Patent ID: 7769066

Claim:
A laser diode, comprising: an active region sandwiched between first and second waveguiding elements; an undoped layer adjacent to said active region; a compliance layer, said first waveguiding element on said compliance layer with said compliance layer reducing strain between said first waveguiding element and other laser diode layers; a cap layer between said compliance layer and said first waveguiding element, said cap layer protecting said compliance layer; and a contact layer, said compliance layer arranged between said contact layer and said cap layer, said compliance layer reducing strain between said contact layer and said first waveguiding element; wherein said first waveguiding element comprises an n-doped strained layer superlattice (SLS); wherein said n-doped SLS comprises AlGaN/GaN layers, said compliance layer comprises InGaN, said cap layer comprises GaN, and said contact layer comprises GaN, the compliance layer having a percentage of In that reduces strain between said contact layer and said AlGaN/GaN layers compared to the same laser diode without said compliance layer.