The reverse voltage at which the current increases enormously, in a p-n junction, is called

Options

A. knee voltage
B. Breakdown voltage
C. Biasing voltage
D. acceleration voltage

Answer

To solve the question, "The reverse voltage at which the current increases enormously, in a p-n junction, is called," we can follow these steps:

### Step 1: Understand the p-n junction diode
A p-n junction diode consists of a p-type semiconductor (which has an abundance of holes) and an n-type semiconductor (which has an abundance of electrons). When a voltage is applied, the behavior of the diode changes based on the polarity of the voltage.

### Step 2: Define reverse bias
When the p-side is connected to a negative voltage and the n-side to a positive voltage, the diode is said to be in reverse bias. In this condition, the majority carriers are pulled away from the junction, and only a small leakage current (due to minority carriers) flows.

### Step 3: Analyze the behavior under reverse bias
As the reverse voltage is increased, the current remains very low initially, typically in the microampere range. However, if the reverse voltage is increased beyond a certain threshold, the current starts to increase dramatically.

### Step 4: Identify the breakdown phenomenon
This dramatic increase in current at a specific reverse voltage is known as breakdown. There are two types of breakdown that can occur in a p-n junction diode:
- **Zener Breakdown**: Occurs in heavily doped diodes at lower reverse voltages due to tunneling of electrons.
- **Avalanche Breakdown**: Occurs in lightly doped diodes at higher reverse voltages due to the generation of electron-hole pairs.

### Step 5: Define the breakdown voltage
The specific reverse voltage at which the current increases enormously is referred to as the **breakdown voltage**. This is the key term that answers the question.

### Conclusion
Thus, the reverse voltage at which the current increases enormously in a p-n junction diode is called the **breakdown voltage**.

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