A surface-emitting type semiconductor laser comprising: a substrate; a first electrode provided on one side of the substrate; a first mirror provided on another side of the substrate opposite to said one side; an active layer formed above the first mirror; a second mirror (104; 404; 504) formed above the active layer; a current constricting section formed above or below the active layer; a light confining region formed inside a region surrounded by the current constricting section as viewed in a plan view; and a second electrode; wherein a first columnar section including at least the active layer, the second mirror and the current constricting section is divided into a second columnar section and a third columnar section, the third columnar section having the active layer, the current constricting section and a lower part of the second mirror and being formed below the second columnar section having the remaining upper part of the second mirror, the third columnar section being dimensioned to be larger in plan view than the second columnar section; and said second electrode is provided around the second columnar section on a top surface of the third columnar section at a step formed between the third and the second columnar section (140, 130), characterized in that the third columnar section is dimensioned to be smaller in plan view than the substrate; and the surface-emitting type semiconductor laser further comprises a plurality of mutually concentric circular rings (106, 107, 108, 109) composed of light-absorbing material; a second ring of the plurality of mutually concentric circular rings (106, 107, 108, 109) and rings (108, 109) lying outside the second ring form a diffraction grating that surrounds the light confining region and serves to maintain light confinement in the light confining region; and the second ring of the plurality of mutually concentric circular rings (106, 107, 108, 109) is positioned at a first nodal position of a desired oscillation mode of the surface-emitting type semiconductor laser radially outside an innermost first ring of the plurality of mutually concentric circular rings (106, 107, 108, 109); and at least one further ring is inserted at a further nodal position of the desired oscillation mode between the first ring and the second ring; such that optical loss is added to the modes other than the desired oscillation mode without disturbing the desired oscillation mode. a substrate; a first electrode provided on one side of the substrate; a first mirror provided on another side of the substrate opposite to said one side; an active layer formed above the first mirror; a second mirror (104; 404; 504) formed above the active layer; a current constricting section formed above or below the active layer; a light confining region formed inside a region surrounded by the current constricting section as viewed in a plan view; and a second electrode; wherein a first columnar section including at least the active layer, the second mirror and the current constricting section is divided into a second columnar section and a third columnar section, the third columnar section having the active layer, the current constricting section and a lower part of the second mirror and being formed below the second columnar section having the remaining upper part of the second mirror, the third columnar section being dimensioned to be larger in plan view than the second columnar section; and said second electrode is provided around the second columnar section on a top surface of the third columnar section at a step formed between the third and the second columnar section (140, 130), characterized in that the third columnar section is dimensioned to be smaller in plan view than the substrate; and the surface-emitting type semiconductor laser further comprises a plurality of mutually concentric circular rings (106, 107, 108, 109) composed of light-absorbing material; a second ring of the plurality of mutually concentric circular rings (106, 107, 108, 109) and rings (108, 109) lying outside the second ring form a diffraction grating that surrounds the light confining region and serves to maintain light confinement in the light confining region; and the second ring of the plurality of mutually concentric circular rings (106, 107, 108, 109) is positioned at a first nodal position of a desired oscillation mode of the surface-emitting type semiconductor laser radially outside an innermost first ring of the plurality of mutually concentric circular rings (106, 107, 108, 109); and at least one further ring is inserted at a further nodal position of the desired oscillation mode between the first ring and the second ring; such that optical loss is added to the modes other than the desired oscillation mode without disturbing the desired oscillation mode.