1. The Tunnel Diode Tunnel diode is one of the most commonly used negative conductance devices.

This diode is a two terminal device. The concentration of dopants in both p and n region is very high. It is about 1024 - 1025 m-3 the p-n junction is also abrupt. For this reasons, the depletion layer width is very small. In the current voltage characteristics of tunnel diode, we can find a negative slope region when forward bias is applied. Quantum mechanical tunneling is responsible for the phenomenon and thus this device is named as tunnel diode.

V-I charateristics of the tunnel-diode

When reverse bias is applied the Fermi level of p-side becomes higher than the Fermi level of n-side. Hence, the tunneling of electrons from the balance band of p-side to the conduction band of n-side takes place. With the interments of the reverse bias the tunnel current also increases. When forward junction is a applied the Fermi level of n-side becomes higher that the Fermi level of p-side thus the tunneling of electrons from the n-side to p-side takes place. The amount of the tunnel current is very large than the normal junction current. When the forward bias is increased, the tunnel current is increased up to certain limit. When the band edge of n-side is same with the Fermi level in p-side the

tunnel current is maximum with the further increment in the forward bias the tunnel current decreases and we get the desired negative conduction region. When the forward bias is raised further, normal p-n junction current is obtained which is exponentially proportional to the applied voltage. The V - I characteristics of the tunnel diode is given

2. Backward Diode The Backward Diode uses much the same structure as the tunnel diode, but it has a different IV characteristic making it useful in a variety of applications. The backward diode, sometimes also called the back diode is a form of PN junction diode that is very similar to the tunnel diode in its operation.

Backward Diode

I-V characteristic of Backward Diode

A backward diode is a form of tunnel diode where one side of the junction is less heavily doped than the other. This doping profile results in a diode that shares a number of characteristics with the tunnel diode, but modifies others. It means that in the reverse direction, the tunnelling effect means that the diode has a characteristic similar to a normal forward biased PN junction diode. In the forward direction the tunnelling effect is much reduced and it follows virtually the same characteristic as a normal PN junction diode.

3. Zener Diode A Zener diode is a diode which allows current to flow in the forward direction in the same manner as an ideal diode, but also permits it to flow in the reverse direction when the voltage is above a certain value known as the breakdown voltage. The Zener diode's operation depends on the heavy doping of its p-n junction allowing electrons to tunnel from the valence band of the p-type material to the conduction band of the n-type material. In the atomic scale, this tunneling corresponds to the transport of valence band electrons into the empty conduction band states; as a result of the reduced barrier between these bands and high electric fields that are induced due to the relatively high levels of dopings on both sides.

4. Avalanche Diode In electronics, an avalanche diode is a diode (made from silicon or

other semiconductor) that is designed to go through avalanche breakdown at a specified reverse bias voltage. The junction of an avalanche diode is designed to prevent current concentration at hot spots, so that the diode is undamaged by the breakdown. The avalanche breakdown is due to minority carriers accelerated enough to create ionization in the crystal lattice, producing more

carriers which in turn create more ionization. Because the avalanche breakdown is uniform across the whole junction, the breakdown voltage is more nearly constant with changing current compared to a non-avalanche diode.

5. Varactor Diode A tuning diode, also known as a varactor diode, variable capacitance diode, varicap diode or variable reactance diode, is a diode that has a variable capacitance which is a function of the voltage that is impressed on its terminals. Tuning / varactor diodes are operated reverse-biased, and therefore no current flows. When varactor diode is reverse biased than the neutral region between P and N layers increases and when the reverse biasing is decreases thenthis neutral region is also decreased. From this, it is concluded that diode also has the capacity like a capacitor the difference is only that capacity in the capacitor varies due to dielectric between the two plates and in the diode capacity varies with the neutral region (junction barrier) thus dielectric region of the capacitor can be considered as neutral region of the diode and in this way diode can be considered as capacitor whose capacity change with the reverse voltage. All the diodes changes their capacity with the reverse voltage but some diodes are manufactured specially which changes their capacity with the reverse voltage of a definite capacity range. These varactor diodesare available from 20 pF To 500 pF value. These are mostly used for signal modulation and demodulation.

6. Field-Effect Transistor The Field Effect Transistor is a device which enables us to use one electrical signal to control another. The name transistor is a shortened version

of the original term, transfer resistor, which indicates how the device works. Most transistors have three connections. The voltage on (or current into/out of) one wire has the effect of controlling the ease with which current can move between the other two terminals. The effect is to make a resistance whose value can be altered by the input signal.

Transfer curves and I-V characteristic JFET

A given value of Gate voltage, the current is very nearly constant over a wide range of Source-to-Drain voltages. The control element for the JFET comes from depletion of charge carriers from the n-channel. When the Gate is made more negative, it depletes the majority carriers from a larger depletion zone around the gate. This reduces the current flow for a given value of Source-to-Drain voltage. Modulating the Gate voltage modulates the current flow through the device.