In a conventional, strip-type one-dimensional (1-D) position sensitive detector (PSD) the sensitive area and the position resistance area are combined together, the ohmic contact structure of the device is handicapped, so its accuracy and linearity is affected adversely. The sensitive area and position resistance area in a comb-type 1-D PSD are separated to become the comb teeth and comb ridge area respectively, moreover the position resistance area is made very narrow, even if the doping concentration is rather high, the position resistance can also be made quite large, so that the restriction that is imposed on the contact structure previously can be lifted. The position characteristic curve measured on two different kinds of 1-D PSDs verified authors' theoretical analysis, and showed that the accuracy and linearity of the comb-type 1-D PSD has been increased markedly; the average position error of the comb-type 1-D PSD is reduced to 26 μm from 55 μm of the strip-type 1-D PSD, and the RMS nonlinearity of the comb-type 1-D PSD is reduced to 0.09 % from 0.94 % of the strip-type 1-D PSD.