The present invention relates to systems and methods associated with selective wet etching and textured surface planarization. The systems and methods described herein can be used to etch a component of a multi-layer stack, such as a GaN layer. In some embodiments, the multi-layer stack can include a substrate having a patterned surface and a light generating region. The substrate can be removed from the first multi-layer stack to form a second multi-layer stack. In some embodiments, the pattern on the surface of the substrate can leave behind a pattern on a surface of the second multi-layer stack. Accordingly, in some cases, the surface of the second multi-layer stack can be wet etched, for example, to smoothen the surface. In some embodiments, removing the substrate can expose an N-face of a GaN layer, and the wet etch can be performed such that the N-face of the GaN layer is etched. In some embodiments, the multi-layer stack includes a light generating region and can be part of a light emitting device.