Zener Diode Topics

• voltage stabilizer
• amplifier stage
• zener voltage
• resistor
• power source
• locomotive
• analogy
• fraction
• diode zener

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Zener Diode, Zener Diode

A reverse-biased Zener diode will exhibit a controlled breakdown and allow the current to keep the voltage across the Zener diode at the Zener voltage.

However, the current is not unlimited, so the Zener diode is typically used to generate a reference voltage for an amplifier stage, or as a voltage stabilizer for low-current applications.

In a sense, a portion of the current through the resistor is shunted through the Zener diode, and the rest is through the load. Thus the voltage that the load sees is controlled by causing some fraction of the current from the power source to bypass it—hence the name, by analogy with locomotive switching points.

Source: Wikipedia > Zener Diode