Patent ID: 7994521

Claim:
A light emitting diode comprising: a first semiconductor layer doped with a first dopant, coupled to a first electrode layer; an active layer overlying said first semiconductor layer, capable of emitting light; a second semiconductor layer doped with a second dopant overlying said active layer, said first and second dopants being of opposite type; a second electrode layer on said second semiconductor layer; and a periodically-arranged plurality of holes formed in the second semiconductor layer and extending towards the first semiconductor layer, wherein: the nearest neighbor distance between holes is approximately equal to the wavelength of emitted light; a depth of at least one of the plurality of holes is such that the thickness of said second semiconductor layer at a bottom of said at least one of the plurality of holes is 40 nm; a portion of the second electrode layer is disposed in a region of the second semiconductor layer in which a portion of the plurality of holes are formed; when forward biased, light is emitted from at least a portion of the active layer disposed beneath a portion of the second electrode; and at least one of said first semiconductor layer, said active layer, and said second semiconductor layer composes a group III element and nitrogen.