Patent ID: 6980579

Claim:
A semiconductor laser, said semiconductor laser having an emission wavelength and comprising: a light emitting material; means for causing said light emitting material to emit light; at least first and second mirrors disposed on opposite sides of said light emitting material thereby forming an optical cavity inside which lasing occurs and from which output power is emitted through said second mirror; and means for optically compensating said semiconductor laser for temperature variations in the slope of output power vs. input current of said semiconductor laser, wherein said second mirror has a first reflectivity at a first emission wavelength at a first temperature, and a second reflectivity lower than said first reflectivity at a second emission wavelength at a second temperature higher than said first temperature, wherein a maximum of a first order derivative of said second mirror (Δ reflectivity vs. emission wavelength) is disposed near said emission wavelength, and wherein said semiconductor laser comprises a VCSEL.