In addition to the manufacturing and associated cost advantages, VCSELs possess performance advantages over both conventional LEDs and edge-emitting lasers.
Low threshold currents for high efficiency and low power consumption
Surface-normal emission, low divergence and circular output beam, ease of coupling, and simple optics.
Easily scaleable to one- or two-dimensional arrays
Very high speed, with rise and fall times of 100 picoseconds or less
Controlled single transversal mode and polarization
4~5X better wavelength stability with temperature than conventional edge emitting lasers
Manufacturing flexibility
Package flexibility
Surface emission allows full testing at the wafer level
