Patent ID: 6252221
Filing Date: 2001-06-26
Classification: B82Y,H01L

Abstract:
A photo-conductive switch, comprising:a first confinement layer of a first semiconductor material having a first band-gap energy and a first conductivity type;a second confinement layer of a second semiconductor material having a second band-gap energy;a photo-conductive layer of a third semiconductor material having a third band-gap energy and a second conductivity type, opposite to the first conductivity type, the photo-conductive layer being sandwiched between the first confinement layer and the second confinement layer, the third band-gap energy being less than the first and second band-gap energies; anda first electrode and a second electrode separate from each other and located on a surface of the first confinement layer remote from the photo-conductive layer, in which:illuminating a portion of the photo-conductive layer with incident light increases conduction through the photo-conductive layer between the first electrode and the second electrode.