Optically Pumped Bipolar Transistor

Abstract

The properties of a bipolar npn transistor were studied when exposed to unmodulated incoherent radiation created by a “white” LED. The static and dynamic characteristics of the transistor were measured at various exposure intensities. It is shown that the change in the characteristics of the transistor under optical influence is due to an increase in the lifetime of nonequilibrium charge carriers and the photovoltaic effect in p-n junctions. For these reasons, the gain increases, the switching threshold decreases, and the transistor speed increases. The results obtained are applicable both to the creation of high-speed transistors and integrated circuits of a fundamentally new type.