☑ Germanium Diode Voltage Drop

Crystal radio receivers depend on the 1n34a germanium diodes rated forward voltage drop the amount of voltage before is starts to conduct of 3 volts. In the same way that silicon diodes need more voltage than germanium they hold a larger voltage drop.

Diodes Learn Sparkfun Com

Solved Germanium Ge Diodes Are Similar To Silicon Si

Diode Parallel Configuration Eeweb Community

Older germanium diodes had a larger leakage of current at a reverse voltage but now american microsemiconductor and others supply a range of improved low current leakage germanium diodes.

Germanium diode voltage drop. A germanium diode has a voltage drop of approximately 03v across its leads. As the current increases so does the voltage drop and vise versa. These are pn junction silicon types and not point contact germanium.

For a germanium device the reverse saturation current at 250c may be around 1 ma which is much larger than the reverse current for a silicon diode. It takes 07 volts to create a forward bias situation in a silicon diode. Citation needed.

Widely used for detecting the rectifying efficiency or for switching on a radio tv or stereo etc. Silicon diodes require more voltage to conduct current. However the voltage for the 1n34a diode is measured with a current around 10ma.

A germanium diode such as the 1n34 pictured above will typically have a forward voltage drop of just 03 volts which means they are much more efficient. The 1n34a germanium diode is an old standby in electronics. For example if you are feeding 3v into a circuit with a 1kw resistor the silicon diode will consume 062v while the germanium diode will consume 023v.

A germanium diode typically begins to conduct electric current when voltage properly applied across the diode reaches 03 volts. The value is different for other diode types schottky diodes can be rated as low as 02 v germanium diodes 025 to 03 v and red or blue light emitting diodes leds can have values of 14 v and 40 v respectively. A diode is a device that drops a specific voltage across its terminals.

It is necessary that a diode get this voltage so that the diode can conduct. The forward voltage drop of a germanium diode is typically 03 v compared to 07 v for silicon. In a small silicon diode operating at its rated currents the voltage drop is about 06 to 07 volts.

Silicon diodes are rated around 7 volts.