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A Zener diode is a special type of diode designed to reliably allow current to flow "backwards" (inverted polarity) when a certain set reverse voltage, known as the Zener voltage, is reached. Zener diodes are manufactured with a great variety of Zener voltages and some are even variable.
In electronics, the Zener effect (employed most notably in the appropriately named Zener diode) is a type of electrical breakdown, discovered by Clarence Melvin Zener. It occurs in a reverse biased p-n diode when the electric field enables tunneling of electrons from the valence to the conduction band of a semiconductor , leading to numerous ...
Various semiconductor diodes. Left: A four-diode bridge rectifier. Next to it is a 1N4148 signal diode. On the far right is a Zener diode. In most diodes, a white or black painted band identifies the cathode into which electrons will flow when the diode is conducting. Electron flow is the reverse of conventional current flow. [2] [3] [4]
Two shunt diode clipper circuit. In the example circuit on the right, two zener diodes are used to clip the voltage V IN.The voltage in either direction is limited to the reverse breakdown voltage plus the forward voltage drop across one zener diode.
The Zener effect is primarily exhibited by reverse-biased diodes and bipolar transistor base-emitter junctions that breakdown below about 7 volts. The breakdown is due to internal field emission, since the junctions are thin, and the electric field is high. Zener-type breakdown is shot noise.
Zener diodes have a low breakdown voltage. A standard value for breakdown voltage is for instance 5.6 V. This means that the voltage at the cathode cannot be more than about 5.6 V higher than the voltage at the anode (though there is a slight rise with current), because the diode breaks down, and therefore conducts, if the voltage gets any ...