An electrical device includes a counterdoped heterojunction selected from a group consisting of a pn junction or a p-i-n junction. The counterdoped junction includes a first semiconductor doped with one or more n-type primary dopant species and a second semiconductor doped with one or more p-type primary dopant species. The device also includes a first counterdoped component selected from a group consisting of the first semiconductor and the second semiconductor. The first counterdoped component is counterdoped with one or more counterdopant species that have a polarity opposite to the polarity of the primary dopant included in the first counterdoped component. Additionally, a level of the n-type primary dopant, p-type primary dopant, and the one or more counterdopant is selected to the counterdoped heterojunction provides amplification by a phonon assisted mechanism and the amplification has an onset voltage less than 1 V.

Disclosed are phototransistors, and more specifically a detector that includes two or more phototransistors, conductively isolated from each other. Embodiments also relate to methods of making the detector.

Disclosed examples include integrated circuits with a leadframe structure, a first circuit structure including a light source configured to generate a light signal along an optical path, a second circuit structure including a light sensor facing the optical path to receive the light signal, and a molded package structure enclosing portions of the leadframe structure, the molded package structure having a cavity defined by an interior surface of the molded package structure, the optical path extending in the cavity between the first and second circuit structures.

An active photonic device having a Darlington configuration is disclosed. The active photonic device includes a substrate with a collector layer over the substrate. The collector layer includes an inner collector region and an outer collector region that substantially surrounds the inner collector region. A base layer resides over the collector layer. The base layer includes an inner base region and an outer base region that substantially surrounds and is spaced apart from the inner base region. An emitter layer resides over the base layer. The emitter layer includes an inner emitter region that is ring-shaped and resides over and extends substantially around an outer periphery of the inner base region. The emitter layer further includes an outer emitter region that is ring-shaped and resides over and extends substantially around the outer base region. A connector structure electrically couples the inner emitter region with the outer base region.

Disclosed herein is a phototransistor (PT) comprising an emitter, a collector and a floating base; wherein the floating base, a p-n junction between the emitter and base (E-B junction) and a p-n junction between the base and the collector (B-C junction) are collectively in direct physical contact only with and completely encapsulated only by the emitter, the collector, and a section of a dielectric. Under an operating condition of the PT, a DC current density averaged over the E-B junction or a DC current density averaged over the B-C junction may be at least 100 times of a DC current density averaged over an opto-electronically active region of the PT. A sum of a capacitance of the E-B junction and a capacitance of the B-C junction may be less than 1 fF.

A semiconductor device includes an n-type ohmic contact layer, cathode and anode electrodes, p-type and n-type modulation doped quantum well (QW) structures, and first and second ion implant regions. The anode electrode is formed on the first ion implant region that contacts the p-type modulation doped QW structure and the cathode electrode is formed by patterning the first and second ion implant regions and the n-type ohmic contact layer. The semiconductor device is configured to operate as at least one of a diode laser and a diode detector. As the diode laser, the semiconductor device emits photons. As the diode detector, the semiconductor device receives an input optical light and generates a photocurrent.

Disclosed examples include integrated circuits with a leadframe structure, a first circuit structure including a light source configured to generate a light signal along an optical path, a second circuit structure including a light sensor facing the optical path to receive the light signal, and a molded package structure enclosing portions of the leadframe structure, the molded package structure having a cavity defined by an interior surface of the molded package structure, the optical path extending in the cavity between the first and second circuit structures.

An optical apparatus including a semiconductor substrate; a first light absorption region supported by the semiconductor substrate, the first light absorption region including germanium and configured to absorb photons and to generate photo-carriers from the absorbed photons; a first layer supported by at least a portion of the semiconductor substrate and the first light absorption region, the first layer being different from the first light absorption region; one or more first switches controlled by a first control signal, the one or more first switches configured to collect at least a portion of the photo-carriers based on the first control signal; and one or more second switches controlled by a second control signal, the one or more second switches configured to collect at least a portion of the photo-carriers based on the second control signal, wherein the second control signal is different from the first control signal.

Disclosed are a semiconductor photodiode (PD) or phototransistor (PT) photo detector with a unipolarly doped edge region containing a portion of the photon absorption layer and occupying over 99% of the photo detector area as projected on a plane parallel to the semiconductor substrate. Embodiments also relate to methods of making the photo detector.

A bi-polar device is provided, along with methods of making the same. The bi-polar device can include a semiconductor substrate doped with a first dopant, a semiconductor layer on the first surface of the semiconductor substrate, and a Schottky barrier layer on the semiconductor layer. The method of forming a bi-polar device can include: forming a semiconductor layer on a first surface of a semiconductor substrate, where the semiconductor substrate comprises a first dopant and where the semiconductor layer comprises a second dopant that has an opposite polarity than the first dopant; and forming a Schottky barrier layer on a first portion of the semiconductor layer while leaving a second portion of the semiconductor layer exposed.