Modal Performance of Spiral Phase Plate VCSELs

A detailed parametric investigation of the modal performance of single-mode, single-polarization vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) loaded with a microspiral phase plate is reported. This paper stems from a recent publication, where the structure is technologically implemented and tested. Starting from the actual structure parameters, we investigate by VCSEL ELectroMagnetic (VELM), our in-house fully 3-D and vectorial solver, the features of such a novel approach to produce orbital angular momentum modes, in view of next-generation high-capacity optical communications.