A surface-emitting laser includes reflectors. One of the reflectors has
multiple layers including one or more high-refractive-index layers and
one or more low-refractive-index layers which are alternately stacked. At
least one of the low-refractive-index layers includes a first region
containing aluminum oxide and a second region surrounding the first
region. A boundary between the first and second regions is positioned
within a region where laser light is emitted. The reflectance of the
multilayer reflector is higher in a portion including the first region
than in a portion including the second region.