Delve into the Characteristics and Applications of Schottky Diode

PublishTime： 2024-04-24 Article Source：HKT News

Diodes are widely used in electronic circuits, as a diode with low turn-on voltage drop and allowing high-speed switching. Schottky diode is a metal-semiconductor device made of noble metal (gold, silver, aluminum, platinum, etc.) A as the positive electrode and N-type semiconductor B as the negative electrode, and the barrier formed on the contact surface between them has rectification characteristics. Because there are a lot of electrons in N-type semiconductors and only a few free electrons in precious metals, electrons diffuse from B with high concentration to A with low concentration.

The basic structure principle of Schottky rectifier is quite different from that of PN junction rectifier. Usually, the PN junction rectifier is called junction rectifier, while the metal-semi-conductor rectifier is called Schottky rectifier. The aluminum-silicon Schottky diode manufactured by silicon plane technology has also come out, which can not only save precious metals, greatly reduce costs, but also improve the consistency of parameters.

Schottky diode is an electronic component produced by using Schottky barrier characteristics, which has rectification effect and fast switching speed. Usually, the turn-on voltage of Schottky diode is very low. When the current flows through the diode, it will produce a voltage drop of about 0.7-1.7V, but the voltage drop of Schottky diode is only 0.15-0.45V, so it can improve the efficiency of electronic system.

Advantages of Schottky diode

In general, the advantages of Schottky diodes mainly include the following aspects:

1. Forward voltage reduction: The forward conduction MOSFET and forward voltage drop of Schottky diode are lower than those of PN junction diode, about 0.2V lower, which makes Schottky diode have lower power consumption when it is in forward conduction.

2. Fast switching speed: Schottky diode is a majority carrier conductive device, and there is no minority carrier lifetime and reverse recovery problem. Therefore, the reverse recovery time of Schottky diode is very short, which is only the charging and discharging time of Schottky barrier capacitor, which makes Schottky diode have very fast switching speed and is suitable for high frequency applications.

3. Low noise: Compared with typical PN junction diodes, Schottky diodes generate less unnecessary noise.

4. High current density: the depletion region of Schottky diode can be ignored, so applying a small voltage is enough to generate a large current. This makes Schottky diode have the characteristics of high current density, which is suitable for high current applications.

5. Communication circuit: In communication circuit, Schottky diode can be used as rectifier diode, freewheeling diode or protection diode to improve the performance and efficiency of communication circuit.

6. Less reverse recovery charge: Because the reverse recovery charge of Schottky diode is very small, its switching loss is particularly small.

7. Better low power consumption: Schottky diode will consume less power and can easily meet the requirements of low-voltage applications.

Application of Schottky Diode

It is precisely because Schottky diode has the above unique advantages that it plays a unique advantage in many fields. Schottky diodes are widely used in many applications due to their low forward voltage drop and high switching speed, for example, as boost and buck diodes in power conversion circuits. At present, Schottky diodes are still widely used in high frequency, low voltage, high current and other applications, often used as rectifier diodes, freewheeling diodes, protection diodes, small signal detection diodes and so on, and are widely used in frequency converters, switching power supplies, drivers and other circuits. Schottky diode can work at very high frequency, such as microwave band, because there is no storage effect of unbalanced carriers and no charge accumulation when schottky junction is turned on in the forward direction, and large-capacity Schottky diode is applied to various high-frequency power electronic circuits.

Several common application scenarios

1. Power management: Schottky diode is widely used in the whole circuit of computer power supply, power adapter of notebook computer, power supply of LCD TV and LCD monitor, battery charger of electric vehicle, etc. In these applications, Schottky diodes are usually used as high-frequency, low-voltage and high-current rectifier diodes to improve power efficiency.

2. Switching power supply: Schottky diode is also widely used in switching power supply. Its fast switching speed and low forward turn-on voltage drop make it have advantages in this application.

3. Automotive Electronics: In the field of automotive electronics, Schottky diodes are also widely used, such as power management for automotive electronic control units (ECU) and vehicle lamp driving.

4. Communication circuit: In communication circuit, Schottky diode can be used as rectifier diode, freewheeling diode or protection diode to improve the performance and efficiency of communication circuit.

5. High-speed digital circuits and RF circuits: Schottky diodes are also commonly used in high-speed digital circuits and RF circuits as switching, rectifying or detecting elements.

At present, there are few Schottky diodes over 300V-400V on the market, and the general working voltage is within 200V. As a professional manufacturer of Schottky diodes, Hottech's best-selling diodes are 1N4007, FR107, MB6F, MB10F, ABS10, ABS210, DBS107S, 4148, BAV21, SS14/SS24/SS34/SS54/SS210, etc. Welcome to contact Hottech's customer service.

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