Dynamic beam switching of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with integrated optical beam routers

Dynamic beam switching of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) have been demonstrated for the first time using integrated optical beam routers. The output beam of the VCSEL is switched electrically between two different emission angles. High-speed switching up to 2 GHz has been achieved with an 8 μm×8 μm device. Such beam-steering devices are particularly suitable for optical interconnect and photonic switching applications. By integrating the beam routers with VCSELs, the complexity and size of the switching nodes are significantly reduced.