A single-mode laser has been proposed and fabricated by standard photolithography, based on the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -level chirped photonic crystal. Side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) over 45 dB and direct-modulation bandwidth up to 16.63 GHz has been exhibited by a <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$400~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -long laser with the slope efficiency of about 0.22 mW/mA and the output power of about 33 mW. The device has a flat optical field distribution and can effectively suppress the longitudinal space hole burning effect along the cavity. A cost-effective solution is provided for the bulk production of the single mode laser.