In this paper a novel reverse-biased p. s. d. (position-sensitive detector) is presented. A 6 multiplied by 6 mm**2 p. s. d. was made, and an overall linearity better than 0. 5% full scale and a photosensitivity of 0. 5 A/W for an He-Ne laser were obtained. The dependence of the position sensitivity on background illumination and temperature as well as resolution are similar to those of currently known linear p. s. d. s.