An array of surface-emitting lasers is provided. The array outputs high brightness in a unipolar way. The array comprises a stress-adjustment unit and a plurality of epitaxial device units. The stress-adjustment unit is used to adjust stress. The stress from a substrate is used to select a laser mode for an aperture unit. The selection of the laser mode is enhanced for the aperture unit without sacrificing driving current. Low current operation is achieved in a single mode for effectively reducing volume and further minimizing the size of the whole array to achieve high-quality laser output. An object can be scanned by the outputted laser to obtain a clear image with a high resolution. Hence, the present invention is applicable for face recognition with high recognition and high security.

A method of manufacturing a surface emitting laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes the following two steps: (1) a step of forming a semiconductor stacked structure on a substrate, the semiconductor stacked structure including an active layer, a first DBR layer of a first electrical conduction type, and a second DBR layer of a second electrical conduction type, the first DBR layer and the second DBR layer sandwiching the active layer, the second electrical conduction type being different from the first electrical conduction type; and (2) a step of forming a mesa section at a portion on the second DBR layer side in the semiconductor stacked structure and then forming an annular diffusion region of the first electrical conduction type at an outer edge of the mesa section by impurity diffusion from a side surface of the mesa section, the mesa section including the second DBR layer, the mesa section not including the active layer.

A semiconductor vertical resonant cavity light source includes an upper and lower mirror that define a vertical resonant cavity. An active region is within the cavity for light generation between the upper and lower mirror. At least one cavity spacer region is between the active region and the upper mirror or lower mirror. The cavity includes an inner mode confinement region and an outer current blocking region. An index guide in the inner mode confinement region is between the cavity spacer region and the upper or lower mirror. The index guide and outer current blocking region each include a lower and upper epitaxial material layer thereon with an epitaxial interface region in between. At least a top surface of the lower material layer includes aluminum in the interface region throughout a full area of an active part of the vertical light source.

A semiconductor laser element that includes a semiconductor layer including a waveguide formed in an intra-layer direction of the semiconductor layer and a window region formed in a front-side end face of the waveguide, has a current-laser optical output characteristic in which, at an operating temperature of 25° C. ±3° C., a laser optical output has a maximum value at a first driving current value and the laser optical output is at most 20% of the maximum value at a second driving current value greater than the first driving current value, and is not damaged at the second driving current value.

A semiconductor laser includes a semiconductor layer including end faces and at least one of the end faces is configured as a light emission end face. The semiconductor layer includes a waveguide and a light window structure region. The waveguide has a first width and is extended between the end faces. The light window structure region includes an opening having a second width greater than the first width arranged along the waveguide and is formed continuously or intermittently from one to another of the end faces.

A semiconductor vertical resonant cavity light source includes an upper and lower mirror that define a vertical resonant cavity. An active region is within the cavity for light generation between the upper and lower mirror. At least one cavity spacer region is between the active region and the upper mirror or lower mirror. The cavity includes an inner mode confinement region and an outer current blocking region. An index guide in the inner mode confinement region is between the cavity spacer region and the upper or lower mirror. The index guide and outer current blocking region each include a lower and upper epitaxial material layer thereon with an epitaxial interface region in between. At least a top surface of the lower material layer includes aluminum in the interface region throughout a full area of an active part of the vertical light source.

The present invention relates to a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) and a manufacturing method thereof, and more specifically, to a high-efficiency oxidized vertical cavity surface emitting laser for emitting laser light having a peak wavelength of 860 nm, and a manufacturing method thereof. The vertical cavity surface emitting laser according to the present invention includes a current diffusion layer having a high doping region at least in a portion between an upper electrode and a lower distributed Bragg reflector.

In a semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a ridge part has a structure in which a plurality of gain regions and a plurality of Q-switch regions are each disposed alternately with each of separation regions being interposed therebetween in an extending direction of the ridge part. The separation regions each have a separation groove that separates from each other, by a space, the gain region and the Q-switch region adjacent to each other. The separation groove has a bottom surface at a position, in a second semiconductor layer, higher than a part corresponding to a foot of each of both sides of the ridge part.

In a semiconductor laser according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a ridge part has a structure in which a plurality of gain regions and a plurality of Q-switch regions are each disposed alternately with each of separation regions being interposed therebetween in an extending direction of the ridge part. The separation regions each have a separation groove that separates from each other, by a space, the gain region and the Q-switch region adjacent to each other. The separation groove has a bottom surface at a position, in a second semiconductor layer, higher than a part corresponding to a foot of each of both sides of the ridge part. The semiconductor laser includes an electrode provided over the bottom surface of each separation groove with an insulating layer being interposed therebetween.

A semiconductor laser diode includes multiple layers stacked along a first direction, in which the multiple layers include: a first multiple of semiconductor layers; an optical waveguide on the first multiple of semiconductor layers, in which the optical waveguide includes a semiconductor active region for generating laser light, and in which the optical waveguide defines a resonant cavity having an optical axis; and a second multiple of semiconductor layers on the optical waveguide region, in which a resistivity profile of at least one layer of the multiple layers varies gradually between a maximum resistivity and a minimum resistivity along a second direction extending orthogonal to the first direction, in which a distance between the maximum resistivity and the minimum resistivity is greater than at least about 2 microns.