
Benefits
II-VI’s Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) technology brings together the advantages of low cost and optical efficiency within a small footprint.

More Benefits
VCSELs offer several advantages over Light Emitting Diode (LED) and Edge Emitting Laser (EEL) technology.
Overview
With strategic advantages over LEDs and EELs, VCSELs are extending the possibilities of consumer and scientific applications.
- To compensate for their elliptical output, EELs require more complex optics to focus and shape light.
- VCSELs have a lower operating voltage and threshold current than stacked junction EELs.
- The array-based nature of VCSELs provides more inherent reliability. VCSELs do not have the failure modes of traditional laser structures such as dark line defects.
- Since VCSELs can be implemented in arrays and have very long wear-out life, they are not vulnerable to catastrophic optical damage like systems based on a single or few LEDs or EELs. With an array of 200 VCSELs, the system still has 199 light sources if one fails.
- VCSELs can be modulated very quickly, leading to extremely fast rise/fall times and short pulse widths – directly beneficial to sensing and imaging techniques that require fast light pulses or high frame rates.
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