It’s John Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945), a British engineer, who invented the first diode in 1904, in the form of an electron tube. Later, with the development of semiconductor technology, the diode became a dipole consisting of two substrates: one, rich in free electrons, and of type N, the other deficient in electrons, and of type […]
Diodes
Point Contact Diodes [History, Construction, Application Circuit]
In this article I will comprehensively explain about the early point contact diodes, and their modern versions which are Germanium diodes. Here I have explained the following facts: Brief history of point contact diodes Construction of point contact diodes and modern Germanium diodes Advantages of point contact diodes or Germanium diodes Applications of Germanium Diodes […]
Light Emitting Diodes (LED) Explained
The full form of LED is Light Emitting Diode. LEDs are special type of semiconductor diodes which emit light in response to a potential difference applied across their terminals, hence the name light emitting diode. Just like a normal diode LEDs also have two terminals with polarity, namely anode and cathode. To illuminate an LED […]
How to Use Diodes, Transistors, ICs as Temperature Sensors
Normally we find thermistors being used as the sensor for detecting and monitoring temperatures in electronic circuits. However, ordinary semiconductor components like transistors and diodes actually work better than thermitors when it comes to detecting temperature changes. In fact, this feature happens to be one of the greatest drawbacks of semiconductor devices, whose working characteristics […]
Using MOSFET Body Diodes to Charge Battery in Inverters
In this post I have explained how the internal body diodes of MOSFETs could be exploited for enabling the charging of battery through the same transformer which is being used as the inverter transformer. In this article we will investigate a full bridge inverter concept and learn how the in-built diodes of its 4 MOSFETs […]
How Varactor (Varicap) Diodes Work
A varactor diode, also called varicap, VVC (voltage-variable capacitance, or tuning diode, is a type of semiconductor diode which features a variable voltage-dependent capacitance on its p-n junction when the device is reversed biased. Reverse bias basically means when the diode is subjected to an opposite voltage, meaning a positive voltage at the cathode, and […]