Room temperature spin injection into commercial VCSELs at non-resonant wavelengths

Abstract Spin lasers leverage electron spin-polarisation to control photon polarisation, offering the potential for lower thresholds, rapid modulation, and all-optical data processing. We report successful spin injection into a commercial vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) using optical pumping at wavelengths of 794 nm and 810 nm. Maximum circular polarisation achieved was about 20% at 794 nm, whereas this falls to 5% with exciting at 810 nm. We attribute this to reduced spin injection due to the longer excitation wavelength in line with previous measurements on quantum wells under optical orientation. We extend the spin-flip model to account for realistic excitation conditions and find our theoretical analysis accurately reproduces experimental trends, surveying spin injection in commercial VCSELs.