The present invention relates to a technique for fabricating a mechanical or visual alignment fiducial on a laser die particularly adapted for application with a laser die that is a buried structure edge emitting laser. In fabricating the device, the fiducial and the active mesa are formed in the same photolithography patterning step, using conventional techniques. The active is then buried with regrowth layers. The regrowth layers are subsequently selectively etched to expose the fiducial, leaving the active region protected and buried.