Patent ID: 7499481
Filing Date: 2009-03-03
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
1. A surface-emitting laser comprising: a substrate; a pair of reflectors disposed on the substrate; and an active layer disposed between the pair of reflectors; wherein at least one of the pair of reflectors is a multilayer reflector including one or more layers having a first refractive index and one or more layers having a second refractive index lower than the first refractive index, wherein the layers having the first and second refractive indices are alternately stacked; at least one of the layers having the second refractive index includes a first region and a second region surrounding the first region in a plane parallel to the substrate; the first region contains aluminum oxide and has a lower refractive index than the second region; a boundary between the first region and the second region is positioned within a region where laser light is emitted; and the reflectance of the multilayer reflector for the laser light in a direction perpendicular to the substrate is higher in a portion including the first region than in a portion including the second region.