A surface-emission laser diode includes an active layer, a pair of cavity
spacer layers formed at both sides of the active layer, a current
confinement structure defining a current injection region into the active
layer, and a pair of distributed Bragg reflectors opposing with each
other across a structure formed of the active layer and the cavity spacer
layers, the current confinement structure being formed by a selective
oxidation process of a semiconductor layer, the pair of distributed Bragg
reflectors being formed of semiconductor materials, wherein there is
provided a region containing an oxide of Al and having a relatively low
refractive index as compared with a surrounding region in any of the
semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector or the cavity spacer layer in
correspondence to a part spatially overlapping with the current injection
region in a laser cavity direction.