Patent ID: 7792171

Claim:
A nitride semiconductor laser device having a group III nitride semiconductor multilayer structure, wherein the group III nitride semiconductor multilayer structure includes an n-type semiconductor layer, a p-type semiconductor layer and a light emitting layer held between the n-type semiconductor layer and the p-type semiconductor layer, the p-type semiconductor layer has a p-side guide layer, a p-type electron blocking layer in contact with the p-side guide layer and a p-type cladding layer in contact with the p-type electron blocking layer successively stacked from the side closer to the light emitting layer, the p-type cladding layer is made of a group III nitride semiconductor containing Al, the p-type electron blocking layer is made of a group III nitride semiconductor having a larger Al composition than that of the p-type cladding layer, the p-side guide layer includes a superlattice structure having a plurality of pairs of alternately stacked layers, each pair including a layer made of a group III nitride semiconductor containing Al and a layer made of a group III nitride semiconductor containing no Al, and the p-side guide layer further has a layer made of a group III nitride semiconductor containing no Al between the superlattice structure and the light emitting layer.