Patent ID: 6878958

Claim:
A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), comprising: a substrate comprising a first semiconductor material; a first distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirror formed on said substrate, said first DBR mirror comprising an amorphous dielectric material; a lateral overgrowth (LOG) spacer layer epitaxially grown from the substrate and laterally extending over the first DBR mirror; an active region formed above said LOG spacer layer and epitaxially grown therefrom; and a second DBR mirror deposited above said active region; said VCSEL comprising an inner region vertically coincident with said first DBR and an outer region not vertically coincident with said first DBR, said LOG spacer layer having an inner region component and an outer region component, said inner region component being formed as a result of a lateral epitaxial growth process and having fewer material dislocations than said outer region component.