromechanical motion of a suspended deformable-membrane top mirror [3]. Here we demonstrate for the first time the integration of a diode active region within such a tunable resonant cavity to achieve a broadly- and continuously-tunable RCLED.

© 1995 Optical Society of America