Patent ID: 8842709

Claim:
A surface emitting semiconductor laser including, provided on a substrate, a first semiconductor multilayer reflector of a first conductivity type, an active area, a second semiconductor multilayer reflector of a second conductivity type, and a current confinement layer having a conductive area and a surrounding high-resistance area, the surface emitting semiconductor laser comprising: a higher-order transverse mode suppressing layer formed on an emission surface from which laser light is emitted and in an area in which higher-order transverse mode is induced, wherein the higher-order transverse mode suppressing layer includes a first insulation film, a second insulation film formed on the first insulation film, and a third insulation film formed on the second insulation film, the first insulation film having a first refractive index and capable of transmitting an oscillation wavelength, the second insulation film having a second refractive index and capable of transmitting the oscillation wavelength, and the third insulation film having a third refractive index and capable of transmitting the oscillation wavelength, and the second refractive index is lower than the first refractive index, the third refractive index is higher than the second refractive index, and an optical film thickness of the first insulation film, the second insulation film, and the third insulation film is an odd number times one-fourth of the oscillation wavelength.