Semiconductor laser with lateral current conduction and method for fabricating the semiconductor laser

1. A semiconductor laser, comprising:

a semiconductor body having a first main area, a second main area, a resonator axis, an active layer disposed parallel to said resonator axis and between said first and second main areas, a first mirror area, and a second mirror area, said first and second mirror areas disposed substantially perpendicularly to said resonator axis;

at least one current-carrying layer formed in said semiconductor body; and

at least one strip-type resistance region disposed in said current-carrying layer and running transversely with respect to said resonator axis, said strip-type resistance region having a sheet resistivity being increased at least in partial regions compared with regions of said current-carrying layer adjoining said strip-type resistance region;

said sheet resistivity of said strip-type resistance region being lower in a first partial region than in a second partial region, said first partial region being at a shorter distance from said resonator axis than said second partial region.

2. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1 , wherein said strip-type resistance region is formed in a manner adjoining one of said first and second mirror areas.

3. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1 , wherein said strip-type resistance region is formed in a manner adjoining both of said first and second mirror areas.

4. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1 , wherein said strip-type resistance region is electrically insulating in its entirety or in partial regions.

5. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1 , wherein the semiconductor laser has a semiconductor material based on a material selected from the group consisting of GaAs, InP, InGaAs, AlGaAs, InGaP, InGaAsP and InGaAlP.

6. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1 , further comprising a contact area formed on said first main area.

7. The semiconductor laser according claim 6 , further comprising a further contact area formed on said second main area.

8. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1 , wherein said current-carrying layer is disposed in a vicinity of said active layer.

9. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1 , wherein said strip-type resistance region contains an oxide of a material of said current-carrying layer.

10. The semiconductor laser according to claim 1 , wherein said current-carrying layer is formed of a semiconductor material selected from the group consisting of GaAs, InP, InGaAs, AlGaAs, InGaAlAs, InGaP, InGaAsP and InGaAlP.

11. A method for fabricating a semiconductor laser, which comprises the steps of:

fabricating a semiconductor layer sequence having a current-carrying layer;

patterning the semiconductor layer sequence into comb-shaped semiconductor strips;

carrying out a partial lateral oxidation of the current-carrying layer for forming at least one resistance region; and

singling the comb-shaped semiconductor strips into separate semiconductor bodies, each semiconductor body forming a semiconductor laser according to claim 1 .

12. The method according to claim 11 , which further comprises performing the singling by breaking.

13. The method according to claim 12 , which further comprises forming a respective break edge to run through an oxidized region.

14. The method according to claim 11 , which further comprises performing the singling step after performing the partial lateral oxidation step.

15. The method according to claim 11 , which further comprises performing the singling step before performing the partial lateral oxidation step.

16. The method according to claim 11 , which further comprises forming contact areas on main areas of the semiconductor layer sequence.

17. The method according to claim 11 , which further comprises optically coating the semiconductor layer sequence for forming mirror areas.