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Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Introduction to Photodiodes

What is a Photodiode?
A photodiode is a type of photo detector capable of converting light into either current or voltage, depending upon the mode of operation.
Detailed view about photodiode
Photodiodes are similar to regular semiconductor diodes except that they may be either exposed (to detect vacuum UV or X-rays) or packaged with a window or optical fiber connection to allow light to reach the sensitive part of the device. Many diodes designed for use specifically as a photodiode will also use a PIN junction rather than the typical junction. Photo diodes are semi conductor devices responsive to high energy particles and photons. Photodiodes operate by absorption of charged particles and generate a flow of current in an external circuit, proportional to the incident power. Photodiodes can be used to detect the presence or absence of minute quantities of light and can be calibrated for extremely accurate measurements from intensities below 1pW/cm2.

Applications of Photodiodes
Photodiodes are utilized in such diverse application such as spectroscopy, photography, analytical instrumentation, optical position sensors, beam alignment, surface characterization, laser range finders, optical communications and medical imaging instruments.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

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villi johns said...

you are clear my mind actually after reading your article i got clear my complete doubt. thanks for such easy understanding post. I also got some similar at here just for your info i post here link may be useful for future aspect how do photodiode arrays work?