A method of fabricating a vertical structure opto-electronic device includes fabricating a plurality of vertical structure opto-electronic devices on a crystal substrate, and then removing the substrate using a laser lift-off process. The method then fabricates a metal support structure in place of the substrate. In one aspect, the step of fabricating a metal support structure in place of the substrate includes the step of plating the metal support structure using at least one of electroplating and electro-less plating. In one aspect, the vertical structure is a GaN-based vertical structure, the crystal substrate includes sapphire and the metal support structure includes copper. Advantages of the invention include fabricating vertical structure LEDs suitable for mass production with high reliability and high yield.