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    Zener Diode

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    AMIT KUMAR SINGH
    Zener diodes are specially designed PN-junction diodes that can operate reliably in the breakdown region without failure. They are used extensively for voltage regulation. Unlike standard diodes, Zener diodes are intended to operate in the reverse-biased breakdown region above the Zener voltage. In this region, the diode conducts heavily and maintains a nearly constant voltage, making Zener diodes useful for stabilizing voltages in circuits.

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    Zener Diode

    Uploaded by

    AMIT KUMAR SINGH
    49 views3 pages
    Zener diodes are specially designed PN-junction diodes that can operate reliably in the breakdown region without failure. They are used extensively for voltage regulation. Unlike standard diodes, Zener diodes are intended to operate in the reverse-biased breakdown region above the Zener voltage. In this region, the diode conducts heavily and maintains a nearly constant voltage, making Zener diodes useful for stabilizing voltages in circuits.

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    Zener diodes are specially designed PN-junction diodes that can operate reliably in the breakdown region without failure. They are used extensively for voltage regulation. Unlike standard diodes, Zener diodes are intended to operate in the reverse-biased breakdown region above the Zener voltage. In this region, the diode conducts heavily and maintains a nearly constant voltage, making Zener diodes useful for stabilizing voltages in circuits.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    49 views3 pages

    Zener Diode

    Uploaded by

    AMIT KUMAR SINGH
    Zener diodes are specially designed PN-junction diodes that can operate reliably in the breakdown region without failure. They are used extensively for voltage regulation. Unlike standard diodes, Zener diodes are intended to operate in the reverse-biased breakdown region above the Zener voltage. In this region, the diode conducts heavily and maintains a nearly constant voltage, making Zener diodes useful for stabilizing voltages in circuits.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    The Zener Diode

    Ordinary silicon diodes block any current through them when they are reverse biased, and are
    damaged when the reverse voltage is too high. Therefore, these diodes are never intentionally
    operated in the breakdown region.
    Zener diodes are a modified form of PN-junction silicon diode used extensively for voltage
    regulation. The P-type and N-type silicon used is doped more heavily than a standard PN-junction
    diode. They are specially designed to operate in the breakdown region without failure. For this
    reason, Zener diodes are sometimes referred to as breakdown diodes.
    Zener diodes are the backbone of voltage regulators, and circuits that keep the load voltage almost
    constant despite large changes in line voltage and load resistance.
    The following figures show the schematic symbols of a zener diode. In either symbol, the lines
    resemble a “Z”, which stands for “Zener”.

    Zener Diode Working


    A zener diode can operate in any of three regions: forward, leakage, and breakdown. Let’s
    understand this through the I-V characteristics of a zener diode.

    1
    Forward Bias Region
    When forward-biased, Zener diodes behave much the same as an ordinary silicon diodes and
    start conducting at around 0.7V

    Leakage Region
    The leakage region exists between zero current and breakdown.
    In the leakage region, a small reverse current flows through the diode. This reverse current is caused
    by the thermally produced minority carriers.

    2
    Breakdown Region
    If we continue increasing the reverse voltage, we will eventually reach the so-called Zener
    voltage VZ of the diode.

    At this point, a process called Avalanche Breakdown occurs in the semiconductor depletion layer
    and the diode starts conducting heavily in the reverse direction.

    We can see from the curve that the breakdown has a very sharp knee, followed by an almost vertical
    increase in current. Note that the voltage across the zener diode is almost constant and
    approximately equal to VZ over most of the breakdown region.

    The curve also shows the maximum reverse current I Z(Max). As long as the reverse current is less
    than IZ(Max), the diode operates within its safe range. If the current exceeds I Z(Max), the diode will
    be destroyed.

    Zener Effect: The Zener effect is a type of electrical breakdown that occurs in a reverse-biased
    PN junction when the electric field enables tunnelling of electrons from the valence to the
    conduction band of a semiconductor, leading to a large number of free minority carriers which
    suddenly increase the reverse current. Thereby, increasing the power very high resulting in very
    high heat dissipation. This will ultimately burn the diode.

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