Method for producing a semiconductor laser element

A method for producing a semiconductor laser element comprising a semiconductor body, a light emitting region in said semiconductor body and a mirror surface of said body for forming a laser resonator, the method comprising the steps of:

• preparing a semiconductor wafer from which said semiconductor laser element is to be produced, the wafer having said light emitting region therein,
• providing on said wafer a protective film covering a surface of said wafer at a region above said light emitting region and exposing a part of the surface of said wafer,
• scribing on said wafer to form scratches on said exposed part of the surface of said wafer along a line where the wafer is to be separated, and
• cracking said wafer along said scratches to separate the wafer along said line.

A method for producing semiconductor laser elements, each element comprising a crystalline semiconductor body, a light emitting region having a stripe shape defined in said semiconductor body and a pair of mirror surfaces of said semiconductor body for forming a laser resonator for the element, the method comprising the steps of:

• preparing a semiconductor wafer from which a plurality of said laser elements are to be formed, the wafer having at least one stripe region for forming said light emitting region,
• providing on a major surface of said wafer a protective film covering said stripe region and exposing the remaining region of the surface of said wafer,
• scribing on the major surface of said wafer to form scratches on the remaining region of the surface of said wafer along at least one line across said stripe region, and
• cracking said wafer along said scratches to separate the wafer along said line thereby to form said semiconductor laser elements.

A method for producing semiconductor laser elements, each element comprising a crystalline semiconductor body, a light emitting region having a stripe shape defined in said body and a pair of mirror surfaces of said semiconductor body for forming a laser resonator for the element, the method comprising the steps of:

• preparing a semiconductor wafer from which a plurality of said laser elements are to be formed, the wafer having a plurality of stripe regions for forming said light emitting regions, each of said stripe regions being disposed in parallel with each other on a major surface of said wafer,
• providing on the major surface of said wafer a protective film having a pattern to cover said stripe regions and expose the remaining region of the major surface of said wafer,
• scribing on said major surface of said wafer to form scratches on both the remaining region of said major surface of said wafer and on said protective film along a plurality of lines across said stripe regions, and
• cracking said wafer along said scratches to cleave and separate the wafer along each of said lines to form along said lines a plurality of cleaved surfaces for providing said mirror surfaces thereby to obtain a plurality of the semiconductor laser elements.