In my electrical engineering classes, we deal with many electrical components like resistors, diodes, inductors, capacitors, and so on. We analyze many given circuits and determine output voltages across different components. We hardly ever talk about this history or the development of such important components that our modern society now depends on.
In the 1900s, the first ever “diode” was developed. At that time, it was called and known as vacuum tubes or valves. Because it was the first version of a diode, obviously there were many limitations and disadvantages compared to the diode that we have now. One of the biggest flaws is the size of the component. Having a semiconductor that big is not practical when building circuits. The heat produced is also a problem… HEAT = BAD… always.
Modern diodes work a lot better comparatively. Modern diodes are small in size and produce a very minimal amount of heat which is not a danger to the circuit or what you are working with. In technical classes when we do MATH, we often treat a diode like it is “ideal” just to simplify the amount of math we’re doing. Treating a diode as “ideal” just means that we assume that there is no voltage drop across it. But realistically, there is a forward voltage drop of typically around 0.7 V. This voltage drop affects the power loss of the circuit since power is voltage*current. Power loss is a disadvantage/limitation because then we are increasing power consumption.
I’m not sure how much more advanced they could get diodes to become. I’m sure there is a lot of academic and technical research that is tackling that area as technology is still advancing!