Patent ID: RE41738

Claim:
A laser system having a semiconductor material vertical cavity surface emitting laser for emitting narrow linewidth light, said laser comprising: a compound semiconductor material substrate; at least two first mirror pairs of semiconductor material layers in a first mirror structure on said substrate of a first conductivity type with each pair member differing from that the other in at least one constituent concentration and separated from one another by a first mirror member spacer layer with a graded constituent concentration, and each first mirror pair separated from that the one remaining by a first mirror pair spacer layer with a graded constituent concentration; an active region on said first mirror structure with plural quantum well structures comprising alternating layers of GaInP and AlGaInP with said quantum well structures being separated from said first mirror structure by at least one active region spacer layer; at least two second mirror pairs of semiconductor material layers in a second mirror structure on said active region of a second conductivity type with each pair member differing from that the other in at least one constituent concentration and separated from one another by a second mirror member spacer layer with a graded constituent concentration, and each second mirror pair separated from that the one remaining by a second mirror pair spacer layer with a graded constituent concentration; a gain guide layer proton implant based structure having a relatively greater electrical resistivity than said second mirror structure where located at least in part therein so as to surround an aperture region of said second mirror structure across from said active region and to be positioned separated from said active region by at least said two second mirror pairs of semiconductor material layers but less than six such second mirror pairs in said second mirror structure, said aperture region having pairs of side portions thereof each intersected by an axis common thereto that is parallel to said substrate and perpendicular to one other such axis with each said side portions in each said pair separated from one another by 6 μm to 12 μm; and a pair of electrical interconnections to said laser separated from one another by said substrate, said first mirror structure, said active region and said second mirror structure.