Semiconductor photodetector

US5880489A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Mitsubishi Electric Corporation · JP

Inventors

• Shinji Funaba · Tokyo, JP
• Eitaro Ishimura · Tokyo, JP

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 2, 1996
• Grant date: Mar 9, 1999
• Expiry date: Apr 2, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02E10/548

Abstract

A semiconductor device includes a laminated layer structure including at least one semiconductor layer disposed on a first conductivity type semiconductor substrate, a semi-insulating semiconductor layer disposed on the semiconductor laminated layer structure, a second conductivity type semiconductor region disposed on the front surface of the semi-insulating semiconductor layer, a first electrode on the rear surface of the substrate, and a second electrode disposed on the semi-insulating semiconductor layer and in ohmic contact with the second conductivity type semiconductor region. The junction of the semi-insulating semiconductor layer and the second conductivity type semiconductor region does not form a pn junction, the second conductivity type semiconductor region is surrounded by the semi-insulating material, and the leakage current is suppressed so that, without increasing the dark current, the size of the light responsive region can be made close to the size of an incident light spot, and the pn junction capacitance can be reduced while reducing the pn junction area, resulting in a semiconductor device operating at high speed.