Types of diodes that we use everyday life and why zener diode makes difference from other diodes?
A diode is a semiconductor device which only allows flow of electricity in one direction and blocks the flow of electricity in the opposite direction.
Diodes can consider as one-way valves and commonly used in circuit boards for protection.
There are different types of diodes
- Light Emitting Diode (LED): It is one of the common types of diodes and The light is produced when this diode permits the transfer of electric current between the electrodes.
- Avalanche Diode: It is reverse bias, and used avalanche effect for its operation.
- Laser Diode: Laser diode is different from the LED type, it produces coherent light. In DVD and CD drives, laser pointers, we use these type of diodes.
- Schottky Diodes: These diodes feature lower forward voltage drop as compared to the ordinary silicon PN junction diodes. The voltage drop may be somewhere between 0.15 and 0.4 volts at low currents, as compared to the 0.6 volts for a silicon diode.
- Zener diode: A Zener diode permits current not only in the forward direction like a normal diode, but also in the reverse direction. if the voltage is larger than the breakdown voltage known as "Zener knee voltage”.
- Photodiode: Photodiodes are used to detect light and feature wide, transparent junctions. Photodiodes can also be used to generate electricity, used as solar cells and even in photometry.
- Varicap Diode or Varactor Diode: This type of diode feature a reverse bias placed upon it, which varies the width of the depletion layer as per the voltage placed across the diode.
- Rectifier Diode: These diodes are used to rectify alternating power inputs in power supplies.
- Small signal or Small current diode - These diodes assumes that the operating point is not affected because the signal is small
- Large signal diodes - The operating point in these diodes get affected as the signal is large.
- Transient voltage Supression diodes - This diode is used to protect the electronics that are sensitive against voltage spikes.
- Gold doped diodes - These diodes use gold as the dopant and can operate at signal frequencies even if the forward voltage drop increases.
- Super barrier diodes - These are also called as the rectifier diodes. This diodes have the property of low reverse leakage current as that of normal p-n junction diode and low forward voltage drop as that of Schottky diode with surge handling ability.
- Point contact diodes - The construction of this diode is simpler and are used in analogy applications and as a detector in radio receivers.
- Peltier diodes - This diode is used as heat engine and sensor for thermoelectric cooling.
- Gunn diode - This diode is made of materials like GaAs or InP that exhibit a negative differential resistance region.
USES:-
- Diodes are used used in most of electronic appliances and gadgets we commonly use today.
- diodes are also used in public facilities. Traffic lights, scoreboards, and vending machines are examples of diode dependent devices.
Importance of zener diode in marine applications :
A Zener diode permits current not only in the forward direction like a normal diode, but also in the reverse direction if the voltage is larger than the breakdown voltage known as "Zener knee voltage" or "Zener voltage".
A Zener diode exhibits almost the same properties, except the device is specially designed so as to have a greatly reduced breakdown voltage, the so-called Zener voltage.
Therefore Zener diode is ideal for applications such as the generation of a reference voltage (e.g. for an amplifier stage), or as a voltage stabilizer for low-current applications
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