A vertical cavity laser apparatus is provided. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes an electrically responsive substrate; a support block positioned on the electrically responsive substrate; a bridge arm structure coupled to the support block, the structure having a base; a laser active area on the bridge arm structure, a tuning pad on the bridge arm structure, a laser bond pad on the bridge arm structure with traces connecting the laser bond pad to the laser active area and base. The traces are positioned and shaped to be symmetric to avoid problems due to the asymmetry of the injection current. Additionally, in this embodiment, the laser bond pad is kept at a height of the base in order to minimize device capacitance and the traces are also kept at the height of the base. Methods are also provided whereby impedance matching and high speed performance can be accomplished irregardless of the mechanical configuration of the bridge arm structure.