•A diode can be considered to be an electrical one-way valve.
•They are made from a large variety of materials including silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, silicon carbide …
Slide 27
•In effect, diodes act like a flapper valve
§Note: this is the simplest possible model of a diode
Slide 28
•For the flapper valve, a small positive pressure is required to open.
•Likewise, for a diode, a small positive voltage is required to turn it on. This voltage is like the voltage required to power some electrical device. It is used up turning the device on so the voltages at the two ends of the diode will differ.
§The voltage required to turn on a diode is typically around 0.6-0.8 volt for a standard silicon diode and a few volts for a light emitting diode (LED)
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