In this paper we report on the MOCVD growth and characterization of GaN structures and InGaN single quantum wells grown on pillar patterned GaN/sapphire templates. During the regrowth a network of voids was intentionally formed at the interface of sapphire substrate and GaN epitaxial layer. The regrowth process was found to decrease the threading dislocation density of the overgrown layer. The quantum well sample grown on patterned template showed significantly higher optical output in photoluminescence measurements compared to the reference sample with identical internal quantum efficiency characteristics. We attribute the increase to enhanced light extraction efficiency caused by strong scattering and redirection of light from the scattering elements. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.