A bulk optically controlled semiconductor switch

Abstract
Turn-on and turn-off of bulk semiconductor switches, based on excitation and quenching of photoconductivity, respectively, have been demonstrated with copper-doped II-VI semiconductor crystals. The increase of the conductivity (turn-on) was realized with a xenon flash-lamp pulse of 15-μs duration. A reduction of the conductivity (turn-off) was obtained by irradiating the samples with IR light using an 8-ns Nd:YAG laser pulse (YAG denotes yttrium aluminum garnet). For turn-on in CdS:Cu the conductivity follows the xenon flash excitation. The turn-off time constant was 250 ns. ZnS and ZnSe crystals showed a slower response. A memory effect for the IR light was observed.

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