The present invention relates to laser diodes with single mode emission at high output powers, as well as to structures and processes facilitating simple manufacture of such a devices. The invention includes a semiconductor laser (10) with a semiconductor substrate (11), a laser layer (13) arranged on the semiconductor substrate, an array of waveguide ridges (18) arranged at a distance from the laser layer, and several strip-shaped lattice structures (23) arranged on the flat surface between the waveguide ridges. The lattice structure (23) is formed on an insulating or barrier layer (26) at a distance from the laser layer above the laser layer (13). Processes for the production of such a semiconductor laser are also disclosed.