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For example, a diode with a Zener breakdown voltage of 3.2 V exhibits a voltage drop of very nearly 3.2 V across a wide range of reverse currents. The Zener diode is therefore well suited for applications such as the generation of a reference voltage (e.g. for an amplifier stage), or as a voltage stabilizer for low-current applications. [2]
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 ...
Wire crossover symbols for circuit diagrams. The CAD symbol for insulated crossing wires is the same as the older, non-CAD symbol for non-insulated crossing wires. To avoid confusion, the wire "jump" (semi-circle) symbol for insulated wires in non-CAD schematics is recommended (as opposed to using the CAD-style symbol for no connection), so as to avoid confusion with the original, older style ...
The symbol as shown here is acceptable but could be confused with a Schottky Barrier Diode, which is a different kind of diode, and not a Zener diode. The bends on the cathode bar are different. See the Schottky diode page . To be technically correct we should also show the ISO standard symbol which has only one bend, at 90-degrees.
In the Zener diode, the concept of PIV is not applicable. A Zener diode contains a heavily doped p–n junction allowing electrons to tunnel from the valence band of the p-type material to the conduction band of the n-type material, such that the reverse voltage is "clamped" to a known value (called the Zener voltage), and avalanche does not ...
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.
This configuration is known as a constant-current diode, as it behaves much like a dual to the constant voltage diode (Zener diode) used in simple voltage sources. Due to the large variability in saturation current of JFETs, it is common to also include a source resistor (shown in the adjacent image) which allows the current to be tuned down to ...
The transfer characteristic has exactly the same shape of the previous basic configuration, and the threshold values are the same as well. On the other hand, in the previous case, the output voltage was depending on the power supply, while now it is defined by the Zener diodes (which could also be replaced with a single double-anode Zener diode).