A semiconductor optical device includes a substrate containing silicon, and a semiconductor element bonded to the substrate, the semiconductor element being formed of a compound semiconductor and having an optical gain. The substrate includes a waveguide and a first region connected to the waveguide in an extension direction of the waveguide. The first region includes a plurality of recesses and a plurality of protrusions. Each of the plurality of recesses is recessed in a thickness direction of the substrate compared to a surface of the substrate to which the semiconductor element is bonded. Each of the plurality of protrusions protrudes in the thickness direction of the substrate from bottom surfaces of the plurality of recesses. The plurality of recesses and the plurality of protrusions are alternately disposed in a direction intersecting with the extension direction of the waveguide. The semiconductor element is bonded to the first region.

A semiconductor laser comprises: a substrate; a first cladding layer disposed above the substrate; a second cladding layer disposed above the first cladding layer so that the first cladding layer is positioned between the substrate and the second cladding layer; and a first mode expansion layer within the first cladding layer, a second mode expansion layer within the second cladding layer, or both the first mode expansion layer within the first cladding layer and the second mode expansion layer within the second cladding.

A semiconductor laser element includes an n-side semiconductor layer, an active layer, and a p-side semiconductor layer. A least a portion of the p-side semiconductor layer forms a ridge projecting upward. The p-side semiconductor layer includes an undoped first part, an electron barrier layer containing a p-type impurity and having a larger band gap energy than the first part, and a second part having at least one p-type semiconductor layer. The first part includes an undoped p-side composition graded layer in which a band gap energy increases towards the electron barrier layer, and an undoped p-side intermediate layer disposed on or above the p-side composition graded layer. A lower end of the ridge is positioned at the p-side intermediate layer.

A semiconductor optical amplifier for high-power operation includes a gain medium having a multilayer structure sequentially laid with a P-layer, an active layer, a N-layer from an upper portion to a lower portion in cross-section thereof. The gain medium is extendedly laid with a length L from a front facet to a back facet. The active layer includes multiple well layers formed by undoped semiconductor material and multiple barrier layers formed by n-doped semiconductor materials. Each well layer is sandwiched by a pair of barrier layers. The front facet is characterized by a first reflectance Rf and the back facet is characterized by a second reflectance Rb. The gain medium has a mirror loss α.sub.m about 40-200 cm.sup.−1 given by: α.sub.m=(½L)ln{1/(Rf×Rb)}.

An optical semiconductor device includes a multi-quantum well layer including well layers and barrier layers alternately overlapping with each other, an optical confinement layer, and a guide layer interposed between the multi-quantum well layer and the optical confinement layer. Each barrier layer is an undoped layer and an outermost layer is one of the barrier layers. The optical confinement layer has a refractive index that is greater than that of the outermost layer and a band gap that is smaller than that of the outermost layer. The guide layer includes a first adjacent layer in contact with the outermost layer and the guide layer is thinner than the optical confinement layer. Each of the optical confinement layer and the guide layer is an n-type semiconductor layer. The first adjacent layer of the guide layer has a band gap that is larger than that of the optical confinement layer.

A semiconductor laser element includes a semiconductor laminated structure that has a substrate, an n type cladding layer disposed at a front surface side of the substrate, an active layer disposed at an opposite side of the n type cladding layer to the substrate, and p type cladding layers disposed at an opposite side of the active layer to the n type cladding layer. The active layer includes a quantum well layer having a tensile strain for generating TM mode oscillation and the n type cladding layer and the p type cladding layers are respectively constituted of AlGaAs layers.

A semiconductor laser according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a semiconductor stack. The semiconductor stack includes, in the following order, a first cladding layer, an active layer, one or a plurality of low-concentration impurity layers, a contact layer, and a second cladding layer that includes a transparent conductive material. The semiconductor stack further has, in a portion including the contact layer, a ridge extending in a stacked in-plane direction. Each low-concentration impurity layer has an impurity concentration of 5.0×10.sup.17 cm.sup.−3 or less, and a total thickness of the low-concentration impurity layer is 250 nm or more and 1000 nm or less. A distance between the second cladding layer and the low-concentration impurity layer closest to the second cladding layer is 150 nm or less.

A light-emitting device includes: a substrate; a laminated structure provided at the substrate and having a plurality of columnar parts; and an electrode provided on a side opposite to a side of the substrate, of the laminated structure. The columnar part has: a first semiconductor layer; a second semiconductor layer having a different electrical conductivity type from the first semiconductor layer; and an active layer provided between the first semiconductor layer and the second semiconductor layer. The laminated structure has: a light propagation layer provided between the active layers of the columnar parts that are next to each other; a first low-refractive-index part provided between the light propagation layer and the substrate and having a lower refractive index than a refractive index of the light propagation layer; and a second low-refractive-index part provided between the light propagation layer and the electrode and having a lower refractive index than the refractive index of the light propagation layer.

An optical device has a gallium and nitrogen containing substrate including a surface region and a strain control region, the strain control region being configured to maintain a quantum well region within a predetermined strain state. The device also has a plurality of quantum well regions overlying the strain control region.

A semiconductor light emitting device of one embodiment of the present disclosure incudes: a GaN substrate having, as a principal plane, a semipolar plane or a non-polar plane inclined from a c-plane in an m-axis direction or an a-axis direction within a range from 20° to 90° both inclusive; an active layer provided on the GaN substrate; and an n-type cladding layer provided between the GaN substrate and the active layer, and including a first layer on the active layer side and a second layer on the substrate side, the first layer including AlGaInN containing 0.5% or more of indium (In), and the second layer being lower in refractive index than the first layer.