Semiconductor laser apparatus and optical pickup apparatus

A semiconductor laser apparatus comprising:

• a semiconductor substrate;
• a semiconductor laser which is fixed on said semiconductor substrate, said semiconductor laser emitting a forward light beam;
• a prism having a slanted plane, said prism being placed such that its slanted plane faces a side across from said semiconductor laser;
• and
• an optical detector for detecting an amount of the emitted light beam based on said forward light beam emitted from said semiconductor laser and which is formed on the surface of said semiconductor substrate, said surface being covered by said prism;
• wherein the following are formed on said slanted plane of said prism:
• a reflecting region on which the surface is processed for reflecting said forward light beam from said semiconductor laser, said forward light beam being reflected on said reflection region being used for recording/reproducing optical recording media, an optical axis of said forward light beam going through said reflection region;
• and
• a transmissive refraction region on which the surface is processed such that a remaining part of said forward light beam emitted from said semiconductor laser is transmitted and refracted to be guided to a light receiving plane of said optical detector for monitoring, said reflection region being formed inside said transmissive refraction region.