A diode is an electronic component that allows current to flow easily in one direction but blocks current in the other direction. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the Original Essay Most diodes are made from silicon semiconductor material. To make silicon a more efficient semiconductor, the material goes through a process called doping. This involves adding impurities (holes) to the material. By adding holes, it creates two different types of semiconductor materials called n-type and p-type. N-type materials have a net negative charge due to an excess of electrons and P-type materials have a positive charge due to a lack of electrons. When the two types of materials come together, they form a pn junction. The excess electrons in the n-type material pass through the junction to combine with the p-type material due to the lack of electrons. The consequence is that there are very few charge carriers present at the junction. The junction forms a layer of exhaustion. The depletion layer acts as a barrier preventing the flow of negatively charged electrons at the end of the cathode to the opposite side which has the positive potential. The diode will not conduct until a potential difference is applied between the anode and cathode. This potential difference is necessary to overcome the electrostatic field formed across the depletion layer. The thinner the depletion layer, the more current passes through it. For direct current to pass through the diode, the depletion region must be completely collapsed by the applied voltage to allow electrons to flow, this is called a forward voltage. This requires a certain minimum tension. For most silicon diodes, the forward voltage is 0.6 volts. For germanium diodes, the forward voltage is only 0.3 volts. The chemical mixture of the PN junction in the diode is the reason for the forward voltage figure, that's why silicon and germanium diodes have difference in forward voltage figure. A diode will also conduct in reverse bias (potential difference), that is, when the negative terminal of the battery is connected to the P type and the positive is connected to the N type semiconductor. In which the diode blocks the current due to a thick depletion layer. For standard diodes, the reverse breakdown is much higher than the forward bias voltage. The point at which the voltage increases but the current remains the same is called reverse saturation current. In effect, it has reached a point where additional voltage applied does not increase the electric current. In germanium diodes, due to the increase in temperature creating more charge carriers than the silicon diode, the reverse saturation current is greater. In a forward-biased diode, the cathode (n-type semiconductor) connects to a negative potential and the anode (p-type semiconductor) connects to the positive potential. This does not block the current and has less resistance than a reserve bias, but it does drop the current. The forward bias voltage drop through the diode is due to the action of the depletion region. If no voltage is applied across the semiconductor diode, a thin region of depletion exists around the PN junction region, preventing current flow. If a reverse bias voltage is applied across the PN junction, this depletion region expands, further resisting any through current. he. A very small amount of current can flow through a reverse biased diode,..