NITRIDE SEMICONDUCTOR LASER ELEMENT

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a nitride semiconductor laser element which can oscillate continuously under room temperature by forming a thin insulating film of a material having lower refractive index than a clad layer on the surface of the clad layer and setting the thickness thereof at a specified value or above. SOLUTION: A thin insulating film 10 is formed of a material having lower refractive index than a clad layer on the surface of an optical guide layer 6. The thin insulating film 10 prevents short circuit between electrodes when a pad electrode 31 including a coplanar positive electrode 30 and a negative electrode 20 are bonded to other lead member, e.g. a heat sink or a submount, and concentrates the light emitted from an active layer 5 beneath a ridge. The thin insulating film 10 has a thickness of 100Å-10μm, preferably 5μm or less, most preferably thinner than the total thickness of a clad layer formed on the active layer.