JP3588305B2 - Light emitting element array - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to a light emitting element array.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many technologies relating to an optical printer have been proposed. An example of the optical printer is an optical printer equipped with a light emitting element array (for example, an LED array).
[0003]
FIG. 5 is a top view showing an arrangement of the LED array 100 and a driver IC 200 for driving the LED array 100.
[0004]
In FIG. 5, the LED array 100 includes an insulating substrate (not shown), a semiconductor layer 110 formed on the insulating substrate, a plurality of light emitting units 120 formed on the semiconductor layer 110, and each of the light emitting units 120 Consisting of a plurality of electrodes 130 which are electrically connected,
A plurality of the light emitting units 120 and the electrodes 130 are arranged on the semiconductor layer 110 so as to extend in a longitudinal direction of the LED array.
[0005]
On the other hand, a plurality of electrodes 210 corresponding to the electrodes 130 on the LED array 100 are formed on the driver IC 200, and the plurality of electrodes 210 on the driver IC 200 are respectively formed on the LED array 100 by bonding wires 300. It is electrically connected to the plurality of electrodes 130.
[0006]
The light emitting unit 120 has an electrode (for example, an n-type) having a different polarity from the electrode 130 (for example, a p-type electrode) via a semiconductor layer (for example, an n-type) formed in the semiconductor layer 110. Electrode).
[0007]
When the light emitting unit 120 of the LED array 100 shown in FIG. 5 emits light, a desired light emitting unit 120 emits light by transmitting an electric signal from the electrode 210 of the driver IC 200 to the electrode 130 connected to the light emitting unit 120. be able to.
[0008]
In the LED array 100 having such a configuration, as many electrodes 130 as the number of the light emitting units 120 must be provided. For this reason, the LED array 100 is formed between the electrode 210 of the driver IC 200 and the electrode 130 of the LED array 100. It is necessary to provide the same number of wires 300 as the number of the light emitting units 120.
[0009]
As described above, in the LED array 100 having the plurality of wires 300, since the adjacent wires 300 may come into contact with each other, the recent LED array 100 in which the density between the light emitting units 120 and between the electrodes 130 tends to increase. It is preferable to reduce the number of wires 300 as much as possible.
[0010]
In order to solve such a problem, a technique has been proposed in which a light-emitting element array is formed by using a plurality of pnpn-junction-type light-emitting thyristors to reduce the number of electrodes (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-194978). .
[0011]
FIG. 6 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a light emitting element array using the above conventional light emitting thyristor.
[0012]
In FIG. 6, D1 to Dn (n is an integer) are light emitting thyristors.
[0013]
Of the n light-emitting thyristors, two light-emitting thyristors (for example, D1 and D2) constitute one light-emitting element block, and are divided into n / 2 (n is an integer) light-emitting element blocks B (n / 2). .
[0014]
In each block (for example, B1 block), the cathode electrodes of the two light-emitting thyristors are grounded, and the anode electrodes of the two light-emitting thyristors are connected to a common anode electrode A (n / 2) (n is an integer). For example, it is connected to A1).
[0015]
Further, the gate electrodes of the odd-numbered light emitting thyristors from the left in FIG. 6 are electrically connected by the common gate electrode G2, and the gate electrodes of the even-numbered light emitting thyristors are electrically connected by the common gate electrode G1. are doing.
[0016]
FIG. 7 shows a characteristic diagram of the light emitting thyristor described above.
[0017]
The two curves in FIG. 7 show the anode voltage Va-anode current Ia characteristics when the voltage of the gate electrode of the light emitting thyristor is 0 [V] and 5 [V].
[0018]
For example, when a voltage of 5 [V] is applied to the gate electrode of the light-emitting thyristor D1 shown in FIG. 6, the light-emitting thyristor D1 needs to have a potential difference between the anode and the gate of 1.5 [V] or more. Since the thyristor D1 does not emit light, the anode current Ia does not flow unless a voltage of 6.5 [V] or more is applied to the anode electrode, and the light emitting thyristor does not emit light.
[0019]
On the other hand, when no voltage is applied to the gate electrode (gate voltage: Vg = 0 [V]), a voltage of 1.5 [V] or more is applied to the anode electrode, so that the anode current Ia Flows and the light emitting thyristor emits light.
[0020]
The light emitting element array of FIG. 6 performs light emission control of a desired light emitting thyristor using such characteristics of the light emitting thyristor.
[0021]
Next, the operation will be described.
[0022]
First, the operation of the light emitting thyristors D1 and D2 of the block B1 in FIG. 6 will be described below as an example.
[0023]
In FIG. 6, for example, a voltage of 5 [V] is applied to the gate electrode G1, and a voltage of 1.5 [V] is applied to the common anode electrode A1 without applying a voltage to the gate electrode G2.
[0024]
Then, a current flows between the anode electrode of the light emitting thyristor D1 and the gate electrode G2, and the light emitting thyristor D1 emits light. On the other hand, no light is emitted because a voltage of 6.5 [V] or more is not applied to the anode electrode of the light emitting thyristor D2.
[0025]
When a voltage of 5 [V] is applied to the gate electrode G2 without applying a voltage to the gate electrode G1, and a voltage of 1.5 [V] is applied to the common anode electrode A1, the light emitting thyristor D1 Does not emit light, and the light-emitting thyristor D2 emits light.
[0026]
In the case where both the light emitting thyristors D1 and D2 do not emit light, for example, it can be realized by not applying a voltage to the gate electrodes G1 and G2 and the common anode electrode A1.
[0027]
When both the light emitting thyristors D1 and D2 emit light, for example, a voltage of 1.5 [V] or more is applied to the common anode electrode A1 without applying a voltage to both the gate electrodes G1 and G2. This can be achieved by:
[0028]
By operating such an operation for each block, a desired light-emitting thyristor can emit light.
[0029]
In the above-described light-emitting element array, the number of wires required is, assuming that the number of light-emitting thyristors is n, the number of common anode electrodes A (n / 2) (n / 2 (pieces)) and the gate electrodes G1 and G2. And ((n / 2) + 2 + 1), which is the sum of the grounds connected to the cathode electrode.
[0030]
As described above, in the light emitting element array using the light emitting thyristor of FIG. 6, it is only necessary to provide the number of wires obtained by adding three electrodes to half the number n of the light emitting thyristors shown in FIG.
[0031]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Due to the recent trend of high density light emitting element arrays, it is preferable to reduce the number of electrodes and the number of wires as much as possible, and it is preferable to reduce the number of manufacturing steps as much as possible from the viewpoint of mass production. .
[0032]
Therefore, the present invention provides a light-emitting element array which has a simple configuration and can further reduce the number of electrodes as compared with the conventional example.
[0033]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The light-emitting element array according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting element array includes a plurality of light-emitting elements, and among the plurality of light-emitting elements, two light-emitting elements, a first light-emitting element and a second light-emitting element, are one. A plurality of blocks are formed as blocks, and the first light emitting element is a pnpn junction light emitting element or an npnp junction light emitting element having a gate electrode, and the second light emitting element is a pnpn junction light emitting element. The anode electrode of the first light emitting element and the anode electrode of the second light emitting element are connected to a common anode electrode, and the cathode electrode of the first light emitting element and the cathode electrode of the second light emitting element are electrically connected. A capacitor is provided between the anode electrode of the first light emitting element and the anode electrode of the second light emitting element, and the gate electrode of each block is connected to a common gate electrode. Is connected to the, by controlling the electrical signal applied to the common gate electrode to the common anode electrode, respectively, to characterized in that it is possible to emit a desired light-emitting element.
[0034]
3. The light emitting element array according to claim 2, wherein the light emitting element array includes a plurality of light emitting elements, and among the plurality of light emitting elements, two light emitting elements of a first light emitting element and a second light emitting element are combined into one light emitting element. A plurality of blocks are formed as blocks, the first light emitting element is a pnpn junction type or npnp type light emitting element having a gate electrode, and the second light emitting element is a pnpn junction type light emitting element; The first anode electrode of one light-emitting element and the second anode electrode of the second light-emitting element are connected to a common anode electrode via a resistor, and the first cathode electrode of the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element A second cathode electrode of the device is electrically grounded, a capacitor is provided between an anode electrode of the first light emitting device and an anode electrode of the second light emitting device, and the gate electrode of each block is provided. It is connected to the common gate electrode, by controlling the electrical signal applied to the common gate electrode to the common anode electrode, respectively, to characterized in that it is possible to emit a desired light-emitting element.
[0035]
The light-emitting element array according to claim 3, wherein the light-emitting thyristor includes a plurality of light-emitting thyristors, wherein the light-emitting thyristor has an anode electrode, a first p-type layer, and a A first light emitting thyristor and a second light emitting thyristor among the plurality of light emitting thyristors, the light emitting thyristor having one n-type layer, a second p-type layer, a second n-type layer, and a cathode electrode. A plurality of blocks are formed by using the two light emitting thyristors as one block, and in each of the blocks, a gate electrode is formed on the first n-type layer of the first light emitting thyristor; A capacitor is disposed between the anode electrode of the light emitting thyristor and the anode electrode of the second light emitting thyristor, and the anode electrodes of the first light emitting thyristor and the second light emitting thyristor respectively. Are respectively connected to a common anode electrode via a resistance element, while the cathode electrodes of the first light emitting thyristor and the second light emitting thyristor are electrically grounded, and the first light emitting thyristor is electrically connected to the first light emitting thyristor. The gate electrodes formed on the light emitting thyristors are electrically connected to one common gate electrode, respectively, and by controlling an electric signal applied to each of the common anode electrode and the common gate electrode of each of the blocks, It is characterized in that a desired light emitting element can emit light.
[0036]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a partial equivalent circuit diagram of a device according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.
[0037]
In FIG. 1, D1 to Dn (n is an integer) are light emitting thyristors.
[0038]
Of each light emitting thyristor, one block B (n / 2) (n is an integer) is formed by two light emitting thyristors.
[0039]
In each block (for example, B1 block), the cathode electrodes of two light-emitting thyristors are grounded, and the anode electrodes a (n-1) and an of two light-emitting thyristors (n is an integer, for example, a1, a2) Are connected to a common anode electrode A (n / 2) (where n is an integer, for example, A1) through resistors Rn-1 and Rn (n is an integer, for example, R1 and R2). The gate electrodes of the odd-numbered light emitting thyristors from the left in FIG. 1 are electrically connected by a common gate electrode G.
[0040]
In this embodiment, the reason why the resistor Rn is inserted between the anode an side of each light emitting thyristor and the common anode electrode A (n / 2) is that the resistor Rn is applied to the common anode electrode A (n / 2). This is for enabling the light-emitting thyristor Dn to perform a stable light-emitting operation with respect to a voltage change.
[0041]
A capacitor C (n / 2) (n is an integer) is disposed between anode electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting thyristors Dn and D (n-1) (n is an integer, for example, D1 and D2). I have.
[0042]
Since the light emitting thyristor D1 of the light emitting thyristors D1 and D2 is a light emitting thyristor having a gate electrode, the light emitting thyristor D1 follows a current-voltage characteristic as shown in FIG. 7, but the light emitting thyristor D2 has no gate electrode. Therefore, it has characteristics different from the current-voltage characteristics of FIG.
[0043]
FIG. 2 shows a characteristic diagram of the anode current Ia-anode voltage Va of the light emitting thyristor D2.
[0044]
For example, when a voltage of 30 [V] or more is applied to the anode electrode a2 of the light emitting thyristor D2 shown in FIG. 1, the anode current Ia starts flowing, and the light emitting thyristor D2 starts emitting light. Once the voltage of the anode electrode of the thyristor D2 becomes 30 [V] or more, the thyristor D2 maintains light emission even if the voltage applied to the anode electrode of the thyristor D2 is reduced to 1.5 [V]. .
[0045]
However, once the anode voltage Va of the thyristor D2 becomes 1.5 [V] (turn-on voltage) or less, the thyristor D2 stops emitting light. Subsequently, in order to cause the thyristor D2 to emit light, a voltage of 30 [V] or more must be applied to the anode electrode again.
[0046]
Next, the operation will be described.
[0047]
FIG. 3 is a time-voltage characteristic diagram for explaining the operation of the device of the present embodiment. FIG. 3 shows, for example, the time-voltage characteristic in the block B1.
[0048]
3, a region (region A) from 0 (second) to t1 (second) is a gate electrode when the light-emitting thyristor D1 in FIG. 1 emits light (ON) and the light-emitting thyristor D2 does not emit light (OFF). G and the light emitting thyristors D1 and D2 on the anode side a1. The voltage value of a2 is shown.
[0049]
In the region (region B) from t1 (second) to t2 (second), the gate electrode G when the light emitting thyristor D1 is off and the light emitting thyristor D2 is on, and the anode side of each light emitting thyristor D1 and D2. a1. The voltage value of a2 is shown.
[0050]
Further, in a region (region C) from t2 (second) to t3 (second), the gate electrode G when the light-emitting thyristor D1 is on and the light-emitting thyristor D2 is off, and the anode side of each of the light-emitting thyristors D1 and D2. a1. The voltage value of a2 is shown.
[0051]
First, in the region A, a voltage of 2.5 [V] is applied to the common anode electrode A1 without applying a voltage to the common gate electrode G.
[0052]
With this configuration, no voltage is applied to the gate of the thyristor D1, and a voltage of 1.5 [V] is applied to the anode a1 of the thyristor D1 because a voltage drop of 1 [V] occurs due to the resistor R1. , The thyristor D1 emits light. On the other hand, a voltage of 1.5 [V] is applied to the anode side a2 of the thyristor D2 due to a voltage drop of R2, but the thyristor D2 does not emit light unless a voltage of 30 [V] is applied to the anode side. (Refer to the characteristic diagram of FIG. 2), no light emission.
[0053]
Next, in the region B, a voltage of 31 [V] is instantaneously (for example, 10 ms) applied to the gate electrode G and the common anode electrode a1.
[0054]
In this manner, in the thyristor D1, a voltage of 31 [V] is applied to the gate electrode, and a voltage of 30 [V] is applied to the point a1 on the anode side due to a voltage drop of 1 [V] of the resistor R1.
[0055]
In the thyristor D1, the thyristor D1 does not emit light because a potential difference of 1.5 [V] or more does not occur between the anode a1 and the gate electrode G.
[0056]
On the other hand, the thyristor D2 emits light because a voltage of 30 [V] is applied to the anode side a2.
[0057]
In the following region B, a voltage of 2.5 [V] is applied to both the gate electrode G and the common anode electrode A1.
[0058]
In this way, a voltage of 2.5 is applied to the gate electrode G on the thyristor D1 side, and a voltage of 1.5 [V] is applied at a point a1 on the anode side due to a voltage drop of 1 [V] of the resistor R1. Is done.
[0059]
In the thyristor D1, the voltage on the gate side is higher than the voltage on the anode side a1, so that a reverse bias voltage is applied to the thyristor D1, and the thyristor D1 does not emit light.
[0060]
On the other hand, on the thyristor D2 side, a voltage of 1.5 [V] is applied to the anode side a2. On the other hand, in the thyristor D2 having no gate electrode, a voltage of 30 [V] or more is applied once between the anode and the cathode. Therefore, if a voltage of 30 [V] or less and 1.5 [V] or more is applied between the anode and the cathode after the application of the voltage of 30 [V], the light-emitting thyristor D2 maintains light emission ( (See FIG. 2). Therefore, in the region B, the thyristor D1 turns off the light emission, and the thyristor D2 turns on the light emission.
[0061]
In the region B, the voltage of 30 [V] is applied to both the common gate electrode G and the common anode electrode An for a moment because the amount of heat generated is increased by sending a high-voltage electric signal to the thyristor for a long time. This is to prevent the load on the element from being increased.
[0062]
Next, in the region C, a voltage of 2.5 [V] is applied to the common anode electrode A1 without applying a voltage to the gate electrode G.
[0063]
With this configuration, no voltage is applied to the gate electrode G on the thyristor D1 side, and a voltage of 1.5 [V] is applied at point a1 on the anode side due to a voltage drop of 1 [V] of the resistor R2. , A forward bias voltage of 1.5 [V] is applied to the PN junction to emit light.
[0064]
When a forward voltage is applied to the thyristor D1, the charge accumulated on the thyristor D1 side of the capacitor C at the time of light emission of the thyristor D2 (in the region B) flows into the thyristor D1. At this moment, the electric charge accumulated on the thyristor D2 side of the capacitor C moves to the thyristor D1 side of the capacitor C, and the potential of the capacitor C on the thyristor D2 side drops to about 0.5 [V]. Thus, the thyristor D2 emits light.
[0065]
Thereafter, since a voltage of 2.5 [V] is applied to the common anode electrode A1, charges are accumulated in the capacitor C, and the potential at the point a2 rises to 1.5V.
[0066]
Here, when the voltage between the anode and the cathode of the light-emitting thyristor D2 drops to 1.5 [V] or less, the thyristor D2 causes the voltage of 30 [V] or more between the anode and the cathode of the thyristor D2 (between the pnpn junction). The thyristor D2 does not perform the light emission operation unless the voltage of.
[0067]
Thus, by adjusting the voltage value applied to the common anode electrode A1 and the gate electrode G, it is possible to control the light emitting operation of the thyristors D1 and D2.
[0068]
When controlling so that neither the thyristor D1 nor the thyristor D2 emits light, for example, it is only necessary to apply a voltage to both the common anode electrode A1 and the gate electrode G. In order to emit both D2, for example, a voltage of 30 [V] or more is applied to the common anode electrode, while a voltage of 27.5 [V] or less is applied to the gate electrode. Just do it.
[0069]
Although the operation in the block B1 has been described above, the light emission operation can be similarly controlled in other blocks.
[0070]
Next, a structural example of the light emitting element array having such a configuration will be described below.
[0071]
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure when the light emitting element array of the equivalent circuit of FIG. 1 is realized on a semiconductor substrate.
[0072]
In the light emitting element array shown in FIG. 4, first, the n-type semiconductor layer 21, the p-type semiconductor layer 22, the n-type semiconductor layer 23, and the p-type semiconductor layer 10 are formed on the n-type semiconductor substrate 10 by using, for example, MOCVD (Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition). The type semiconductor layers 24 are sequentially grown.
[0073]
Next, the light emitting elements D1 to Dn (n is an integer) are formed on the semiconductor layer on which the semiconductor layers 21 to 24 are formed by using a photoetching method.
[0074]
Further, a pattern capable of interposing a resistor or a capacitor is formed between the common anode electrode An and the anode electrode 25 of each light emitting element Dn, and the gate electrodes 26 of the odd-numbered light emitting elements Dn from the left in FIG. A G pattern is formed.
[0075]
Further, an anode electrode 25 is formed on the p-type semiconductor layer 24 of each light-emitting element, and a gate electrode 26 is formed on the n-type semiconductor layer 23 of the odd-numbered light-emitting element from the left in FIG.
[0076]
Finally, a bonding wire is provided between the electrode of the driver IC (not shown) and the common gate electrode G, and a bonding wire is provided between the electrode of the driver IC and the common anode electrode An.
[0077]
In this manner, the device of the present embodiment can be realized on a semiconductor substrate.
[0078]
As described above, the device of this embodiment includes one gate electrode, one electrode of the ground line connected to the cathode of each light emitting thyristor, and the common anode which is half the total number n of the light emitting thyristors. Since wires need only be provided between the electrodes of the driver IC and the electrodes of the light emitting element array by the total number of the number of electrodes (n / 2), the light emitting element array having a smaller number of wires as compared with the prior art is used. Can be realized.
[0079]
For this reason, in the conventional light emitting element array, a desired light emitting element emits light by controlling an electric signal applied to two gate electrodes and a plurality of common anode electrodes. Since it is only necessary to control the electric signal applied to the electrode and the plurality of common anode electrodes, the control software of the driver IC can be made simpler.
[0080]
Further, in the conventional light emitting element array, two gate electrodes are formed. Therefore, when the circuit shown in FIG. 6 is realized on a semiconductor substrate, one of the gate electrodes intersects with the intersection of the two gate electrodes. In order to prevent two gate electrodes from contacting each other after the electrodes are formed, it is necessary to form an insulating film on the gate electrode and form one gate electrode on the insulating film. Since the element array has only one gate electrode, there is no need to further form an insulating film and one gate electrode on the gate electrode. It is possible to reduce the time and cost for the operation.
[0081]
In this embodiment, a resistor is arranged between the anode side of each light-emitting thyristor and the common anode electrode, and the light-emitting thyristor performs a stable light-emitting operation with respect to a change in the voltage applied to the common anode electrode. Although the configuration can be performed, a configuration may be adopted in which a resistor is arranged in series with the common anode electrode, and the resistor need not be arranged when the fluctuation of the voltage applied to the anode electrode is small.
[0082]
Further, in this embodiment, a pnpn-type light-emitting thyristor is used as a light-emitting element, but an npnp-type light-emitting element may be used only for odd-numbered light-emitting elements from the left in FIG. In such a configuration, the reason why the even-numbered light-emitting elements from the left in FIG. 1 are not npnp-type light-emitting thyristors is that if the even-numbered light-emitting elements are npnp-type light-emitting thyristors, the p-type layer of the light-emitting thyristor is grounded. This is because they are connected and cannot emit light.
[0083]
【The invention's effect】
The light-emitting element array of the present invention can be manufactured with a small number of wires and a small number of manufacturing steps.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an equivalent circuit of an embodiment device to which the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a current-voltage characteristic diagram of a light emitting thyristor having no gate electrode.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing time-voltage characteristics at each point of the circuit of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view when the device of the present embodiment is configured on a substrate.
FIG. 5 is a top view of a conventional light emitting element array.
FIG. 6 is an equivalent circuit of a conventional light emitting element array.
FIG. 7 is a current-voltage characteristic diagram of a light-emitting thyristor having a gate electrode.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 substrate 21 n-type semiconductor layer 22 p-type semiconductor layer 23 n-type semiconductor layer 24 p-type semiconductor layer 25 anode electrode 26 gate electrode 100 LED array 110 semiconductor layer 120 light emitting unit 130 electrode 200 driver IC
210 electrode 300 bonding wire

Claims (3)

A light-emitting element array having a plurality of light-emitting elements,
Among the plurality of light emitting elements, a plurality of blocks are formed by using two light emitting elements of a first light emitting element and a second light emitting element as one block,
The first light emitting element is a pnpn junction light emitting element or an npnp junction light emitting element having a gate electrode, the second light emitting element is a pnpn junction light emitting element,
An anode electrode of the first light emitting element and an anode electrode of the second light emitting element are connected to a common anode electrode, and a cathode electrode of the first light emitting element and a cathode electrode of the second light emitting element are electrically connected. Grounded,
A capacitor is provided between an anode electrode of the first light emitting element and an anode electrode of the second light emitting element,
The gate electrode of each block is connected to a common gate electrode,
A light-emitting element array, wherein a desired light-emitting element can emit light by controlling an electric signal applied to each of the common gate electrode and the common anode electrode. A light-emitting element array having a plurality of light-emitting elements,
Among the plurality of light emitting elements, a plurality of blocks are formed by using two light emitting elements of a first light emitting element and a second light emitting element as one block,
The first light emitting element is a pnpn junction type or npnp type light emitting element having a gate electrode, the second light emitting element is a pnpn junction type light emitting element,
A first anode electrode of the first light emitting element and a second anode electrode of the second light emitting element are connected to a common anode electrode via a resistor, and a first cathode electrode of the first light emitting element, The second cathode electrode of the two light emitting elements is electrically grounded,
A capacitor is provided between an anode electrode of the first light emitting element and an anode electrode of the second light emitting element,
The gate electrode of each block is connected to a common gate electrode,
A light-emitting element array, wherein a desired light-emitting element can emit light by controlling an electric signal applied to each of the common gate electrode and the common anode electrode. A light-emitting element array having a plurality of light-emitting thyristors,
The light emitting thyristor includes, from the anode side to the cathode side, an anode electrode, a first p-type layer, a first n-type layer, a second p-type layer, a second n-type layer, A cathode electrode;
Among the plurality of light emitting thyristors, a plurality of blocks are formed by using two light emitting thyristors of a first light emitting thyristor and a second light emitting thyristor as one block,
In each of the blocks, a gate electrode is formed on the first n-type layer of the first light-emitting thyristor, and a gate electrode of the first light-emitting thyristor and an anode electrode of the second light-emitting thyristor are connected to each other. A capacitor is interposed between the first light emitting thyristor and the second light emitting thyristor, and an anode electrode of each of the first light emitting thyristor and the second light emitting thyristor is connected to a common anode electrode via a resistance element. And the cathode electrodes of the second light emitting thyristor and the second light emitting thyristor are electrically grounded,
Gate electrodes formed on the first light emitting thyristor of each block are electrically connected to one common gate electrode, respectively.
A light emitting element array, wherein a desired light emitting element can emit light by controlling an electric signal applied to each of the common anode electrode and the common gate electrode for each of the blocks.

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