1N4001 Diode : Pin Configuration & Its Applications

In 1963, Motorola’s semiconductor products division introduced a series of 1N400x silicon diodes as the general purpose and rectifier diodes in industrial and military applications. In household electronic appliances, it is used in AC adapters as the 1- Ampere general purpose rectifier diode. In this article, we discuss all the 1N4001 diode like pin configuration, technical specifications, circuit diagram, its and applications.

What is 1N4001 Diode?

The 1N4001 diode belongs to the family of the 1N400x diode series, which are most commonly used in household electronic appliances. It allows the flow of current only in one direction, that is from anode terminal to cathode terminal just like a normal diode. It is referred to as a general-purpose rectifier diode used for rectification purposes. The 1N4001 diode is shown in the figure below. The grey strike on the diode is used to identify the cathode terminal.

The current carrying capacity is of maximum 1 Ampere and can tolerate up to a peak value of 30 Amps. This type of silicon diode is mainly used in designing circuits with less than 1 Ampere. The negligible reverse current is 5 microAmps. The reverse peak voltage, where the diode can withstand is up to a maximum of 50 Volts.

These diodes are mainly manufactured to perform general-purpose tasks and rectification in various electronic circuit applications. It is used in the conversion of AC voltage to DC voltage in the power supply circuits of electronic appliances and blocks the voltage in a particular location of the electronic circuit. It is available in the DO-41 package in small size at a very low cost with power dissipation of 3 Watts and 1 Ampere forward current.

1N4001 Diode Pin Configuration/Pin Diagram

The 1N4001 diode is a 2-terminal semiconductor device. It has an anode terminal, which is considered a positive terminal, and a cathode terminal, which is considered a negative terminal. The 1N4001 diode pin configuration/pin diagram is explained below. The schematic symbol of the 1N4001 diode is shown in the figure below. It allows the current only in one direction, that is from anode terminal to cathode terminal.

• Anode (Positive Terminal): The input current always flows through this terminal
• Cathode (Negative Terminal): The output current is obtained from this terminal Or exits through this terminal.

Features & Specifications

The 1N4001 diode specifications or the 1N4001 diode technical features are given below.

• The 1N4001 diode is available in SMD and DO-41 package types.
• The average forward current of 1N4001 diode is 1 Ampere
• The peak current at non-repetitive is 30 Amps.
• The RMS reverse voltage is 35 Volts
• The reverse current is 5 microAmps
• The peak repetitive reverse DC voltage is 50 Volts
• The average rectified current is 1 Ampere.
• It belongs to ON semiconductor type in a single configuration with standard polarity
• The maximum forward voltage is 1.1 Volts.
• The maximum reverse current is 10 microAmps
• The maximum surge current is 30 Amps
• It operates at -55 to +175°C maximum temperature ranges
• The maximum output current will be 1 Amp.
• The maximum reverse voltage and DC voltage rating is 50 Volts
• The maximum power dissipation is 3 Watts.

The alternative 1N4001 Diodes or equivalent 1N001 Diodes are 1N4733A, 1N4148, 1N5822, 1N5408, Zener Diodes, 1N4002-T Diodes, 1N4002G-T ON Semiconductor Diode, 1N4002G-T Diodes, 1N4002-B Zetex Diodes, 1N4002-E3/54, 1N4002E-E3/54, 1N4002-E3/53, 1N4002E-E3/53 & 1N4002-E3/73

Circuit Diagram/How to Use

The 1N4001 diode is the most commonly used power diode used for rectification purposes and it belongs to the family of 1N400x series diodes. It is used in rectifier circuits like half-wave rectifiers, full-wave rectifiers, and diode clipper circuits to convert the applied AC voltage source to a certain DC voltage level.

Now let’s understand the circuit diagram/how to use the 1N4001 diode in a simple half-wave rectifier circuit. Here 1N4001 silicon diode is considered. So, it requires 0.7 Volts voltage drop across it to operate.

The circuit diagram and the output characteristics of the half-wave rectifier are illustrated below. The 1N4001 diode is connected in series with the load resistor R. The converted DC output voltage is taken across the load resistor.

The components required to design a half-wave rectifier circuit are

• One 1N4001 Diode
• 1 KOhm Load Resistor
• AC Voltage Source
• DC Voltage Source

Consider the AC sinusoidal input signal with two phases is applied. In the positive half cycle of the applied AC signal, the diode goes to forward biased condition and the current starts flowing through the diode at the constant voltage drop 0.7 Volts across it.

Here the anode terminal of the diode is positive with respect to the cathode terminal. Therefore the current flowing through the DC load resistor is directly proportional to the voltage and it is similar to the applied AC voltage. That means the output voltage Vout is equal to the supply voltage Vs. (Vout= Vs)

During the negative phase of the input signal (negative half cycle), the diode goes to reverse biased condition and it is open-circuited. The anode terminal of the diode is negative with respect to the cathode terminal and no current flows through the circuit or diode. As there is no current flow, the output voltage across the load resistor is zero.

As the current flows through the circuit only in the forward bias condition of the diode, this circuit is referred to as unidirectional. From the above output characteristics, the maximum AC voltage or peak to peak voltage is taken on X-axis and the output DC voltage is taken on Y-axis. It shows that the output across the load resistor is a positive half cycle, and the negative half cycle of the signal is zero. To calculate the DC voltage level at the output (across the resistor), use the following formula.

V (DC) = Vmax/π = 0.318 Vmax = 0.45 Vrms

Where Vmax is the maximum applied AC voltage

V (DC) is the output DC voltage level

Vrms is the root mean square value of the applied voltage

In this way, the rectification of the signal is done using the 1N4001 diode. The output DC voltage and current are obtained during only the positive half cycle of the input signal. As it allows the only positive cycle of the signal, the output DC voltage across the load will be average. During the rectification of the AC signal, the steady stage DC voltage can be obtained continuously with ripple-free by connecting a capacitor parallel to the resistor called the smoothing capacitor.

Where to Use/Applications

The following are the applications of 1N4001 Diode,

• These are used in the prevention of reverse polarity issue
• Used in full-wave and half-wave rectifiers
• Used in current flow regulators
• Can be used as a protection device.
• Used for rectification in battery chargers, power supply circuits, and other electronics appliances
• Used to block the current, block the voltage spikes, and boost the voltage, blocking unwanted incoming voltage, etc.
• Used in Voltage doublers
• Used in adapter circuits.

Thus, this is all about 1N4001 diode datasheet – definition, pin configuration/pin diagram, circuit diagram/how to use technical specifications and applications. Here is a question for you, “What are the advantages of 1N400x series diodes? “