Spin modulation: Teaching lasers new tricks

Continued advances in VCSELs and their potential for many applications could be significantly enhanced by considering spin modulation. In addition to the steady-state threshold reduction, this chapter shows several desirable features present in their dynamic operation: spin-filtering, enhanced bandwidth, and chirp reduction. Optical methods and circularly polarized light could provide a simple means of implementing spin modulation, which could be beneficial for high-performance optical interconnects. Additionally, electrical spin injection and the concept of polarization modulation could also stimulate novel spin interconnects, offering an increase of several orders of magnitude in the effective bandwidth, compared to conventional metallic interconnects. The author expects that the continued research into spin-lasers will have two important implications: in the traditional laser community it will promote the understanding of often ignored spin degree of freedom, whereas in the spintronic community focused on the magnetoresistive effects it may stimulate novel room-temperature device concepts.