Shockley diode

For the Shockley Diode Equation, see Diode § Shockley diode equation.
Not to be confused with Schottky diode.
Shockley diode
InventedWilliam Shockley
Pin configuration Anode and Cathode
Electronic symbol
Shockley diode schematic symbol
A sculpture representing a Shockley 4-layer diode, on the sidewalk in front of the new building at 391 San Antonio Rd., Mountain View, California, which was the original site of the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories where the first silicon device work in Silicon Valley was done

The Shockley diode (named after physicist William Shockley) is a four-layer semiconductor diode, which was one of the first semiconductor devices invented. It is a PNPN diode with alternating layers of P-type and N-type material. It is equivalent to a thyristor with a disconnected gate. Shockley diodes were manufactured and marketed by Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in the late 1950s. The Shockley diode has a negative resistance characteristic.[1] It was largely superseded by the diac.

  1. ^ "Transistor Museum Photo Gallery Shockley Diode 4 LayerTransistor". semiconductormuseum.com. Retrieved 2019-04-09.