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The saturation current (or scale current), more accurately the reverse saturation current, is the part of the reverse current in a semiconductor diode caused by diffusion of minority carriers from the neutral regions to the depletion region. This current is almost independent of the reverse voltage. [1]
Reverse leakage current in a semiconductor device is the current when the device is reverse biased.. Under reverse bias, an ideal semiconductor device should not conduct any current, however, due to attraction of dissimilar charges, the positive side of the voltage source draws free electrons (majority carriers in the n-region) away from the P-N junction.
The effect of reverse saturation current on the I-V curve of a crystalline silicon solar cell are shown in the figure to the right. Physically, reverse saturation current is a measure of the "leakage" of carriers across the p–n junction in reverse bias.
In electronics, leakage is the gradual transfer of electrical energy across a boundary normally viewed as insulating, such as the spontaneous discharge of a charged capacitor, magnetic coupling of a transformer with other components, or flow of current across a transistor in the "off" state or a reverse-polarized diode.
That very small current is the source of the leakage current under reverse bias. In the photodiode, reverse current is introduced using creation of holes and electrons in the depletion region by incident light, thus converting a portion of the incident light into an electric current.
However, this is temperature dependent, and at sufficiently high temperatures, a substantial amount of reverse current can be observed (mA or more). There is also a tiny surface leakage current caused by electrons simply going around the diode as though it were an imperfect insulator. Semi-log I–V (logarithmic current vs. linear voltage ...
I–V (current vs. voltage) graph of various diodes, including 1N4148. Absolute maximum ratings (stress ratings, consult datasheet for recommended ratings) [10] V RRM = 100 V (maximum repetitive reverse voltage) I O = 200 mA (average rectified forward current) I F = 300 mA (DC forward current) I f = 400 mA (recurring peak forward current)
It is referred to as reverse bias leakage current in non-optical devices and is present in all diodes. Physically, dark current is due to the random generation of electrons and holes within the depletion region of the device. [1] Dark current is one of the main sources for noise in image sensors such as charge-coupled devices