Patent ID: 7646149

Claim:
An electronic switching device comprising: an electrodes' arrangement including at least one Cathode electrode and at least one Anode electrode, the Cathode and Anode electrodes being arranged in a spaced-apart relationship, the device being configured to expose said at least one Cathode electrode to exciting illumination to thereby cause electrons' emission from said Cathode electrode; and a control unit connected to the electrodes' arrangement and operable to affect a change in electric current between the Cathode electrode and the Anode electrode by at least one of the following: controllably varying illumination intensity of the Cathode electrode while maintaining an electric field between the Cathode electrode and the Anode electrode, and controllably varying an electric field between the Cathode electrode and the Anode electrode while maintaining illumination of the Cathode electrode to thereby enable the device to operate as a photoemission switching device.