Characteristics of a photoconductive detector as an optoelectronic switch

Measurements of the wavelength, signal frequency, and position sensitivities of GaAs field effect transistors used as photoconductive detectors are presented. Switching of the optical sensitivity by means of both the drain and gate voltages are demonstrated. The former method can provide the basis for employing such photoconductive detectors as optoelectronic wide-band switches. The observed properties of the field effect transistor (FET) devices studied shows that the design of photoconductive optoelectronic switches will involve compromises between sensitivity and isolation in choosing the operating wavelength, and among frequency response, power consumption, and physical size in choosing the physical layout of the device.