PV Gap

Stella Said:

Can anyone help me with some electronics?

We Answered:

A photodiode does basically the same thing as a semiconductor diode (that's what's used in a solar panel) but they are larger and can detect uv light. They're used in smoke detectors and remote controls. In a smoke detector, they read a uv light, once the light is broken (by smoke) they no longer see the UV and set the alarm off. In remotes, they receive the signal sent by the remote and turn it into electrical pulses that the device reads as commands. They're the small "eye" behind the red plastic square on your tv, vcr, etc.

"large area" simply refers to the actual size of the photodiode. All ither factors are the same. Avalanche photodiodes are a group of photodiodes set up to amplify the signal.

http://www.electronics-manufacturers.com…

The devices that I mentioned (remote controls and smoke detectors) use large area photodiodes. I'm not coming up with anything online that I think would be of help but you may want to search for phototransistor instead of photodiode (same thing).