A semiconductor device according to the present application includes a semiconductor substrate, an n-type first cladding layer provided on the semiconductor substrate, an n-type second cladding layer provided on the first cladding layer, an active layer provided on the second cladding layer, a p-type third cladding layer provided on the active layer, a surface electrode provided above the third cladding layer, a back surface electrode provided below the semiconductor substrate and a p-type diffusion prevention layer provided between the first cladding layer and the second cladding layer.

A method for manufacturing an optical semiconductor device having a ridge stripe configuration containing an active layer and current blocking layers which embed both sides of the ridge stripe configuration, comprises steps of forming a mask of an insulating film on a surface of a semiconductor layer containing an active layer, forming a ridge stripe configuration by etching a semiconductor layer using gas containing SiCl.sub.4, removing an oxide layer with regard to a Si based residue which is attached on a surface which is etched of the ridge stripe configuration which is formed and removing a Si based residue whose oxide layer is removed.

A quantum cascade semiconductor laser includes a substrate with a main surface including a waveguide area and a distributed Bragg reflection area that are arranged in a direction of a first axis; a laser region provided on the waveguide area, the laser region including a mesa waveguide having first and second side surfaces, and first and second burying regions provided on the first and second side surfaces, respectively; a distributed Bragg reflection region provided on the distributed Bragg reflection area, the distributed Bragg reflection region including a semiconductor wall having first bulk semiconductor regions and first laminate regions that are alternately arrayed in a direction of a second axis intersecting the first axis; and an upper electrode provided on the laser region. Each first bulk semiconductor region includes a bulk semiconductor layer. Each first laminate region includes a stacked semiconductor layer having a plurality of semiconductor layers.

A semiconductor laser in a ridge waveguide structure includes: a semiconductor substrate; a lower cladding layer which is formed on the semiconductor substrate; an active layer and a semiconductor layer which are in parallel on the lower cladding layer and are connected with each other; a first upper cladding layer locally aligned above the active layer; a second upper cladding layer locally aligned above the semiconductor layer; and a third upper cladding layer locally aligned above the active layer to confine light which is guided in the active layer, wherein the semiconductor layer has a band gap which is larger than that of the active layer. According to this constitution, an optical semiconductor device with high reliability in which the ridge waveguide structure whose manufacturing is relatively easy is applied, and current diffusion and electrical crosstalk between lasers in the ridge waveguide structure are suppressed is enabled.

A reproducible method for producing a resonant structure of a distributed-feedback semiconductor laser exhibiting a narrow waveguide of the order of some ten micrometers, the production of the diffraction grating being carried out subsequent to the step of producing the strip is provided. In a last step, a diffraction grating is engraved as a function of a desired precise wavelength.

A semiconductor laser may include a substrate, an active region, and an electron stopper layer. The electron stopper layer may include an aluminum gallium indium arsenide phosphide alloy. The aluminum gallium indium arsenide phosphide alloy may have an Al.sub.xGa.sub.yIn.sub.(1-x-y)As.sub.zP.sub.(1-z) composition.

Provided is a semiconductor light source element or an optical device including a semiconductor optical waveguide of a high-mesa semi-insulated embedded structure having a window structure made of the same material as an overclad layer at a light emission end, and a method for manufacturing thereof, in which an active layer at a portion of the window structure is removed, and then the same layer as the overclad layer is formed.

Provided is a semiconductor laser device in which a distributed feedback laser part and an electro-absorption modulator part are formed on the same semiconductor substrate, and laser light emitted from the laser part is emitted from an emission end face of the modulator part. The laser part includes a first diffraction grating formed to extend in a direction of an optical axis of the laser light and the modulator part partially including a second diffraction grating formed to extend in the direction of the optical axis of the laser. A non-diffraction grating region in which a diffraction grating is not formed is interposed between the second diffraction grating of the modulator part and an emission end face of the laser part from which the laser light is emitted to the modulator part.

A semiconductor optical integrated device according to the present invention includes a conductive substrate, a laser provided to the conductive substrate, a semi-insulating semiconductor layer provided on the conductive substrate, a photodiode provided on the semi-insulating semiconductor layer and a waveguide that is provided on the conductive substrate and guides output light of the laser to the photodiode, wherein an anode of the photodiode and a cathode of the photodiode are drawn from an upper surface side of the photodiode, and the waveguide and the photodiode are separated from each other by the semi-insulating semiconductor layer.

A Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) includes a layer stack of semiconductor layers having a first layer sub-stack forming a mesa, and a second layer sub-stack adjacent to the mesa in a stacking direction. Layers of the second layer sub-stack extend beyond layers of the first sub-stack in a direction perpendicular to the stacking direction. The semiconductor layers of the layer stack form an optical resonator having a first mirror, a second mirror, an active region between the first and second mirrors for laser light generation, and an oxide aperture layer forming a current aperture. The oxide aperture layer is made from Al.sub.1-xGa.sub.xAs with 0≤x≤0.05. The oxide aperture layer is a last layer of the mesa and immediately adjacent to a first layer of the second layer sub-stack. A first layer of the second layer sub-stack is a contact layer.