The homoeptaxial fabrication of GaN-based devices has advantages against heteroepitaxial realization on substrates such as sapphire or SiC, since heteroepitaxy implies a lot of problems like lattice mismatch, different thermal expansion coefficients, and needs an extensive optimization of the growth at the heterointerface. In this paper we will discuss GaN-based light-emitting devices grown by homoepitaxy in comparison to devices grown on sapphire. A special emphasis is laid on the pretreatment of the GaN substrate and the device characteristics on different substrates. In detail will be discussed the advantages of the higher thermal conductivity of GaN and how this effects the device performance. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.