A
light emitting diode (LED) grown on a substrate doped with one or more
rare earth or transition element. The
dopant ions absorb some or all of the light from the LED's
active layer, pumping the electrons on the
dopant ion to a higher energy state. The electrons are naturally drawn to their equilibrium state and they emit light at a
wavelength that depends on the type of
dopant ion. The invention is particularly applicable to
nitride based LEDs emitting UV light and grown on a
sapphire substrate doped with
chromium. The
chromium ions absorb the UV light, exciting the electrons on ions to a higher energy state. When they return to their equilibrium state they emit
red light and some of the
red light will emit from the LED's surface. The LED can also have active
layers that emit green and blue and UV light, such that the LED emits green, blue,
red light and UV light which combines to create
white light. Alternatively, it can have one
active layer and grown on a
sapphire substrate doped with Cr, Ti, and Co such that the substrate absorbs the UV light and emits blue, green, and red light. The invention is also capable of providing a tunable LED over a variety of color shades. The invention is also applicable to
solid state
laser having one or more active
layers emitting UV light with the
laser grown on a
sapphire substrate doped with one or more
rare earth or transition elements.