Laser diodes containing aluminum at high concentration in an active layer have
been usually suffered from remarkable facet deterioration along with laser driving
operation and it has been difficult for the laser diodes to attain high reliability.
An aluminum oxide film lacking in oxygen is formed adjacent to the semiconductor
on an optical resonator facet, by which facet deterioration can be minimized and,
accordingly, the laser diode can be operated with no facet deterioration at high
temperature for long time and a laser diode of high reliability can be manufactured
at a reduced cost.