Semiconductor device with multi-electrode construction equivalent to variable capacitance diode

Claim 1

A semiconductor device with a multielectrode construction and having a variable capacitance, said device comprising: a semiconductor single crystal bulk having a first conductivity; a first group of depletion control regions aligned along and formed in one surface of said bulk, each of said first group of control regions having a second conductivity opposite to said first conductivity, and respectively forming a first group of p-n junction regions in said bulk; an ohmic electrode formed on another surface of said bulk, opposite to said one surface of said bulk; a depletion layer within said bulk; a second group of depletion control regions aligned in the thickness direction of the bulk from said one surface, each of said second group of depletion control regions having said second conductivity and respectively forming a second group of small p-n junction regions in said bulk; a plurality of control electrodes formed on said one surface of said bulk, each of said control electrodes being operatively coupled to said first and second groups of the depletion control regions which are aligned in the thickness direction of said bulk wherein each of said electrodes receive a voltage signal from external bias means; a capacitance read-out electrode formed on said one surface of the bulk and positioned at a substantially intermediate point among said plurality of control electrodes; a capacitance read-out region formed in a portion of said bulk immediately beneath said capacitance read-out electrodes; and a plurality of depletion layers each of said depletion layers spreading from the environs of each of said first and second groups of depletion control regions wherein said depletion layers spread throughout said bulk when said voltage signal from said external bias means is applied between said control electrodes and said ohmic electrodes so that said depletion control regions are each reversed-bias whereby said depletion layers overlap and whereby a wide change of said depletion layers in the thickness direction of said bulk, which is caused by said overlapped depletion layers, is detected in said capacitance read-out region and is read-out through said capacitance read-out electrode as a change in capacitance of said device.