Diode as switch

By controlling the DC bias of the diode it can be made to act like a switch to small AC signals (in this case 100mV at 500kHz). This can be useful for switching RF signals because transistors won’t necessarily switch fast enough to pass the RF signal but the diode doesn’t have to switch in order to pass it (in fact it relies on the diode to not switch in order for it to pass the RF signal; this is why this type of circuit often uses slow switching PIN diodes). The two capacitors serve to pass only the AC signal so that the DC doesn’t feed back into the AC input or out of the AC output. The inductor serves to reduce the voltage spike on the output when the circuit switches.

published 4 years ago