Category: 2. Diodes

The Diode Clipper, also known as a Diode Limiter, is a wave shaping circuit that takes an input waveform and clips or cuts off its top half, bottom half or both halves together. This diode clipping of the input signal produces an output waveform that resembles a flattened version of the input. For example, the half-wave rectifier…

Bypass diodes are connected in parallel across solar cells to provide an alternative current path when the voltage across a cell is negative due to shading or it becoming faulty. This use of bypass diodes in solar panels allows a series (called a string) of connected cells or panels to continue supplying power at a…

Light Emitting Diodes or simply LED´s, are among the most widely used of all the different types of semiconductor diodes available today and are commonly used in TV’s and colour displays. The light emitting diode is the most visible type of semiconductor diode. They emit a fairly narrow bandwidth of either visible light at different coloured…

A Semiconductor Diode blocks current in the reverse direction, but will suffer from premature breakdown or damage if the reverse voltage applied across becomes too high. However, the Zener Diode or “Breakdown Diode”, as they are sometimes referred too, are basically the same as the standard PN junction diode exept that they are specially designed to have…

Power Diodes can be connected together to form a full wave rectifier that convert AC voltage into pulsating DC voltage for use in power supplies. The full wave rectifier converts both halves of each waveform cycle into pulsating DC signal using four rectification diodes. In the previous power diodes tutorial we discussed ways of reducing…

Power Diodes are semiconductor pn-junctions capable of passing large currents at high voltage values for use in rectifier circuits. Previously we saw that a semiconductor diode conducts current in one direction only when forward biased from anode to cathode, but not in the reverse direction acting a bit like an electrical one way valve. One…

Signal Diodes are small two-terminal which conducts current when forward biased and blocks current flow when reverse biased. The semiconductor Signal Diode is a small non-linear semiconductor devices generally used in electronic circuits, where small currents or high frequencies are involved such as in radio, television and digital logic circuits. Signal diodes in the form of the Point…

A PN-junction diode is formed when a p-type semiconductor is fused to an n-type semiconductor creating a potential barrier voltage across the diode junction. The PN junction diode consists of a p-region and n-region separated by a depletion region where charge is stored. The effect described in the previous tutorial is achieved without any external…

A PN-junction is formed when an N-type material is fused together with a P-type material creating a semiconductor diode. This tutorial about PN junction theory shows that when silicon is doped with small amounts of Antimony, an N-type semiconductor material is formed, and when the same silicon material is doped with small amounts of Boron,…

Semiconductor materials are the basic building blocks of all electronic devices from transistors, to phones, to computers, and to the internet. Here in this tutorial we will look at the concepts behind semiconductor basics, the physics and the differences between insulators and conductors. If the resistor is the most basic passive component in electrical or…