Patent ID: 8723160

Claim:
A light emitting diode (LED) die comprising: a first-type semiconductor layer having a peripheral outline, a first area, a first width, a first length and a thickness; a multiple quantum well (MQW) layer on the first-type semiconductor layer configured to emit electromagnetic radiation having a second area less than the first area of the first-type semiconductor layer, a second width less that the first width of the first-type semiconductor layer and a second length less than the first length of the first-type semiconductor layer; a second-type semiconductor layer on the multiple quantum well (MQW) layer having a polarity opposite to that of the first-type semiconductor layer; and a peripheral electrode on the first-type semiconductor layer located proximate to the peripheral outline of the first-type semiconductor layer having a thickness d E , a third width greater than the second width of the multiple quantum well (MQW) layer and a third length greater than the second length of the multiple quantum well (MQW) layer at least partially enclosing and spaced from the multiple quantum well (MQW) layer to provide electrical isolation from the multiple quantum well (MQW) layer, the peripheral electrode configured to spread current across the first-type semiconductor layer and with the thickness d E optimized as a function of the thickness of the first-type semiconductor layer to spread the current and dissipate heat.