A Practical circuit arrangement for a PN junction diode is as shown in the following figure. An ammeter is connected in series and voltmeter in parallel, while the supply is controlled through a variable resistor.

During the operation, when the diode is in forward biased condition, at some particular voltage, the potential barrier gets eliminated. Such a voltage is called as Cut-off Voltage or Knee Voltage. If the forward voltage exceeds beyond the limit, the forward current rises up exponentially and if this is done further, the device is damaged due to overheating.

The following graph shows the state of diode conduction in forward and reverse biased conditions.

During the reverse bias, current produced through minority carriers exist known as “Reverse current”. As the reverse voltage increases, this reverse current increases and it suddenly breaks down at a point, resulting in the permanent destruction of the junction.