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Seneca College - School of Information & Communications Technology (IC T) - C. Rodgers - modified by I. Gabor
ELD255 – Electronic Devices
Lab 3 – Power Supply – Zener Diode Voltage Regulator

Name: _______________________________________ St. #: _____________________

Lab Objectives
to construct a simple zener diode circuit and determine the reverse bias I-V characteristic
compare parameters determined from the measured I-V characteristics with those in the datasheet.
construct a zener regulator circuit and vary circuit parameters to find the regulator operating range.

Components Required
1N4740 zener diode (from ELD255 Lab Kit)
various resistors (from ELD255 Lab Kit)

Equipment Required
two Digital Multimeters (DMM)
Power Supply

Check the attached datasheet. Record the following data for the 1N4740 Zener Diode:
Nominal Zener Voltage VZ = ____________
Test Current @ Vz = 10V: IZT = ____________
Min DC Current for Zener to work: IZK = ____________
Max DC Current tolerated by Zener: IZM = ____________
Max surge Current tolerated by Zener: IRM = ____________

Lab Activity

1. Construct the zener diode circuit below. Use the 1N4740 zener diode for DZ and let RS = 390 .

Make sure you limit the maximum PS current to the maximum current for the 1N4740 (IZM).
Use the Power Supply (PS) but do not exceed E = 20V maximum!
Also, do not exceed the maximum resistor power ratings!

Measure and record a series of diode current and voltage measurements sufficient to reveal the
zener diode reverse bias operation when plotted. Plot Iz vs Vz.

IZ RS = 390 E (V) IZ(mA) VZ(V)

5
10
11
E DZ VZ 12
13
14
15

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Seneca College - School of Information & Communications Technology (IC T) - C. Rodgers
Determine all important parameters from your measurements and compare with those listed in the
1N4740 datasheet.

2. Modify your circuit to the one shown below. You can use various R L values from your kit ranging from
100 to 100k .
IT RS = 390 IZ IL

E = 15 V DZ RL VL

Use the Power Supply (PS) but do not exceed E = 20V maximum!

Also, do not exceed the maximum resistor power ratings!

Record a series of measurements which include E, IT, IZ, IL and VL for this circuit.

NOTE: You can use Kirchoff’s Current Law to determine one of the three currents.

RL, ohms IT(mA) IZ(mA) IL(mA) VZ(V)

470
1K
2.2 K
4.7 K
10 K
47 K
100 K

For what range of load values does this regulator actually regulate? _____________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

What are the limitations on the value of RS? ________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

What are the limitations on E? ___________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

What are the limitations on the component power ratings? _____________________________________

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 ELD255 LAB LAB 3

Professor: Mahesh Aravamudan – revised by I. Gabor

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 ELD255 LAB LAB 3

Professor: Mahesh Aravamudan – revised by I. Gabor

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