The effects of metallization and annealing temperatures on p-ohmic contacts for 850 nm AlGaAs/GaAs vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers were investigated. Different metallization, containing AuBe, Pt, Pd, Ti, Ag, and Au, were used. The AuBe/Au and Pd/AuBe/Pt/Au-based metallizations showed the lowest specific contact resistances. For an annealing temperature of 400 degreesC, specific contact resistances of these metal schemes reached 4 x 10(-6) Omega cm(2). The thermal stability of the contacts was also investigated. The contacts did not display degradation for temperatures up to 450 degreesC.