Semiconductors & Diodes

 Semiconductors

A semiconductor is a material with properties of metal and nonmetal. In other words, it is a material that depending on external conditions (i.e. pressure or temperature) works as a good conductor of electricity or like an isolator.

Elements like carbon, silicon, and germanium are good examples of semiconductors.

Any of various solid crystalline substances, such as germanium or silicon, have electrical conductivity greater than insulators but less than good conductors and are used especially as a base material for computer chips and other electronic devices. 

Carbon, silicon, and germanium (germanium, like silicon, is also a semiconductor) have a unique property in their electron structure -- each has four electrons in its outer orbital.

This allows them to form ice crystals. The four electrons form perfect covalent bonds with four neighboring atoms, creating a lattice. In carbon, we know the crystalline form as diamond. In silicon, the crystalline form is a silvery, metallic-looking substance.

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An integrated circuit or other electronic component containing a semiconductor as a base material.

Today, most semiconductor chips and transistors are created with silicon. You may have heard expressions like "Silicon Valley" and the "silicon economy," and that's why - silicon is the heart of any electronic device.

A diode is the simplest possible semiconductor device and is, therefore, an excellent beginning point if you want to understand how semiconductors work.

Metals tend to be good conductors of electricity because they usually have "free electrons" that can move easily between atoms, and electricity involves the flow of electrons. While silicon crystals look metallic, they are not, in fact, metals.

Diodes

In electronics, a diode has the same function as the check valve in hydraulic systems.

Its function 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).

However, diodes can have more complicated behavior than this simple on-off action. This is due to their complex non-linear electrical characteristics, which can be tailored by varying the construction of their P-N junction.

A modern semiconductor diode is made of a crystal of semiconductors like silicon that has impurities 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.

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The crystal conducts the current in a direction from the p-type side (called the anode) to the n-type side (called the cathode), but not in the opposite direction.

Diode Configuration

The diode's terminals are attached to each of these regions. The boundary within the crystal between these two regions, called a P-N junction, is where the action of the diode takes place.

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

It is one of the most popular types of diodes and when this diode permits the transfer of electric current between the electrodes, light is produced. In most of the diodes, the light (infrared) cannot be seen as they are at frequencies that do not permit visibility.

Rectifier Diode

These diodes are used to rectify alternating power inputs in power supplies. They can rectify current levels that range from an amp upwards.

generally, these diodes are PN junction diodes.

These diodes are used in the bridge rectifiers that you find in some alternators.

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