Semiconductor laser with complementary mesa structures

Abstract

A semiconductor laser has a semiconductor substrate with a feature on its surface. The feature, either a projection or a groove, forms a mesa or a mesa groove having relatively sharp edges. Active layers and cladding layers are deposited on this seimconductor substrate. The cladding layer deposited directly on the semiconductor substrate has at least one slope opposite the mesa or mesa groove, on which slope no active layer is formed during epitaxial growth. The active layer immediately above the cladding layer is prevented from depositing on the slope of the cladding layer so that no etching process for removing sections of the active layer is necessary. This allows deposition of the active layers and cladding layers on the semiconductor substrate in an uninterrupted sequence of single epitaxial growth steps.