Patent ID: 8401048

Claim:
A III-nitride semiconductor laser device comprising: a laser structure including a support base and a semiconductor region, the support base being comprised of a hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor and having a semipolar primary surface, and the semiconductor region being provided on the semipolar primary surface of the support base; and an electrode provided on the semiconductor region of the laser structure, the semiconductor region comprising a first cladding layer comprised of a first conductivity type GaN-based semiconductor, a second cladding layer being 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, the active layer comprising a GaN-based semiconductor layer, a c-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor of the support base being inclined at a finite angle ALPHA with respect to the normal axis toward an m-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor, and the angle ALPHA being in one of a range of not less than 45 degrees and not more than 80 degrees and a range of not less than 100 degrees and not more than 135 degrees, the laser structure comprising first and second fractured faces, the first and second fractured faces intersecting with an m-n plane defined by the m-axis of the hexagonal III-nitride semiconductor and the normal axis, a laser cavity of the III-nitride semiconductor laser device comprising the first and second fractured faces, the laser structure comprising first and second surfaces, and the first surface being opposite to the second surface, the semiconductor region being located between the second surface and the support base, each of the first and second fractured faces extending from an edge of the first surface to an edge of the second surface, and the support base of the laser structure having a recess in the first fractured face, the recess being located at a portion of the edge of the first surface, the recess extending from a back surface of the support base, and an end of the recess being located apart from the edge of the second surface of the laser structure.