Semi-conductor non-volatile optical memory device
First Claim
1. A semiconductor non-volatile optical memory device for visible and infrared light comprising,a first semiconductor region,a second region forming a rectifying junction with the surface of said first semiconductor region,an insulating layer provided on said two regions,light-permeable charge retention means provided in said insulating layer on said two regions for retaining carriers generated by light-irradiation on said first semiconductor region and a means for applying reverse bias voltage smaller than breakdown voltage of said rectifying junction to said rectifying junction.
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Abstract
A semiconductor non-volatile optical memory device is constructed by providing light-permeable charge retention means in an insulating layer on a first semiconductor surface into which photo-generated carriers in the surface of the first semiconductor region are injected over the semiconductor-insulator potential barrier by applying reverse bias between the first semiconductor region and a second region forming a rectifying junction with the first semiconductor region. Also disclosed in a non-volatile memory integrated circuit employing one or more of said devices together with light source in the same package. The non-volatile memory integrated circuit operates under low bias voltage and is compatible with a high speed integrated logic circuits.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A semiconductor non-volatile optical memory device for visible and infrared light comprising,
a first semiconductor region, a second region forming a rectifying junction with the surface of said first semiconductor region, an insulating layer provided on said two regions, light-permeable charge retention means provided in said insulating layer on said two regions for retaining carriers generated by light-irradiation on said first semiconductor region and a means for applying reverse bias voltage smaller than breakdown voltage of said rectifying junction to said rectifying junction.
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19. A semiconductor integrated circuit comprising:
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at least one semiconductor element having an insulating layer on the surface of the semiconductor thereof, a light-permeable charge retention means provided within said insulating layer and a rectifying junction provided beneath said charge retention means on the surface of said semiconductor, means for applying reverse bias voltage smaller than break-down voltage of said rectifying junction to said rectifying junction, and light irradiation means for generating carriers in said semiconductor element, said light irradiation means and said semiconductor element being disposed in one package, thereby generating carriers upon irradiation by light to give rise to an electric field including said charge retention means and injecting carrier charges into said charge retention means to memorize optical information non-volatilely.
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Specification