We present bottom-emitting tunable vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifiers (VCSOAs) with an effective wavelength tuning range of > 20 nm. These devices utilize a high reflectivity micromechanically tunable Bragg mirror as the back reflector. Compared with our first generation tunable VCSOAs, the bottom-emitting devices exhibit a two-fold increase in the effective tuning range as well as a five-fold reduction in the required tuning voltage.

We present the first microelectromechanical tunable vertical-cavity semiconductor optical amplifier. The device operates in the long wavelength range and exhibits a minimum of 10 dB of device gain through 11 nm of tuning.