PHOTOELECTRON INTEGRATED CIRCUIT DEVICE

摘要

PURPOSE:To make the device small and to easily realize a large scale neuron circuit network by connecting plural sensitivity variable light receiving elements to a gate terminal of a thyristor switched from the OFF state into the ON state when a gate current increases and reaches a predetermined value. CONSTITUTION:A variable sensitivity light receiving element 21 outputs a current Ii in response to a magnitude Xi of an input optical signal 1 and a photosensitivity (conversion efficiency). The conversion efficiency is increased as an inter-terminal voltage of the variable sensitivity light receiving element 21 increases. Each variable sensitivity light receiving element 21 is connected to a gate terminal 27 provided on a P-channel semiconductor layer 24 of a thyristor 23. The sum of currents Ii outputted from each variable sensitivity light receiving element 21 is inputted to the gate terminal 27 as a gate current I. When the gate current I is increased more than a threshold current, the thyristor 23 is turned on and a large current flows from an anode 26 to a cathode 28. As a result, a large voltage signal is outputted from an output terminal 32 of an output section 30.