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Word Origin and Invention Origin David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Although the crystal diode was popularized before the thermionic Wikipedia:
Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. (vacuum tube) David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again. diode, thermionic and solid state diodes were developed in parallel. The principle of operation of thermionic diodes was discovered by Frederick Guthrie in 1873. The principle of operation of crystal diodes was discovered in 1874 by the German scientist, Karl Ferdinand Braun. Wikipedia:
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Thermionic diode principles were rediscovered by Thomas Edison on February 13, 1880 and he was awarded a patent in 1883 (U.S. Patent 307,031 ), but developed the idea no further. Braun patented the crystal rectifier in 1899. Braun's discovery was further developed by Jagdish Chandra Bose into a useful device for radio detection. Wikipedia:
Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. Hobby stores today still sell crystal radio sets that use a crystal diode to demodulate (extract) the audio signals from AM radio waves. David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

At the time of their invention, such devices were known as rectifiers. In 1919, William Henry Eccles coined the term diode from Greek roots; di means "two", and ode (from odos) means "path". Wikipedia:
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Then, in 1947, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley at Bell Laboratories invented the first modern bipolar diode made out of semiconducting materials, and with semiconducting devices came the beginning of the modern electronics industry. David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Synonyms: valve, rectifier David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Simple Explanation David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Diodes are one-way electrical valves; they allow current to flow in one direction, and block current in the opposite direction. But really, modern semiconductor diodes are much more than that. David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Semiconductor diodes are the most basic of the semiconducting devices. David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Some diodes produce light, some generate current when light hits them, some diodes have negative resistance, and some emit laser light; but mostly, diodes are all very cool. David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Diodes have variable resistance. Once a diode hits its “on” voltage and begins conducting electricity, the diode's resistance changes with the current so that the voltage drop from front to back stays relatively consistent – this is very handy. David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

There are many different diode formulations with different properties to choose from. David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Kinds and their Uses David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

• Point Contact Detector (or Point Contact) Diode – Based on some of the earliest mass-produced crystal diode designs, these diodes remain in use because they are capable of operating at much higher frequencies than other kinds: in UHF, through the microwave range, and up to 16 GHz. Used for radar and other high frequency applications. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Thermionic Diode – Also called vacuum tube diodes, or valves, these large and cumbersome devices made sophisticated electronics possible and were very popular before modern diodes appeared. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again. Today, valve diodes are only used in niche applications, such as rectifiers in guitar and hi-fi valve amplifiers, and specialized high-voltage equipment. Wikipedia:
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• P-N Junction Diode – The vast majority of modern semiconducting diodes, these are usually made with silicon, and occasionally germanium. Most diodes today are variations of P-N Junction diodes. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Avalanche diodes – Diodes that conduct in the reverse direction when the reverse bias voltage exceeds the breakdown voltage. These are electrically very similar to Zener diodes, and are often mistakenly called Zener diodes, but break down by a different mechanism, the avalanche effect. Wikipedia:
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• Constant current diodes – These are actually a JFET transistor with the gate shorted to the source, and function like a two-terminal current-limiter analog to the Zener diode, which is limiting voltage. They allow a current through them to rise to a certain value, and then level off at a specific value. Also called CLDs, constant-current diodes, diode-connected transistors, or current-regulating diodes. Wikipedia:
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• Esaki or tunnel diodes – These have a region of operation showing negative resistance caused by quantum tunneling, thus allowing amplification of signals and very simple bistable circuits. These diodes are also the type most resistant to nuclear radiation. Wikipedia:
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• Gunn diodes – These are similar to tunnel diodes in that they are made of materials such as GaAs or InP that exhibit a region of negative differential resistance. With appropriate biasing these diodes can be used to build high frequency microwave oscillators. Wikipedia:
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• Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) – Atoms in these diodes emit light as electrons are carried across the p-n junction. Depending on the material, different colors are produced, and the front to back (“forward”) voltage drop depends on the color. If you run current backwards (“reverse current”) through these diodes they will often be destroyed, so be careful. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Laser diodes – When an LED-like structure is contained in a resonant cavity formed by polishing the parallel end faces, a laser can be formed. Laser diodes are commonly used in optical storage devices and for high speed optical communication, Wikipedia:
  Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. like fiber-optic lines. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Peltier diodes – Used as sensors, Wikipedia:
  Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. and David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again. heat engines for thermoelectric cooling. Wikipedia:
  Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. These diodes can absorb and/or emit heat like a heat-pump air-conditioning unit, though on a much smaller scale. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Photodiodes – All semiconductors are sensitive to light and are often packaged in light-blocking material, but photodiodes capitalize on this property and are used to sense light. Photodiodes are David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again. Photodiodes are used in solar cells, in photometry, Wikipedia:
  Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. and David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again. in optical communications. Wikipedia:
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• PIN diodes – A PIN diode has a central un-doped, or intrinsic, layer, forming a p-type/intrinsic/n-type structure. They are used as radio frequency switches and attenuators. They are also used as large volume ionizing radiation detectors and as photodetectors. PIN diodes are also used in power electronics, as their central layer can withstand high voltages. Wikipedia:
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• Gold-doped diodes – David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again. These diodes are faster than regular p-n junction diodes, but not as fast as Schottky diodes. A typical example is the 1N914. Wikipedia:
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• Snap-off or Step recovery diodes – The term ‘step recovery’ relates to the form of the reverse recovery characteristic of these devices. After a forward current has been passing in an SRD and the current is interrupted or reversed, the reverse conduction will cease very abruptly (as in a step waveform). SRDs can therefore provide very fast voltage transitions. Wikipedia:
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• Transient voltage suppression diode (TVS) – These are avalanche diodes designed specifically to protect other semiconductor devices from high-voltage spikes. Their p-n junctions have a much larger cross-sectional area than those of a normal diode, allowing them to conduct large currents to ground without sustaining damage. Wikipedia:
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• Varicap or varactor diodes – These are used as voltage-controlled variable capacitors, and allow tuning circuits, such as those in television receivers, to lock quickly, replacing older designs that took a long time to warm up and lock Wikipedia:
  Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. on a broadcast signal. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Zener diodes – Diodes that can be made to conduct backwards. This effect, called Zener breakdown, occurs at a precisely defined voltage, allowing the diode to be used as a precision voltage reference. Wikipedia:
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  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again. Some devices labeled as high-voltage Zener diodes are actually avalanche diodes. Two (equivalent) Zeners in series and in reverse order, in the same package, constitute a transient absorber (or Transorb, a registered trademark). The Zener diode is named for Dr. Clarence Melvin Zener of Southern Illinois University, inventor of the device. Wikipedia:
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• Schottky Diode – David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again. Schottky diodes are constructed from a metal to semiconductor contact. They have a lower forward voltage drop than p-n junction diodes. Their forward voltage drop at forward currents of about 1 mA is in the range 0.15 V to 0.45 V. Wikipedia:
  Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. Schottky diodes behave better than p-n junction diodes in high frequency applications like high-speed and radio frequency circuitry. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

Applications David Hazel:
David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.

• Radio demodulation – The first use for the diode was the demodulation of amplitude modulated (AM) radio broadcasts. Wikipedia:
  Undoubtedly, you already know how usefull wikipedia can be. Demodulation is how sound waves are extracted from the radio signal. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Power conversion – Rectifiers are constructed from diodes, where they are used to convert alternating current (AC) electricity into direct current (DC), Wikipedia:
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  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Over-voltage protection – Zener and Avalanche diodes are frequently used to protect sensitive circuitry from dangerously high voltages. The diodes are placed in reverse bias (backward) to ground. Then upon encountering their breakdown voltage the diodes “open up” like a pressure valve and begin shunting electricity out of the circuit. David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.
• Logic gates – Diodes can be combined with other components to construct AND and OR logic gates. This is referred to as diode logic. Wikipedia:
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• Temperature measuring – A diode can be used as a temperature measuring device, since the forward voltage drop across the diode depends on temperature. Wikipedia:
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• Current Steering – Diodes can be used to selectively allow current based on voltage differences; for instance, a backup power supply (such as a battery) can be connected into a larger system via a diode, and that backup supply will only be allowed to feed the system when the voltage in the system drops below the backup supply voltage. If you don't want current to flow in one direction, and you don\t mind if it flows in the opposite direction, then diodes are the way to go! David Hazel:
  David Hazel has been a key player for VCI since April of 2008. Not only is he a blast to have around the shop, but as our inhouse engineer, his knowledge and skill-sets have proven invaluable time and time again.