A surface-emitting laser device includes: a substrate; a low refractive index layer with a refractive index nL and disposed on the substrate; a light emitting layered structure with a refractive index nH, where nH>nL, the light emitting layered structure being formed on the low refractive index layer and having first and second semiconductor layers and a multi-quantum well (MQW) disposed between the first and second semiconductor layers and capable of generating photons having a wavelength λ0; and a two-dimensional photonic crystal (2DPC) formed in the light emitting layered structure and having optical nanostructures arranged into a periodic pattern with a lattice constant a. The nanostructures extend from the first semiconductor layer through the MQW. The 2DPC has a normalized frequency, which is defined as a/λ0, ranging from 0.25 to 0.70.