Você está na página 1de 56

A

A diode is an electrical device allowing current to move through it in one direction with far greater ease than in the other. The most common kind of diode in modern circuit design is the semiconductor diode, although other diode technologies exist. Semiconductor diodes are symbolized in schematic diagrams such as Figure below. The term diode is customarily reserved for small signal devices, I 1 A. The term rectifier is used for power devices, I > 1 A.

Semiconductor diode schematic symbol: Arrows indicate the direction of electron current flow. When placed in a simple battery-lamp circuit, the diode will either allow or prevent current through the lamp, depending on the polarity of the applied voltage. (Figure below)

Diode operation: (a) Current flow is permitted; the diode is forward biased. (b) Current flow is prohibited; the diode is reversed biased. When the polarity of the battery is such that electrons are allowed to flow through the diode, the diode is said to be forward-biased. Conversely, when the battery is backward and the diode blocks current, the diode is said to be reverse-biased. A diode may be thought of as like a switch: closed when forward-biased and open when reverse-biased. Oddly enough, the direction of the diode symbol's arrowhead points against the direction of electron flow. This is because the diode symbol was invented by engineers, who predominantly use conventional flow notation in their schematics, showing current as a flow of charge from the positive (+) side of the voltage source to the negative (-). This convention holds true for all semiconductor symbols possessing arrowheads: the arrow points in the permitted direction of conventional flow, and against the permitted direction of electron flow. Diode behavior is analogous to the behavior of a hydraulic device called a check valve. A check valve allows fluid flow through it in only one direction as in Figure below.

Hydraulic check valve analogy: (a) Electron current flow permitted. (b) Current flow prohibited. Check valves are essentially pressure-operated devices: they open and allow flow if the pressure across them is of the correct polarity to open the gate (in the analogy shown, greater fluid pressure on the right than on the left). If the pressure is of the opposite polarity, the pressure difference across the check valve will close and hold the gate so that no flow occurs. Like check valves, diodes are essentially pressure- operated (voltage-operated) devices. The essential difference between forward-bias and reverse-bias is the polarity of the voltage dropped across the diode. Let's take a closer look at the simple battery-diode-lamp circuit shown earlier, this time investigating voltage drops across the various components in Figure below.

Diode circuit voltage measurements: (a) Forward biased. (b) Reverse biased. A forward-biased diode conducts current and drops a small voltage across it, leaving most of the battery voltage dropped across the lamp. If the battery's polarity is reversed, the diode becomes reverse-biased, and drops all of the battery's voltage leaving none for the lamp. If we consider the diode to be a self-actuating switch (closed in the forward-bias mode and open in the reverse-bias mode), this behavior makes sense. The most substantial difference is that the diode drops a lot more voltage when conducting than the average mechanical switch (0.7 volts versus tens of millivolts).

This forward-bias voltage drop exhibited by the diode is due to the action of the depletion region formed by the P-N junction under the influence of an applied voltage. If no voltage applied is across a semiconductor diode, a thin depletion region exists around the region of the P-N junction, preventing current flow. (Figure below (a)) The depletion region is almost devoid of available charge carriers, and acts as an insulator:

Diode representations: PN-junction model, schematic symbol, physical part. The schematic symbol of the diode is shown in Figure above (b) such that the anode (pointing end) corresponds to the P-type semiconductor at (a). The cathode bar, nonpointing end, at (b) corresponds to the N-type material at (a). Also note that the cathode stripe on the physical part (c) corresponds to the cathode on the symbol. If a reverse-biasing voltage is applied across the P-N junction, this depletion region expands, further resisting any current through it. (Figure below)

Depletion region expands with reverse bias. Conversely, if a forward-biasing voltage is applied across the P-N junction, the depletion region collapses becoming thinner. The diode becomes less resistive to current through it. In order for a sustained current to go through the diode; though, the depletion region must

be fully collapsed by the applied voltage. This takes a certain minimum voltage to accomplish, called the forward voltage as illustrated in Figure below.

Inceasing forward bias from (a) to (b) decreases depletion region thickness. For silicon diodes, the typical forward voltage is 0.7 volts, nominal. For germanium diodes, the forward voltage is only 0.3 volts. The chemical constituency of the P-N junction comprising the diode accounts for its nominal forward voltage figure, which is why silicon and germanium diodes have such different forward voltages. Forward voltage drop remains approximately constant for a wide range of diode currents, meaning that diode voltage drop is not like that of a resistor or even a normal (closed) switch. For most simplified circuit analysis, the voltage drop across a conducting diode may be considered constant at the nominal figure and not related to the amount of current. <="" a="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-decoration: none; "> Actually, forward voltage drop is more complex. An equation describes the exact current through a diode, given the voltage dropped across the junction, the temperature of the junction, and several physical constants. It is commonly known as the diode equation:

The term kT/q describes the voltage produced within the P-N junction due to the action of temperature, and is called the thermal voltage, or Vt of the junction. At room temperature, this is about 26 millivolts. Knowing this, and assuming a nonideality coefficient of 1, we may simplify the diode equation and re-write it as such:

You need not be familiar with the diode equation to analyze simple diode circuits. Just understand that the voltage dropped across a current-conducting diode does change with the amount of current going through it, but that this change is fairly small over a wide range of currents. This is why many textbooks simply say the voltage drop across a conducting, semiconductor diode remains constant at 0.7 volts for silicon and 0.3 volts for germanium. However, some circuits intentionally make use of the P-N junction's inherent exponential current/voltage relationship and thus can only be understood in the context of this equation. Also, since temperature is a factor in the diode equation, a forward-biased PN junction may also be used as a temperature-sensing device, and thus can only be understood if one has a conceptual grasp on this mathematical relationship.

A reverse-biased diode prevents current from going through it, due to the expanded depletion region. In actuality, a very small amount of current can and does go through a reverse-biased diode, called the leakage current, but it can be ignored for most purposes. The ability of a diode to withstand reverse-bias voltages is limited, as it is for any insulator. If the applied reverse-bias voltage becomes too great, the diode will experience a condition known as breakdown(Figure below), which is usually destructive. A diode's maximum reverse-bias voltage rating is known as the Peak Inverse Voltage, or PIV, and may be obtained from the manufacturer. Like forward voltage, the PIV rating of a diode varies with temperature, except that PIV increases with increased temperature and decreases as the diode becomes cooler -- exactly opposite that of forward voltage.

Diode curve: showing knee at 0.7 V forward bias for Si, and reverse breakdown. Typically, the PIV rating of a generic rectifier diode is at least 50 volts at room temperature. Diodes with PIV ratings in the many thousands of volts are available for modest prices. REVIEW: A diode is an electrical component acting as a one-way valve for current. When voltage is applied across a diode in such a way that the diode allows current, the diode is said to be forward-biased. When voltage is applied across a diode in such a way that the diode prohibits current, the diode is said to be reverse-biased. The voltage dropped across a conducting, forwardbiased diode is called the forward voltage. Forward voltage for a diode varies only slightly for changes in

forward current and temperature, and is fixed by the chemical composition of the P-N junction. Silicon diodes have a forward voltage of approximately 0.7 volts. Germanium diodes have a forward voltage of approximately 0.3 volts. The maximum reverse-bias voltage that a diode can withstand without breaking down is called the Peak Inverse Voltage, or PIV rating.

1-21Figure 1-18.Forward-biased PN junction.It is important to remember that in the forward biased condition, conduction is by MAJORITYcurrent carriers (holes in the P-type material and electrons in the N-type material). Increasing the batteryvoltage will increase the number of majority carriers arriving at the junction and will therefore increasethe current flow. If the battery voltage is increased to the point where the barrier is greatly reduced, aheavy current will flow and the junction may be damaged from the resulting heat.REVERSE BIAS.If the battery mentioned earlier is connected across the junction so that itsvoltage aids the junction, it will increase the junction barrier and thereby offer a high resistance to thecurrent flow through the junction. This type of bias is known as reverse bias.To reverse bias a junction diode, the negative battery terminal is connected to the P-type material,and the positive battery terminal to the N-type material as shown in figure 1-19. The negative potentialattracts the holes away from the edge of the junction barrier on the P side, while the positive potentialattracts the electrons away from the edge of the barrier on the N side. This action increases the barrierwidth because there are more negative ions on the P side of the junction, and more positive ions on the Nside of

the junction. Notice in the figure the width of the barrier has increased. This increase in thenumber of ions prevents current flow across the junction by majority carriers. However, the current flowacross the barrier is not quite zero because of the minority carriers crossing the junction. As you recall,when the crystal is subjected to an external source of energy (light, heat, etc.), electron-hole pairs aregenerated. The electron-hole pairs produce minority current carriers. There are minority current carriers inboth regions: holes in the N material and electrons in the P material. With reverse bias, the electrons inthe P-type material are repelled toward the junction by the negative terminal of the battery. As theelectron moves across the junction, it will neutralize a positive ion in the N-type material. Similarly, theholes in the N-type material will be repelled by the positive terminal of the battery toward the junction.As the hole crosses the junction, it will neutralize a negative ion in the P-type material. This movement ofminority carriers is called MINORITY CURRENT FLOW, because the holes and electrons involvedcome from the electron-hole pairs that are generated in the crystal lattice structure, and not from theaddition of impurity atoms.

C
Diode
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Figure 1: Closeup of a diode, showing the square shaped semiconductor crystal (black object on left).

Figure 2: Various semiconductor diodes. Bottom: A bridge rectifier. In most diodes, a white or black painted band identifies the cathode terminal, that is, the terminal that conventional currentflows out of when the diode is conducting.

Figure 3: Structure of a vacuum tubediode. The filament may be bare, or more commonly (as shown here), embedded within and insulated from an enclosing cathode

In electronics, a diode is a two-terminal electronic component with an asymmetric transfer characteristic, with low (ideally zero) resistance to current flow in one direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other. A semiconductor diode, the most common type today, is a crystalline piece ofsemiconductor material with a p-n junction connected to two electrical terminals.[1] A vacuum tube diode, now used only in some highpower technologies and by enthusiasts, is a vacuum tube with two electrodes, a plate (anode) and filament (cathode). The most common function of a diode is to allow an electric current to pass in one direction (called the diode's forward direction), while blocking current in the opposite direction (the reverse direction). Thus, the diode can be viewed as an electronic version of a check valve. This unidirectional behavior is calledrectification, and is used to convert alternating current to direct current, including extraction of modulation from radio signals in radio receiversthese diodes are forms of rectifiers. However, diodes can have more complicated behavior than this simple onoff action. Semiconductor diodes begin conducting electricity only if a certain threshold voltage or cut-in voltage is present in the forward direction (a state in which the diode is said to be forward-biased). The voltage drop across a forward-biased diode varies only a little with the current, and is a function of temperature; this effect can be used as a temperature sensor or voltage reference. Semiconductor diodes' nonlinear currentvoltage characteristic can be tailored by varying the semiconductor materials and introducing impurities into (doping) the materials. These are exploited in special-purpose diodes that perform many different functions. For example, diodes are used to regulate voltage (Zener diodes), to protect circuits from high voltage surges (avalanche diodes), to electronically tune radio and TV receivers (varactor diodes), to generate radio frequency oscillations (tunnel diodes, Gunn diodes, IMPATT diodes), and to produce light (light emitting diodes). Tunnel diodes exhibitnegative resistance, which makes them useful in some types of circuits. Diodes were the first semiconductor electronic devices. The discovery of crystals' rectifying abilities was made by German physicist Ferdinand Braun in 1874. The first semiconductor diodes, called cat's whisker diodes, developed around 1906, were made of mineral crystals such as galena. Today most diodes are made of silicon, but other semiconductors such as germanium are sometimes used.[2]

Contents
[hide]

1 History

o o o

1.1 Vacuum tube diodes 1.2 Solid-state diodes 1.3 Etymology

2 Thermionic diodes 3 Semiconductor diodes

o o o

3.1 Electronic symbols 3.2 Point-contact diodes 3.3 Junction diodes

o o o o

3.3.1 pn junction diode 3.3.2 Schottky diode

3.4 Currentvoltage characteristic 3.5 Shockley diode equation 3.6 Small-signal behavior 3.7 Reverse-recovery effect

4 Types of semiconductor diode 5 Numbering and coding schemes

o o o

5.1 EIA/JEDEC 5.2 JIS 5.3 Pro Electron

6 Related devices 7 Applications

o o o o o o o

7.1 Radio demodulation 7.2 Power conversion 7.3 Over-voltage protection 7.4 Logic gates 7.5 Ionizing radiation detectors 7.6 Temperature measurements 7.7 Current steering

8 Abbreviations

9 Two-terminal nonlinear devices 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

12.1 Interactive and animations

[edit]History
Although the crystal semiconductor diode was popular before the thermionic diode, thermionic (vacuum tube) diodes and solid state (semiconductor) diodes were developed in parallel.

[edit]Vacuum

tube diodes

Further information: Vacuum tube In 1873, Frederick Guthrie discovered the basic principle of operation of thermionic diodes.[3] Guthrie discovered that a positively charged electroscope could be discharged by bringing a groundedpiece of whitehot metal close to it (but not actually touching it). The same did not apply to a negatively charged electroscope, indicating that the current flow was only possible in one direction. Thomas Edison independently rediscovered the principle on February 13, 1880. At the time, Edison was investigating why the filaments of his carbon-filament light bulbs nearly always burned out at the positiveconnected end. He had a special bulb made with a metal plate sealed into the glass envelope. Using this device, he confirmed that an invisible current flowed from the glowing filament through the vacuum to the metal plate, but only when the plate was connected to the positive supply. Edison devised a circuit where his modified light bulb effectively replaced the resistor in a DC voltmeter. Edison was awarded a patent for this invention in 1884.[4] Since there was no apparent practical use for such a device at the time, the patent application was most likely simply a precaution in case someone else did find a use for the so-called Edison effect. About 20 years later, John Ambrose Fleming (scientific adviser to the Marconi Company and former Edison employee) realized that the Edison effect could be used as a precision radio detector. Fleming patented the first true thermionic diode, the Fleming valve, in Britain on November 16, 1904[5] (followed by U.S. Patent 803,684 in November 1905).

[edit]Solid-state

diodes

In 1874 German scientist Karl Ferdinand Braun discovered the "unilateral conduction" of crystals.[6] Braun patented the crystal rectifier in 1899.[7] Copper oxide and selenium rectifiers were developed for power applications in the 1930s.

Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose was the first to use a crystal for detecting radio waves in 1894.[8][9] The crystal detector was developed into a practical device for wireless telegraphy byGreenleaf Whittier Pickard, who invented a silicon crystal detector in 1903 and received a patent for it on November 20, 1906.[10] Other experimenters tried a variety of other substances, of which the most widely used was the mineral galena (lead sulfide). Other substances offered slightly better performance, but galena was most widely used because it had the advantage of being cheap and easy to obtain. The crystal detector in these early crystal radio sets consisted of an adjustable wire point-contact (the so-called "cat's whisker"), which could be manually moved over the face of the crystal in order to obtain optimum signal. This troublesome device was superseded by thermionic diodes by the 1920s, but after high purity semiconductor materials became available, the crystal detector returned to dominant use with the advent of inexpensive fixed-germanium diodes in the 1950s.

[edit]Etymology
At the time of their invention, such devices were known as rectifiers. In 1919, the year tetrodes were invented, William Henry Eccles coined the term diode from the Greek roots di (from ), meaning "two", and ode (from ), meaning "path".

[edit]Thermionic

diodes

Figure 4: The symbol for an indirect heated vacuum-tube diode. From top to bottom, the components are the anode, the cathode, and the heater filament.

Thermionic diodes are thermionic-valve devices (also known as vacuum tubes, tubes, or valves), which are arrangements of electrodes surrounded by a vacuum within a glass envelope. Early examples were fairly similar in appearance to incandescent light bulbs. In thermionic-valve diodes, a current through the heater filament indirectly heats the thermionic cathode, another internal electrode treated with a mixture of bariumand strontium oxides, which are oxides of alkaline earth metals; these substances are chosen because they have a small work function. (Some valves use direct heating, in which a tungsten filament acts as both heater and cathode.) The heat causes thermionic emission of

electrons into the vacuum. In forward operation, a surrounding metal electrode called the anode is positively charged so that it electrostatically attracts the emitted electrons. However, electrons are not easily released from the unheated anode surface when the voltage polarity is reversed. Hence, any reverse flow is negligible. In a mercury-arc valve, an arc forms between a refractory conductive anode and a pool of liquid mercury acting as cathode. Such units were made with ratings up to hundreds of kilowatts, and were important in the development of HVDC power transmission. Some types of smaller thermionic rectifiers sometimes had mercury vapor fill to reduce their forward voltage drop and to increase current rating over thermionic hard-vacuum devices. Until the development of semiconductor diodes, valve diodes were used in analog signal applications and as rectifiers in many power supplies. They rapidly ceased to be used for most purposes, an exception being some high-voltage high-current applications subject to large transient peaks, where their robustness to abuse made them the best choice. As of 2012 some enthusiasts favoured vacuum tube amplifiers for audio applications, sometimes using valve rather than semiconductor rectifiers.

Semiconductor diodes
[edit]Electronic

symbols

Main article: Electronic symbol The symbol used for a semiconductor diode in a circuit diagram specifies the type of diode. There are alternate symbols for some types of diodes, though the differences are minor.

Diode

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

Photodiode

Schottky diode

Silicon Controlled Rectifier(SCR)

Transient Voltage Suppression (TVS)

Tunnel diode

Varicap

Zener diode

Figure 7: Typical diode packages in same alignment as diode symbol. Thin bar depicts thecathode.

[edit]Point-contact

diodes

A point-contact diode works the same as the junction diodes described below, but their construction is simpler. A block of n-type semiconductor is built, and a conducting sharp-point contact made with some group-3 metal is placed in contact with the semiconductor. Some metal migrates into the semiconductor to make a small region of p-type semiconductor near the contact. The long-popular 1N34 germanium version is still used in radio receivers as a detector and occasionally in specialized analog electronics. [edit]Junction

diodes

Most diodes today are silicon junction diodes. A junction is formed between the p and n regions which is also called a depletion region. [edit]pn junction diode Main article: pn diode A pn junction diode is made of a crystal of semiconductor. Impurities are added to it to create a region on one side that contains negative charge carriers (electrons), called n-type semiconductor, and a region on the other side that contains positive charge carriers (holes), called p-type semiconductor. When two materials i.e. n-type and p-type are attached together, a momentary flow of electrons occur from n to p side resulting in a third region where no charge carriers are present. It is called Depletion region due to the absence of charger carrier (electrons and holes in this case). The diode's terminals are attached to each of these regions. The boundary between these two regions, called a pn junction, is where the action of the diode takes place. The crystal allows electrons to flow from the N-type side (called the cathode) to the P-type side (called the anode), but not in the opposite direction. [edit]Schottky diode Main article: Schottky diode Another type of junction diode, the Schottky diode, is formed from a metalsemiconductor junction rather than a pn junction, which reduces capacitance and increases switching speed.

Currentvoltage characteristic
A semiconductor diodes behavior in a circuit is given by its currentvoltage characteristic, or IV graph (see graph below). The shape of the curve is determined by the transport of charge carriers through the so-called depletion layer or depletion region that exists at the pn junction between differing semiconductors. When a pn junction is first created, conduction-band (mobile) electrons from the N-

doped region diffuse into the P-doped region where there is a large population of holes (vacant places for electrons) with which the electrons "recombine". When a mobile electron recombines with a hole, both hole and electron vanish, leaving behind an immobile positively charged donor (dopant) on the N side and negatively charged acceptor (dopant) on the P side. The region around the pn junction becomes depleted of charge carriers and thus behaves as an insulator. However, the width of the depletion region (called the depletion width) cannot grow without limit. For each electronhole pair that recombines, a positively charged dopant ion is left behind in the N-doped region, and a negatively charged dopant ion is left behind in the P-doped region. As recombination proceeds more ions are created, an increasing electric field develops through the depletion zone that acts to slow and then finally stop recombination. At this point, there is a "built-in" potential across the depletion zone. If an external voltage is placed across the diode with the same polarity as the built-in potential, the depletion zone continues to act as an insulator, preventing any significant electric current flow (unless electron/hole pairs are actively being created in the junction by, for instance, light. see photodiode). This is the reverse bias phenomenon. However, if the polarity of the external voltage opposes the built-in potential, recombination can once again proceed, resulting in substantial electric current through the pn junction (i.e. substantial numbers of electrons and holes recombine at the junction). For silicon diodes, the built-in potential is approximately 0.7 V (0.3 V for Germanium and 0.2 V for Schottky). Thus, if an external current is passed through the diode, about 0.7 V will be developed across the diode such that the Pdoped region is positive with respect to the N-doped region and the diode is said to be "turned on" as it has a forward bias. A diodes IV characteristic can be approximated by four regions of operation.

Figure 5: IV characteristics of a pn junction diode (not to scalethe current in the reverse region is magnified compared to the forward region, resulting in the apparent slope discontinuity at the origin; the actual IV curve is smooth across the origin).

At very large reverse bias, beyond the peak inverse voltage or PIV, a process called reverse breakdown occurs that causes a large increase in current (i.e., a large number of electrons and holes are created at, and move away from the pn junction) that usually damages the device permanently. The avalanche diode is deliberately designed for use in the avalanche region. In the Zener diode, the concept of PIV is not applicable. A Zener diode contains a heavily doped pn junction allowing electrons to tunnel from the valence band of the p-type material to the conduction band of the n-type material, such that the reverse voltage is "clamped" to a known value (called the Zener voltage), and avalanche does not occur. Both devices, however, do have a limit to the maximum current and power in the clamped reverse-voltage region. Also, following the end of forward conduction in any diode, there is reverse current for a short time. The device does not attain its full blocking capability until the reverse current ceases. The second region, at reverse biases more positive than the PIV, has only a very small reverse saturation current. In the reverse bias region for a normal PN rectifier diode, the current through the device is very low (in the A range). However, this is temperature dependent, and at sufficiently high temperatures, a substantial amount of reverse current can be observed (mA or more). The third region is forward but small bias, where only a small forward current is conducted. As the potential difference is increased above an arbitrarily defined "cut-in voltage" or "on-voltage" or "diode forward voltage drop (Vd)", the diode current becomes appreciable (the level of current considered "appreciable" and the value of cut-in voltage depends on the application), and the diode presents a very low resistance. The currentvoltage curve is exponential. In a normal silicon diode at rated currents, the arbitrary cut-in voltage is defined as 0.6 to 0.7 volts. The value is different for other diode typesSchottky diodes can be rated as low as 0.2 V, Germanium diodes 0.25 to 0.3 V, and red or blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can have values of 1.4 V and 4.0 V respectively. At higher currents the forward voltage drop of the diode increases. A drop of 1 V to 1.5 V is typical at full rated current for power diodes. [edit]Shockley

diode equation

The Shockley ideal diode equation or the diode law (named after transistor co-inventor William Bradford Shockley) gives the IV characteristic of an ideal diode in either forward or reverse bias (or no bias). The equation is:

where I is the diode current, IS is the reverse bias saturation current (or scale current), VD is the voltage across the diode, VT is the thermal voltage, and n is the ideality factor, also known as the quality factor or sometimes emission coefficient. The ideality factor n varies from 1 to 2 depending on the fabrication process and semiconductor

material and in many cases is assumed to be approximately equal to 1 (thus the notation n is omitted). The thermal voltage VT is approximately 25.85 mV at 300 K, a temperature close to "room temperature" commonly used in device simulation software. At any temperature it is a known constant defined by:

where k is the Boltzmann constant, T is the absolute temperature of the pn junction, and q is the magnitude of charge on an electron (the elementary charge). The reverse saturation current, IS, is not constant for a given device, but varies with temperature; usually more significantly than VT, so that VD typically decreases as T increases. The Shockley ideal diode equation or the diode law is derived with the assumption that the only processes giving rise to the current in the diode are drift (due to electrical field), diffusion, and thermal recombinationgeneration (RG). It also assumes that the RG current in the depletion region is insignificant. This means that the Shockley equation doesnt account for the processes involved in reverse breakdown and photon-assisted RG. Additionally, it doesnt describe the "leveling off" of the IV curve at high forward bias due to internal resistance. Under reverse bias voltages (see Figure 5) the exponential in the diode equation is negligible, and the current is a constant (negative) reverse current value of IS. The reverse breakdown region is not modeled by the Shockley diode equation. For even rather small forward bias voltages (see Figure 5) the exponential is very large because the thermal voltage is very small, so the subtracted 1 in the diode equation is negligible and the forward diode current is often approximated as

The use of the diode equation in circuit problems is illustrated in the article on diode modeling. [edit]Small-signal

behavior

For circuit design, a small-signal model of the diode behavior often proves useful. A specific example of diode modeling is discussed in the article on small-signal circuits.

Reverse-recovery effect
Following the end of forward conduction in a pn type diode, a reverse current flows for a short time. The device does not attain its blocking capability until the mobile charge in the junction is depleted. The effect can be significant when switching large currents very quickly. A certain amount of "reverse recovery time" tr (on the order of tens of nanoseconds to a few microseconds) may be required to remove the reverse recovery charge Qr from the diode. During this recovery time, the diode can actually conduct in the reverse direction. In certain real-world cases it can be important to consider the losses incurred by [12] this non-ideal diode effect. However, when the slew rate of the current is not so severe (e.g. Line frequency) the effect can be safely ignored. For most applications, the effect is also negligible for Schottky diodes.
[11]

The reverse current ceases abruptly when the stored charge is depleted; this abrupt stop is exploited in step recovery diodes for generation of extremely short pulses. [edit]Types

of semiconductor diode

Figure 8: Several types of diodes. The scale is centimeters.

Typical datasheet drawing showing the dimensions of a DO-41 diode package.

There are several types of pn junction diodes, which either emphasize a different physical aspect of a diode often by geometric scaling, doping level, choosing the right electrodes, are just an application of a diode in a special circuit, or are really different devices like the Gunn and laser diode and theMOSFET: Normal (pn) diodes, which operate as described above, are usually made of doped silicon or, more rarely, germanium. Before the development of silicon power rectifier diodes, cuprous oxide and later selenium was used; its low efficiency gave it a much higher forward voltage drop (typically 1.4 to 1.7 V per "cell", with multiple cells stacked to increase the peak inverse voltage rating in high voltage rectifiers), and required a large heat sink (often an extension of the diodes metal substrate), much larger than a silicon diode of the same current ratings would require. The vast majority of all diodes are the pn diodes found in CMOS integrated circuits, which include two diodes per pin and many other internal diodes. Avalanche diodes Diodes that conduct in the reverse direction when the reverse bias voltage exceeds the breakdown voltage. These are electrically very similar to Zener diodes, and are often mistakenly called Zener diodes, but break down by a different mechanism, the avalanche effect. This occurs when the reverse electric field across the pn junction causes a wave of ionization, reminiscent of an avalanche, leading to a large current. Avalanche diodes are designed to break down at a welldefined reverse voltage without being destroyed. The difference between the avalanche diode (which has a reverse breakdown above about 6.2 V) and the Zener is that the channel length of the former exceeds the mean free path of the electrons, so there are collisions between them on the way out. The only practical difference is that the two types have temperature coefficients of opposite polarities. Cats whisker or crystal diodes These are a type of point-contact diode. The cats whisker diode consists of a thin or sharpened metal wire pressed against a semiconducting crystal, typicallygalena or a piece of coal. The wire forms the anode and the crystal forms the cathode. Cats whisker diodes were also called crystal diodes and found application in crystal radio receivers. Cats whisker diodes are generally obsolete, but may be available from a few manufacturers. Constant current diodes These are actually a JFET
[13] [citation needed]

with the gate shorted to the source, and function like a two-terminal

current-limiter analog to the Zener diode, which is limiting voltage. They allow a current through them to rise to a certain value, and then level off at a specific value. Also called CLDs, constantcurrent diodes, diode-connected transistors, or current-regulating diodes. Esaki or tunnel diodes

These have a region of operation showing negative resistance caused by quantum tunneling,
[14]

allowing amplification of signals and very simple bistable circuits. Due to the high
[15]

carrier concentration, tunnel diodes are very fast, may be used at low (mK) temperatures, high magnetic fields, and in high radiation environments. often used in spacecraft. Gunn diodes These are similar to tunnel diodes in that they are made of materials such as GaAs or InP that exhibit a region of negative differential resistance. With appropriate biasing, dipole domains form and travel across the diode, allowing high frequency microwave oscillators to be built. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) In a diode formed from a direct band-gap semiconductor, such as gallium arsenide, carriers that cross the junction emit photons when they recombine with the majority carrier on the other side. Depending on the material, wavelengths (or colors) be produced.
[17] [16]

Because of these properties, they are

from the infrared to the near ultraviolet may

The forward potential of these diodes depends on the wavelength of the emitted

photons: 2.1 V corresponds to red, 4.0 V to violet. The first LEDs were red and yellow, and higher-frequency diodes have been developed over time. All LEDs produce incoherent, narrowspectrum light; "white" LEDs are actually combinations of three LEDs of a different color, or a blue LED with a yellow scintillator coating. LEDs can also be used as low-efficiency photodiodes in signal applications. An LED may be paired with a photodiode or phototransistor in the same package, to form an opto-isolator. Laser diodes When an LED-like structure is contained in a resonant cavity formed by polishing the parallel end faces, a laser can be formed. Laser diodes are commonly used in optical storage devices and for high speed optical communication. Thermal diodes This term is used both for conventional pn diodes used to monitor temperature due to their varying forward voltage with temperature, and for Peltier heat pumps for thermoelectric heating and cooling.. Peltier heat pumps may be made from semiconductor, though they do not have any rectifying junctions, they use the differing behaviour of charge carriers in N and P type semiconductor to move heat. Photodiodes All semiconductors are subject to optical charge carrier generation. This is typically an undesired effect, so most semiconductors are packaged in light blocking material. Photodiodes are intended to sense light(photodetector), so they are packaged in materials that allow light to pass, and are

usually PIN (the kind of diode most sensitive to light).

[18]

A photodiode can be used in solar cells,

in photometry, or in optical communications. Multiple photodiodes may be packaged in a single device, either as a linear array or as a two-dimensional array. These arrays should not be confused with charge-coupled devices. PIN diodes A PIN diode has a central un-doped, or intrinsic, layer, forming a p-type/intrinsic/n-type structure.
[19]

They are used as radio frequency switches and attenuators. They are also used as

large volume ionizing radiation detectors and as photodetectors. PIN diodes are also used in power electronics, as their central layer can withstand high voltages. Furthermore, the PIN structure can be found in many power semiconductor devices, such as IGBTs, power MOSFETs, and thyristors. Schottky diodes Schottky diodes are constructed from a metal to semiconductor contact. They have a lower forward voltage drop than pn junction diodes. Their forward voltage drop at forward currents of about 1 mA is in the range 0.15 V to 0.45 V, which makes them useful in voltage clamping applications and prevention of transistor saturation. They can also be used as low loss rectifiers, although their reverse leakage current is in general higher than that of other diodes. Schottky diodes are majority carrier devices and so do not suffer from minority carrier storage problems that slow down many other diodesso they have a faster reverse recovery than pn junction diodes. They also tend to have much lower junction capacitance than pn diodes, which provides for high switching speeds and their use in high-speed circuitry and RF devices such as switchedmode power supply, mixers, and detectors. Super barrier diodes Super barrier diodes are rectifier diodes that incorporate the low forward voltage drop of the Schottky diode with the surge-handling capability and low reverse leakage current of a normal p n junction diode. Gold-doped diodes As a dopant, gold (or platinum) acts as recombination centers, which helps a fast recombination of minority carriers. This allows the diode to operate at signal frequencies, at the expense of a higher forward voltage drop. Gold-doped diodes are faster than other pn diodes (but not as fast as Schottky diodes). They also have less reverse-current leakage than Schottky diodes (but not as good as other pn diodes). Snap-off or Step recovery diodes
[20][21]

A typical example is the 1N914.

The term step recovery relates to the form of the reverse recovery characteristic of these devices. After a forward current has been passing in an SRD and the current is interrupted or reversed, the reverse conduction will cease very abruptly (as in a step waveform). SRDs can, therefore, provide very fast voltage transitions by the very sudden disappearance of the charge carriers. Stabistors or Forward Reference Diodes The term stabistor refers to a special type of diodes featuring extremely stable forward voltage characteristics. These devices are specially designed for low-voltage stabilization applications requiring a guaranteed voltage over a wide current range and highly stable over temperature. Transient voltage suppression diode (TVS) These are avalanche diodes designed specifically to protect other semiconductor devices from high-voltage transients.
[22]

Their pn junctions have a much larger cross-sectional area than those

of a normal diode, allowing them to conduct large currents to ground without sustaining damage. Varicap or varactor diodes These are used as voltage-controlled capacitors. These are important in PLL (phase-locked loop) and FLL (frequency-locked loop) circuits, allowing tuning circuits, such as those in television receivers, to lock quickly. They also enabled tunable oscillators in early discrete tuning of radios, where a cheap and stable, but fixed-frequency, crystal oscillator provided the reference frequency for a voltage-controlled oscillator. Zener diodes Diodes that can be made to conduct backward. This effect, called Zener breakdown, occurs at a precisely defined voltage, allowing the diode to be used as a precision voltage reference. In practical voltage reference circuits, Zener and switching diodes are connected in series and opposite directions to balance the temperature coefficient to near-zero. Some devices labeled as high-voltage Zener diodes are actually avalanche diodes (see above). Two (equivalent) Zeners in series and in reverse order, in the same package, constitute a transient absorber (or Transorb, a registered trademark). The Zener diode is named for Dr. Clarence Melvin Zener of Carnegie Mellon University, inventor of the device. Other uses for semiconductor diodes include sensing temperature, and computing analog logarithms (see Operational amplifier applications#Logarithmic).

Numbering and coding schemes


There are a number of common, standard and manufacturer-driven numbering and coding schemes for diodes; the two most common being the EIA/JEDEC standard and the European Pro Electron standard:

[edit]EIA/JEDEC The standardized 1N-series numbering EIA370 system was introduced in the US by EIA/JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council) about 1960. Among the most popular in this series were: 1N34A/1N270 (Germanium signal), 1N914/1N4148 (Silicon signal), 1N4001-1N4007 (Silicon 1A power [23][24][25] rectifier) and 1N54xx (Silicon 3A power rectifier) [edit]JIS The JIS semiconductor designation system has all semiconductor diode designations starting with "1S". [edit]Pro

Electron

The European Pro Electron coding system for active components was introduced in 1966 and comprises two letters followed by the part code. The first letter represents the semiconductor material used for the component (A = Germanium and B = Silicon) and the second letter represents the general function of the part (for diodes: A = low-power/signal, B = Variable capacitance, X = Multiplier, Y = Rectifier and Z = Voltage reference), for example: AA-series germanium low-power/signal diodes (e.g.: AA119) BA-series silicon low-power/signal diodes (e.g.: BAT18 Silicon RF Switching Diode) BY-series silicon rectifier diodes (e.g.: BY127 1250V, 1A rectifier diode) BZ-series silicon Zener diodes (e.g.: BZY88C4V7 4.7V Zener diode)

Other common numbering / coding systems (generally manufacturer-driven) include: GD-series germanium diodes (e.g.: GD9) this is a very old coding system OA-series germanium diodes (e.g.: OA47) a coding sequence developed by Mullard, a UK company

As well as these common codes, many manufacturers or organisations have their own systems too for example: HP diode 1901-0044 = JEDEC 1N4148 UK military diode CV448 = Mullard type OA81 = GEC type GEX23

[edit]Related Rectifier Transistor

devices

Thyristor or silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) TRIAC Diac Varistor

In optics, an equivalent device for the diode but with laser light would be the Optical isolator, also known as an Optical Diode, that allows light to only pass in one direction. It uses a Faraday rotator as the main component.

[edit]Applications [edit]Radio

demodulation

The first use for the diode was the demodulation of amplitude modulated (AM) radio broadcasts. The history of this discovery is treated in depth in the radio article. In summary, an AM signal consists of alternating positive and negative peaks of a radio carrier wave, whose amplitude or envelope is proportional to the original audio signal. The diode (originally a crystal diode) rectifies the AM radio frequency signal, leaving only the positive peaks of the carrier wave. The audio is then extracted from the rectified carrier wave using a simple filter and fed into an audio amplifier ortransducer, which generates sound waves. [edit]Power

conversion

Rectifiers are constructed from diodes, where they are used to convert alternating current (AC) electricity into direct current (DC). Automotive alternators are a common example, where the diode, which rectifies the AC into DC, provides better performance than the commutator or earlier, dynamo. Similarly, diodes are also used in CockcroftWalton voltage multipliers to convert AC into higher DC voltages. [edit]Over-voltage

protection

Diodes are frequently used to conduct damaging high voltages away from sensitive electronic devices. They are usually reverse-biased (non-conducting) under normal circumstances. When the voltage rises above the normal range, the diodes become forward-biased (conducting). For example, diodes are used in (stepper motor and H-bridge) motor controller and relay circuits to de-energize coils rapidly without the damaging voltage spikes that would otherwise occur. (Any diode used in such an application is called a flyback diode). Many integrated circuits also incorporate diodes on the connection pins to prevent external voltages from damaging their sensitive transistors. Specialized diodes are used to protect from over-voltages at higher power (see Diode typesabove). [edit]Logic

gates

Diodes can be combined with other components to construct AND and OR logic gates. This is referred to as diode logic. [edit]Ionizing

radiation detectors

In addition to light, mentioned above, semiconductor diodes are sensitive to more energetic radiation. In electronics, cosmic rays and other sources of ionizing radiation cause noise pulses and single and multiple bit errors. This effect is sometimes exploited by particle detectors to detect radiation. A single particle of radiation, with thousands or millions of electron volts of energy, generates many charge carrier pairs, as its energy is deposited in the semiconductor material. If the depletion layer is large enough to catch the whole shower or to stop a heavy particle, a fairly accurate measurement of the particles energy can be made, simply by measuring the charge conducted and without the complexity of a magnetic spectrometer, etc. These semiconductor radiation detectors need efficient and uniform charge collection and low leakage current. They are often cooled by liquid nitrogen. For longer-range (about a centimetre) particles, they need a very large depletion depth and large area. For short-range particles, they need any contact or un-depleted semiconductor on at least one surface to be very thin. The back-bias voltages are near breakdown (around a thousand volts per centimetre). Germanium and silicon are common materials. Some of these detectors sense position as well as energy. They have a finite life, especially when

detecting heavy particles, because of radiation damage. Silicon and germanium are quite different in their ability to convert gamma rays to electron showers. Semiconductor detectors for high-energy particles are used in large numbers. Because of energy loss fluctuations, accurate measurement of the energy deposited is of less use. [edit]Temperature

measurements

A diode can be used as a temperature measuring device, since the forward voltage drop across the diode depends on temperature, as in a silicon bandgap temperature sensor. From the Shockley ideal diode equation given above, it might appear that the voltage has a positive temperature coefficient (at a constant current), but usually the variation of the reverse saturation current term is more significant than the variation in the thermal voltage term. Most diodes therefore have a negative temperature coefficient, typically 2 mV/C for silicon diodes at room temperature. This is approximately linear for temperatures above about 20 kelvins. Some graphs are given for: 1N400x series, and CY7 cryogenic temperature sensor. [edit]Current

steering

Diodes will prevent currents in unintended directions. To supply power to an electrical circuit during a power failure, the circuit can draw current from a battery. An uninterruptible power supply may use diodes in this way to ensure that current is only drawn from the battery when necessary. Likewise, small boats typically have two circuits each with their own battery/batteries: one used for engine starting; one used for domestics. Normally, both are charged from a single alternator, and a heavy-duty split-charge diode is used to prevent the higher-charge battery (typically the engine battery) from discharging through the lower-charge battery when the alternator is not running. Diodes are also used in electronic musical keyboards. To reduce the amount of wiring needed in electronic musical keyboards, these instruments often use keyboard matrix circuits. The keyboard controller scans the rows and columns to determine which note the player has pressed. The problem with matrix circuits is that, when several notes are pressed at once, the current can flow backwards through the circuit and trigger "phantom keys" that cause "ghost" notes to play. To avoid triggering unwanted notes, most keyboard matrix circuits have diodes soldered with the switch under each key of the musical keyboard. The same principle is also used for the switch matrix in solid-state pinball machines. [edit]Abbreviations Diodes are usually referred to as D for diode on PCBs. Sometimes the abbreviation CR for crystal [26] rectifier is used. [edit]Two-terminal

nonlinear devices

Many other two-terminal nonlinear devices exist, for example a neon lamp has two terminals in a glass envelope and has interesting and useful nonlinear properties. Lamps including arc-discharge lamps, incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps and mercury vapor lamps have two terminals and display nonlinear currentvoltage characteristics.

D
pn junction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A silicon pn junction with no applied voltage. The circuit symbol is shown: the triangle corresponds to the p side

See also: pn diode and Diode#Semiconductor diodes A pn junction is formed at the boundary between a p-type and n-type semiconductor created in a single crystal of semiconductor by doping, for example by ion implantation, diffusion of dopants, or by epitaxy (growing a layer of crystal doped with one type of dopant on top of a layer of crystal doped with another type of dopant). If two separate pieces of material were used, this would introduce a grain boundary between the semiconductors that severely inhibits its utility by scattering the electrons and holes.[citation needed] pn junctions are elementary "building blocks" of most semiconductor electronic devices such as diodes, transistors, solar cells, LEDs, andintegrated circuits; they are the active sites where the electronic action of the device takes place. For example, a common type of transistor, the bipolar junction transistor, consists of two pn junctions in series, in the form npn or pnp. The discovery of the pn junction is usually attributed to American physicist Russell Ohl of Bell Laboratories.[1] A Schottky junction is a special case of a pn junction, where metal serves the role of the p-type semiconductor.

Contents
[hide]

1 Properties of a pn junction 2 Equilibrium (zero bias) 3 Forward bias 4 Reverse bias 5 Electrostatics 6 Summary 7 Non-rectifying junctions 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit]Properties

of a pn junction

The pn junction possesses some interesting properties that have useful applications in modern electronics. A p-doped semiconductor is relatively conductive. The same is true of an n-doped semiconductor, but the junction between them can become depleted of charge carriers, and hence non-conductive, depending on the relative voltages of the two semiconductor regions. By manipulating this non-conductive layer, pn junctions are commonly used as diodes: circuit elements that allow a flow of electricity in one direction but not in the other (opposite) direction. This property is explained in terms of forward bias and reverse bias, where the term bias refers to an application of electric voltage to the pn junction.

[edit]Equilibrium

(zero bias)

In a "pn" junction, without an external applied voltage, an equilibrium condition is reached in which a potential difference is formed across the junction. This potential difference is called built-in potential .

After joining p-type and n-type semiconductors, electrons near the pn interface tend to diffuse into the p region. As electrons diffuse, they leave positively charged ions (donors) in the n region. Likewise, holes near the pn interface begin to diffuse into the n-type region, leaving fixed ions (acceptors) with negative charge. The regions nearby the pn interfaces lose their neutrality and become charged, forming the space charge region or depletion layer (see figure A).

Figure A. A pn junction in thermal equilibrium with zero-bias voltage applied. Electron and hole concentration are reported with blue and red lines, respectively. Gray regions are charge-neutral. Light-red zone is positively charged. Light-blue zone is negatively charged. The electric field is shown on the bottom, the electrostatic force on electrons and holes and the direction in which the diffusion tends to move electrons and holes.

The electric field created by the space charge region opposes the diffusion process for both electrons and holes. There are two concurrent phenomena: the diffusion process that tends to generate more space charge, and the electric field generated by the space charge that tends to counteract the diffusion. The carrier concentration profile at equilibrium is shown in figure A with blue and red lines. Also shown are the two counterbalancing phenomena that establish equilibrium.

Figure B. A pn junction in thermal equilibrium with zero-bias voltage applied. Under the junction, plots for the charge density, the electric field, and the voltage are reported.

The space charge region is a zone with a net charge provided by the fixed ions (donors or acceptors) that have been left uncovered by majority carrier diffusion. When equilibrium is reached, the charge density is approximated by the displayed step function. In fact, the region is completely depleted of majority carriers (leaving a charge density equal to the net doping level), and the edge between the space charge region and the neutral region is quite sharp (see figure B, Q(x) graph). The space charge region has the same magnitude of charge on both sides of the pn interfaces, thus it extends farther on the less doped side (the n side in figures A and B).

[edit]Forward

bias

In forward bias, the p-type is connected with the positive terminal and the n-type is connected with the negative terminal.

PN junction operation in forward-bias mode, showing reducing depletion width. Both p and n junctions are doped at a 1e15/cm3 doping level, leading to built-in potential of ~0.59V. Reducing depletion width can be inferred from the shrinking charge profile, as fewer dopants are exposed with increasing forward bias.

With a battery connected this way, the holes in the P-type region and the electrons in the N-type region are pushed toward the junction. This reduces the width of the depletion zone. The positive charge applied to the Ptype material repels the holes, while the negative charge applied to the N-type material repels the electrons. As electrons and holes are pushed toward the junction, the distance between them decreases. This lowers the barrier in potential. With increasing forward-bias voltage, the depletion zone eventually becomes thin enough that the zone's electric field cannot counteract charge carrier motion across the pn junction, as a consequence reducing electrical resistance. The electrons that cross the pn junction into the P-type material (or holes that cross into the N-type material) will diffuse in the near-neutral region. Therefore, the amount of minority diffusion in the near-neutral zones determines the amount of current that may flow through the diode. Only majority carriers (electrons in N-type material or holes in P-type) can flow through a semiconductor for a macroscopic length. With this in mind, consider the flow of electrons across the junction. The forward bias

causes a force on the electrons pushing them from the N side toward the P side. With forward bias, the depletion region is narrow enough that electrons can cross the junction and inject into the P-type material. However, they do not continue to flow through the P-type material indefinitely, because it is energetically favorable for them to recombine with holes. The average length an electron travels through the P-type material before recombining is called the diffusion length, and it is typically on the order of microns.[2] Although the electrons penetrate only a short distance into the P-type material, the electric current continues uninterrupted, because holes (the majority carriers) begin to flow in the opposite direction. The total current (the sum of the electron and hole currents) is constant in space, because any variation would cause charge buildup over time (this is Kirchhoff's current law). The flow of holes from the P-type region into the N-type region is exactly analogous to the flow of electrons from N to P (electrons and holes swap roles and the signs of all currents and voltages are reversed). Therefore, the macroscopic picture of the current flow through the diode involves electrons flowing through the N-type region toward the junction, holes flowing through the P-type region in the opposite direction toward the junction, and the two species of carriers constantly recombining in the vicinity of the junction. The electrons and holes travel in opposite directions, but they also have opposite charges, so the overall current is in the same direction on both sides of the diode, as required. The Shockley diode equation models the forward-bias operational characteristics of a pn junction outside the avalanche (reverse-biased conducting) region.

[edit]Reverse

bias

A silicon pn junction in reverse bias.

Reverse-bias usually refers to how a diode is used in a circuit. If a diode is reverse-biased, the voltage at the cathode is higher than that at the anode. Therefore, no current will flow until the diode breaks down. Connecting the P-type region to the negative terminal of the battery and the N-type region to the positive terminal corresponds to reverse bias. The connections are illustrated in the following diagram: Because the p-type material is now connected to the negative terminal of the power supply, the 'holes' in the Ptype material are pulled away from the junction, causing the width of the depletion zone to increase. Likewise, because the N-type region is connected to the positive terminal, the electrons will also be pulled away from the

junction. Therefore, the depletion region widens, and does so increasingly with increasing reverse-bias voltage. This increases the voltage barrier causing a high resistance to the flow of charge carriers, thus allowing minimal electric current to cross the pn junction. The increase in resistance of the pn junction results in the junction behaving as an insulator. The strength of the depletion zone electric field increases as the reverse-bias voltage increases. Once the electric field intensity increases beyond a critical level, the pn junction depletion zone breaks down and current begins to flow, usually by either the Zener or the avalanche breakdown processes. Both of these breakdown processes are non-destructive and are reversible, as long as the amount of current flowing does not reach levels that cause the semiconductor material to overheat and cause thermal damage. This effect is used to one's advantage in Zener diode regulator circuits. Zener diodes have a certain low breakdown voltage. A standard value for breakdown voltage is for instance 5.6 V. This means that the voltage at the cathode can never be more than 5.6 V higher than the voltage at the anode, because the diode will break down and therefore conduct if the voltage gets any higher. This in effect regulates the voltage over the diode. Another application where reverse biased diodes are used is in Varicap diodes. The width of the depletion zone of any diode changes with voltage applied. This varies the capacitance of the diode. For more information, refer to the Varicap article.

[edit]Electrostatics
For a pn junction Poisson's equation becomes

where

is the electric potential,

is the charge density,

is permittivity and

is the magnitude of the

electron charge. Since the total charge on either side of the depletion region must cancel out it is

From the above equations and by deploying basic calculus it can be shown that the total width of the depletion region is

Furthermore, by implementing the Einstein relation and assuming the semiconductor is nondegenerate (i.e. the product is independent of the Fermi energy) it follows that

where T is the temperature of the semiconductor and k is Boltzmann constant.[3]

[edit]Summary
The forward-bias and the reverse-bias properties of the pn junction imply that it can be used as a diode. A pn junction diode allows electric charges to flow in one direction, but not in the opposite direction; negative charges (electrons) can easily flow through the junction from n to p but not from p to n, and the reverse is true for holes. When the pn junction is forward-biased, electric charge flows freely due to reduced resistance of the pn junction. When the pn junction is reverse-biased, however, the junction barrier (and therefore resistance) becomes greater and charge flow is minimal.

[edit]Non-rectifying

junctions

In the above diagrams, contact between the metal wires and the semiconductor material also creates metal semiconductor junctions called Schottky diodes. In a simplified ideal situation a semiconductor diode would never function, since it would be composed of several diodes connected back-to-front in series. But, in practice, surface impurities within the part of the semiconductor that touches the metal terminals will greatly reduce the width of those depletion layers to such an extent that the metal-semiconductor junctions do not act as diodes. These non-rectifying junctions behave as ohmic contacts regardless of applied voltage polarity.

Other Info
Metal rectifier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Selenium rectifier

A metal rectifier is an early type of semiconductor rectifier in which the semiconductor is copper oxide or selenium. They were used in power applications to convert alternating current to direct current in devices such as radios and battery chargers. Westinghouse Electric (1886) was a major manufacturer of these rectifiers, under the trade name Westector (now used as a trade name for an overcurrent trip device by Westinghouse Nuclear). In some countries the term "metal rectifier" is applied to all such devices; in others the term "metal rectifier" normally refers to copper-oxide types, and "selenium rectifier" to selenium-iron types.

Contents
[hide]

1 Description 2 Performance 3 Applications

o o o

3.1 Radio receivers 3.2 TV sets and photocopiers 3.3 Electrolysis

4 External links

[edit]Description

Copper-oxide rectifier

Metal rectifiers consist of washer-like discs of different metals, either copper (with an oxide layer to provide the rectification) or steel plated with selenium, interspersed with aluminium discs (which were often of a larger size, to provide cooling).

[edit]Performance
Compared to later silicon or germanium devices, copper-oxide rectifiers tended to have poor efficiency, and the reverse voltage rating was rarely more than a few volts. A number of rectifier discs would need to be used in series to provide an adequate reverse breakdown voltage figure - a bridge rectifier for a 12V battery charger would often use 12 metal rectifiers. Selenium rectifiers were generally more efficient than metal-oxide types, and could handle higher voltages. However, considerably more skill was required for their construction.

[edit]Applications [edit]Radio

receivers

Metal rectifiers were also used as envelope detector (AM demodulator) diodes in radio receivers. The WX6 Westector was a typical example. It was about the size and shape of an AAA battery, with threaded posts at each end to which connections were made. Selenium rectifiers were once widely used as high-tension rectifiers in transformerless radio and TV sets, before cheaper silicon diodes became available. Although they were reasonably efficient in this application, (at least compared to vacuum-tube rectifiers), their internal resistance tended to increase as they aged. Apart from reducing the available high voltage, this tends to make them run hotter, producing an unpleasant smell as the selenium starts to evaporate.

[edit]TV

sets and photocopiers

High-voltage selenium rectifier

Specially designed selenium rectifiers were once widely used as EHT rectifiers in television sets and photocopiers. A layer of selenium was applied to a sheet of soft iron foil, and thousands of tiny discs (typically 2mm diameter) were punched out of this and assembled as "stacks" inside ceramic tubes. Rectifiers capable of supplying tens of thousands of volts could be made this way. Their internal resistance was extremely high, but most EHT applications only required a few hundred microamps at most, so this was not normally an issue. With the development of inexpensive high voltage silicon rectifiers, this technology has fallen into disuse.

[edit]Electrolysis
Metal rectifiers have been replaced by silicon diodes in most devices, however there are certain applications where the replacement of metal rectifiers with silicon units has proven impractical. These are mostly in electroplating, aluminium smelting and similar high-current low-voltage industrial applications, where the lower forward voltage drop of metal rectifiers is more important than their reverse breakdown voltage.

Many purpose-designed transformer-rectifier ("Rectiformer") units were specifically designed around the characteristics of metal rectifiers, and substituting silicon rectifiers would necessitate replacing the complete assembly. As is the case with many other industrial processes, it is often considerably cheaper and more convenient to pay someone to manufacture replacement "legacy" metal rectifiers than to upgrade the equipment. Hence, metal rectifiers are still manufactured in small quantities today.

Rectifier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Rectifier (disambiguation).

A rectifier diode (silicon controlled rectifier) and associated mounting hardware. The heavy threaded stud helps remove heat.

A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The process is known as rectification. Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms, including vacuum tube diodes, mercury-arc valves, solid-state diodes, siliconcontrolled rectifiers and other silicon-based semiconductor switches. Historically, even synchronous electromechanical switches and motors have been used. Early radio receivers, called crystal radios, used a "cat's whisker" of fine wire pressing on a crystal of galena (lead sulfide) to serve as a point-contact rectifier or "crystal detector". Rectifiers have many uses, but are often found serving as components of DC power supplies and high-voltage direct current power transmission systems. Rectification may serve in roles other than to generate direct current for use as a source of power. As noted, detectors of radio signals serve as rectifiers. In gas heating systems flame rectification is used to detect presence of flame.

The simple process of rectification produces a type of DC characterized by pulsating voltages and currents (although still unidirectional). Depending upon the type of end-use, this type of DC current may then be further modified into the type of relatively constant voltage DC characteristically produced by such sources as batteries and solar cells. A device which performs the opposite function (converting DC to AC) is known as an inverter.

Contents
[hide]

1 Rectifier devices 2 Half-wave rectification 3 Full-wave rectification 4 Peak loss 5 Rectifier output smoothing 6 Voltage-multiplying rectifiers 7 Applications 8 Rectification technologies

8.1 Electromechanical

o o

8.1.1 Synchronous rectifier 8.1.2 Vibrator 8.1.3 Motor-generator set

8.2 Electrolytic 8.3 Plasma type

o o

8.3.1 Mercury arc 8.3.2 Argon gas electron tube

8.4 Vacuum tube (valve) 8.5 Solid state

8.5.1 Crystal detector 8.5.2 Selenium and copper oxide rectifiers 8.5.3 Silicon and germanium diodes 8.5.4 High power: thyristors (SCRs) and newer silicon-based voltage sourced converters

9 Early 21st century developments

o o

9.1 High-speed rectifiers 9.2 Unimolecular rectifiers

10 See also 11 References

[edit]Rectifier

devices

Before the development of silicon semiconductor rectifiers, vacuum tube diodes and copper(I) oxide or selenium rectifier stacks were used. With the introduction of semiconductor electronics, vacuum tube

rectifiers became obsolete, except for some enthusiasts of vacuum tube audio equipment. For power rectification from very low to very high current, semiconductor diodes of various types (junction diodes, Schottky diodes, etc.) are widely used. Other devices which have control electrodes as well as acting as unidirectional current valves are used where more than simple rectification is required, e.g., where variable output voltage is needed. High power rectifiers, such as are used in high-voltage direct current power transmission, employ silicon semiconductor devices of various types. These are thyristors or other controlled switching solid-state switches which effectively function as diodes to pass current in only one direction.

[edit]Half-wave

rectification

In half wave rectification of a single-phase supply, either the positive or negative half of the AC wave is passed, while the other half is blocked. Because only one half of the input waveform reaches the output, mean voltage is lower. Half-wave rectification requires a single diode in a single-phase supply, or three in a three-phase supply. Rectifiers yield a unidirectional but pulsating direct current; half-wave rectifiers produce far more ripple than full-wave rectifiers, and much more filtering is needed to eliminate harmonics of the AC frequency from the output.

Half-wave rectifier

The output DC voltage of an ideal half wave rectifier is:[1]

A real rectifier will have a characteristic which drops part of the input voltage (a voltage drop, for silicon devices, of typically 0.7 volts plus an equivalent resistance, in general non-linear), and at high frequencies will distort waveforms in other ways; unlike an ideal rectifier, it will dissipate power.

[edit]Full-wave

rectification

A full-wave rectifier converts the whole of the input waveform to one of constant polarity (positive or negative) at its output. Full-wave rectification converts both polarities of the input waveform to DC (direct current), and

yields a higher mean output voltage. Two diodes and a center tapped transformer, or four diodes in a bridge configuration and any AC source (including a transformer without center tap), are needed. Single semiconductor diodes, double diodes with common cathode or common anode, and four-diode bridges, are manufactured as single components.

Graetz bridge rectifier: a full-wave rectifier using 4 diodes.

For single-phase AC, if the transformer is center-tapped, then two diodes back-to-back (cathode-to-cathode or anode-to-anode, depending upon output polarity required) can form a full-wave rectifier. Twice as many turns are required on the transformer secondary to obtain the same output voltage than for a bridge rectifier, but the power rating is unchanged.

Full-wave rectifier using a center tap transformer and 2 diodes.

Full-wave rectifier, with vacuum tube having two anodes.

A very common double-diode rectifier tube contained a single common cathode and two anodes inside a single envelope, achieving full-wave rectification with positive output. The 5U4 and 5Y3 were popular examples of this configuration.

3-phase AC input, half & full-wave rectified DC output waveforms

For three-phase AC, six diodes are used. Double diodes in series, with the anode of the first diode connected to the cathode of the second, are manufactured as a single component for this purpose. Some commercially available double diodes have all four terminals available so the user can configure them for single-phase split supply use, half a bridge, or three-phase rectifier.

A three-phase bridge rectifier. Disassembled automobile alternator, showing the six diodes that comprise a full-wave

three-phase bridge rectifier.

Many devices that generate alternating current (some such devices are called alternators) generate threephase AC. For example, an automobile alternator has six diodes inside it to function as a full-wave rectifier for battery charging applications. The average and root-mean-square output voltages of an ideal single-phase full-wave rectifier are:

For a three-phase full-wave rectifier with ideal thyristors, the average output voltage is

Where: Vdc, Vav - the DC or average output voltage, Vpeak - the peak value of the phase input voltages, Vrms - the root-mean-square value of output voltage. = ~ 3.14159 = firing angle of the thyristor (0 if diodes are used to perform rectification)

[edit]Peak

loss

An aspect of most rectification is a loss from the peak input voltage to the peak output voltage, caused by the built-in voltage drop across the diodes (around 0.7 V for ordinary silicon pn junctiondiodes and 0.3 V for Schottky diodes). Half-wave rectification and full-wave rectification using a center-tapped secondary will have a peak voltage loss of one diode drop. Bridge rectification will have a loss of two diode drops. This reduces output voltage, and limits the available output voltage if a very low alternating voltage must be rectified. As the diodes do not conduct below this voltage, the circuit only passes current through for a portion of each half-cycle, causing short segments of zero voltage (where instantaneous input voltage is below one or two diode drops) to appear between each "hump".

[edit]Rectifier

output smoothing

While half-wave and full-wave rectification can deliver unidirectional current, neither produces a constant voltage. In order to produce steady DC from a rectified AC supply, a smoothing circuit orfilter is required.[2] In its simplest form this can be just a reservoir capacitor or smoothing capacitor, placed at the DC output of the rectifier. There will still be an AC ripple voltage component at the power supply frequency for a half-wave rectifier, twice that for full-wave, where the voltage is not completely smoothed.

RC-Filter Rectifier: This circuit was designed and simulated using Multisim 8 software.

Sizing of the capacitor represents a tradeoff. For a given load, a larger capacitor will reduce ripple but will cost more and will create higher peak currents in the transformer secondary and in the supply feeding it. The peak current is set in principle by the rate of rise of the supply voltage on the rising edge of the incoming sine-wave, but in practice it is reduced by the resistance of the transformer windings. In extreme cases where many rectifiers are loaded onto a power distribution circuit, peak currents may cause difficulty in maintaining a correctly shaped sinusoidal voltage on the ac supply. To limit ripple to a specified value the required capacitor size is proportional to the load current and inversely proportional to the supply frequency and the number of output peaks of the rectifier per input cycle. The load current and the supply frequency are generally outside the control of the designer of the rectifier system but the number of peaks per input cycle can be affected by the choice of rectifier design. A half-wave rectifier will only give one peak per cycle and for this and other reasons is only used in very small power supplies. A full wave rectifier achieves two peaks per cycle, the best possible with a single-phase input. For three-phase inputs a three-phase

bridge will give six peaks per cycle; higher numbers of peaks can be achieved by using transformer networks placed before the rectifier to convert to a higher phase order. To further reduce ripple, a capacitor-input filter can be used. This complements the reservoir capacitor with a choke (inductor) and a second filter capacitor, so that a steadier DC output can be obtained across the terminals of the filter capacitor. The choke presents a high impedance to the ripple current.[2] For use at power-line frequencies inductors require cores of iron or other magnetic materials, and add weight and size. Their use in power supplies for electronic equipment has therefore dwindled in favour of semiconductor circuits such as voltage regulators. A more usual alternative to a filter, and essential if the DC load requires very low ripple voltage, is to follow the reservoir capacitor with an active voltage regulator circuit. The reservoir capacitor needs to be large enough to prevent the troughs of the ripple dropping below the minimum voltage required by the regulator to produce the required output voltage. The regulator serves both to significantly reduce the ripple and to deal with variations in supply and load characteristics. It would be possible to use a smaller reservoir capacitor (these can be large on high-current power supplies) and then apply some filtering as well as the regulator, but this is not a common strategy. The extreme of this approach is to dispense with the reservoir capacitor altogether and put the rectified waveform straight into a choke-input filter. The advantage of this circuit is that the current waveform is smoother and consequently the rectifier no longer has to deal with the current as a large current pulse, but instead the current delivery is spread over the entire cycle. The disadvantage, apart from extra size and weight, is that the voltage output is much lower approximately the average of an AC half-cycle rather than the peak.

[edit]Voltage-multiplying
Main article: voltage multiplier

rectifiers

The simple half wave rectifier can be built in two electrical configurations with the diode pointing in opposite directions, one version connects the negative terminal of the output direct to the AC supply and the other connects the positive terminal of the output direct to the AC supply. By combining both of these with separate output smoothing it is possible to get an output voltage of nearly double the peak AC input voltage. This also provides a tap in the middle, which allows use of such a circuit as a split rail supply.

Switchable full bridge / Voltage doubler.

A variant of this is to use two capacitors in series for the output smoothing on a bridge rectifier then place a switch between the midpoint of those capacitors and one of the AC input terminals. With the switch open this circuit will act like a normal bridge rectifier: with it closed it will act like a voltage doubling rectifier. In other words this makes it easy to derive a voltage of roughly 320V (+/- around 15%) DC from any mains supply in the world, this can then be fed into a relatively simple switched-mode power supply.

Cockcroft Walton Voltage multiplier

Cascaded diode and capacitor stages can be added to make a voltage multiplier (Cockroft-Walton circuit). These circuits are capable of producing a DC output voltage potential tens of times that of the peak AC input voltage, but are limited in current capacity and regulation. Diode voltage multipliers, frequently used as a trailing boost stage or primary high voltage (HV) source, are used in HV laser power supplies, powering devices such as cathode ray tubes (CRT) (like those used in CRT based television, radar and sonar displays), photon amplifying devices found in image intensifying and photo multiplier tubes (PMT), and magnetron based radio frequency (RF) devices used in radar transmitters and microwave ovens. Before the introduction of semiconductor electronics, transformerless vacuum tube equipment powered directly from AC power sometimes used voltage doublers to generate about 170VDC from a 100-120V power line.

[edit]Applications
The primary application of rectifiers is to derive DC power from an AC supply. Virtually all electronic devices require DC, so rectifiers are used inside the power supplies of virtually all electronic equipment. Converting DC power from one voltage to another is much more complicated. One method of DC-to-DC conversion first converts power to AC (using a device called an inverter), then use a transformer to change the voltage, and finally rectifies power back to DC. A frequency of typically several tens of kilohertz is used, as this requires much smaller inductance than at lower frequencies and obviates the use of heavy, bulky, and expensive iron-cored units.

Output voltage of a full-wave rectifier with controlled thyristors

Rectifiers are also used for detection of amplitude modulated radio signals. The signal may be amplified before detection. If not, a very low voltage drop diode or a diode biased with a fixed voltage must be used. When using a rectifier for demodulation the capacitor and load resistance must be carefully matched: too low a capacitance will result in the high frequency carrier passing to the output, and too high will result in the capacitor just charging and staying charged. Rectifiers are used to supply polarised voltage for welding. In such circuits control of the output current is required; this is sometimes achieved by replacing some of the diodes in a bridge rectifier with thyristors, effectively diodes whose voltage output can be regulated by switching on and off withphase fired controllers. Thyristors are used in various classes of railway rolling stock systems so that fine control of the traction motors can be achieved. Gate turn-off thyristorsare used to produce alternating current from a DC supply, for example on the Eurostar Trains to power the three-phase traction motors.[3]

[edit]Rectification

technologies

[edit]Electromechanical
Early power conversion systems were purely electro-mechanical in design, since electronic devices were not available to handle significant power. Mechanical rectification systems usually use some form of rotation or resonant vibration (e.g. vibrators) in order to move quickly enough to follow the frequency of the input power source, and cannot operate beyond several thousand cycles per second. Due to reliance on fast-moving parts of mechanical systems, they needed a high level of maintenance to keep operating correctly. Moving parts will have friction, which requires lubrication and replacement due to wear. Opening mechanical contacts under load results in electrical arcs and sparks that heat and erode the contacts.

[edit]Synchronous rectifier
To convert alternating into direct current in electric locomotives, a synchronous rectifier may be used[citation needed]. It consists of a synchronous motor driving a set of heavy-duty electrical contacts. The motor spins in time with the AC frequency and periodically reverses the connections to the load at an instant when the sinusoidal current goes through a zero-crossing. The contacts do not have to switch a large current, but they need to be able to carry a large current to supply the locomotive's DC traction motors.

[edit]Vibrator
Vibrators used to generate AC from DC in pre-semiconductor battery-to-high-voltage-DC power supplies often contained a second set of contacts that performed synchronous mechanical rectification of the stepped-up voltage.

[edit]Motor-generator set
Main articles: Motor-generator and Rotary converter A motor-generator set, or the similar rotary converter, is not strictly a rectifier as it does not actually rectify current, but rather generates DC from an AC source. In an "M-G set", the shaft of an AC motor is mechanically coupled to that of a DC generator. The DC generator produces multiphase alternating currents in its armature windings, which a commutator on the armature shaft converts into a direct current output; or a homopolar generator produces a direct current without the need for a commutator. M-G sets are useful for producing DC for railway traction motors, industrial motors and other high-

current applications, and were common in many high power D.C. uses (for example, carbon-arc lamp projectors for outdoor theaters) before high-power semiconductors became widely available.

[edit]Electrolytic
The electrolytic rectifier[4] was a device from the early twentieth century that is no longer used. A home-made version is illustrated in the 1913 book The Boy Mechanic [5] but it would only be suitable for use at very low voltages because of the low breakdown voltage and the risk of electric shock. A more complex device of this kind was patented by G. W. Carpenter in 1928 (US Patent 1671970).[6] When two different metals are suspended in an electrolyte solution, direct current flowing one way through the solution sees less resistance than in the other direction. Electrolytic rectifiers most commonly used an aluminum anode and a lead or steel cathode, suspended in a solution of tri-ammonium ortho-phosphate. The rectification action is due to a thin coating of aluminum hydroxide on the aluminum electrode, formed by first applying a strong current to the cell to build up the coating. The rectification process is temperature-sensitive, and for best efficiency should not operate above 86 F (30 C). There is also a breakdown voltage where the coating is penetrated and the cell is short-circuited. Electrochemical methods are often more fragile than mechanical methods, and can be sensitive to usage variations which can drastically change or completely disrupt the rectification processes. Similar electrolytic devices were used as lightning arresters around the same era by suspending many aluminium cones in a tank of tri-ammomium ortho-phosphate solution. Unlike the rectifier above, only aluminium electrodes were used, and used on A.C., there was no polarization and thus no rectifier action, but the chemistry was similar.[7] The modern electrolytic capacitor, an essential component of most rectifier circuit configurations was also developed from the electrolytic rectifier.

[edit]Plasma

type

[edit]Mercury arc
Main article: Mercury arc valve

HVDC in 1971: this 150 kV mercury arc valve converted AC hydropowervoltage for transmission to distant cities from Manitoba Hydro generators.

A rectifier used in high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission systems and industrial processing between about 1909 to 1975 is a mercury arc rectifier or mercury arc valve. The device is enclosed in a bulbous glass vessel or large metal tub. One electrode, the cathode, is submerged in a pool of liquid mercury at the bottom of the vessel and one or more high purity graphite electrodes, called anodes, are suspended above the pool. There may be several auxiliary electrodes to aid in starting and maintaining the arc. When an electric arc is established between the cathode pool and suspended anodes, a stream of electrons flows from the cathode to the anodes through the ionized mercury, but not the other way (in principle, this is a higher-power counterpart to flame rectification, which uses the same one-way current transmission properties of the plasma naturally present in a flame). These devices can be used at power levels of hundreds of kilowatts, and may be built to handle one to six phases of AC current. Mercury arc rectifiers have been replaced by silicon semiconductor rectifiers and high power thyristor circuits in the mid 1970s. The most powerful mercury arc rectifiers ever built were installed in the Manitoba Hydro Nelson River Bipole HVDC project, with a combined rating of more than 1 GW and 450 kV.[8][9]

[edit]Argon gas electron tube


The General Electric Tungar rectifier was an argon gas-filled electron tube device with a tungsten filament cathode and a carbon button anode. It was used for battery chargers and similar applications from the 1920s until lower-cost metal rectifiers, and later semiconductor diodes, supplanted it. These were made up to a few hundred volts and a few amperes rating, and in some sizes strongly resembled an incandescent lamp with an additional electrode. The 0Z4 was a gas-filled rectifier tube commonly used in vacuum tube car radios in the 1940s and 1950s. It was a conventional full-wave rectifier tube with two anodes and one cathode, but was unique in that it had no filament (thus the "0" in its type number). The electrodes were shaped such that the reverse breakdown voltage was much higher than the forward breakdown voltage. Once the breakdown voltage was exceeded, the 0Z4 switched to a low-resistance state with a forward voltage drop of about 24 V.

[edit]Vacuum

tube (valve)

Main article: Diode Since the discovery of the Edison effect or thermionic emission, various vacuum tube devices were developed to rectify alternating currents. The simplest is the simple vacuum diode (the term "valve" came into use for vacuum tubes in general due to this unidirectional property, by analogy with a unidirectional fluid flow valve). Low-current devices were used as signal detectors, first used in radio by Fleming in 1904. Many vacuum-tube devices also used vacuum diode rectifiers in their power supplies, for example the All American Five radio receiver. Vacuum rectifiers were made for very high voltages, such as the high voltage power supply for the cathode ray tube of television receivers, and the kenotron used for power supply in X-ray equipment. However, vacuum rectifiers generally had current capacity rarely exceeding 250 mA owing to the maximum current density that could be obtained by electrodes heated to temperatures compatible with long life. Another limitation of the vacuum tube rectifier was that the heater power supply often required special arrangements to insulate it from the high voltages of the rectifier circuit.

[edit]Solid

state

[edit]Crystal detector
Main article: cat's-whisker detector

The cat's-whisker detector, typically using a crystal of galena, was the earliest type of semiconductor diode, though not recognised as such at the time.

[edit]Selenium and copper oxide rectifiers


Main article: Metal rectifier Once common until replaced by more compact and less costly silicon solid-state rectifiers, these units used stacks of metal plates and took advantage of the semiconductor properties ofselenium or copper oxide.[10] While selenium rectifiers were lighter in weight and used less power than comparable vacuum tube rectifiers, they had the disadvantage of finite life expectancy, increasing resistance with age, and were only suitable to use at low frequencies. Both selenium and copper oxide rectifiers have somewhat better tolerance of momentary voltage transients than silicon rectifiers. Typically these rectifiers were made up of stacks of metal plates or washers, held together by a central bolt, with the number of stacks determined by voltage; each cell was rated for about 20 V. An automotive battery charger rectifier might have only one cell: the high-voltage power supply for a vacuum tube might have dozens of stacked plates. Current density in an air-cooled selenium stack was about 600 mA per square inch of active area (about 90 mA per square centimeter).

[edit]Silicon and germanium diodes


Main article: Diode In the modern world, silicon diodes are the most widely used rectifiers for lower voltages and powers, and have largely replaced earlier germanium diodes. For very high voltages and powers, the added need for controllability has in practice caused simple silicon diodes to be replaced by high-power thyristors (see below) and their newer activelygate-controlled cousins.

[edit]High power: thyristors (SCRs) and newer silicon-based voltage

sourced converters

Two of three high-power thyristor valve stacks used for long distance transmission of power from Manitoba Hydro dams. Compare with mercury arc system from the same dam-site, above.

Main article: high-voltage direct current In high power applications, from 19752000, most mercury valve arc-rectifiers were replaced by stacks of very high power thyristors, silicon devices with two extra layers of semiconductor, in comparison to a simple diode. In medium power-transmission applications, even more complex and sophisticated voltage sourced converter (VSC) silicon semiconductor rectifier systems, such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) and gate turn-off thyristors (GTO), have made smaller high voltage DC power transmission systems economical. All of these devices function as rectifiers. As of 2009 it was expected that these high-power silicon "self-commutating switches," in particular IGBTs and a variant thyristor (related to the GTO) called the integrated gatecommutated thyristor (IGCT), would be scaled-up in power rating to the point that they would eventually replace simple thyristor-based AC rectification systems for the highest power-transmission DC applications.[11]

[edit]Early

21st century developments


rectifiers

[edit]High-speed

Researchers at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) have proposed high-speed rectifiers that would sit at the center of spiral nanoantennas and convert infrared frequency electricity from AC to DC.[12] Infrared frequencies range from 0.3 to 400 terahertz.

[edit]Unimolecular

rectifiers

Main article: Unimolecular rectifier A Unimolecular rectifier is a single organic molecule which functions as a rectifier, in the experimental stage as of 2012.

Você também pode gostar