Free Expert Guides on Power Systems, Circuit Design & Electrical Troubleshooting

What is Diode Test ?Diode DefinitionA diode is defined as a semiconductor device that allows electric current to flow in one direction only.Diode Test ModeThis mode on digital multimeters applies a small voltage to a diode and measures the voltage drop, indicating the diode’s condition.To test a diode with diode test mode Turn off the power source of the circuit that contains the diode. If possible, remove the diode from the circuit for more accurate results. Set the multimeter to diode test mod

What is a Vacuum Diode ?Vacuum Diode DefinitionA vacuum diode is a type of electronic device that controls the flow of electric current in a high vacuum between two electrodes: a cathode and an anode. The cathode is a metal cylinder coated with a material that emits electrons when heated, while the anode is a hollow metal cylinder that collects electrons from the cathode. The vacuum diode symbol is shown below.The vacuum diode was invented by Sir John Ambrose Fleming in 1904 and was also known a

What is a Laser Diode?Laser Diode DefinitionA laser diode is defined as a diode that can generate laser light when electrically pumped with current. It consists of a p-n junction with an additional intrinsic layer in between, forming a p-i-n structure. The intrinsic layer is the active region where the light is generated by the recombination of electrons and holes.The p-type and n-type regions are heavily doped with impurities to create excess carriers, while the intrinsic layer is undoped or li

What is a Photodiode?Photodiode DefinitionA photodiode is defined as a PN junction diode that generates current when exposed to light. This junction is formed by combining P-type and N-type semiconductor materials. P-type material has extra positive charge carriers (holes), while N-type material has extra negative charge carriers (electrons). When these materials meet, electrons from the N-type region move into the P-type region, recombining with holes and creating a depletion region. This regio

What are Intrinsic Silicon and Extrinsic Silicon ?Intrinsic SiliconSilicon is a vital element semiconductor. Silicon is a group IV material. In its outer orbit, it has four valence electrons which held by covalent bonds with the valence electrons of four adjacent silicon atoms. These valence electrons are not available for electricity. So, at OoK intrinsic silicon behaves like an insulator. When the temperature rises, some valence electrons break their covalent bonds due to thermal energy. This

What are Energy Bands of Silicon ?Silicon DefinitionSilicon is defined as a semiconductor with properties between those of a conductor and an insulator, crucial for electronics.Silicon is defined as a semiconductor with fewer free electrons than a conductor but more than an insulator. This unique characteristic makes silicon widely used in electronics. Silicon has two types of energy bands: the conduction band and the valence band. The valence band is formed by energy levels with valence electro

What is a PN Junction?PN Junction DefinitionA PN junction is defined as an interface between p-type and n-type semiconductor materials in a single crystal.Make a PN JunctionLet us now examine how this pn junction is created. There are plenty of holes in p-type semiconductor and plenty of free electrons in the n-type semiconductor.Again in p-type semiconductor, there are numbers of trivalent impurity atoms, and ideally, each hole in the p-type semiconductor is associated with one trivalent impuri

What is an N Type Semiconductor?N Type Semiconductor DefinitionAn n-type semiconductor is defined as a type of semiconductor that has been doped with pentavalent impurities to increase its conductivity by adding free electrons.Before understanding what an n-type semiconductor is, we should focus on basic atomic science. Atoms aim to have eight electrons in their outermost orbit, known as valence electrons. Not all atoms achieve this, but they all strive to reach this stable configuration.The ele

What is Intrinsic Semiconductor ?Intrinsic Semiconductor DefinitionSemiconductor is a material whose conductivity lies in-between that of the conductors and the insulators. Semiconductors which are chemically pure, meaning free of impurities, are called Intrinsic Semiconductors or Undoped Semiconductor or i-type Semiconductor. The most common intrinsic semiconductors are Silicon (Si) and Germanium (Ge), which belong to Group IV of the periodic table. The atomic numbers of Si and Ge are 14 and 32

PN Junction Diode DefinitionA PN junction diode is defined as a semiconductor device that allows current to flow in one direction in forward bias and blocks current in reverse bias.Forward BiasIn forward bias, the p-type region is connected to the positive terminal and the n-type to the negative terminal, reducing the depletion layer and allowing current flow.Reverse BiasIn reverse bias, the p-type region is connected to the negative terminal and the n-type to the positive terminal, increasing t