A diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts current primarily in one direction (asymmetric conductance); it has low (ideally zero) resistance in one direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other. A diode vacuum tube or thermionic diode is a vacuum tube with two electrodes, a heated cathode and a plate, in which electrons can flow in only one direction, from cathode to plate. A semiconductor diode, the most commonly used type today, is a crystalline piece of semiconductor material with a p–n junction connected to two electrical terminals. Semiconductor diodes were the first semiconductor electronic devices. The discovery of asymmetric electrical conduction across the contact between a crystalline mineral and a metal was made by German physicist Ferdinand Braun in 1874. Today, most diodes are made of silicon, but other semiconducting materials such as gallium arsenide and germanium are also used.
Related
Bluetooth
invented by Allan Kardec
Named after 10th-century Denmark king Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson
Float glass process
invented by Alastair Pilkington
Float glass is a sheet of glass made by floating molten glass on a bed of…
IBM 610
invented by IBM
The IBM 610 Auto-Point Computer is one of the first personal computers, in the…
Barcode
invented by Norman Joseph Woodland
A 10-pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum is the first product to…
Suggest an invention you think it should be here
About
Inventions that changed the world
Leave a Reply