Patent ID: 7170916

Claim:
A Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser, comprising: a substrate; an active region over said substrate, said active region for emitting light at a predetermined wavelength; a bottom distributed Bragg reflector mirror disposed between said active region and said substrate, said bottom distributed Bragg reflector mirror for reflecting light emitted by said active region back to said active region; and a top distributed Bragg reflector mirror adjacent said active region, said top distributed Bragg reflector mirror for reflecting light emitted by said active region back to said active region, wherein said top distributed Bragg reflector mirror has both a first level and a second level that partially extends over, and is adjacent to, said first level with no intervening layers; wherein said first level is comprised of a first set of materials; wherein said second level is comprised of a second set of materials; wherein said first set of materials and said second set of materials have significantly different etch rates for a selected etchant and etching method; wherein a combination of said first level and of said second level produces a predetermined reflection characteristic; and wherein said first level includes an ion-implanted region.