What is 1N4001 Diode?

The 1N4001 diode belongs to the family of the 1N400x diode series, which are most commonly used in household electronic appliances. It allows the flow of current only in one direction, that is from anode terminal to cathode terminal just like a normal diode. It is referred to as a general-purpose rectifier diode used for rectification purposes. The 1N4001 diode is shown in the figure below. The grey strike on the diode is used to identify the cathode terminal.

The current carrying capacity is of maximum 1 Ampere and can tolerate up to a peak value of 30 Amps. This type of silicon diode is mainly used in designing circuits with less than 1 Ampere. The negligible reverse current is 5 microAmps. The reverse peak voltage, where the diode can withstand is up to a maximum of 50 Volts.

These diodes are mainly manufactured to perform general-purpose tasks and rectification in various electronic circuit applications. It is used in the conversion of AC voltage to DC voltage in the power supply circuits of electronic appliances and blocks the voltage in a particular location of the electronic circuit. It is available in the DO-41 package in small size at a very low cost with power dissipation of 3 Watts and 1 Ampere forward current.