What is a diode and how does it work?
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As others have said, a diode allows electrical current to flow in one direction but not the other. How?
Electrical current flow only happens when there are charged particles (“charge carriers”) that can move about. That’s literally what electrical current flow is…the motion of many charge carriers.
In a semiconductor diode, two different types of semiconductor are put in contact. One has an excess of negative charge carriers, the other has an excess of positive charge carriers.
If you hook the diode up one way, the charge carriers are moved away from each other and the semiconductor junction is depleted of mobile charge carriers. No mobile charges, no current. It’s like making a little open circuit.
Hook it up the other way and current can flow.
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