Optical losses in dielectric apertured terahertz VCSEL

The resonant wavelength and mode radius of the fundamental modes supported by an oxide apertured terahertz vertical surface emitting laser are determined from Gaussian resonant theory and scalar variational method. The reflectivity of the Bragg mirror is calculated for the lowest modes and it decreases as the aperture size decreases. The aperture radius, thickness, and axial position in the cavity are shown to be an important factor for high efficiency vertical cavity surface emitting lasers and single mode operation. When the aperture size is much larger than the emitting wavelength, the optical loss is negligible. However, the optical loss strongly depends on the aperture size and thickness when aperture size is similar to or smaller than emitting wavelength.