VIAS Encyclopedia provides a collection of tables and definitions commonly needed in science and engineering.


Switching Diode

The term switches (sometimes also called small signal diodes) denotes diodes, which are appropriate for reverse voltages from 25 to 100 V and for forward currents from 100 to 500 mA. They are used for all applications of signal processing. An important measure is the reverse recovery time. That is the time that the diode needs to switch from the conducting state to the inhibiting state. It lies typically between 1 and 20 ns. Switches are used both for digital purposes (e.g. for the logical link of signals) as well as for analog applications (e.g. as a demodulator, as sensors, in high-precision rectifier circuits, and so on.)


Last Update: 2010-12-15