Patent 7970034 was granted and assigned to Sony on June, 2011 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
A laser diode device with which a low voltage is realized is provided. The laser diode device includes: a substrate; a semiconductor laminated structure including a first conductive cladding layer, an active layer, and a second conductive cladding layer on one face side of the substrate and having a contact layer as the uppermost layer, in which a protrusion is formed in the contact layer and the second conductive cladding layer; and an electrode provided on the contact layer. The contact layer has a concavo-convex structure on a face on the electrode side, and the electrode is contacted with the contact layer at contact points of a top face, a side face, and a bottom face of the concavo-convex structure.