A two-step growth approach based on facet-controlled epitaxial lateral growth and the application of silica nanospheres was established to enhance the performance of GaN based light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In the first step, open inverted honeycomb cones (IHCs) were fabricated. These IHCs were filled with silica nanospheres and a second growth step was performed. As compared to LEDs fabricated on IHC templates, 2.7 fold electroluminescence (EL) intensity was obtained for silica nanospheres-stacked IHC due to improved crystal quality and light scattering at silica nanospheres. Simulation of emission intensity was carried out to determine the effect of dislocation density reduction on EL enhancement of the LEDs. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.