An array of microdisks with a diameter of about 9 &mgr;m and spacing of 50 &mgr;m has been fabricated by dry etching from a 50 Å/50 ÅGaN/AlxGa1-xN (x∼0.07)multiple quantum well (MQW) structure grown by reactive molecular beam epitaxy. Optical properties of these microdisks have been studied by picosecond time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Photoluminescence emission spectra and decay dynamics were measured at various temperatures and pump intensities. With respect to the original MQWs, we observe strong enhancement of the transition intensity and lifetime for both the intrinsic and barrier transitions. The intrinsic transition is excitonic at low temperatures and exhibits an approximate tenfold increase in both lifetime and PL intensity upon formation of the microdisks. This implies a significant enhancement of quantum efficiency in microdisks and a bright future for III-nitride microcavity lasers. ©1997 American Institute of Physics.