How to distinguish Zener diodes from Schottky diodes?

How to distinguish Zener diodes from Schottky diodes?

Diodes are common in electronic components,Zener diodes and Schottky diodes are widely used in various industries. At work, we often encounter customers who can't tell the difference between Zener diodes and Schottky diodes. Maybe they just purchase products, not engineering, so it's not surprising that they don't understand the products. So how to distinguish Zener diodes from Schottky diodes?

Generally, diodes are forward-conducting and reverse-blocking; if the reverse voltage applied to the diode exceeds the capacity of the diode, the diode will break down and be damaged. The Zener diode is a phenomenon that the reverse breakdown state of the pn junction is used, and its current can change in a wide range while the voltage is basically unchanged. At the breakdown point, the reverse resistance decreases to a very small value. In this low resistance area, the current increases while the voltage remains constant. Zener diodes are graded according to the breakdown voltage. Because of this characteristic, the stabilizer Voltage tubes are mainly used as voltage regulators or voltage reference components.

Schottky diodes are semiconductor devices with low power consumption, high current, and ultra-high speed. The rectified current can reach thousands of amps. Therefore, it is suitable for working under low voltage and high current conditions, and the output rectifier diode of the computer host power supply uses a Schottky diode.

The Schottky diodes uses an N-type semiconductor as the substrate, and an N-epitaxial layer with arsenic as the dopant is formed on it. The positive (barrier) metal material is molybdenum. Silicon dioxide is used to eliminate the electric field in the edge region and increase the withstand voltage of the Schottky diode. The doping concentration of the N-type substrate is 100 times higher than that of the N-layer, and has a very small on-state resistance. The N+ cathode layer at the lower part of the substrate is used to reduce the contact resistance of the cathode. By adjusting the structural parameters, a suitable Schottky diodes can be formed between the substrate and the anode metal.