PHYSICS

PROJECT FILE

MADE BY :-<>
CLASS-12
SECTION-<>
CONTENTS
•CERTIFICATE
•ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
•INTRODUCTION
• APPLICATIONS
• SUMMARY
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that this project has been made by <name>of
class XII-<> on zener diode under the guidance of our physics
teacher Ms <teacher‘s name> and has been completed
successfully .

< teacher ‘s name > External examiner

(PGT, Physics)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude towards
my physics teacher who gave me the golden
opportunity for carrying out this project . The
project helped me to give a crystal clear
perspective and also gain a lot knowledge
which I was not able to grasp . Secondly I
would also like to thank my parents and friends
who helped me in finalising the project.
WHAT IS A ZENER DIODE?
• It is a semiconductor diode , name after
Clarence Zener.
• Heavily doped p-n junction diode
• Works under reverse bias .
• Used as voltage regulator, waveform
clippers and as well as a voltage shifter. Symbol for
• They are used to generate low power to zener diode
stabilised supply rails from a higher
voltage and to provide reference
voltages for circuits, especially power
supplies .
 CONSTRUCTION
The Zener diode's operation depends on the heavy doping of its p-n
junction. The depletion region formed in the diode is very thin and the
electric field is consequently very high even for a small reverse bias voltage
of about 5 V, allowing electrons to tunnel from the valence band of the p-
type material to the conduction band of the n-type material.

At the atomic scale, this tunneling corresponds to the transport of valence

band electrons into the empty conduction band states; as a result of the
reduced barrier between these bands and high electric fields that are
induced due to the relatively high levels of doping on both sides.[2] The
breakdown voltage can be controlled quite accurately in the doping process.
While tolerances within 0.07% are available, the most widely used
tolerances are 5% and 10%. Breakdown voltage for commonly available
Zener diodes can vary widely from 1.2 volts to 200 volts.
 WORKING OF A ZENER DIODE
When the reverse bias voltage V=Vz , then the
electric field is strong enough to pull the valence
electrons from the host atoms on the p-side
which are accelerated to n-side. These electrons
account for high current observed at the
breakdown. The emission of electrons from the
host atoms due to the high electric field is known
as internal field emission or field ionisation .
V-I CHARACTERISTICS OF ZENER DIODE
Breakdown voltage-For
diodes, the breakdown
voltage is the minimum
reverse voltage that makes
the diode conduct
appreciably in reverse.

Avalanche effect- Another

phenomenon seen in zener diode is
the avalanche effect . Avalanche
breakdown is a phenomenon that
can occur in both insulating and
semiconducting materials. It is a
form of electric current multiplication
that can allow very large currents
within materials which are otherwise
good insulators. It is a type of
electron avalanche.
 APPLICATIONS:
• Waveform clippers-Two Zener
diodes facing each other in series
will act to clip both halves of an
input signal. Waveform clippers can
be used to not only reshape a
signal, but also to prevent voltage
spikes from affecting circuits that
are connected to the power
supply.clipper is the circuit mainly
using a diode logic to reshape the
give input electrical signal.

• Voltage shifter-A Zener diode can

be applied to a circuit with a resistor
to act as a voltage shifter. This
circuit lowers the output voltage by Zener diode as
a quantity that is equal to the Zener voltage shifter
diode's breakdown voltage.they are
also called as clamper circuits.
• Voltage Regulator-A Zener diode can be
applied in a voltage regulator circuit to
regulate the voltage applied to a load, such
as in a linear regulator.
As seen in the diagrammatical
representation, a load resistance
is connected in parallel with the
zener diode . As such the voltage
across the zener diode as well as
the load resistance will be the
same.

Zener diodes are widely used as voltage references and as shunt

regulators to regulate the voltage across small circuits. When connected
in parallel with a variable voltage source so that it is reverse biased, a
Zener diode conducts when the voltage reaches the diode's reverse
breakdown voltage. From that point on, the relatively low impedance of
the diode keeps the voltage across the diode at that value
 SUMMARY
The project is based on the semiconductor device ,
zener diode . This project describes all one would wan
to need to know about a zener diode including its
working , construction , principle as well its usage in
different fields of technology.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• www.wikipedia.org
• www.google.com