Wafer testing of edge emitting lasers

Methods and apparatuses for wafer testing edge emitting lasers and providing a vertical emission from an edge emitting laser. A plurality of edge emitting lasers can be formed on a semiconductor wafer. One or more grooves can be etched into the semiconductor wafer to form etched facets for the edge emitting lasers. A current can be applied to at least one edge emitting laser to produce at least one optical output. An evaluation of the at least one optical output can be performed while the edge emitting lasers are still in wafer form. Edge emitting lasers may also be produced including a reflective surface for reflecting at least one edge emitted optical signal in a vertical perpendicular direction. The reflective surface can be created using an etching process during manufacture of the edge emitting laser.