An InGaN multiple-quantum-well (MQW) LED grown on AlN/sapphire template is reported. Comparing with the conventional LED on sapphire using a low temperature (LT) buffer layer, the LED on AlN/sapphire template shows better electrical and optical characteristics. The crystalline quality of the LED structure was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The zeroth, -first-and -second-order satellite peaks and the Pendellösung fringes can be seen clearly in (0004) XRD ω/2θ rocking curves for the LED on AlN/sapphire template. While, for the LED on sapphire, only the zeroth and -first-order satellite peaks can be seen. The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of GaN in (0004) ω scan is about 82.8 and 231.6 arcsec for the LED grown on AlN/sapphire template and sapphire, respectively. The dislocation density is 5 × 10 7 -3 × 10 8 cm -2 for the LED on AlN/sapphire template and 2-5 × 10 9 cm -2 for the LED on sapphire. The reverse leakage current of the LED on AlN/sapphire template is over one order of magnitude lower than that on sapphire due to the low threading dislocation density in the epilayer. The optical power of the LED on AlN/sapphire template increased sublinearly up to 300 mA injection current. 1 Introduction GaN-based electronic and optoelectronic devices have been extensively studied. The major obstacle to obtain high-quality nitride materials and devices is the lack of native substrates. At present, sapphire is the most commonly used substrate for GaN-based device growth. The most popular method of GaN-based epilayer growth is to use GaN or AlN films deposited at a low temperature (LT) on sapphire substrate as a buffer layer [1,2]. However, the GaN-based LED grown on sapphire using the LT-buffer layer usually shows a high density of threading dislocations because of a large mismatch in the lattice constant and the thermal expansion coefficients between the epilayer and the substrate [3]. Recently, high-quality GaN-based films were obtained on AlN/sapphire template instead of sapphire substrate [4,5]. In this study, the InGaN MQW LEDs were grown on AlN/sapphire template. Comparing with the conventional LED on sapphire using the LT-GaN buffer layer, the LED on AlN/sapphire template exhibits a better electrical and optical characteristic due to a low threading dislocation density in the epilayer and the high thermal conductive AlN layer.