US Patent 7446341 Radiation-emitting semiconductor element

A radiation-emitting semiconductor component having a semiconductor body (1), which has an active zone (2), in which, for the purpose of electrical contact connection, a patterned contact layer (3) is applied on a surface of the semiconductor body. Interspaces (4) are distributed over the contact layer (3) and are provided for the purpose of forming free areas (5) on the surface which are not covered by the contact layer (3). The free areas (5) are covered with a mirror (6). The separation of the two functions of contact connection and reflection makes it possible to achieve a particularly high performance of the component.