Polarization-locked VCSEL with PM fiber pigtail for quantum communication

Quantum communication is a new technology requiring a stable and reliable laser source for communication security. A new kind of polarization-locked vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) with polarization maintaining (PM) fiber pigtail is fabricated as a decoy state laser source. The VCSEL is packaged in a standard butterfly box integrated with thermoelectric coder (TEC) and thermistor. The optical pulse width of full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) is smaller than 400 ps with a 100-MHz on/off modulation frequency. The results reveal that modulation range is better than 4. Moreover, the polarization is stable, and the power extinction ratio is larger than 25. The center wavelength is 850 nm, and the SMSR is better than 40 dB.