3. Photoconductivity of semiconductor materials

3.1 General description of photoconductivity

The photoconductive effect is an optoelectronic phenomenon that forms the basis of many detection devices. For example, it can be used to photocopy documents, or to process optically transmitted data in telecommunications applications such as the Internet.

In this study, we present the light/semiconductor interaction involving various physical processes as a tool for switching electrical circuits. We will confine ourselves here to the case of direct absorption of light in the semiconductor material, and to the special case of indirect absorption of both photons.