Patent ID: 7116692

Claim:
A semiconductor laser device, comprising: an Al x1 Ga (1-x1) As lower cladding layer, an active layer selected from the group of layers consisting of a single layer of Al y1 Ga (1-y1) As, a composite layer of Al y11 Ga (1-y11) As and Al y12 Ga (1-y12) As, and a composite layer of Al y1 Ga (1-y1) As and GaAs and an Al x2 Ga (1-x2) As upper first cladding layer stacked on a GaAs compound semiconductor substrate; an Al x3 Ga (1-x3) As ridge-shaped upper second cladding layer provided on the upper first cladding layer; a current blocking layer provided on both sides of the upper second cladding layer, wherein the current blocking layer is a single layer of Al y2 Ga (1-y2) As or a composite layer including a lower layer of Al y3 Ga (1-y3) As or a composite layer including a lower layer of Al y3 Ga (1-y3) As disposed on the compound semiconductor substrate side and an upper layer of GaAs disposed on the contact layer side; a GaAs contact layer provided on the upper second cladding layer; and a current interrupting layer or layers formed of an insulating material and provided between the upper second cladding layer and the contact layer, in a vicinity of at least one of a laser emission end face and a reflective end face, which are both end faces of the device in a longitudinal direction of the upper second cladding layer.