Patent ID: 8420419

Claim:
A method of fabricating a III-nitride semiconductor laser device, comprising the steps of: preparing a substrate product, the substrate product having a laser structure, the laser structure including a semiconductor region and a substrate of a hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor, the substrate having a semipolar primary surface, and the semiconductor region being formed on the semipolar primary surface; scribing a first surface of the substrate product to form a scribed mark, the scribed mark extending in a direction of an a-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor; and after forming the scribed mark, carrying out breakup of the substrate product by press against a second region of the substrate product while supporting a first region of the substrate product but not supporting the second region thereof, to form another substrate product and a laser bar, the substrate product being divided into the first region and the second region by a predetermined reference line, the first and second regions being adjacent to each other, the press being implemented against a second surface of the substrate product, the first surface being opposite to the second surface, the semiconductor region being located between the first surface and the substrate, the laser bar having first and second end faces, the first and second end faces extending from the first surface to the second surface and being made by the breakup, the first and second end faces constituting a laser cavity of the III-nitride semiconductor laser device, the substrate product including an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, the anode electrode and the cathode electrode being provided on the laser structure, the semiconductor region including a first cladding layer comprised of a first conductivity type GaN-based semiconductor, a second cladding layer comprised of a second conductivity type GaN-based semiconductor, and an active layer provided between the first cladding layer and the second cladding layer, the first cladding layer, the second cladding layer, and the active layer being arranged along an axis normal to the semipolar primary surface, a c-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor of the substrate being inclined at an angle ALPHA with respect to the normal axis toward an m-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor, and the first and second end faces intersecting with an m-n plane defined by the normal axis and the m-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor.