From the course: Electronics Foundations: Semiconductor Devices
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What is a diode?
From the course: Electronics Foundations: Semiconductor Devices
What is a diode?
- [Instructor] The simplest semiconductor component is called a diode, which consists of a piece of in N-Type and a piece of P-Type material joined together. The junction between those two different types of materials behaves in a way that allows electrons to easily pass from the N-Type region to the P-Type region with just a small amount of voltage to push them. But if the direction of that voltage is reversed, the diode makes it very difficult for electrons to flow in the other direction, from P to N. The electrons need a lot of voltage to push them the other way. To use a diode, you don't need to understand why the P-N junction behaves that way and the low-level physics that are going on here. So for this course, I'm just going to focus on how to use diodes for practical applications. I like to think of a diode like a turnstile that you might encounter at the entrance to a sports stadium or a subway. People pass…
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