Patent ID: 7279718

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 dopant and said second dopant 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 ratio of the period of said periodic arrangement and the wavelength of said emitted light in air is greater than about 0.1 and less than about 5; a depth of at least one of the plurality of holes is such that a thickness of said second semiconductor layer at a bottom of said at least one of the plurality of the holes is less than about one wavelength of said emitted light in said second semiconductor layer; 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; and when forward biased, light is emitted from at least a portion of the active layer disposed beneath a portion of the second electrode.