The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 15, 1992
Filed:
Nov. 25, 1991
Anderson H Kim, Toms River, NJ (US);
Maurice Weiner, Ocean, NJ (US);
Louis J Jasper, Jr, Fulton, MD (US);
Robert J Youmans, Brick, NJ (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An optically activated avalanche GaAs switch having two opposing optical windows for receiving optical energy from an illumination source which may be, for example, a laser diode operating at a 1.06 micron wavelength. The switch is a semiconductor PIN structure including a substrate of intrinsic GaAs material within which is formed opposing highly doped deep recessed p+ and n+GaAs layers underlying a pair of ohmic contacts including outer annular layers of metallization which surround respective centrally located optical windows formed of AlGaAs. By illuminating the switch from opposite sides through the optical windows, electron-hole pairs are generated and a condition for an avalanche mode of operation is created in the center region of the device rendering it conductive.