
electronics
The properties of semiconductor devices are studied in college courses. The introduction to the circuits including operation of diodes and transistors and basic formulas can be found in various textbooks or handbooks, such as The Art of Electronics . Below are just some highlights. The I-V characteristic of a diode is approximated by the Shockley equation: I=Is×(e nVd/Vt -1) , where Is - the reverse bias saturation current (~10 −15 to 10 −12 A for Silicon); Vd - voltage drop in volts; Vt - the thermal voltage (~0.026V at room temperature), n - the "ideality factor" (from 1 to 2). At a fixed current I, forward voltage drop changes by about -2 mV/ o C.

