Patent ID: 8660160

Claim:
A semiconductor laser element comprising: a substrate of a first conduction type; and a layered semiconductor structure formed on the substrate, wherein the layered semiconductor structure includes a first semiconductor layer of the first conduction type formed on the substrate, an active layer formed on the first semiconductor layer, and a second semiconductor layer of a second conduction type formed on the active layer, the second conduction type being opposite to the first conduction type, the first semiconductor layer, the active layer, and the second semiconductor layer include a non-window region through which a light emitted from the active layer passes, and a window region surrounding the non-window region, band gap energy of the active layer being larger in the window region than in the non-window region, and the second semiconductor layer includes a current confinement layer that narrows a current path through which a current is injected into the active layer and that protrudes no less than 1.5 micrometers toward the non-window region from an interface between the window region and the non-window region, wherein a center position of a current confinement region surrounded by the current confinement layer matches a center position of the window region, and wherein a width of the non-window region is between 3 micrometers and 50 micrometers greater than a width of the current confinement region in a direction perpendicular to both a layer direction of the layered semiconductor structure and a direction in which the light is emitted.