Semiconductor optoelectronic switch and method for driving the same

摘要

The invention provides a heterostructure optoelectronic switching device showing a switch operation in response to a light injection for a subsequent light emission. The switching device comprises a pair of first and second bipolar transistors made of semiconductors showing a direct band-to-band transition. Each of the first and second bipolar transistors comprises collector and emitter layers and a base layer having a narrower energy band gap than energy band gaps of the collector and emitter layers. The base layers of the first and second bipolar transistors are connected to the collector layers of the second and first bipolar transistors respectively to allow the device to have a positive feedback feature. The emitter layers of the first and second bipolar transistors are connected to a first terminal. The collector layers of the first and second bipolar transistors are connected respectively through first and second resistors to a second terminal applied with a voltage higher than a voltage applied to the first terminal.