Patent ID: 7580436

Claim:
A surface-emitting type semiconductor laser, comprising: a vertical resonator including a first mirror, an active layer formed above the first mirror, and a second mirror formed above the active layer, and a plurality of unit resonators, wherein an emission region of each of the plurality of unit resonators has a diameter that oscillates in a single-mode, and each emission region has an emission region window, wherein the emission region windows of at least two of the emission regions being continuous in a continuation portion, the continuation portion being part of the respective emission regions and in the same plane of the respective emission regions, the continuation portion not containing a separation groove, the resonators emitting light via the continuation portion, as well as via other portions of the respective emission regions; and wherein the plurality of unit resonators are continuous in a plane that is parallel to the emission region window of each emission region, and the plurality of unit resonators are continuous throughout an entire thickness of the vertical resonator from a bottom surface of the first mirror to a top surface of the second mirror without an intervening structure therebetween.