What is meant by reverse current and reverse breakdown?

When a PN junction is reversed biased it allows very small current to flow through it. If reverse bias is made too high, the current through PN junction increases abruptly and the voltage at which this phenomenon occurs is called breakdown voltage .

What is the breakdown current?

Electrical breakdown or dielectric breakdown is a process that occurs when an electrical insulating material, subjected to a high enough voltage, suddenly becomes an electrical conductor and electric current flows through it.

What causes reverse leakage current?

An important conduction limitation of PN junction diode is leakage current. When a diode is reverse biased, the width of the depletion region increases. Minority carriers of each material are pushed through the depletion zone to the junction. This action causes a very small leakage current to occur.

Why does reverse breakdown occurs in a diode?

Normally, the reverse current in a diode is very weak. If the external bias voltage is raised, the reverse current dramatically increases at a given reverse bias voltage value. This unique reverse bias voltage value is known as the breakdown voltage.

How do you block reverse current flow?

The simplest protection against reversed-battery current is a series (a) or shunt (b) diode. As an improved battery-reversal measure, you can add a pnp transistor as a high-side switch between the battery and the load (Figure 2a).

How do you control reverse current?

There are three common ways to protect from reverse current: diodes, FETs, and load switches. Diodes are great for high-voltage, low-current applications. However, diodes cause a forward-voltage drop which increases total power dissipation in the system and limits VCC by 0.6 V to 0.8 V.

What is reverse leakage current of a diode?

Reverse leakage current in a semiconductor device is the current from that semiconductor device when the device is reverse biased. Hence, it is also called reverse saturation current. The term is particularly applicable to mostly semiconductor junctions, especially diodes and thyristors.

How do you prevent reverse current?

What is reverse bias current?