Surface emitting laser and image forming apparatus

A surface emitting laser operating at a wave length λ comprising:

• a substrate;
• a stacked structure provided on the substrate, the stacked structure including a bottom mirror, an active layer, and an upper mirror;
• a stepped structure having a step between a first region and a second region, the stepped structure provided in an emission area located in an upper portion of the upper mirror;
• and
• a light shielding member provided in a third region between the first region and the second region and not provided in a portion of the first region and a portion of the second region,
• wherein, regarding an optical path length from a standard surface set on the outside of the surface emitting laser and extending perpendicular to a stacking direction of the stacked structure to an upper boundary surface of the upper mirror, the optical path length of the first region is different from the optical path length of the second region.