OPTICALLY CONTROLLED DEVICES

摘要

An optically controlled semiconductor switching device comprises: two electrodes; a channel formed of at least one region of semiconductor material and arranged to conduct between the electrodes, wherein at least a region of the channel is formed of GaN; and a light source which can be activated to direct light onto the GaN region. The device is normally off and the GaN region is arranged such that, on activation of the light source it will undergo photo-generation of electron-hole pairs to increase current flow through the channel.