Forced flow disturbing zone

When the bias is reversed as shown in Figure 21.6, the equilibrium is disturbed in the other direction. The increased potential forces minority holes from the n-side of the depletion zone into the space charge region where they are swept into the p-material resulting in a reverse current flow. However, in this case, the current is carried by the minority carriers so the reverse-biased current will be much less than the forward-biased current. 

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