Patent ID: 7751459

Claim:
A Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) comprising: a substrate; a first semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror of a first conductivity type formed on the substrate; an active region formed on the first semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror; a current confining layer of a second conductivity type formed on the active region; a second semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror of the second conductivity type formed on the current confining layer; and a third semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror of the second conductivity type formed on the second semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror, the first, second, and third semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirrors each comprising a pair of a high refractive index layer and a low refractive index layer, the impurity concentration of the second semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror being higher than the impurity concentration of the third semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror, and the band gap energy of the high refractive index layer in the second semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror being greater than the energy of the wavelength of a resonator formed of the first semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror, the active region, the current confining layer, the second semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror, and the third semiconductor multilayer film reflective mirror.