Difference between electrical and electronics?

The difference in practical terms is a matter of scale - note

also that electronics and electronic circuits depend heavily
on the devices you use (they act as "gates" or "switches"),
while electrical engineering is more about getting the
requisite current/voltage to the load (device agnostic).
DIODE (The P-N Junction)
The most fundamental and the simplest two terminal device
electronics device formed when one side of an intrinsic
semiconductor is doped with acceptor i.e, one side is made ptype by doping with n-type material, a p-n junction diode is
formed.It appeared in 1950s.
What is the main function of a diode?
The most common function of a diode is to allow an electric
current to pass in one direction (called the diode's forward
direction), while blocking current in the opposite direction
(the reverse direction). Thus, the diode can be viewed as an
electronic version of a check valve.
Some of the typical applications of diodes include?
Rectifying a voltage, such as turning AC in to DC voltages
Isolating signals from a supply 2)Voltage Reference
Controlling the size of a signal 4)Mixing signals
Detection signals 6)Lighting
Potential barrier
Is formed when P-type and N-type are mixed and electrons
move N-type region to P-type region. Potential barrier must
be overcome by an external voltage source to make the

junction conduct. The formation of the junction and

potential barrier happens during the manufacturing process.
The magnitude of the potential barrier is a function of the
materials used in manufacturing.
If the battery voltage is great enough to overcome the
junction potential (0.6V in Si), the N-type electrons and Pholes combine annihilating each other. This frees up space
within the lattice for more carriers to flow toward the
junction. Thus, currents of N-type and P-type majority
carriers flow toward the junction. The recombination at
the junction allows a battery current to flow through the
PN junction diode. Such a junction is said to be forward
biased.

.
If the battery polarity is reversed as in Figure above(b)
majority carriers are attracted away from the junction
toward the battery terminals. The positive battery terminal
attracts N-type majority carriers, electrons, away from the
junction. The negative terminal attracts P-type majority
carriers, holes, away from the junction. This increases the
thickness of the nonconducting depletion region. This
arrangement of battery polarity is called reverse bias.
The diode is a unidirectional device. Electron current only
flows in one direction, against the arrow, corresponding to
forward bias. The breakdown voltage of an insulator is the

minimum voltage that causes a portion of an insulator to

become electrically conductive. The breakdown voltage of a
diode is the minimum reverse voltage to make the diode
conduct in reverse.

If a diode is forward biased as in Figure above(a), current

will increase slightly as voltage is increased from 0 V. In the
case of a silicon diode a measurable current flows when the
voltage approaches 0.6 V in Figureabove(c). As the voltage
increases past 0.6 V, current increases considerably after the
knee. Increasing the voltage well beyond 0.7 V may result in
high enough current to destroy the diode. The forward
voltage, VF, is a characteristic of the semiconductor: 0.6 to
0.7 V for silicon, 0.2 V for germanium, a few volts for Light
Emitting Diodes (LED). The forward current ranges from a
few mA for point contact diodes to 100 mA for small signal
diodes to tens or thousands of amperes for power diodes.
If the diode is reverse biased, only the leakage current of
the intrinsic semiconductor flows. This is plotted to the left
of the origin in Figure above(c). This current will only be as

high as 1 A for the most extreme conditions for silicon

small signal diodes. This current does not increase
appreciably with increasing reverse bias until the diode
breaks down. At breakdown, the current increases so
greatly that the diode will be destroyed unless a high series
resistance limits current. We normally select a diode with a
higher reverse voltage rating than any applied voltage to
prevent this. Silicon diodes are typically available with
reverse break down ratings of 50, 100, 200, 400, 800 V and
higher. It is possible to fabricate diodes with a lower rating
of a few volts for use as voltage standards. Below is a
circuit of a diode connected in reverse biased. For all basic
purposes,leakage current is very small, and, thus, is
normally negligible. The leakage current only becomes
very serious when the diode'sreverse voltage reaches
breakdown, which causes an avalanche of current to flow.
We previously mentioned that the reverse leakage current
of under a A for silicon diodes was due to conduction of
the intrinsic semiconductor. This is the leakage that can be
explained by theory. Thermal energy produces few electron
hole pairs, which conduct leakage current until
recombination. In actual practice this predictable current
is only part of the leakage current. Much of the leakage
current is due to surface conduction, related to the lack of
cleanliness of the semiconductor surface. Both leakage
currents increase with increasing temperature,
approaching a A for small silicon diodes.
For germanium, the leakage current is orders of magnitude
higher. Since germanium semiconductors are rarely used
today, this is not a problem in practice.

TYPES OF DIODES

What is a Zener Diode?

Zener diodes are a special kind of diode which permits
current to flow in the forward direction Zener diodes will
also allow current to flow in the reverse direction when the
voltage is above a certain value. This breakdown voltage is
known as the Zener voltage. Zener diodes are designed in a
way where the Zener voltage is a much lower value. There is
a controlled breakdown which does not damage the diode
when a reverse current above the Zener voltage passes
through a Zener diode.it is a over voltage protector.
Applications for Zener Diodes:
voltage stabilizers or regulators (in shunt mode), surge
suppressors for device protection, peak clippers, switching
operations, reference elements and in meter protection
applications.

PHOTODIODE
A photodiode is a kind of light detector, which involves the
conversion of light into voltage or current, based on the
mode of operation of the device.It consists of built-in lenses
and optical filters, and has small or large surface areas. With
an increase in their surface areas, photodiodes have a slower
response time. Conventional solar cells, used for generating
electric solar power, are a typical photodiode with a large
surface area. A photodiode is a semi-conductor device, with a
p-n junction and an intrinsic layer between p and n layers. It
produces photocurrent by generating electron-hole pairs,
due to the absorption of light in the intrinsic or depletion
region.
Avalanche photodiode structural configuration is very
similar to the PIN photodiode. A PIN photodiode consists of
three regions- a) p- region, b) intrinsic region, c) n-region.
The difference is that reverse bias applied is very large to
cause impact ionization. For silicon as the sc material, a
diode will need between 100 to 200 volts. Firstly electronhole pairs are generated by photon absorption in the
depletion region. These generate more electron hole pairs
through impact ionization. These are swept out of the
depletion region quickly, i.e, the transit time is very less.
PIN photodiode is a kind of photo detector, it can convert
optical signals into electrical signals. This technology was
invented in the latest of 1950s. There are three regions in
this type of diode. There is a p-region an intrinsic region and

an n-region. The p-region and n-region are comparatively

heavily doped than the p-region and n-region of usual p-n
diodes. The width of the intrinsic region should be larger
than the space charge width of a normal p-n junction. The
PIN photodiode operates with an applied reverse bias
voltage and when the reverse bias is applied, the space
charge region must cover the intrinsic region completely.
Electron hole pairs are generated in the space charge region
by photon absorption

What is a Schottky Diode?

A Schottky diode, also known as a hot carrier diode, is a
semiconductor diode which has a low forward voltage drop
and a very fast switching action. There is a small voltage
drop across the diode terminals when current flows through
a diode. A normal diode will have a voltage drop between 0.6
to 1.7 volts, while a Schottky diode voltage drop is usually
between 0.15 and 0.45 volts. This lower voltage drop
provides better system efficiency and higher switching speed.
In a Schottky diode, a semiconductormetal junction is
formed between a semiconductor and a metal, thus creating
a Schottky barrier. The N-type semiconductor acts as the
cathode and the metal side acts as the anode of the diode.
This Schottky barrier results in both a low forward voltage
drop and very fast switching

Tunnel diode
Is a highly doped semiconductor device and is used mainly
for low voltage high frequency switching applications.

The tunnel diode is a two terminal device with p type

semiconductor acting as anode and n type semiconductor as
cathode. The circuit symbol of tunnel diode is shown

A light-emitting diode (LED)

is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is a pn junction
diode, which emits light when activated. When a suitable
voltage is applied to the leads, electrons are able to
recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing
energy in the form of photons. Light Emitting Diode (LED)
Tutorial

How do LED lights work?

When electricity is passed through the diode the atoms in
one material (within the semiconductor chip) are excited to a
higher energy level. The atoms in that first material have too
much energy and need to release that energy. The energy is
then released as the atoms shed electrons to the other
material within the chip. During this energy release light is
created. The color of the light from the LED is a function of
the ingredients (materials) and recipes (processes) that make
up the chip.
Diode Clipping /limiting Circuits
The Diode Clipper, also known as a Diode Limiter, is a wave
shaping circuit that takes an input waveform and clips or
cuts off its top half, bottom half or both halves together to
produce an output waveform that resembles a flattened
version of the input. For example, the half-wave rectifier is a
clipper circuit, since all voltages below zero are eliminated.
But Diode Clipping Circuits can be used a variety of
applications to modify an input waveform using signal and

Schottky diodes or to provide over-voltage protection

using Zener Diodes
Loading product data.
to ensure that the output voltage never exceeds a certain
level protecting the circuit from high voltage spikes. Then
diode clipping circuits can be used in voltage limiting
applications.
We saw in the Signal Diodes tutorial that when a diode is
forward biased it allows current to pass through itself
clamping the voltage. When the diode is reverse biased, no
current flows through it and the voltage across its terminals
is unaffected, and this is the basic operation of the diode
clipping circuit.
Although the input voltage to diode clipping circuits can
have any waveform shape, we will assume here that the
input voltage is sinusoidal. Consider the circuits below.
Positive Diode Clipping Circuits

In this diode clipping circuit, the diode is forward biased

(anode more positive than cathode) during the positive half
cycle of the sinusoidal input waveform. For the diode to

become forward biased, it must have the input voltage

magnitude greater than +0.7 volts (0.3 volts for a germanium
diode).
When this happens the diodes begins to conduct and holds
the voltage across itself constant at 0.7V until the sinusoidal
waveform falls below this value. Thus the output voltage
which is taken across the diode can never exceed 0.7 volts
during the positive half cycle.
During the negative half cycle, the diode is reverse biased
(cathode more positive than anode) blocking current flow
through itself and as a result has no effect on the negative
half of the sinusoidal voltage which passes to the load
unaltered. Then the diode limits the positive half of the input
waveform and is known as a positive clipper circuit.
Negative Diode Clipping Circuits

Here the reverse is true. The diode is forward biased during

the negative half cycle of the sinusoidal waveform and limits
or clips it to -0.7 volts while allowing the positive half cycle
to pass unaltered when reverse biased. As the diode limits
the negative half cycle of the input voltage it is therefore
called a negative clipper circuit.

Clipping of Both Half Cycles

If we connected two diodes in inverse parallel as shown, then

both the positive and negative half cycles would be clipped
as diode D1 clips the positive half cycle of the sinusoidal
input waveform while diode D2 clips the negative half cycle.
Then diode clipping circuits can be used to clip the positive
half cycle, the negative half cycle or both.
For ideal diodes the output waveform above would be zero.
However, due to the forward bias voltage drop across the
diodes the actual clipping point occurs at +0.7 volts and -0.7
volts respectively. But we can increase this 0.7V threshold
to any value we want up to the maximum value, (VPEAK) of
the sinusoidal waveform either by connecting together more
diodes in series creating multiples of 0.7 volts, or by adding a
voltage bias to the diodes.

What are the advantages of LED lights?

LED lights have a variety of advantages over other light
sources:
High-levels of brightness and intensity

 High-efficiency
Low-voltage and current requirements
Low radiated heat
High reliability (resistant to shock and vibration)
No UV Rays
Long source life
Can be easily controlled and programmed
TRANSISTOR CLIPPING CIRCUITS
A clamping circuit is used to place either the positive or
negative peak of a signal at a desired level. The dc
component is simply added or subtracted to/from the input
signal. The clamper is also referred to as an IC restorer and
ac signal level shifter.In some cases, like a TV receiver, when
the signal passes through the capacitive coupling network, it
loses its dc component. This is when the clamper circuit is
used so as to re-establish the the dc component into the
signal input. A clamp circuit adds the positive or negative dc
component to the input signal so as to push it either on the
positive side, as illustrated in figure (a) or on the negative
side, as illustrated in figure (b).The circuit will be called a
positive clamper , when the signal is pushed upward by the
circuit. When the signal moves upward, as shown in figure
(a), the negative peak of the signal coincides with the zero
level.The circuit will be called a negative clamper, when the

signal is pushed downward by the circuit. When the signal is

pushed on the negative side, as shown in figure (b), the
positive peak of the input signal coincides with the zero level.

W
hat Is A Transistor
Transistors have many uses including switching,
voltage/current regulation, and amplification A transistor
controls a large electrical output signal with changes to a
small input signal. Since a large amount of current can be
controlled by a small amount of current, a transistor acts as
an amplifier. A transistor acts as a switch which can open
and close many times per second.
http://www.daenotes.com/electronics/devices-circuits/bjtbipolar-junction-transistor
Bipolar Junction Transistors

The most common type of transistor is a bipolar junction

transistor. This is made up of three layers of a semiconductor material in a sandwich. In one configuration the
outer two layers have extra electrons, and the middle layer
has electrons missing (holes).

Layers with extra electrons are called N-Type, those with

electrons missing called P-Type. Therefore the bipolar
junction transistors are more commonly known as PNP
transistors and NPN transistors respectively. Bipolar
transistors are called bipolar because the main flow of
electrons through them takes place in two types of
semiconductor material: P and N, as the main current goes
from emitter to collector (or vice versa). In other words,
two types of charge carrierselectrons and holes
comprise this main current through the transistor.
How does BJ Transistors Work

A bipolar junction transistor has three terminals

- Base, Collector, and Emitter corresponding to the three
semi-conductor layers of the transistor. The weak input
current is applied to the inner (base) layer. When there is a

small change in the current or voltage at the inner

semiconductor layer (base), a rapid and far larger change in
current takes place throughout the whole transistor.

BJT transistor: (a) PNP schematic symbol, (b) physical

layout (c) NPN symbol, (d) layout.
The functional difference between a PNP transistor and an
NPN transistor is the proper biasing (polarity) of the
junctions when operating. For any given state of operation,
the current directions and voltage polarities for each kind
of transistor are exactly opposite each other.
Bipolar transistors work as current-controlled
current regulators.
A field-effect transistor (FET) is a type
of transistor commonly used for weak-signal amplification
(for example, for amplifying wireless signals). The device can
amplify analogor digital signals. It can also switch DC or
function as an oscillator.In the FET, current flows along a
semiconductor path called the channel. At one end of the
channel, there is an electrode called the source. Field-effect
transistors exist in two major classifications. These are

known as the junction FET (JFET) and the metal-oxidesemiconductor FET (MOSFET)

MOSFET
Stands for metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor.
It is capable of voltage gain and signal power gain. The
MOSFET is the core of integrated circuit designed as
thousands of these can be fabricated in a single chip because
of its very small size. Every modern electronic system
consists of VLST technology and without MOSFET, large
scale integration is impossible.It is a four terminals device.
The drain and source terminals are connected to the heavily
doped regions. The gate terminal is connected top on the
oxide layer and the substrate or body terminal is connected
to the intrinsic semiconductorMOSFET (metal-oxide
semiconductor field-effect transistor, pronounced MAWSfeht ) is a special type of field-effect transistor ( FET ) that
works by electronically varying the width of a channel along
which charge carriers ( electron s or hole s) flow. The wider
the channel, the better the device conducts. The charge
carriers enter the channel at the source , and exit via
the drain . The width of the channel is controlled by
the voltage on an electrode called the gate
Operational Amplifier
An operational amplifier (or an op-amp) is an integrated
circuit (IC) that operates as a voltage amplifier. An op-amp
has a differential input. That is, it has two inputs of opposite
polarity. An op-amp has a single output and a very high

gain, which means that the output signal is much higher

than input signal. An op-amp is often represented in a circuit
diagram with the following symbol:

These amplifiers are called "operation" amplifiers because

they were initially designed as an effective device for
performing arithmetic operations in an analog circuit. The
op-amp has many other applications in signal processing,
measurement, and instrumentation.

Rectification ("frequency shifting")

Typical power supply applications

Half-Wave Rectification

"The rectified signal is now a combination of an AC signal

and a DC component. Generally, it is the DC part of a
rectified signal that is of interest, and the un-welcomed AC
component is described as ripple. It is desirable to move the
ripple to high frequencies where it is easier to remove by a
low-pass filter

Half-wave rectifier with filter capacitor or peak detector

Full-Wave Retification Version 1 - Center-Tap Full-Wave

Rectifier

Version 2 - Bridge Full-Wave Rectifier