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Types of Diodes | Small Signal, LED, Schottky, Zener

APRIL 27, 2019 BY ADMINISTRATOR 30 COMMENTS

In this tutorial, we will learn about Different Types of Diodes. These include
Small Signal Diodes, Zener Diodes, Light Emitting Diodes, Schottky Diodes,
Tunnel Diodes, Avalanche Diodes, etc. This will be a brief note on different
types of diodes with basic functionality and its circuit symbol.

Table of Contents
 Introduction
 Different Types of Diodes
o 1. Small Signal Diode
o 2. Large Signal Diode
o 3. Zener Diode
o 4. Light Emitting Diode (LED)
o 5. Constant Current Diodes
o 6. Schottky Diode
o 7. Shockley Diode
 Shockley Diode Applications
o 8. Step Recovery Diodes
o Tunnel Diode
 Tunnel Diode Applications
o 10. Varactor Diode
 Varactor Diode Applications
o 11. Laser Diode
 Laser Diode Types:
o 12. Transient Voltage Suppression Diode
o 13. Gold Doped Diodes
o 14. Super Barrier Diodes
o 15. Peltier Diode
o 16. Crystal Diode
 Crystal Diode Applications
o 17. Avalanche Diode
 Avalanche Diode Uses
o 18. Silicon Controlled Rectifier
 Modes of Operation:
o 19. Vacuum Diodes
o 20. PIN Diode
 PIN Diode Applications:
o 21. Point Contact Devices
o 22. Gunn Diode
Introduction
Diodes are electronic components functions as a one-way valve it means it
allow current to flow in one direction. These diodes are manufactured by the
semiconductor materials germanium, silicon and selenium. Operation of diode
can be classified in two ways, if it allows the current then it is forward biased
otherwise it is reverse biased.

Different types of diodes have different voltage requirements. For silicon

diodes the forward voltage is 0.7v and for germanium it is 0.3v. In silicon
diode, the dark band indicates the cathode terminal and the other terminal is
anode. Generally diodes are used as reverse polarity protector and transient
protector. There are many types of diodes and some of these are listed as
follows.

Different Types of Diodes

Let us now briefly see about few commonly used types of diodes.

1. Small Signal Diode

It is a small device with disproportional characteristics and whose applications
are mainly involved at high frequency and very low currents devices such as
radios and televisions etc. To protect the diode from contamination it is
enveloped with a glass so it is also named as Glass Passivated Diode which
is extensively used as 1N4148. 

The appearance of signal diode is very small when compared with the power
diode. To indicate the cathode terminal one edge is marked with black or red
in color. For the applications at high frequencies the performance of the small
signal diode is very effective.

With respect to the functional frequencies of the signal diode the carrying
capacity of the current and power are very low which are maximum nearly at
150mA and 500mW.
The signal diode is a silicon doped semiconductor diode or a germanium
doped diode but depending up on the doping material the characteristics of
the diode varies. In signal diode the characteristics of the silicon doped diode
is approximately opposite to the germanium doped diode.

The silicon signal diode has high voltage drop at the coupling about 0.6 to 0.7
volts so, it has very high resistance but low forward resistance. On other hand
germanium signal diode has low resistance due to low voltage drop nearly at
0.2 to 0.3 volts and high forward resistance. Due to small signal the functional
point is not disrupted in small signal diode.

2. Large Signal Diode

These diodes have large PN junction layer. Thus the transformation of AC to
DC voltages is unbounded. This also increases the current forward capacity
and reverse blocking voltage. These large signals will disrupt the functional
point also. Due to this it is not suitable for high frequency applications.

The main applications of these diodes are in battery charging devices like
inverters. In these diodes the range of forward resistance is in Ohms and the
reverse blocking resistance is in mega Ohms. Since it has high current and
voltage performance these can be used in electrical devices which are used to
suppress high peak voltages.

3. Zener Diode
It is a passive element works under the principle of zener breakdown. First
produced by Clarence zener in 1934.It is similar to normal diode in forward
direction, it also allows current in reverse direction when the applied voltage
reaches the breakdown voltage. It is designed to prevent the other
semiconductor devices from momentary voltage pulses. It acts as voltage
regulator.
4. Light Emitting Diode (LED)
These diodes convert the electrical energy in to light energy. First production
started in 1968. It undergoes electroluminescence process in which holes and
electrons are recombined to produce energy in the form of light in forward bias
condition.

Earlier they used in inductor lamps but now in recent applications they are
using in environmental and task handling. Mostly used in applications like
aviation lighting, traffic signals, camera flashes.
5. Constant Current Diodes
It is also known as current-regulating diode or constant current diode or
current-limiting diode or diode-connected transistor. The function of the diode
is regulating the voltage at a particular current.

It functions as a two terminal current limiter. In this JFET acts as current

limiter to achieve high output impedance. The constant current diode symbol
is shown below.

6. Schottky Diode
In this type of diode the junction is formed by contacting the semiconductor
material with metal. Due to this the forward voltage drop is decreased to min.
The semiconductor material is N-type silicon which acts as an anode and the
metal acts as a cathode whose materials are chromium, platinum, tungsten
etc.

Due to the metal junction these diodes have high current conducting capability
thus the switching time reduces. So, Schottky has greater use in switching
applications. Mainly because of the metal- semiconductor junction the voltage
drop is low which in turn increase the diode performance and reduces power
loss. So, these are used in high frequency rectifier applications. The symbol of
Schottky diode is as shown below.
 

7. Shockley Diode
It was the invention of first semiconductor devices it has four layers. It is also
called as PNPN diode. It is equal to a thyristor without a gate terminal which
means the gate terminal is disconnected. As there is no trigger inputs the only
way the diode can conduct is by providing forward voltage.

It stays on one’s it turned “ON” and stays off one’s it turned “OFF”. The diode
has two operating states conducting and non-conducting. In non-conducting
state the diode conducts with less voltage.
The symbol of the Shockley diode is as follows:

Shockley Diode Applications

 Trigger switches for SCR.

 Acts as relaxation oscillator.
8. Step Recovery Diodes
It is also called as snap-off diode or charge-storage diode. These are the
special type of diodes which stores the charge from positive pulse and uses in
the negative pulse of the sinusoidal signals. The rise time of the current pulse
is equal to the snap time. Due to this phenomenon it has speed recovery
pulses.

The applications of these diodes are in higher order multipliers and in pulse
shaper circuits. The cut-off frequency of these diodes is very high which are
nearly at Giga hertz order.

As multiplier this diode has the cut-off frequency range of 200 to 300 GHz. In
the operations which are performing at 10 GHz range these diodes plays a
vital role. The efficiency is high for lower order multipliers. The symbol for this
diode is as shown below.

Tunnel Diode
It is used as high speed switch, of order nano-seconds. Due to tunneling
effect it has very fast operation in microwave frequency region. It is a two
terminal device in which concentration of dopants is too high.

The transient response is being limited by junction capacitance plus stray

wiring capacitance. Mostly used in microwave oscillators and amplifiers. It
acts as most negative conductance device. Tunnel diodes can be tuned in
both mechanically and electrically. The symbol of tunnel diode is as shown
below.
Tunnel Diode Applications

1. Oscillatory circuits.
2. Microwave circuits.
3. Resistant to nuclear radiation.

10. Varactor Diode

These are also known as Varicap diodes. It acts like the variable capacitor.
Operations are performed mainly at reverse bias state only. These diodes are
very famous due to its capability of changing the capacitance ranges within
the circuit in the presence of constant voltage flow.

They can able to vary capacitance up to high values. In varactor diode by

changing the reverse bias voltage we can decrease or increase the depletion
layer. These diodes have many applications as voltage controlled oscillator for
cell phones, satellite pre-filters etc. The symbol of varactor diode is given
below.

Varactor Diode Applications

1. Voltage-controlled capacitors.
 2. Voltage-controlled oscillators.
3. Parametric amplifiers.
4. Frequency multipliers.
5. FM transmitters and Phase locked loops in radio, television sets and
cellular telephone.

11. Laser Diode

Similar to LED in which active region is formed by p-n junction. Electrically
laser diode is p-i-n diode in which the active region is in intrinsic region. Used
in fiber optic communications, barcodereaders, laser pointers, CD/DVD/Blu-
ray reading and recording, Laser printing.

Laser Diode Types:

1. Double Heterostructure Laser: Free electrons and holes available

simultaneously in the region.
2. Quantum Well Lasers: lasers having more than one quantum well are
called multi quantum well lasers.
3. Quantum Cascade Lasers: These are heterojunction lasers which
enables laser action at relatively long wavelengths.
4. Separate Confinement Heterostructure Lasers: To compensate the
thin layer problem in quantum lasers we go for separate confinement
heterostructure lasers.
5. Distributed Bragg Reflector Lasers: It can be edge emitting lasers or
VCSELS.

The symbol of the Laser Diode is as shown:

12. Transient Voltage Suppression Diode
In semiconductor devices due to the sudden change in the state voltage
transients will occur. They will damage the device output response. To
overcome this problem voltage suppression diode diodes are used. The
operation of voltage suppression diode is similar to Zener diode operation.

The operation of these diodes is normal as p-n junction diodes but at the time
of transient voltage its operation changes. In normal condition the impedance
of the diode is high.  When any transient voltage occurs in the circuit the diode
enters in to the avalanche breakdown region in which the low impedance is
provided.

It is spontaneously very fast because the avalanche breakdown duration

ranges in Pico seconds. Transient voltage suppression diode will clamp the
voltage to the fixed levels, mostly its clamping voltage is in minimum range.

These are having applications in the telecommunication fields, medical,

microprocessors and signal processing. It responds to over voltages faster
than varistors or gas discharge tubes.

The symbol for Transient voltage suppression diode is as shown below.

The diode is characterized by

 Leakage current
 Maximum reverse stand-off voltage
 Breakdown voltage
 Clamping voltage
 Parasitic capacitience
 Parasitic inductance
 Amount of energy it can absorb

13. Gold Doped Diodes

In these diodes gold is used as a dopant. These diodes are faster than other
diodes. In these diodes the leakage current in reverse bias condition also less.
Even at the higher voltage drop it allows the diode to operate in signal
frequencies. In these diodes gold helps for the faster recombination of
minority carriers.

14. Super Barrier Diodes

It is a rectifier diode having low forward voltage drop as schottky diode with
surge handling capability and low reverse leakage current as p-n junction
diode. It was designed for high power, fast switching and low-loss
applications. Super barrier rectifiers are the next generation rectifiers with low
forward voltage than schottky diode.

15. Peltier Diode

In this type of diode, at the two material junction of a semiconductor it
generates a heat which flows from one terminal to another terminal. This flow
is done in only single direction that is as equal to the direction of current flow.

This heat is produced due to electric charge produced by the recombination of

minority charge carriers. This is mainly used in cooling and heating
applications. This type of diodes used as sensor and heat engine for thermo
electric cooling.

16. Crystal Diode

This is also known as Cat’s whisker which is a type of point contact diode. Its
operation depends on the pressure of contact between semiconductor crystal
and point.

In this a metal wire is present which is pressed against the semiconductor

crystal. In this the semiconductor crystal acts as cathode and metal wire acts
as anode. These diodes are obsolete in nature. Mainly used in microwave
receivers and detectors.

Crystal Diode Applications

1. Crystal diode rectifier

2. Crystal diode detector
3. Crystal radio receiver

17. Avalanche Diode

This is passive element works under principle of avalanche breakdown. It
works in reverse bias condition. It results large currents due to the ionisation
produced by p-n junction during reverse bias condition.

These diodes are specially designed to undergo breakdown at specific

reverse voltage to prevent the damage. The symbol of the avalanche diode is
as shown below:
Avalanche Diode Uses

1. RF Noise Generation: It acts as source of RF for antenna analyzer

bridges and also as white noise generators. Used in radio equipments
and also in hardware random number generators.
2. Microwave Frequency Generation: In this the diode acts as negative
resistance device.
3. Single Photon Avalanche Detector: These are high gain photon
detectors used in light level applications.

18. Silicon Controlled Rectifier

It consists of three terminals they are anode, cathode and a gate. It is nearly
equal to the Shockley diode. As its name indicates it is mainly used for the
control purpose when small voltages are applied in the circuit. The symbol of
the Silicon Controlled Rectifier is as shown below:
Modes of Operation:

1. Forward blocking mode (off state): In this j1 and j3 forward biased and
j2 is reverse biased. It offers high resistance below breakover voltage
and hence it is said to be off state.
2. Forward conduction mode (on state): By increasing the voltage at anode
and cathode or by applying positive pulse at the gate we can turn ON. To
turn off the only way is to decrease the current flowing through it.
3. Reverse blocking mode (off state): SCR blocking the reverse voltage is
named as asymmetrical SCR. Mostly used in current source inverters.

19. Vacuum Diodes

Vacuum diodes consist of two electrodes which will acts as an anode and the
cathode. Cathode is made up of tungsten which emits the electrons in the
direction of anode. Always electron flow will be from cathode to anode only.
So, it acts like a switch.

If the cathode is coated with oxide material then the electrons emission
capability is high. Anode is a bit long in size and in some cases their surface is
rough to reduce the temperatures developing in the diode. The diode will
conduct in only one case that is when the anode is positive regarding to
cathode terminal. The symbol is as shown in figure:

20. PIN Diode

The improved version of the normal P-N junction diode gives the PIN diode. In
PIN diode doping is not necessary. The intrinsic material means the material
which has no charge carriers is inserted between the P and N regions which
increase the area of depletion layer.

When we apply forward bias voltage the holes and electrons will pushed into
the intrinsic layer. At some point due to this high injection level the electric
field will conduct through the intrinsic material also. This field made the
carriers to flow from two regions. The symbol of PIN diode is as shown below:
PIN Diode Applications:

1. Rf Switches: Pin diode is used for both signal and component

selection. For example pin diodes acts as range-switch inductors in low
phase noise oscillators.
2. Attenuators: it is used as bridge and shunt resistance in bridge-T
attenuator.
3. Photo Detectors: it detects x-ray and gamma ray photons.

21. Point Contact Devices

A gold or tungsten wire is used to act as the point contact to produce a PN
junction region by passing a high electric current through it. A small region of
PN junction is produced around the edge of the wire which is connected to the
metal plate which is as shown in the figure.

In forward direction its operation is quite similar but in reverse bias condition
the wire acts like an insulator. Since this insulator is between the plates the
diode acts as a capacitor. In general the capacitor blocks the DC currents
when the AC currents are flowing in the circuit at high frequencies. So, these
are used to detect the high frequency signals.

22. Gunn Diode

Gunn diode is fabricated with n-type semiconductor material only. The
depletion region of two N-type materials is very thin. When voltage increases
in the circuit the current also increases. After certain level of voltage the
current will exponentially decrease thus this exhibits the negative differential
resistance.
 It has two electrodes with Gallium Arsenide and Indium Phosphide due to
these it has negative differential resistance. It is also termed as transferred
electron device. It produces micro wave RF signals so it is mainly used in
Microwave RF devices. It can also use as an amplifier. The symbol of Gunn
diode is shown below:

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NEXT – SIGNAL DIODE TUTORIAL

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 What is Signal Diode? V-I Characteristics, Types,…
 Signal Diode Arrays
 How to Test a Diode? Analog and Digital Multimeter
 Schottky Diode - Working, Characteristics, Applications
 Applications of Diodes | Rectifier, Clipper, Reverse…
 Varactor Diode | Construction, Working,…

FILED UNDER: DIODES

Comments

1. akash says
 NOVEMBER 24, 2015 AT 9:45 AM

Zener diode nai hai isme

Reply

o Ranajit says

APRIL 9, 2017 AT 8:52 PM

no 3 is zener diode

Reply

 Ur Mum says

MARCH 22, 2018 AT 4:51 AM

No U

Reply
2. naresh says

DECEMBER 31, 2015 AT 2:24 AM

thank q for best information

Reply

3. Sdk says

FEBRUARY 9, 2016 AT 11:54 AM

Thank u frnd

Reply

4. cutie says

FEBRUARY 16, 2016 AT 9:29 PM

Thank u for this useful information

Reply
5. Chalew Cheru says

JUNE 30, 2016 AT 6:46 AM

Thank you very much. you help several people specially students

Reply

6. Shaik mubeena says

JULY 19, 2016 AT 9:59 PM

Thank u

Reply

7. keshi says

AUGUST 31, 2016 AT 9:16 PM

Thanks a lot more bless

Reply
8. khan says

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016 AT 11:55 AM

realy , very informable…..

Reply

9. laugh like hell says

MARCH 19, 2017 AT 8:31 AM

this is a hard core electronics

Reply

10. megha says

APRIL 8, 2017 AT 2:24 PM

Thanku so much for such a brief and valuable information…

Reply
11. charles says

JULY 5, 2017 AT 10:15 AM

thank you very much your info

Reply

12. vanita says

AUGUST 19, 2017 AT 2:27 AM

provide a picture with a info if possible

Reply

13. vanita says

AUGUST 19, 2017 AT 2:29 AM

provide a picture with info if possible.it can betterly understand

Reply
14. Saranga says

AUGUST 25, 2017 AT 3:42 PM

Very useful information. Thank you very much.

Reply

15. frank wobil says

SEPTEMBER 25, 2017 AT 8:31 AM

thanks for the information

Reply

16. Saket says

OCTOBER 6, 2017 AT 2:42 PM

It is very very important information to learn about different types of

semiconductors…….
 Reply

17. Jyoti prakash says

NOVEMBER 17, 2017 AT 2:57 PM

very important information about the diodes

Reply

18. ntulume yassini luyimbazi says

DECEMBER 7, 2017 AT 7:24 AM

thanks dia

Reply

19. Abdullahi OkinG says

DECEMBER 16, 2017 AT 1:49 AM

 thank you very much for you explain diodes

Reply

20. Rohit says

JANUARY 8, 2018 AT 3:55 PM

Its very helpful

Reply

21. LOUIS says

FEBRUARY 17, 2018 AT 12:54 AM

thanks alot for this information it was very helpful to me

Reply

22. Khalil Muhammad Khan says

 FEBRUARY 20, 2018 AT 5:44 AM

Great work thank you

Reply

23. Aman bharti says

APRIL 6, 2018 AT 6:00 AM

Very useful for All. Very good tutorial. All tutorials on this website are well
explained.

Reply

24. Danladi Samson says

APRIL 11, 2018 AT 1:29 PM

I must confess that this article of Diode has help me much in my academy

Reply
25. Usama Hussain Ahmad says

APRIL 29, 2018 AT 9:15 AM

Very Use ful for me…Thanks

Reply

26. Vivek says

OCTOBER 11, 2018 AT 12:43 AM

Very good & useful information all diode types explain properly thanks sir for
sharing useful information with us

Reply

27. Jonnell says

OCTOBER 30, 2018 AT 9:31 PM

Thanks alot very useful

 Reply

28. SADIA KHALID says

DECEMBER 22, 2018 AT 4:51 AM

Thanku so much for this briefly explaination….

Reply

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