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The real voice filter



use this simple circuit betveen amplifier stage and pre-amplifier stage. feel the difference this is real effective.

Low cost more useful power amplifier using LM386

The LM386 is a power amplifier designed for use in low voltage consumer applications.
Features
Battery operation
Minimum external parts
Wide supply voltage range: 4V-12V or 5V-18V
Low quiescent current drain: 4mA
Voltage gains from 20 to 200

Stereo preamplifier using LM381

Low Noise Dual Preamplifier

 The LM381/LM381A is a dual preamplifier for the amplification of low level signals in applications requiring optimum noise performance. Each of the two amplifiers is completely independent, with individual internal power supply decoupler-regulator, providing 120 dB supply rejection and 60 dB channel separation. Other outstanding features include high gain (112 dB), large output voltage swing (VCC - 2V) p-p, and wide power bandwidth (75 kHz, 20 Vp-p). The LM381/LM381A operates from a single supply across the wide range of 9V to 40V.


Features

Low noise - 0.5 µV total input noise
High gain - 112 dB open loop
Single supply operation
Wide supply range 9V-40V
Power supply rejection - 120 dB
Large output voltage swing (VCC - 2V)p-p
Wide bandwidth 15 MHz unity gain
Power bandwidth 75 kHz, 20 Vp-p
Internally compensated
Short circuit protected





Varicap Diode

A varicap diode is a type of diode which has a variable capacitance that is a function of the voltage impressed on its terminals.










Varactors are operated reverse-biased so no current flows, but since the thickness of the depletion zone varies with the applied bias voltage, the capacitance of the diode can be made to vary. Generally, the depletion region thickness is proportional to the square root of the applied voltage; and capacitance is inversely proportional to the depletion region thickness. Thus, the capacitance is inversely proportional to the square root of applied voltage.

varicap diodes are a particularly useful form of semiconductor diode. Finding uses in many applications where electronically controlled tuning of resonant circuits is required, for items such as oscillators and filters,

Zener diode



Zener diode is a type of diode that permits current in the forward direction like a normal diode, but also in the reverse direction if the voltage is larger than the breakdown voltage known as "Zener knee voltage" or "Zener voltage".

















A reverse-biased Zener diode will exhibit a controlled breakdown and allow the current to keep the voltage across the Zener diode at the Zener voltage. For example, a diode with a Zener breakdown voltage of 5.1 V will exhibit a voltage drop of 5.1 V if reverse bias voltage applied across it is more than its Zener voltage. However, the current is not unlimited, so the Zener diode is typically used to generate a reference voltage for an amplifier stage, or as a voltage stabilizer for low-current applications.

Zener Diode Voltage Regulator Circuit

 A zener diode can be used to make a simple voltage regulation circuit as pictured above. The output voltage is fixed at the zener voltage of the zener diode used and so can be used to power devices requiring a fixed voltage.

PCB Artist 1.3.1

PCB Artist is a user friendly, fully integrated schematic capture & Free PCB Layout Software that you will find easy to use. You can download PCB Artist and install the product at no charge and start designing you PCB design almost immediately. Once complete, your files are saved to your computer, or you can upload and send to us for order placement. There are tutorials to get started and Gerber files are available with your order.

Capacitors

Capacitors are common components of electronic circuits, used almost as frequently as resistors. The basic difference between the two is the fact that capacitor resistance (called reactance) depends on the frequency of the signal passing through the item. The symbol for reactance is Xc and it can be calculated using the following formula:



f representing the frequency in Hz and C representing the capacitance in Farads.

A capacitor has an infinitely high reactance for direct current, because f=0.

Capacitors are used in circuits for many different purposes. They are common components of filters, oscillators, power supplies, amplifiers, etc.

The basic characteristic of a capacitor is its capacity -  the higher the capacity, the higher is the amount of electricity it  can hold. Capacity is measured in Farads (F). As one Farad represents fairly high capacity, smaller values such as microfarad (µF), nanofarad (nF) and picofarad (pF) are commonly used. As a reminder, relations between units are:

                                                1F=106µF=109nF=1012pF,
Capacitors come in various shapes and sizes, depending on their capacity, working voltage, type of insulation, temperature coefficient and other factors


Capacitor types



Electrolytic
Electrolytic capacitors are Made of electrolyte, basically conductive salt in solvent. Aluminum electrodes are used by using a thin oxidation membrane. Most common type, polarized capacitor.most used Ripple filters, timing circuits. Cheap, readily available, good for storage of charge (energy). Not very accurate, marginal electrical properties, leakage, drifting, not suitable for use in HF (High Frequency) circuits, available in very small or very large values in uF.
The most important characteristic of electrolytic capacitors is that they have polarity. They have a positive and a negative electrode. This means that it is very important which way round they are connected. they will explode if the rated working voltage is exceeded or polarity is reversed, so be careful.




Tantalum
Made of Tantalum Pentoxide. They are electrolytic capacitors but used with a material called tantalum for the electrodes. Superior to electrolytic capacitors, excellent temperature and frequency characteristics. When tantalum powder is baked in order to solidify it, a crack forms inside. An electric charge can be stored on this crack. Like electrolytic, tantalum's are polarized so watch the '+' and '-' indicators. Tantalum capacitors are a little bit more expensive than aluminum electrolytic capacitors. Capacitance can change with temperature as well as frequency, and these types are very stable. Therefore, tantalum capacitors are used for circuits which demand high stability in the capacitance values. Also, it is said to be common sense to use tantalum capacitors for analog signal systems, because the current-spike noise that occurs with aluminum electrolytic capacitors does not appear. Aluminum electrolytic capacitors are fine if you don't use them for circuits which need the high stability characteristics of tantalum capacitors.

 Polyester Film
This capacitor uses a thin polyester film as a dielectric. Not as high a tolerance as polypropylene, but cheap and handy, temperature stable, readily available, widely used. Tolerance is approx 5% to 10%. Can be quite large depending on capacity or rated voltage and so may not be suitable for all applications. Temperature stability is poorer than paper capacitors. Usable at low (AC power) frequencies, but inappropriate for RF applications due to excessive dielectric heating.


Polypropylene
This capacitor uses thin polyester film as the dielectric.They are not high tolerance, but they are cheap and handy.No polarity, mainly used when a higher tolerance is needed then polyester caps can offer. This polypropylene film is the dielectric.Very little change in capacitance when these capacitors are used in applications within frequency range 100KHz. Tolerance is about 1%.
Very small values are available.


 Polystyrene  
No polarity, is used as a dielectric. Constructed like a coil inside so not suitable for high frequency applications. Well used in filter circuits or timing applications using a couple hundred KHz or less. Electrodes may be reddish of color because of copper leaf used or silver when aluminum foil is used for electrodes.
Excellent general purpose plastic film capacitor. Excellent stability, low moisture pick-up and a slightly negative temperature coefficient that can be used to match the positive temperature co-efficient of other components. Ideal for low power RF and precision analog applications
 




 Metalized Polyester Film
No polarity, dielectric made of Polyester or DuPont trade name "Mylar". Good quality, low drift, temperature stable. Because the electrodes are thin they can be made very very small. Good all-round capacitor.Care is necessary, because the component lead easily breaks off from these capacitors. Once lead has come off, there is no way to fix it. It must be discarded.

Ceramic
constructed with materials such as titanium acid barium for dielectric. Internally these capacitors are not constructed as a coil, so they are well suited for use in high frequency applications. Typically used to by-pass high frequency signals to ground. They are shaped like a disk, available in very small capacitance values and very small sizes. Together with the electrolytic the most widely available and used capacitor around. Comes in very small size and value, very cheap, reliable. Subject to drifting depending on ambient temperature. NPO types are the temperature stable types. They are identified by a black stripe on top.



 Epoxy
Manufactured using an epoxy dipped polymers as a protective coating. Widely available, stable, cheap. Can be quite large depending on capacity or rated voltage and so may not be suitable for all applications.


Multilayer Ceramic
Dielectric is made up of many layers. Small in size, very good temperature stability, excellent frequency stable characteristics. Used in applications to filter or bypass the high frequency to ground. They don't have a polarity. Multilayer caps suffer from high-Q internal (parallel) resonances - generally in the VHF range. The CK05 style 0.1uF/50V caps for example resonate around 30MHz. The effect of this resonance is effectively no apparent capacitance near the resonant frequency.
As with all ceramic capacitors, be careful bending the legs or spreading them apart to close to the disc body or they may get damaged.





Silver-Mica
Mica is used as a dielectric. Used in resonance circuits, frequency filters, and military RF applications.
Highly stable, good temperature coefficient, excellent for endurance because of their frequency characteristics, no large values, high voltage types available, can be expensive but worth the extra dimes.the dielectric material (mica) is inert. It does not change physically or chemically with age and it has good temperature stability. Very resistant to corona damage Silver mica capacitors have the above mentioned advantages. In addition, they have much reduced moisture infiltration.Higher cost



Adjustable Capacitors 
these capacitors have a rotating plate (which can be rotated to change the capacitance) separated from a fixed plate by a dielectric medium Also called trimmer capacitors or variable capacitors. It uses ceramic or plastic as a dielectric.
Most of them are color coded to easily recognize their tunable size. The ceramic type has the value printed on them.
Colors are: yellow (5pF), blue (7pF), white (10pF), green (30pF), brown (60pf).


 Tuning or 'air-core' capacitors.
A variable capacitor is a capacitor whose capacitance may be intentionally and repeatedly changed mechanically or electronically. Variable capacitors are often used in L/C circuits to set the resonance frequency, e.g. to tune a radio (therefore they are sometimes called tuning capacitors), or as a variable reactance, They use the surrounding air as a dielectric.


Paper Capacitors
Dielectric used Paper or oil-impregnated paper.Impregnated paper was extensively used for older capacitors, using wax, oil, or epoxy as an impregnant. Oil-Kraft paper capacitors are still used in certain high voltage applications. Has mostly been replaced by plastic film capacitors.Large size. Also, paper is highly hygroscopic, absorbing moisture from the atmosphere despite plastic enclosures and impregnates. Absorbed moisture degrades performance by increasing dielectric losses (power factor) and decreasing insulation resistance.
 
 Glass Capacitors
Similar to Mica Capacitors. Stability and frequency characteristics are better than silver mica capacitors. Ultra-reliable, ultra-stable, and resistant to nuclear radiation.High cost.


Lithium Ion Capacitors

Dielectric used Lithium ion.The Lithium Ion Capacitors have a higher Power Density as compared to batteries and LIC’s are safer in use than LIB’s in which thermal runaway reactions may occur. Compared to Electric Double Layer Capacitor (EDLC), the LIC has a higher output voltage. They both have similar Power Densities, but Energy Density of an LIC is much higher.

Electrolytic double-layer capacitors (EDLC) Supercapacitors 
Dielectric used Thin Electrolyte layer and Activated Carbon.Extremely large capacitance to volume ratio, small size, low ESR. Available in hundreds, or thousands, of farads. A relatively new capacitor technology. Often used to temporarily provide power to equipment during battery replacement. Can rapidly absorb and deliver larger currents than batteries during charging and discharging, making them valuable for hybrid vehicles. Polarized, low operating voltage (volts per capacitor cell). Groups of cells are stacked to provide higher overall operating voltage.



Vacuum Capacitors
Vacuum capacitors use highly evacuated glass or ceramic chamber with concentric cylindrical electrodes.     Extremely low loss. Used for high voltage high power RF applications, such as transmitters and induction heating where even a small amount of dielectric loss would cause excessive heating. Can be self-healing if arc-over current is limited.






Symbols for capacitors


Series or parallel arrangements  
For capacitors in parallel
Capacitors in a parallel configuration each have the same potential difference (voltage). Their total capacitance (Ceq) is given by:   







The reason for putting capacitors in parallel is to increase the total amount of charge stored. In other words, increasing the capacitance also increases the amount of energy that can be stored.

For capacitors in series
The current through capacitors in series stays the same, but the voltage across each capacitor can be different. The sum of the potential differences (voltage) is equal to the total voltage. Their total capacitance is given by:

  Capacitors are combined in series to achieve a higher working voltage, for example for smoothing a high voltage power supply. The voltage ratings, which are based on plate separation, add up. In such an application, several series connections may in turn be connected in parallel, forming a matrix. The goal is to maximize the energy storage utility of each capacitor without overloading it.
 Series connection is also used to adapt electrolytic capacitors for AC use. 



Resistors


Resistors are unquestionably the most commonly used circuit components. They are found in almost every electrical and electronic schematic diagram. Resistors are appropriately named in that they are designed to "resist" the flow of electrical current.

the type of resistors....

Carbon composition
 Carbon composition resistors consist of a solid cylindrical resistive element with embedded wire leads or metal end caps to which the lead wires are attached. The body of the resistor is protected with paint or plastic.the lead wires were wrapped around the ends of the resistance element rod and soldered. The completed resistor was painted for color coding of its value.

The resistive element is made from a mixture of finely ground (powdered) carbon and an insulating material (usually ceramic). A resin holds the mixture together. The resistance is determined by the ratio of the fill material (the powdered ceramic) to the carbon. Higher concentrations of carbon, a weak conductor, result in lower resistance.

*carbon composition resistors will change value when stressed with over-voltages*

They are still available, but comparatively quite costly. Values ranged from fractions of an ohm to 22 meg ohms.

Carbon film
 A carbon film is deposited on an insulating substrate, and a helix cut in it to create a long, narrow resistive path. Varying shapes, coupled with the resistivity of carbon, (ranging from 90 to 400 nΩm) can provide a variety of resistances.Carbon film resistors feature a power rating range of 0.125 W to 5 W at 70 °C. Resistances available range from 1 ohm to 10 megohm. The carbon film resistor can operate between temperatures of -55 °C to 155 °C. It has 200 to 600 volts maximum working voltage range.

Thick and thin film
Most SMD (surface mount device) resistors today are of this type. The principal difference between thin film and thick film resistors is not the actual thickness of the film, but rather how the film is applied to the cylinder (axial resistors) or the surface (SMD resistors).

Thin film resistors are made by sputtering (a method of vacuum deposition) the resistive material onto an insulating substrate. The film is then etched in a similar manner to the old (subtractive) process for making printed circuit boards; that is, the surface is coated with a photo-sensitive material, then covered by a pattern film, irradiated with ultraviolet light, and then the exposed photo-sensitive coating is developed, and underlying thin film is etched away.

Because the time during which the sputtering is performed can be controlled, the thickness of the thin film can be accurately controlled. The type of material is also usually different consisting of one or more ceramic (cermet) conductors such as tantalum nitride (TaN), ruthenium dioxide (RuO2), lead oxide (PbO), bismuth ruthenate (Bi2Ru2O7), nickel chromium (NiCr), and/or bismuth iridate (Bi2Ir2O7).

The resistance of both thin and thick film resistors after manufacture is not highly accurate; they are usually trimmed to an accurate value by abrasive or laser trimming. Thin film resistors are usually specified with tolerances of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, or 1%, and with temperature coefficients of 5 to 25 ppm/K.

Thick film resistors may use the same conductive ceramics, but they are mixed with sintered (powdered) glass and some kind of liquid so that the composite can be screen-printed. This composite of glass and conductive ceramic (cermet) material is then fused (baked) in an oven at about 850 °C.

Thick film resistors, when first manufactured, had tolerances of 5%, but standard tolerances have improved to 2% or 1% in the last few decades. Temperature coefficients of thick film resistors are high, typically ±200 or ±250 ppm/K; a 40 kelvin (70 °F) temperature change can change the resistance by 1%.

Thin film resistors are usually far more expensive than thick film resistors. For example, SMD thin film resistors, with 0.5% tolerances, and with 25 ppm/K temperature coefficients, when bought in full size reel quantities, are about twice the cost of 1%, 250 ppm/K thick film resistors.

Metal film
 Metal film resistors are usually coated with nickel chromium (NiCr), but might be coated with any of the cermet materials listed above for thin film resistors. Unlike thin film resistors, the material may be applied using different techniques than sputtering (though that is one such technique). Also, unlike thin-film resistors, the resistance value is determined by cutting a helix through the coating rather than by etching. (This is similar to the way carbon resistors are made.) The result is a reasonable tolerance (0.5, 1, or 2%) and a temperature coefficient of (usually) 25 or 50 ppm/K.

Wire wound
 Wire wound resistors are commonly made by winding a metal wire, usually nichrome, around a ceramic, plastic, or fiberglass core. The ends of the wire are soldered or welded to two caps or rings, attached to the ends of the core. The assembly is protected with a layer of paint, molded plastic, or an enamel coating baked at high temperature. Wire leads in low power wire wound resistors are usually between 0.6 and 0.8 mm in diameter and tinned for ease of soldering. For higher power wire wound resistors, either a ceramic outer case or an aluminum outer case on top of an insulating layer is used. The aluminum-cased types are designed to be attached to a heat sink to dissipate the heat; the rated power is dependent on being used with a suitable heat sink, e.g., a 50 W power rated resistor will overheat at a fraction of the power dissipation if not used with a heat sink. Large wire wound resistors may be rated for 1,000 watts or more.

Because wire wound resistors are coils they have more undesirable inductance than other types of resistor, although winding the wire in sections with alternately reversed direction can minimize inductance.

Foil resistor
The primary resistance element of a foil resistor is a special alloy foil several micrometres thick. Since their introduction in the 1960s, foil resistors have had the best precision and stability of any resistor available. One of the important parameters influencing stability is the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR). The TCR of foil resistors is extremely low, and has been further improved over the years. One range of ultra-precision foil resistors offers a TCR of 0.14 ppm/°C, tolerance ±0.005%, long-term stability (1 year) 25 ppm, (3 year) 50 ppm (further improved 5-fold by hermetic sealing), stability under load (2000 hours) 0.03%, thermal EMF 0.1 μV/°C, noise -42 dB, voltage coefficient 0.1 ppm/V, inductance 0.08 μH, capacitance 0.5 pF
Ammeter shunts
 An ammeter shunt is a special type of current-sensing resistor, having four terminals and a value in milliohms or even micro-ohms. Current-measuring instruments, by themselves, can usually accept only limited currents. To measure high currents, the current passes through the shunt, where the voltage drop is measured and interpreted as current. A typical shunt consists of two solid metal blocks, sometimes brass, mounted on to an insulating base. Between the blocks, and soldered or brazed to them, are one or more strips of low temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) manganin alloy. Large bolts threaded into the blocks make the current connections, while much-smaller screws provide voltage connections. Shunts are rated by full-scale current, and often have a voltage drop of 50 mV at rated current.

Grid resistor
 In heavy-duty industrial high-current applications, a grid resistor is a large convection-cooled lattice of stamped metal alloy strips connected in rows between two electrodes. Such industrial grade resistors can be as large as a refrigerator; some designs can handle over 500 amperes of current, with a range of resistances extending lower than 0.04 ohms. They are used in applications such as dynamic braking and load banking for locomotives and trams, neutral grounding for industrial AC distribution, control loads for cranes and heavy equipment, load testing of generators and harmonic filtering for electric substations

Hire is the symbol,

  The resistor is generally labeled by the letter "R" followed by a number, e.g., R1, R2, etc. The resistance value, measured in ohms, may also be indicated. If the resistance is not indicated, you can determine it by observing the color coding used on most resistors.

Color Code for Resistors.





 
Series and parallel resistors

Resistors in a parallel configuration each have the same potential difference (voltage). To find their total equivalent resistance




The current through resistors in series stays the same, but the voltage across each resistor can be different. The sum of the potential differences (voltage) is equal to the total voltage.To find their total resistance:
 

 

 
 




Electronics Workbench Multisim (Education Version)

Multisim, the latest release of the Electronics Workbench flagship product, delivers intuitive schematic capture, accurate simulation and analysis, along with programmable logic. It provides industry-leading power with all the features and functionality instructors demand in an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use package.

Educators can prepare and present interactive circuits, change values 'on-the-fly' and demonstrate the changing electrical behavior of a circuit with virtual instruments. The complex math and theory of electronics is simplified and brought to life through design, simulation and experimentation. Students can create circuits, analyze pre-built circuits, work through virtual laboratory assignments, simulate circuit behavior and troubleshoot for faults. Teachers can customize their circuits using Multisim's powerful "Teacher Features" including the ability to build faulted components into a circuit and to password protect access to components, instruments, and analyzes.
Education Version available as a single copy installation for instructor use or as a standalone or networked lab version for integration as the virtual lab in your course.
Student Version an inexpensive student version intended for use on home computers.
Corporate Training Version similar to our educational version, the corporate training version is intended for use in corporate training environments.

try here

Electronic Design Studio

Electronic Design Studio 3.1 is a CAD Software product from quickroute.co.uk, get 4 Stars SoftSea Rating, Electronic Design Studio 3 (EDS) is an integrated Electronic Design Automation tool. Project and netlist navigators let you move around your project easily, and the comprehensive range of tools, including the fast strong Viper II autorouter and new Desk Top Manufacture (DTM) mean that you can spend less time swapping between packages and more time designing.he latest version is 3.1, you can download this cad software software (14.2 MB) from special server of SoftSea.com. The license of this design software is Free Trial Software, the price is $119.00, you can free download and get a free trial before you buy. If you want to get a full or nolimited version of Electronic Design Studio, you can buy this design software.

reference and download  http://www.softsea.com/review/Electronic-Design-Studio.html

A Digital Circuit Simulator

You can use DCD to simulate digital circuits using basic gates like AND, OR, NOT, NAND, Flip Flops (JK, SR, T) and many pre-built integrated circuits. This program comes with many pre-built demostration circuits like seven segment displays, RAM chip simulations, digital clock circuits etc


Circuit Shop 2.06


Publisher's description

Circuit Shop is a graphical CAD tool to allow simple digital and analog electronic circuits to be constructed and analyzed. It includes: Drawing tools to construct simple electronic circuit schematics consisting of digital and analog devices such as logic gates, flip-flops, op amps, dependent sources, ICs and transistors. Version 2.06 features updated help, improved drawing behaviour, and a library of audio visual component custom symbols.

download

CircuitMaker Student Edition


CircuitMaker Student Edition is a free download, although it is no longer supported by the original developer.  It still works fine under Windows XP.

download 

 This new Student Version of CircuitMaker will be a great asset to those studying electronics, engineering, physics and even math, because it gives students access to industry-level circuit design and simulation for free,? said Russell Arnold, director of sales and marketing at MicroCode. ?Using CircuitMaker, students can design electronic circuits, then test and troubleshoot them right on the computer. There are no expensive parts or equipment to buy, and they can make changes to their circuits and see the results instantly.

The CircuitMaker software provides a ?Virtual Electronics Lab?? where users can freely experiment with electronic circuits and learn how to create working electronic devices. Users can design basic to advanced circuits, like those used in radios, TVs and computers. The software provides a comprehensive library of devices to choose from, and has various ?virtual instruments? like oscilloscopes and multimeters that allow users to measure, test and troubleshoot the circuits they create


Rectification

Simply defined, rectification is the conversion of alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). This almost always involves the use of some device that only allows one-way flow of electrons. As we have seen, this is exactly what a semiconductor diode does. The simplest type of rectifier circuit is the half-wave rectifier, so called because it only allows one half of an AC waveform to pass through to the load.
For most power applications, half-wave rectification is insufficient for the task. The harmonic content of the rectifier's output waveform is very large and consequently difficult to filter. Further more, AC power source only works to supply power to the load once every half-cycle, meaning that much of its capacity is unused. Half-wave rectification is, however, a very simple way to reduce power to a resistive load.


Full-wave rectifier circuit
(Center-tap design)



This circuit's operation is easily understood one half-cycle at a time. Consider the first half-cycle, when the source voltage polarity is positive (+) on top and negative (-) on bottom. At this time, only the top diode is conducting; the bottom diode is blocking current, and the load "sees" the first half of the sine wave, positive on top and negative on bottom. Only the top half of the transformer's secondary winding carries current during this half-cycle,

During the next half-cycle, the AC polarity reverses. Now, the other diode and the other half of the transformer's secondary winding carry current while the portions of the circuit formerly carrying current during the last half-cycle sit idle. The load still "sees" half of a sine wave, of the same polarity as before: positive on top and negative on bottom:


Full-wave rectifier circuit
(Bridge design)


Current directions in the full-wave bridge rectifier circuit are as follows for each half-cycle of the
AC waveform

Semiconductor diode

A diode is an electrical device allowing current to move through it in one direction with far greater ease than in the other. The most common type of diode in modern circuit design is the semiconductor diode, although other diode technologies exist. Semiconductor diodes are symbolized in schematic diagrams as such:


Permitted direction of electron flow


When placed in a simple battery-lamp circuit, the diode will either allow or prevent current through the lamp, depending on the polarity of the applied voltag Current permitted -Diode is forward-biased



Current prohibited -Diode is reverse-biased




When the polarity of the battery is such that electrons are allowed to flow through the diode, the diode is said to be forward-biased. Conversely, when the battery is "backward" and the diode blocks current, the diode is said to be reverse-biased. A diode may be thought of as a kind of switch: "closed" when forward-biased and "open" when reverse-biased.






For silicon diodes, the typical forward voltage is 0.7 volts, nominal. For germanium diodes, the forward voltage is only 0.3 volts. The chemical constituency of the P-N junction comprising the diode accounts for its nominal forward voltage figure, which is why silicon and germanium diodes have such different forward voltages. Forward voltage drop remains approximately equal for a wide range of diode currents, meaning that diode voltage drop not like that of a resistor or even a normal (closed) switch. For most purposes of circuit analysis, it may be assumed that the voltage drop across a conducting diode remains constant at the nominal figure and is not related to the amount of current going through it.


A diode's maximum reverse-bias voltage rating is known as the Peak Inverse Voltage, or PIV, and may be obtained from the manufacturer. Like forward voltage, the PIV rating of a diode varies with temperature, except that PIV increases with increased temperature and decreases as the diode becomes cooler exactly opposite that of forward voltage.



Typically, the PIV rating of a generic "rectifier" diode is at least 50 volts at room temperature.
Diodes with PIV ratings in the many thousands of volts are available for modest prices.


REVIEW:

A diode is an electrical component acting as a one-way valve for current.

When voltage is applied across a diode in such a way that the diode allows current, the diode is said to be forward-biased.

When voltage is applied across a diode in such a way that the diode prohibits current, the diode is said to be reverse-biased.

The voltage dropped across a conducting, forward-biased diode is called the forward voltage.
Forward voltage for a diode varies only slightly for changes in forward current and temperature, and is fixed principally by the chemical composition of the P-N junction.

Silicon diodes have a forward voltage of approximately 0.7 volts.

Germanium diodes have a forward voltage of approximately 0.3 volts.

The maximum reverse-bias voltage that a diode can withstand without "breaking down" is called the Peak Inverse Voltage, or PIV rating.