Gunn Diode – Features, Operation & Applications

Features of a Gunn Diode

A gunn diode is made up of only N-type semiconductor which is typically sandwiched between two metal conductors. The central section is usually lightly doped N surrounded by heavily doped N+ layers. The … Read more

PIN Diode – Features & Applications

PIN diode is characterized by fast low capacitance switching. A PIN diode is fabricated in a similar fashion to a silicon switching diode with an intrinsic region added between the PN junction layers. This generates a thicker depletion region, the … Read more

Schottky Diode – Features & Applications

Schottky diode is fabricated as a metal-to-N junction rather than a P-N semiconductor junction. Also referred to as hot-carrier diodes, Schottky diodes are characterized by fast switching times (low reverse-recovery time), low forward voltage drop (normally 0.25 to 0.4 … Read more

Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET (MOSFET)

The Metal oxide semiconductor FET (MOSFET) also known as the insulated-gate FET (IGFET) is similar to JFET but exhibits even larger resistive input impedance due to the thin layer of silicon dioxide that is used to insulate the gate from … Read more

The Junction Field Effect Transistors (JFET)

The bipolar transistor has several disadvantages: it has low input impedance because of forward biased emitter junction, it has small high-frequency gain, it has considerable noise level and it is non-linear when |VCE| < 2V. Although low input … Read more

Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT)

By placing two PN junctions together we can create a bipolar junction transistor. In a PNP transistor the majority charger carriers are holes and typically germanium is favored for these devices. In NPN transistors the majority charger carriers are electrons; … Read more

Semiconductor Diodes

A diode is a device that allows current to flow only in one direction. It is made from p-type or n-type semiconductors joined together. It has a depletion layer/p-n junction/potential barrier.

Circuit symbol of a diode
Figure 1(a) circuit symbol of a diode

diode p-n representation
Figure 1(b)
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The Basics of Semiconductor Physics as the Foundation of Electronics

Metals have a large number of weakly bound electrons in what is called their conduction band. When an electric field is applied to a metal such as copper, the electrons migrate freely producing a current through the metal. Because of … Read more