Limitations in extraction efficiency of gallium nitride (GaN) photonic crystal (PhC) light emitting diodes (LEDs) are addressed by implementing an LED design using both two-dimensional PhCs in-plane and index guiding layers (IGLs) in the vertical direction. The effects of PhCs on light extraction and emission directionality from GaN LEDs are studied experimentally. Angular-resolved electroluminescence clearly shows the combined effect of controlling the vertical mode profile with the IGLs and tailoring the emission profile with the periodicity of the PhC lattice. Increases in directional emission as high as 3.5 times are achieved by taking advantage of this directionality and guided mode control. (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics.