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A Zener diode is a special purpose diode that is designed to operate in the reverse breakdown region of
the diodes characteristic curve. Regular diodes will be destroyed if they are used in the reverse
breakdown region.
Zener Diode Symbols
The schematic and physical symbols are shown. Note that the symbol is similar but somewhat different
than that of a regular diode.
The Zener diode is off when the applied voltage is less than the Zener voltage rating. When the applied
voltage is greater than the Zener voltage rating the Zener diode turns on and current flows.
Power Dissipation PD
This is the rating for the maximum amount of power the Zener diode can dissipate. Values range from
0.3 W to 50 W.
For a 1N 4734A Zener diode the Power
Rating is 1 Watt.
(typical)
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Leakage Current - IR
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Example
2. A 1N 4734A Zener diode has a Zener voltage VZ of 5.6 V at a test current of 45 mA. What is the
value of the Zener voltage VZ at a Zener current of 75 mA?
The change in Zener current IZ = 75 mA - 45 mA = 30 mA
The maximum Zener Resistance
ZZ = 5
Vout
Vout
Iout
Iout
Example
3. Assume that a power supply produces 12 volts when the load current is zero (load resistance is
infinite). If the output voltage drops to 10 volts when full load current flows, then the percent of
regulation is
Percent Regulation = (VLoad, NL - VLoad, FL)/ VLoad, FL x 100% = (12 V 10 V)/10 V x 100% = 20%
VZ = VL
IL = VL/RL = VZ/RL
IZ = IS - IL
Example
4. For the circuit diagram above with a 1N 4734A Zener diode and VIN = 18 V, VZ = 5.6 V, RS = 1
k RL = 1 k.
The source current is IS = (Vin - VZ)/ RS = (18 V 5.6 V)/ 1 k = 12.4 mA
The output voltage
VZ = VL = 5.6 V
IZ,max = 179 mA
RL open circuit IL = 0
At the minimum Zener current of 1 mA, the voltage drop of RS is VRS = 1 mA x 220 = 0.22 V
So the minimum value of VIN is 0.22 V + 5.6 V = 5.82 V
At the maximum Zener current of 179 mA, the voltage drop of RS is VRS = 179 mA x 220 = 39.4 V
So the maximum value of VIN is 39.4 V + 5.6 V = 45.0 V
So if VIN stays within the limits of 5.82 V to 45.0 V then the output load voltage Vout will be constant at
5.6 V
Effect of Variable load Resistance
The other example to investigate is the effect of a variable load resistor on the ability of the regulator
circuit to maintain a constant output voltage. Assume the Zener diode is a 1N 4734A .
VZ = 5.6 V
IZ,min = 1 mA
IZ,max = 179 mA
VIN = 24 V
RS = 470
Part 1
When IL = 0 A (RL = )
Then the Zener diode current is a maximum value IZ = IS = (24 V - 5.6 V)/470 = 39.1 mA
This value of IZ is well below the IZ,max value of 179 mA so the diode is not in danger of overheating
Part 2
The maximum value of load current IL,max occurs when the Zener diode current is a minimum (1 mA)
IL,max = IS - IZ,min = 39.1 mA - 1 mA = 38.1 mA
So the minimum value of RL is RL,min = 5.6 V/38.1 mA = 147
So the load resistor RL can be adjusted from 147 up to an open circuit (RL = ) and the output load
voltage will b a constant 5.6 V.
Ripple Reduction
A filter capacitor is useful to reduce the ripple voltage of a rectified load voltage waveform. But simply
increasing the value of the capacitor is not always the best way to achieve a small ripple voltage. The
Zener diode regulator circuit has ripple reduction properties as the example below will show. The circuit
shows a Zener diode regulator circuit but the Zener diode has been replaced with its equivalent circuit
model.
Sample Calculation
The input voltage VIN to the regulator circuit is assumed to be +10 V DC with a 0.5 V P-P Input ripple
voltage.
The percent ripple at the input is 0.5 V P-P/10 V x 100% = 5%
This circuit has 3 voltage sources the + 10 V DC input, the 0.5 V P-P Input ripple AC voltage and the
5.6 V Zener voltage.
To analyze the effects of the circuit on the ripple voltage we need to use the Superposition Theorem. To
do this the + 10 V DC input and the 5.6 V Zener voltages are shorted out. The circuit below shows this.
VRipple,Out,P-P
The input voltage VIN can be designated VRipple,In, P-P. As can be seen in the circuit the resistors RZ and
RLoad are in parallel. The equivalent resistance of these 2 resistors is
Requiv = RZ || RLoad = (5 x 100 )/ (5 + 100 ) = 4.76
The 1 k source resistor and this equivalent resistance form a voltage divider.
The output ripple voltage is calculated as
VRipple,Out,P-P = RZ||RLoad /( RZ||RLoad + RS) x VRipple,In,P-P = 4.76 /(4.76 + 50 ) x 0.5 V P-P = 44 mV P-P
The percent ripple at the output is
Clearly both the absolute value and percent value of the ripple voltage have been reduced by the Zener
diode regulator circuit.
Integrated Circuit (3 terminal) Voltage Regulators
A voltage regulator circuit can be built by the use of a discrete component like a Zener diode. However
more sophisticated solutions are available with IC based Voltage Regulators.
One of the more popular devices is the LM7805 voltage regulator. This is a fixed +5 V voltage regulator.
In fact the LM7805 voltage regulator is only one member of a family of voltage regulators designated as
LM78XX also designated as the LM 140 and LM 340 series of devices. The commonly available output
voltages are +5 V, +12 V and + 15 V. There is also a LM79XX series of regulators that produce negative
output voltages.
Device Packaging
Devices like the LM7805 and others come in different packages. The diagram below shows the TO-3 and
the T0-220 packages two of the more common device packages for soldering on through hole plated
circuit boards. These diagrams help the user identify the Input, Output and Ground pins. There are also
a wide variety of packages available for surface mount circuit board assembly.
View the voltage regulator data sheets on the course web site