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A p–n diode is a type of semiconductor diode based upon the p–n junction. The diode conducts current in only one direction, and it is made by joining a p-type semiconducting layer to an n-type semiconducting layer. Semiconductor diodes have multiple uses including rectification of alternating current to direct current, in the detection of ...
p–n junctions represent the simplest case of a semiconductor electronic device; a p-n junction by itself, when connected on both sides to a circuit, is a diode. More complex circuit components can be created by further combinations of p-type and n-type semiconductors; for example, the bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is a semiconductor in ...
Band diagram for p–n junction at equilibrium. The depletion region is shaded. φ B denotes band shift for holes and charges level. See P–n diode. The inner workings of a light emitting diode, showing circuit (top) and band diagram when a bias voltage is applied (bottom).
The current–voltage characteristics of four devices: a resistor with large resistance, a resistor with small resistance, a P–N junction diode, and a battery with nonzero internal resistance. The horizontal axis represents the voltage drop, the vertical axis the current.
This allows the diode to operate at higher signal frequencies, at the expense of a higher forward voltage drop. Gold-doped diodes are faster than other p–n diodes (but not as fast as Schottky diodes). They also have less reverse-current leakage than Schottky diodes (but not as good as other p–n diodes). [43] [44] A typical example is the 1N914.
The rectifying metal–semiconductor junction forms a Schottky barrier, making a device known as a Schottky diode, while the non-rectifying junction is called an ohmic contact. [1] (In contrast, a rectifying semiconductor–semiconductor junction, the most common semiconductor device today, is known as a p–n junction.)
Inside the depletion region, both diffusion current and drift current are present. At equilibrium in a p–n junction, the forward diffusion current in the depletion region is balanced with a reverse drift current, so that the net current is zero. The diffusion constant for a doped material can be determined with the Haynes–Shockley experiment.
Carrier generation and recombination processes are fundamental to the operation of many optoelectronic semiconductor devices, such as photodiodes, light-emitting diodes and laser diodes. They are also critical to a full analysis of p-n junction devices such as bipolar junction transistors and p-n junction diodes .