Diffused p-n Junction Silicon Rectifiers
01 May 1956
1.1 The earliest solid state power rectifier, the copper oxide rectifier, was introduced in the 1920's. It found some applications where efficiency, space, and weight requirements were not important. In 1940 the selenium rectifier was introduced commercially and overcame to a great extent the limitations of the copper oxide rectifier. As a result, the selenium rectifier has found wide usage. In early 1952 a large area germanium 1 junction diode was announced which showed further improvements in efficiency, size, and weight. In addition it shows promise of greater reliability and life as compared to the earlier devices. However, all of these devices have one drawback in that they cannot operate in ambient temperatures greater than about 100°C. Also in 1952, the silicon alloy2 junction diode was announced and was shown to be capable of operating at temperatures over 200°C. However it was a small area device and could not handle the large power that the other devices could rectify. During the past three j'ears development has been carried on by several laboratories in improving the size and power capabilities of these alloy diodes. In early 1954 the gaseous diffu1 2