DIODES Photo Diode :

A photodiode is a type of photo detector capable of converting light into either current or voltage, depending upon the mode of operation.. Many diodes designed for use specifically as a photodiode will also use a PIN junction rather than the typical PN junction.

Figure 1 Symbol For Photo Diode

Principle of operation A photodiode is a PN junction or PIN structure. When a photon of sufficient energy strikes the diode, it excites an electron, thereby creating a free electron and a (positively charged electron) hole. If the absorption occurs in the junction's depletion region, or one diffusion length away from it, these carriers are swept from the junction by the built-in field of the depletion region. Thus holes move toward the anode, and electrons toward the cathode, and a photocurrent is produced.

Figure 2 Photo diodes

APPLICATION 1. Photodiodes are used in consumer electronics devices such as compact disc players, smoke detectors, and the receivers for infrared remote control devices used to control equipment from televisions to air conditioners. 2. Either type of photo sensor may be used for light measurement, as in camera light meters, or to respond to light levels, as in switching on street lighting after dark. 3. They are often used for optical communications and in lighting regulation.
i

Schottky Diode :
A Schottky diode, also known as a hot carrier diode, is a semiconductor diode which has a low forward voltage drop and a very fast switching action

A normal diode will have a voltage drop between 0.6 to 1.7 volts, while a Schottky diode voltage drop is usually between 0.15 and 0.45 volts. This lower voltage drop provides better system efficiency and higher switching speed. In a Schottky diode, a semiconductormetal junction is formed between a semiconductor and a metal, thus creating a Schottky barrier.

Figure 3 Schottky diode symbol

Applications for Schottky Diodes:

1. Schottky diodes are useful in voltage clamping applications and prevention of transistor saturation due to the higher current density in the Schottky diode. 2. They are used in stand-alone photovoltaic systems in order to prevent batteries from discharging through the solar panels at night as well as in grid-connected systems containing multiple strings connected in parallel. 3. Schottky diodes are also used as rectifiers in switched-mode power supplies.

Figure 4 Schottky diodes

ii

Laser diode

A laser diode, or LD, is an electrically pumped semiconductor laser in which the active medium is formed by a p-n junction of a semiconductor diode similar to that found in a light-emitting diode. A laser diode is basically a LED producing laser light. To do this the LED is operated at a much higher current (typically 100mA) than a normal LED (about 10mA). Figure 5 (below) compares a graph of the light output of a normal LED and that of a laser diode.

 Applications 1. Laser diodes find wide use in telecommunication as easily modulated and easily coupled
light sources for fiber optics communication. 2. Laser medicine: medicine and especially dentistry have found many new uses for diode lasers

Figure 5 Laser Diode

i ii

mailto:https://www.futureelectronics.com/en/diodes/schottky-diodes.aspx mailto:http://www.learnabout-electronics.org/diodes_08.php