Patent ID: 8023546

Claim:
A combined ohmic contact and lateral waveguide for a semiconductor light-emitting device, said combined ohmic contact and lateral waveguide formed over a patterned insulating material layer defining a gap therein in a region over a portion of an active layer forming an injection region, comprising: a non-epitaxial, conductive contact and waveguide layer having a plurality of regions, comprising: first and second regions formed over said patterned insulating material, each said first and second regions having an upper surface in a first plane; a third region in physical contact with said first and second regions and formed over said gap, said third region having an upper surface in a second plane displaced from said first plane so as to define a recess located between said first and second regions and above said third region; whereby, said non-epitaxial contact and waveguide layer functions both as an ohmic contact and as a lateral waveguide for the semiconductor light-emitting device and wherein said non-epitaxial contact and waveguide layer has an electrical resistivity less than 1 ohm-cm; and further whereby said recess is substantially free of any material other than ambient air.