Surface emitting semiconductor laser, method for fabricating surface emitting semiconductor laser, module, light source apparatus, data processing apparatus, light sending apparatus, optical spatial transmission apparatus, and optical spatial transmission system

Abstract

A surface emitting semiconductor laser includes a substrate, a lower reflective mirror formed on the substrate, an active layer formed on the lower reflective mirror, an upper reflective mirror formed on the active layer, an optical mode controlling layer formed between the lower reflective mirror and the upper reflective mirror, and a current confining layer formed between the lower reflective mirror and the upper reflective mirror. The active layer emits light. The upper reflective mirror forms a resonator between the lower reflective mirror and the upper reflective mirror. In the optical mode controlling layer, an opening is formed for selectively absorbing or reflecting off light that is emitted in the active layer. The optical mode controlling layer optically controls mode of laser light. The current confining layer confines current that is applied during driving.

1 . A method for fabricating a surface emitting semiconductor laser, comprising:
 stacking semiconductor layers that include at least a lower reflective mirror, a current confining layer, and an active layer, on a substrate;   forming an optical mode controlling layer that optically controls mode of laser light by forming an opening on the uppermost layer of the stacked semiconductor layers by a photolithography process; and   forming an upper reflective mirror that composes a resonator between the lower reflective mirror and thereof, on the optical mode controlling layer.   
     
     
         2 . The method for fabricating a surface emitting semiconductor laser according to  claim 1 , the method further comprising:
 forming a post structure that extends from at least the optical mode controlling layer to the current confining layer, on the substrate; and   forming a conductive portion surrounded by an oxidized area by oxidizing a portion of the current confining layer from a side surface of the post structure.   
     
     
         3 . The fabrication method according to  claim 1 , wherein the lower reflective mirror, the active layer, the current confining layer, and the optical mode controlling layer are formed by epitaxial growth.