What is Zener diode and its function?
A Zener diode is a silicon semiconductor device that permits current to flow in either a forward or reverse direction. The diode consists of a special, heavily doped p-n junction, designed to conduct in the reverse direction when a certain specified voltage is reached.
Where is Zener diode is used?
Zener diodes are widely used in electronic equipment of all kinds and are one of the basic building blocks of electronic circuits. They are used to generate low-power stabilized supply rails from a higher voltage and to provide reference voltages for circuits, especially stabilized power supplies.
What is the principle of Zener diode?
Zener Diode Working Principle That is, in forward bias it allows current, and in reverse bias it blocks current. After this voltage has surpassed the breakdown point (in reverse bias), the diode falls in the Zener region, where it conducts without getting damaged. Current in this region is called avalanche current.
What is the difference between a diode and a Zener diode?
A diode is a semiconductor device which conducts in one direction only. A Zener diode is a semiconductor device which conducts in forward biased as well as reversed biased. A normal diode if operated in reversed biased will get destroyed.
What are the advantages of Zener diode?
Advantages of Zener diode: The Zener diode is less expensive than another diode. This diode can be used in regulate and stabilize the voltage in a circuit. These diodes have a high-performance standard. Control the flowing current.
What is Zener diode made of?
The true Zener diodes, which have the same properties as avalanche diodes and are used in the same applications, rely on the Zener effect. The diode is made from heavily doped silicon, so that the depletion layer is very thin.
What is characteristics of Zener diode?
Zener Diode Characteristics. Zener diodes operate similarly to conventional diodes when in the forward-bias mode. They have a bias turn-on voltage of between 0.3 and 0.7V. When connected in the reverse mode, there is a small leakage current flow in most applications.
How can you tell if a diode is zener?
Zeners may be indistinguishable from regular diodes. Zener diodes may have a dark plastic casing with a dark stripe, which is the same coloring as that of other diodes. Many other zener diodes are copper colored, and are enclosed in a glass casing with a white or black or blue stripe.
Can a Zener diode replace a normal diode?
Can an ordinary diode be used as a zener diode? Typically not. An ordinary diode is designed to be used as a rectifier and not for operating in reverse breakdown.
What are the limitations of a Zener diode?
Zener diode cancels out voltage by applying an even larger voltage in the reverse direction wasting electricity in the process. A Zener diode has a relatively poor regulation ratio and is generally not as good as the transistor.
Can Zener be used as a rectifier?
Unlike the normal p-n junction diode, a Zener diode has a low peak inverse voltage. This is an undesirable property for the rectifier circuit. This is the reason why Zener diodes are not used for rectification purpose but are mostly used in applications that require voltage regulation.
What is a Zener diode and how does it work?
a zener diode is a silicon pn junction device that allows current to flow not only in the forward direction like a typical silicon or germanium diode, but also in the reverse direction if the voltage is greater than the breakdown voltage known as zener knee voltage or simply zener voltage, named after clarence melvin zener, the discoverer of this …
What is the working principle of Zener diode?
Working Principle of Zener Diode. When a PN junction diode is reverse biased,the depletion layer becomes wider.
Why are Zener diode used as voltage regulator?
Zener Diode is used as a voltage regulator by the use of a reverse bias in order to ensure that the voltage remains stable. There is a typical flow of current from anode to cathode in a Zener diode. This silicon semiconductor is made to work in a reverse bias environment.
What is the most common application of a Zener diode?
The most common application and use of a zener diode is in voltage regulation. Because a zener diode has such steady and constant voltage output across its terminals when its breakdown voltage is exceeded, it can act as a steady output voltage for a load connected in parallel with it.