Optical detector having stray carrier absorption regions between light

Abstract

An optical head includes: a light source for emitting light; first optical element for forming at least three light beams from the light emitted from the light source; second optical element for converging said at least three beams on a storage medium; and a photodetector for receiving said at least three beams reflected by the storage medium to generate electrical outputs in accordance with an intensity of the light beams, the photodetector including; a semiconductor substrate; a light receiving section formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate for receiving the light beams reflected by the storage medium; a plurality of input terminals for receiving a supply of a predetermined potential; and a plurality of output terminals for outputting electric signals, wherein the light receiving section includes a plurality of light receiving elements for signal detection provided apart from each other on the surface of the semiconductor substrate and a plurality of stray light carrier absorption regions provided so as to substantially fill regions between the plurality of light receiving elements for signal detection, and wherein the plurality of stray light carrier absorption regions are made of first impurity diffusion regions of a first-conductivity type formed in the semiconductor substrate, the first impurity diffusion regions forming PN junctions and depletion layers in the semiconductor substrate so as to absorb stray light carriers generated in the semiconductor substrate by stray light.