
In the old days, when required to perform switching in the electric circuits when the voltage rises to a certain threshold, resorted to the use of polarized electromagnetic relay. However, the substantial size and weight, lack of reliability of the kinematics and contact pairs severely limited the use of these devices. Now in their place came a miniature non-contact thingies called discs. This four-layer semiconductor diodes whose structure is like a two transistor: p-n-p and n-p-n type, with the base of one is connected to the collector of the second, forming the internal positive feedback (Fig. 1).
Read more