Disclosed is an operation principle and an epitaxial structure of resonant tunneling opto-electronic device. According to the present invention, the photo-generated holes stored in front of the double barrier quantum well structure by light illumination. As a result, a large potential drop occurs in the double barrier quantum well structure. And a peak signal of the opto-electronic resonant tunneling device is generated at a relatively lower voltage illumination to one generated before introducing the light into the device. An amount of photocurrent is 10.sup.3 times and over as compared to the conventional p-i-n diode because a resonant tunneling current is optically controlled by light illumination. So that, it is possible to drive peripheral circuit without use of additional amplifiers for amplifying an output signal from the opto-electronic device.