Modeling array of MVCSELs With controlled emission direction based on microstructures

This paper presents a novel approach to achieve beam angle control in vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) using microstructures. The proposed microstructured VCSEL (MVCSEL) models are designed and optimized to simulate the effect of various microstructure parameters on beam diffraction. And the MVCSELs with different microstructure period lengths are modeled and their emission angles are characterized. By varying the microstructure period length from 18μm to 1μm, the emission angle of the MVCSELs is found to vary from ±3° to ±70°, resulting in a large scanning range of 134°. Additionally, the vertical divergence angle of these MVCSELs is controlled to be in the range of 0.67° to 0.23°. Integration of these MVCSELs in an array provides a promising option for miniaturization and integration of LiDAR and can be directly used as a transmitter chip for LiDAR applications. These results suggest that the proposed MVCSELs array chip could have significant potential in the development of high-performance and low-cost LiDAR systems.