SEMICONDUCTOR LASER ELEMENT AND ITS FABRICATION PROCESS, OPTICAL DISC DRIVE, AND OPTICAL TRANSMISSION MODULE

摘要

PPROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiconductor laser element which can be fabricated by reduced number of fabrication steps with high yield. PSOLUTION: A ridge waveguide-type semiconductor laser element comprises a first conductive lower clad layer (103), an active layer (105), a second conductive first upper clad layer (106), a second conductive high Al composition layer (109), a second conductive protective layer not containing Al (110), and a second conductive second upper clad layer (111) constituting a stripe ridge (120) formed sequentially on a first conductive semiconductor substrate (101). The protective layer has a partial opening (122) in a region excepting directly under the ridge. An oxide layer (109b) is formed by oxidizing the high Al composition layer through the partial opening excepting the region directly under the ridge. The laser element includes a metal electrode layer (114) directly covering the top of the ridge, the side face of that ridge at least on one side, the protective layer, and the oxide layer exposed to the opening. PCOPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT