The invention is generally concerned with vertical cavity surface emitting
lasers. In one example, the vertical cavity surface emitting laser
includes, among other things, an upper mirror structure having a metal
contact, a top mirror above the metal contact, and a semiconductive top
DBR having an insulation region, wherein the top DBR is no more than 3.5
microns thick and is disposed below the metal contact. Thus, the top DBR
is sufficiently thick as to enable adequate current spreading, but thin
enough to enable fabrication of an isolation region using relatively low
energy ion implantation or relatively shallow etching.