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Saturday, February 3, 2007

Rectification / Switching / Regulation Diode



The stripe stamped on one end of the diode shows indicates the polarity of the diode.
The stripe shows the cathode side.
The top two devices shown in the picture are diodes used for rectification. They are made to handle relatively high currents. The device on top can handle as high as 6A, and the one below it can safely handle up to 1A.
However, it is best used at about 70% of its rating because this current value is a maximum rating.
The third device from the top (red color) has a part number of 1S1588. This diode is used for switching, because it can switch on and off at very high speed. However, the maximum current it can handle is 120 mA. This makes it well suited to use within digital circuits. The maximum reverse voltage (reverse bias) this diode can handle is 30V.
The device at the bottom of the picture is a voltage regulation diode with a rating of 6V. When this type of diode is reverse biased, it will resist changes in voltage. If the input voltage is increased, the output voltage will not change. (Or any change will be an insignificant amount.) While the output voltage does not increase with an increase in input voltage, the output current will.
This requires some thought for a protection circuit so that too much current does not flow.
The rated current limit for the device is 30 mA.
Generally, a 3-terminal voltage regulator is used for the stabilization of a power supply. Therefore, this diode is typically used to protect the circuit from momentary voltage spikes. 3 terminal regulators use voltage regulation diodes inside.