Patent ID: 7352006

Claim:
A light emitting diode, wherein said light emitting diode exhibits a high reflectivity to incident light and exhibits a high extraction efficiency for internally generated light, and wherein said light emitting diode comprises: a reflecting layer, wherein said reflecting layer reflects both said incident light and said internally generated light; a multi-layer semiconductor structure in contact with said reflecting layer, wherein said multi-layer semiconductor structure has an absorption coefficient alpha, and wherein said multi-layer semiconductor structure includes an active layer that emits said internally generated light; and an array of light extracting elements, wherein said light extracting elements extend at least part way through said multi-layer semiconductor structure, wherein the sidewalls of said light extracting elements are angled to emit said internally generated light from said active layer to increase extraction efficiency, and wherein said light extracting elements are separated by a fractional distance relative to said absorption coefficient alpha of said multi-layer semiconductor structure to increase extraction efficiency.