Method and Apparatus for High Resolution Photon Detection Based on Extraordinary Optoconductance (EOC) Effects

A method comprising:

• perturbing a sensor with photons to create an extraordinary optoconductance (EOC) effect by the sensor, wherein the sensor comprises (1) a semiconductor layer, (2) a metal shunt located on a surface of the semiconductor layer, thereby defining a semiconductor/metal interface, wherein a portion of the semiconductor layer surface is not covered by the metal shunt, and wherein the semiconductor layer and the metal shunt are in substantially parallel planes but are not co-planar, and wherein the semiconductor/metal interface is configured to exhibit a change in resistance corresponding to the EOC effect in response to the perturbing step.

A method comprising:

• perturbing an array formed of a plurality of nanoscale I-EOC sensors with photons to generate an I-EOC response by the sensors;
• and
• generating an image having a nanoscale resolution from the generated I-EOC response.

A method comprising:

• perturbing a metal-semiconductor hybrid (MSH) device with photons to generate an EOC response, wherein the MSH device comprises a semiconductor/metal interface that acts as a Schottky barrier to carrier flow.