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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 ...
A Zener diode is a type of diode designed to exploit the Zener effect to affect electric current to flow against the normal direction from anode to cathode, when the voltage across its terminals exceeds a certain characteristic threshold, the Zener voltage.
PN junction operation in forward-bias mode, showing reducing depletion width. In forward bias, the p-type is connected with a positive electrical terminal and the n-type is connected with a negative terminal. The panels show energy band diagram, electric field, and net charge density. The built-in potential of the semiconductor varies ...
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]
A graphical representation of the current and voltage properties of a transistor; the bias is selected so that the operating point permits maximum signal amplitude without distortion. In electronics , biasing is the setting of DC ( direct current ) operating conditions (current and voltage) of an electronic component that processes time-varying ...
Nonideal p–n diode current-voltage characteristics. The ideal diode has zero resistance for the forward bias polarity, and infinite resistance (conducts zero current) for the reverse voltage polarity; if connected in an alternating current circuit, the semiconductor diode acts as an electrical rectifier.
For simplicity, diodes may sometimes be assumed to have no voltage drop or resistance when forward-biased and infinite resistance when reverse-biased. But real diodes are better approximated by the Shockley diode equation , which has an more complicated exponential current–voltage relationship called the diode law .
The applied bias voltage acts as a forward bias voltage for these minority charge carriers and a current of small magnitude flows in the external circuit in the direction opposite to that of the conventional current due to the moment of majority charge carriers.