A group III-V compound semiconductor laser of a 1 .mu.m band having an excellent conversion efficiency and a high characteristic temperature. The semiconductor laser can emit light in a 1.3 .mu.m band or a 1.55 .mu.m, and has a laser structure including an active layer For emitting light, guide layers sandwiching the active layer and having a band gap larger than the active layer, and clad layers embracing the guide layers and having a band gap larger than the guide layers. The lattice constants of the guide layers and clad layers are larger than a1 by 0.5% or more and smaller than a2 by 0.5% or more, where a1 represents the lattice constant of GaAs and a2 is the lattice constant of InP.