Claims
- 1. A semiconductor laser comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate;
- a multilayer structure provided on the semiconductor substrate, the multilayer structure including an active layer, a pair of cladding layers interposing the active layer, a current confining layer for injecting a current into a stripe-shaped predetermined region of the active layer, and a contact layer disposed on top of the current confining layer,
- wherein one of the pair of cladding layers that is disposed above the active layer includes a stripe-shaped ridge extending along a cavity length direction of the semiconductor laser, the current confining layer being formed so as to overlap regions of the one cladding layer excluding the stripe-shaped ridge of the one cladding layer, and
- wherein a groove having a lowest portion thereof on a level higher than a level of an upper face of the active layer is formed in the current confining layer and in the contact layer on each of opposite sides of the stripe-shaped ridge.
- 2. A semiconductor laser according to claim 1, wherein the cladding layer that is disposed above the active layer includes:
- a first cladding layer formed on the active layer;
- a second cladding layer formed above the first cladding layer; and
- an etching stopper layer interposed between the first cladding layer and the second cladding layer.
- 3. A semiconductor laser according to claim 1, wherein the contact layer is provided above the multilayer structure.
- 4. A semiconductor laser according to claim 1 further comprising an insulating film having a stripe-shaped ridge opening located above the stripe-shaped ridge.
- 5. A semiconductor laser according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the grooves is in the range of 30 .mu.m to 200 .mu.m.
- 6. A semiconductor laser according to claim 1, wherein the lowest portion of each groove reaches an upper face of a portion of the cladding layer, on the side of the stripe-shaped ridge thereof, that is disposed above the active layer.
- 7. A semiconductor laser according to claim 2, wherein the lowest portion of each groove reaches an upper face of the etching stopper layer.
Priority Claims (4)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
5-180174 |
Jul 1993 |
JPX |
|
5-251566 |
Oct 1993 |
JPX |
|
5-251567 |
Oct 1993 |
JPX |
|
5-336373 |
Dec 1993 |
JPX |
|
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of application Ser. No. 08/586,249, filed Jan. 16, 1996, now abandoned which is a division of application Ser. No. 08/278,395 filed Jul. 21, 1994 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,256 issued Jun. 4, 1996).
US Referenced Citations (17)
Foreign Referenced Citations (9)
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Country |
0119781 |
Jul 1984 |
JPX |
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Feb 1987 |
JPX |
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Nov 1987 |
JPX |
0092075 |
Apr 1988 |
JPX |
0081887 |
Apr 1988 |
JPX |
4-106992 |
Apr 1992 |
JPX |
4-115588 |
Apr 1992 |
JPX |
4-206986 |
Jul 1992 |
JPX |
5-167174 |
Jul 1993 |
JPX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (3)
Entry |
Hecht, "Understanding Lasers An Entry Level Guide" IEEE Press, pp. 266-269, 1994. |
Thompson, Physics of Semiconductor Laser Devices, John Wiley & Sons, p. 11, 1980. (No Month Available). |
Agrawal et al., Semiconductor Lasers Second Edition, Van Nostrand Reinhold, pp. 450-455, 1993. (No Month Available). |
Divisions (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
586249 |
Jan 1996 |
|
Parent |
278395 |
Jul 1994 |
|