Patent ID: 8304792

Claim:
A semiconductor light emitting apparatus comprising: an anode layer; a cathode layer that has a conductive type different from that of the anode layer; a gate layer that controls an electrical conduction between the anode layer and the cathode layer, the gate layer having a conductive type different from that of the anode layer; an active layer that is set between the anode layer and the cathode layer and emits light through recombination of electron and positive hole; a first cladding layer that is set on one surface of the active layer and has an energy band gap larger than that of the active layer; and a second cladding layer that is set on other surface of the active layer, has an energy band gap larger than that of the active layer and has a conductive type different from that of the first cladding layer, wherein a thickness of the gate layer is equal to or below a value of mean free path of minority carriers injected into the gate layer from the anode layer, and wherein the gate layer is composed of plural semiconductor layers including a first semiconductor layer whose energy band gap is approximately equal to that of the active layer.