Special-Purpose

Diodes

Chapter 4
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 1
 Text Book
Malvino, “Electronic Principles”, 6th edition,
McGraw Hill
• Text Book Chapter 5
Ch5-1 The Zener Diode
Ch5-2 The Loaded Zener Regulator
Ch5-3 The Second Approximation of a Zener Diode
Ch5-4 The Zener Drop-Out Point

• Objective of this chapter :

Show how the zener diode is used and calculate various values
related to its operation.
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 2
 The Zener Diode
• The zener diode is a silicon diode that the
manufacturer has optimized for operation in the
breakdown region.

• It also can operate at forward and leakage region.

• The manufacturer can produce zener diodes with

breakdown voltage from about 2V to over 1000V
by varying the doping level of silicon diodes.

• It is the backbone of voltage regulators, therefore,

sometimes called a “voltage-regulator diode”.
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 3
 Forward, Leakage and Breakdown Region
• Forward region
– It starts conducting around 0.7V, just like an ordinary
silicon diode.

• Leakage region
– It has only a small reverse (leakage) current as the
ordinary silicon diode.

• Breakdown region
– The breakdown has a very sharp knee, followed by an
almost vertical increase in current.
– Over most of the breakdown region, the voltage cross
the zener diode is almost constant, approximately equal
to Vz.
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 4
 -VZ (Volts)
Schematic 6 4 2 0
Symbol of
Zener Diode 20
40
60
VZ -IZ (mA)
80
100
120
140

Graph of zener current versus voltage

E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 5
 A zener diode voltage regulator

RS
Power VS VZ RL
supply

For normal operation, the zener diode is reverse-biased.

Vs must greater than Vz for breakdown operation and a series
resistor Rs is always used to limit the zener current.
This circuit will regulate when the RL
Thevenin voltage facing the zener VTH = VS
diode is greater than the zener RS + RL
voltage.
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 6
 Zener Regulator
• A zener diode also called a voltage-regulator
diode.
• It maintains a constant output voltage even
through the current through it changes.

• Example 5-1, page 148 of your textbook.

E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 7

 RS

Power VS
RL
VZ
supply

Assuming the zener is conducting:

RL VS - VZ VZ
VTH = VS IS = IL = IZ = I S - IL
RS+RL RS RL
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 8
 A zener waveshaping circuit

RL

VZ + 0.7 V

E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes

-VZ - 0.7 V Page 9
 RZ
Zener diode
second approximation
VZ

E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 10

 Applying the second approximation

RS
RZ
Power VS
RL
supply
VZ

The deviation in load voltage from the ideal case:

DVL = IZRZ
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 11
 The zener regulator also reduces ripple

RS
RZ
Power VR(in)
RL
supply
VZ

Assuming that both RL and RS >> RZ:

RZ
VR(out) @ VR(in)
RS
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 12
 Zener Drop-Out Point
VS=20V
RS=200
Power VZ=10V RL=1k
supply

• Case 1: Varying the source voltage

– Consider the source voltage Vs decreases from 20V to 12V. The
series current Is will decrease from 50mA to 10mA, IL will
remain the same (IL=10mA) and Iz will decrease to 0mA.
– Now, the Is = IL and no current goes into the diode (i.e. Iz is zero.)
At that time, the zener diode is about to come out of the
breakdown region.
– If the source voltage decreases any further, regulation will be lost.
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 13
 Zener Drop-Out Point
VS=20V
RS=200
Power VZ=10V RL=1k
supply

Case 2 : Decrease the load resistance.

Consider the load resistance from 1k to 200. The
current across the load is 50mA, same as the series
current. Therefore, the zener is about to come out of
breakdown.

E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 14

 Zener Drop-Out Point
Analyzing the zener circuit for the worst-case
conditions, it is possible to derive the following
equation :
 Vs (min) 
Rs (max) 
 V  1
 RL (min)
 Z 
 Vs (min)  Vz 
Rs (max)  
 I 
 L (max) 
Zener Diode Ratings
Maximum power = PZ(max) = VZ IZ(max)
Available tolerances: 20, 10 and 5 percent
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 15
 V
1 k
-30 -20 -10 0
RS
Q1
VS -10
mA
Q2
-20
30 V
VS = 20 V
-30

What happens to VZ when VS varies from 20 to 30 volts?

Load lines provide a graphical solution.
E&T1350 Electronics Chapter 4 Special Purpose Diodes Page 16