A surface electrode on a surface of a LED has a pad, and further, at least first-order branches linearly extending from the pad, second-order branches diverged and linearly extending from the first-order branches, and third-order branches diverged and linearly extending from the second-order branches. The pad out of the surface electrode is not in electrical contact with a underlying semiconductor layer, whereas the surface electrode and the semiconductor layer are in electrical contact with each other at ends of the highest-order branches. Also, the semiconductor layer is provided along a pattern of the surface electrode in a mesa shape. Thus, ineffective light emission underneath the surface electrode is relatively reduced so that external quantum efficiency can be improved, and moreover even shorter-wavelength light can be allowed to go out at high efficiency by omitting a current diffusion layer.