Electronic – Difference between 1N914 and 1N4148 diodes

diodes

I always thought that the 1N4148 was an improved replacement for the obsolete 1N914, but I see that the 1N914 is still produced, and overmore, looking at the parameters for both on digikey they seem to be identical. What was the reason to create the 1N4148 if it's identical to the existing 1N914?

Best Answer

For a number of devices digikey (notably Fairchild) lists the leakage current for the 1N4148 as 5 µA, the same as the 1N914. But for others (e.g. NXP) the leakage current is only 25 nA. Which would make the 1N4148 a better alternative to the 1N914.