Controllable semiconductor device

Claim 1

A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE COMPRISING, FOUR CONTIGUOUS SEMICONDUCTOR REGIONS, ADJACENT REGION BEING OF OPPOSITE CONDUCTIVITY TO DEFINE THREE RECTIFYING JUNCTIONS, AN EMITTER LEAD AND AN INJECTOR LEAD CONNECTED TO RESPECTIVE EXTREME ONES OF SAID REGIONS FUNCTIONING AS AN EMITTER AND AS AN INJECTOR RESPECTIVELY, A COLLECTOR LEAD CONNECTED TO THE INTERMEDIATE REGION FUNCTIONING AS A COLLECTOR WHICH INTERMEDIATE REGION SEPARATES THE INJECTOR FROM THE OTHER INTERMEDIATE REGION, SAID REGIONS BEING ARRANGED SO THAT A POTENTIAL APPLIED BETWEEN SAID EMITTER AND COLLECTOR LEADS ESTABLISHES A FIELD FOR BIASING THE RECTIFYING JUNCTION BETWEEN SAID INTERMEDIATE REGIONS, MEANS INCLUDING SAID INJECTOR LEAD AND THE EXTREME REGION TO HICH IT IS CONNECTED FOR ESTABLISHING A CONDUCTION PATH FOR CARRIERS FOR ESTABLISHING A NEGATIVE RESISTANCE CHARACTERISTIC BETWEEN SAID EMITTER AND COLLECTOR LEADS IN WHICH AN INCREASE IN POTENTIAL THEREBETWEEN IS ACCOMPANIED BY A DECREASE IN CURRENT FLOWING THROUGH SAID COLLECTOR LEAD FOR A PRESCRIBED POTENTIAL RANGE ABOVE A BREAKOVER POTENTIAL AND FOR ESTABLISHING A POSITIVE RESITANCE CHARACTERISTIC BETWEEN SAID EMITTER AND COLLECTOR LEADS IN WHICH AN INCREASE IN POTENTIAL THEREBETWEEN IS ACCOMPANIED BY AN INCREASE IN CURRENT FLOWING THROUGH SAID COLLECTOR LEAD BELOW A SATURATION CURRENT PORENTIAL LOWER THAN SAID BREAKOVER POTENTIAL WHICH SATURATION POTENTIAL CORRESPONDS TO THE LOWEST POTENTIAL WHERE MAXIMUM COLLECTOR CURRENT IS ATTAINED WHEN THE ONLY POTENTIAL CHANGED IS THAT BETWEEN SAID EMITTER AND COLLECTOR LEADS, A SOURCE OF A FIXED BIASING POTENTIAL, MEANS FOR DIRECT COUPLING SAID FIXED BIASING POTENTIAL BETWEEN SAID EMITTER LEAD AND SAID COLLECTOR LEAD TO NORMALLY REVERSE BIAS THE BASE-COLLECTOR RECTIFYING JUNCTION, A SOURCE OF INJECTOR BIASING POTENTIAL, MEANS FOR APPLYING SAID INJECTOR BIASING POTENTIAL AND INJECTOR LEAD TO ESTABLISH SAID BREAKOVER POTENTIAL AND REVERSE BIAS THE INJECTOR-COLLECTOR RECTIFYING JUNCTION WHEN SAID DEVICE IS IN THE NONCONDUCTING STATE PROVIDING NEARLY ZERO CURRENT IN SAID COLLECTOR LEAD AND FORWARD BIAS THE INJECTOR-COLLECTOR RECTIFYING JUNCTION WHEN SAID DEVICE CONDUCTS SUFFICIENTLY TO DRAW ENOUGH CURRENT THROUGH SAID COLLECTOR LEAD TO ESTABLISH THE POTENTIAL ON SAID COLLECTOR LEAD TO A VALUE LESS THAN THAT ON SAID INJECTOR LEAD, WHEREBY A POTENTIAL APPLIED BETWEEN SAID COLLECTOR AND EMITTER LEADS CAUSES A DECREASE IN THE CURRENT DELIVERED BY SAID COLLECTOR ELECTRODE AS SAID POTENTIAL INCREASES FOR A PREDETERMINED LIMITED POTENTIAL RANGE RELATED TO THE POTENTIAL ON SAID INJECTOR, THE MAGNITUDE OF THE COLLECTOR CURRENT DELIVERED BY SAID DEVICE BEING A FUNCTION OF THE CURRENT IN SAID INJECTOR.