Diodes

Information about Electronics;

In this blog I will be describe Diodes its types and features.

Diodes;

                    A diode is an electrical device allowing current to move through it in one direction with far greater ease than in the other. The most common kind of diode in modern circuit design is the semiconductor diode, although other diode technologies exist.

Types of diodes;

There are several types of diodes are available for use in electronics design, namely; a Backward diode, BARITT diode, Gunn Diode, Laser diode, Light emitting diodes, Photodiode, PIN diode, PN Junction, Schottky diodes, Step recovery diode, Tunnel diode, Varactor diode and a Zener diode.

Backward diode;

This type of diode is also called the back diode, and it is not widely used. The backward diode is a PN-junction diode that is similar to the tunnel diode in its process. It finds a few special applications where its specific properties can be used.

BARITT Diode;

The short term of this diode Barrier Injection Transit Time diode is BARITT diode. It is applicable in microwave applications and allows many comparisons to the more widely used IMPATT diode.

Gunn Diode;

Gunn diode is a PN junction diode, this sort of diode is a semiconductor device that has two terminals. Generally, it is used for producing microwave signals.

Laser Diode;

The laser diode is not the similar as the ordinary LED (light emitting diode) because it generates coherent light. These diodes are extensively used in many applications like DVDs, CD drives and laser light pointers for PPTs. Although these diodes are inexpensive than other types of laser generator, they are much more expensive than LEDs.

Light Emitting Diode;

The term LED stands for light emitting diode, is one of the most standard types of the diode. When the diode is connected in forwarding bias, then the current flows through the junction and generates the light. There are also many new LED developments are changing they are LEDs and OLEDs.

Photodiode;

The photodiode is used to detect light. It is found that when light strikes a PN-junction it can create electrons and holes. Typically, photodiodes operate under reverse bias condition where even a small amount of flow of current resulting from the light can be simply noticed. These diodes can also be used to produce electricity.

PIN Diode;

This type of diode is characterized by its construction. It has the standard P-type & N-type regions, but the area between the two regions namely intrinsic semiconductor has no doping. The region of the intrinsic semiconductor has the effect of increasing the area of the depletion region which can be beneficial for switching applications.

PN Junction Diode;

The standard PN junction may be thought of as the normal or standard type of diode in use today. These diodes can come as small signal types for use in RF (radio frequency), or other low current applications which may be called as signal diodes. Other types may be planned for high voltage and high current applications and are normally named rectifier diodes.

Schottky Diode;

The Schottky diode has a lower forward voltage drop than ordinary Si PN-junction diodes. At low currents, the voltage drop may be between 0.15 & 0.4 volts as opposed to 0.6 volts for a Si diode. To attain this performance they are designed in a different way to compare with normal diodes having a metal to semiconductor contact.

Step Recovery Diode;

A step recovery diode is a type of microwave diode used to generate pulses at very HF (high frequencies). These diodes depend on the diode which has a very fast turn-off characteristic for their operation.

Tunnel Diode

The tunnel diode is used for microwave applications where its performance surpassed that of other devices of the day.

Zener Diode;

The Zener diode is used to provide a stable reference voltage. As a result, it is used in vast amounts. It works under reverse bias condition and found that when a particular voltage is reached it breaks down. If the flow of current is limited by a resistor, it activates a stable voltage to be generated. This type of diode is widely used to offer a reference voltage in power supplies.