A semiconductor laser element has the following configuration: a dual-wavelength
monolithic laser where semiconductor lasers with emission wavelengths of 650 nm
and 780 nm are integrated on one chip is soldered on a heat sink which then is
soldered on a can package. Two beam emission points of the semiconductor laser
element are positioned so that beam spots, formed on an optical disk, of light
beams emitted from the two semiconductor lasers are aligned substantially along
a pit-row direction in the optical disk. Thus, an optical head device and an optical
recording and reproducing apparatus can be obtained that can record information
on or reproduce recorded information from optical information recording media with
different optical characteristics and recording densities from one another and
that do not cause instability in tracking servo operation.