Zhao Zhuangzhuang, Xie Yiyang, Pan Guanzhong, Ni Peinan, Wang Qiuhua, Dong Yibo, Hu Liangchen, Sun Jie, Chen Hongda, Xu Chen, Genevet Patrice
Opt Express. 2021 Jan 18;29(2):1481-1491. doi: 10.1364/OE.414671.
Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) play a key role in the development of the next generation of optoelectronic technologies, thanks to their unique characteristics, such as low-power consumption, circular beam profile, high modulation speed, and large-scale two-dimensional array. Dynamic phase manipulation of VCSELs within a compact system is highly desired for a large variety of applications. In this work, we incorporate the emerging microfluidic technologies into the conventional VCSELs through a monolithic integration approach, enabling dynamic phase control of lasing emissions with low power consumption and low thermal generation. As a proof of concept, a beam steering device is experimentally demonstrated by integrating microfluidic channel on a coherently coupled VCSELs array. Experimental results show that the deflection angles of the laser beam from the chip can be tuned from 0° to 2.41° under the injection of liquids with different refractive index into the microchannel. This work opens an entirely new solution to implement a compact laser system with real-time wavefront controllability. It holds great potentials in various applications, including optical fiber communications, laser printing, optical sensing, directional displays, ultra-compact light detection and ranging (LiDAR).
垂直腔面发射激光器（VCSEL）因其独特特性，如低功耗、圆形光束轮廓、高调制速度和大规模二维阵列，在下一代光电子技术发展中发挥着关键作用。在紧凑系统中对VCSEL进行动态相位操控在众多应用中具有很高的需求。在这项工作中，我们通过单片集成方法将新兴的微流体技术与传统VCSEL相结合，实现了低功耗和低热产生情况下激光发射的动态相位控制。作为概念验证，通过在相干耦合VCSEL阵列上集成微流体通道，实验展示了一种光束转向装置。实验结果表明，在向微通道注入不同折射率液体时，芯片发射的激光束偏转角可从0°调至2.41°。这项工作为实现具有实时波前可控性的紧凑型激光系统开辟了全新的解决方案。它在包括光纤通信、激光打印、光学传感、定向显示、超紧凑型光探测和测距（LiDAR）等各种应用中具有巨大潜力。
