Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a first distributed Bragg reflector, a second distributed Bragg reflector, an active region with an oxide aperture between the first and second distributed Bragg reflectors, and a dielectric layer, where a positioning of the dielectric layer with respect to the first and second distributed Bragg reflectors and the oxide aperture causes suppression of higher modes of the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser device. Other embodiments are disclosed.