To improve the output powers of Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs), a 977 nm VCSEL array with three In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs0.92P0.08 strained Quantum Wells(QWs) was studied. The structures of the QWs were optimized and GaAsP with a larger band gap was chosen as the barrier material, and the band offsets of In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs0.92P0.08 were calculated. The output powers of the devices which used In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs0.92P0.08 and In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs QWs were simulated theoretically and analyzed comparetively, respectively and the pulsed peak powers of two array devices were measured. Then, the performance of the array device was estimated by a functional method using a p-parameter determined by the turn-on voltage, threshold current, and the differential resistance. Experimental results show that the 4×4 VCSEL array with In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs0.92P0.08 QWs and an emitting area of 0.005 cm2 can achieve a pulsed peak power of 123 W when the injecting current is 110 A, and its power density and slope efficiency are 45.42 kW/cm2 and 1.11 W/A, respectively. This output power is 13 % larger than that of the array with In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs QWs and the same emitting area. Furthermore, the values of p parameter are 15 and 13 under CW operation and pulsed operation, respectively, which indicates that the device has relatively good performance. In conclusion, the 4×4 VCSEL array with three In0.2Ga0.8As/GaAs0.92P0.08 strained QWs is able to achieve higher output powers.