Disclosed is a VCSEL array with improved optical properties. According to one aspect of the present embodiment, a VCSEL array has improved output light characteristics by minimizing the effects of resistance, inductance, and capacitance inevitably caused in a package.

A surface emitting laser according to one embodiment of the disclosure includes a stacked structure including, in order, a first DBR layer, an active layer, a second DBR layer, and a first electrically conductive contact layer. The stacked structure further includes a second electrically conductive contact layer and a two-dimensional electron gas generation layer between the first DBR layer and the active layer or in the first DBR layer. The surface emitting laser further includes a first electrode layer in contact with the first electrically conductive contact layer and a second electrode layer in contact with the second electrically conductive contact layer.

A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) has first and second electrical contacts, and an optical resonator. The optical resonator has first and second distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), an active layer, a distributed heterojunction bipolar phototransistor (DHBP), and an optical guide. The DHBP has a collector layer, light sensitive layer; a base layer; and an emitter layer. There is an optical coupling between the active layer and the DHBP for providing an active carrier confinement by the DHBP. The optical guide guides an optical mode within the optical resonator during operation. The optical guide is outside a current flow which can be provided by the first and second electrical contacts during operation of the VCSEL. The optical guide is outside a layer sequence between the first and second electrical contacts in the vertical direction of the VCSEL. The optical guide has an oxide aperture arranged in the second DBR.

A surface-emitting semiconductor laser includes a substrate, a first electrode provided in contact with the substrate, a first light reflection layer provided over the substrate, a second light reflection layer provided over the substrate, an active layer provided between the second light reflection layer and the first light reflection layer, a current confining layer that is provided between the active layer and the second light reflection layer and includes a current injection region, a second electrode provided over the substrate, with the second light reflection layer being interposed between the second electrode and the substrate, and a contact layer that is provided between the second electrode and the second light reflection layer and includes a contact region that is in contact with the second electrode, in which the contact region has a smaller area than an area of the current injection region.

[Object] To provide a vertical cavity surface emitting laser element having excellent electric responsiveness and high productivity and reliability, a method of producing the vertical cavity surface emitting laser element, and a photoelectric conversion apparatus.

[Solving Means] A vertical cavity surface emitting laser element according to the present technology includes: a semiconductor stacked body. The semiconductor stacked body is a semiconductor stacked body that includes a first mirror having a first conductive type, a second mirror that has a second conductive type and causes optical resonance together with the first mirror, an active layer provided between the first mirror and the second mirror, and a confinement layer that is provided between the first mirror and the second mirror and has a non-oxidized region and an oxidized region, the non-oxidized region being formed of a first material, the oxidized region being provided around the non-oxidized region and being formed of a second material obtained by oxidizing the first material, and has a mesa having an outer peripheral surface from which end surfaces of the active layer and the confinement layer are exposed and an ion implantation region that is a region into which ions have been implanted, is formed to reach a predetermined depth in the active layer and the confinement layer from the outer peripheral surface, and is separated from the non-oxidized region.

A method of manufacturing a vertical cavity surface emitting laser element including a first reflector including a nitride semiconductor multilayer film, the method includes: growing a first semiconductor layer consisting of a group III semiconductor containing aluminum and indium, the growing of the first semiconductor layer consisting of growing a first layer by supplying an aluminum source gas, an indium source gas, and a nitrogen source gas, and growing a second layer by supplying an aluminum source gas, an indium source gas, and a nitrogen source gas so that an indium composition ratio of the second layer is higher than an indium composition ratio of the first layer; and growing a second semiconductor layer consisting of gallium nitride. The growing of the first semiconductor layer and the growing of the second semiconductor are repeated alternately to form the nitride semiconductor multilayer film constituting the first reflector.

An array of surface-emitting gain chips includes a common substrate, plural gain chips formed on the common substrate, each configured to generate a light beam, plural optical couplers, each located on a top surface of a corresponding gain chip of the plural gain chips, plural optical fibers, each connected with one end to a corresponding optical coupler of the plurality of optical couplers, an array wide optical coupler connected to another end of the plural optical fibers, and a single optical fiber connected to the array wide optical coupler and configured to output the combined light beams.

A disclosed surface-emitting laser module includes a surface-emitting laser formed on a substrate to emit light perpendicular to its surface, a package including a recess portion in which the substrate having the surface-emitting laser is arranged, and a transparent substrate arranged to cover the recess portion of the package and the substrate having the surface-emitting laser such that the transparent substrate and the package are connected on a light emitting side of the surface-emitting laser. In the surface-emitting laser module, a high reflectance region and a low reflectance region are formed within a region enclosed by an electrode on an upper part of a mesa of the surface-emitting laser, and the transparent substrate is slanted to the surface of the substrate having the surface-emitting laser in a polarization direction of the light emitted from the surface-emitting laser determined by the high reflectance region and the low reflectance region.

Provided is a surface emitting laser capable of reducing resistance while suppressing a decrease in manufacturing efficiency.

The present technology provides a surface emitting laser including: a first multilayer film reflector; a second multilayer film reflector; and an active layer disposed between the first multilayer film reflector and the second multilayer film reflector, in which in the first multilayer film reflector and/or the second multilayer film reflector, a high-concentration impurity region having a higher impurity concentration than other regions is partially provided in a thickness direction. According to the present technology, there is provided a surface emitting laser capable of reducing resistance while suppressing a decrease in manufacturing efficiency.

Photonic devices having Al.sub.1-xSc.sub.xN and Al.sub.yGa.sub.1-yN materials, where Al is Aluminum, Sc is Scandium, Ga is Gallium, and N is Nitrogen and where 0<x≤0.45 and 0≤y≤1.