Mode Control Anti-Phase Coating

By utilizing an anti-phase coating (APC) and impurity-induced disordering (IID) for filtering higher-order transverse modes, VCSEL performance is enhanced by reducing beam spot size and increasing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in optical transcievers. These methods have produced world-record results, along with numerous publications and conference proceedings. Current/future work involves polarization control by changing the filter size/shape and application into 2D-VCSEL arrays for sensing applications.

Related News + Publications

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  Utilization of silicon optical coatings for transverse-mode suppression in high-power oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
  Engineering of the electric-field standing-wave pattern of oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) via a scalable, high-refractive-index silicon optical coating is demonstrated to achieve high-power, single-transverse-mode emission. The electron-beam deposition of a thin silicon film atop a standard VCSEL structure reduces the amplitude of the electric-field standing wave over the quantum well gain region, raising the… Read more: Utilization of silicon optical coatings for transverse-mode suppression in high-power oxide-confined vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers
• Kevin Presents Single-Mode VCSEL Array Work at CS MANTECH 2025
  Kevin Pikul presents his talk titled “Single-Mode, Polarization Stable 2D-VCSEL Arrays via Elliptical Disorder-Defined Apertures” at CS MANTECH 2025.
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  Kevin Presents Polarization-Control Research at CS MANTECH 2024
  At the 2024 CS MANTECH conference, Kevin presents his work on using anti-phase coatings to achieve high-power, single-mode, single-polarization performance in VCSELs.
• Kevin Presents Mode-Control Research at CS MANTECH
  At the 2023 CS MANTECH conference, Kevin presents his work on using anti-phase coatings to achieve high-power, single-mode performance in VCSELs.
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  Robert, Kevin, and Leah Present at the Engineering Research Fair
  Robert Kaufman, Kevin Pikul, and Leah Espenhahn present a high-level view on the research conducted within the group at the 2023 Engineering Research Fair. Over the course of two hours, 74 undergraduate students show interest in the group and the research being performed.