A five-wavelength surface emitting laser diode array based on surface mode emission is reported. The wavelength control is achieved by postgrowth adjustment of the surface structure. Wavelength spacing between laser groups is 1.1 nm in average and the wavelength reproducibility is±0.13 nm.The total change in the emission wavelength over the array is 4.78 nm. The single array elements show single mode emission with a full width at half-maximum of 0.08 nm in average and a side mode suppression ratio up to 20 dB. This type of laser diode is of high interest for wavelength division multiplexing applications. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.