Patent ID: 8270448

Claim:
A surface emitting semiconductor laser comprising: a substrate; a first semiconductor multilayer reflector of a first conduction type that is formed on the substrate and is composed of stacked pairs of relatively high refractive index layers and relatively low refractive index layers; a cavity region that is formed on the first semiconductor multilayer reflector and is close to an active region; and a second semiconductor multilayer reflector of a second conduction type that is formed on the cavity region and is composed of stacked pairs of relatively high refractive index layers and relatively low refractive index layers, a cavity length of a cavity that includes the cavity region and the active region between the first semiconductor multilayer reflector and the second semiconductor multilayer reflector being greater than an oscillation wavelength, the cavity region including an electrically conductive region of the first conduction type in proximity to the active region, and a low refractive index region that is interposed between the electrically conductive region and the first semiconductor multilayer reflector and has a smaller refractive index than that of the electrically conductive region, and a current path region that is located in an outer circumferential part of the low refractive index region and is electrically connected to the first semiconductor multilayer reflector.