A Schottky diode is a type of semiconductor diode formed by the small junction of an n-type semiconductor with a metal. Therefore, it is also known as the hot-carrier diode or Schottky barrier diode. The advantage of the Schottky diode is that it has a very low forward voltage drop and fast switching speed. The drawback of the Schottky diode is that it has low reverse breakdown voltage and high reverse leakage current.
Schottky diode is a metal-semiconductor junction diode that has less forward voltage drop than the P-N junction diode and can be used in high-speed switching applications. Schottky diode is also known as Schottky diode, surface barrier diode, majority carrier device, hot-electron diode, or hot carrier diode.
V-I characteristics of schottky barrier diode
The V-I characteristics of a Schottky barrier diode are below
- The forward voltage drop of the Schottky barrier diode is very low compared to a normal PN junction diode.
- The forward voltage drop of the Schottky barrier ranges from 0.3 volts to 0.5 volts.
- In the Schottky barrier, the forward voltage drop is made up of silicon material.
- The forward voltage drop increases at the same time increasing the doping concentration of N-type semiconductors.
- The V-I characteristics of a Schottky barrier diode are very steeper as compared to the V-I characteristics of normal PN junction, because of the Schottky barrier diode’s high concentration of current carriers.
Advantages of Schottky Diode
- The turn-on voltage of the Schottky barrier diode is between 0.2 and 0.3 volts. For a silicon diode, it is against 0.6 to 0.7 volts from a standard silicon diode.
- It has a fast recovery time which denotes a small amount of stored charge that can be used for high-speed switching applications.
- It occupies a very small area.
- The capacitance levels are very small.
- It has higher efficiency
Applications of Schottky Diode
- Schottky diodes are used for the voltage clamping application
- Schottky diodes are also used as rectifiers in power supplies.