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Experiment No. 12 To Find Reverse Breakdown Voltage of Zener Diode

Experiment No. 12 was conducted to draw the reverse characteristic curve of a Zener diode and find its reverse breakdown voltage. The Zener diode used was a BZX55C7V5. Observations of reverse voltage and current were recorded in a table as the rheostat value was varied. The graph of the data showed the breakdown voltage to be 7.5V, which matched the standard value. The maximum possible error in measuring the breakdown voltage was calculated to be 4.54%. Therefore, the breakdown voltage of the Zener diode was determined to be 7.5±0% V.

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Sarthak Vishnu
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38 views7 pages

Experiment No. 12 To Find Reverse Breakdown Voltage of Zener Diode

Experiment No. 12 was conducted to draw the reverse characteristic curve of a Zener diode and find its reverse breakdown voltage. The Zener diode used was a BZX55C7V5. Observations of reverse voltage and current were recorded in a table as the rheostat value was varied. The graph of the data showed the breakdown voltage to be 7.5V, which matched the standard value. The maximum possible error in measuring the breakdown voltage was calculated to be 4.54%. Therefore, the breakdown voltage of the Zener diode was determined to be 7.5±0% V.

Uploaded by

Sarthak Vishnu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Experiment No.

12
To Find Reverse Breakdown Voltage
of Zener Diode
Sarthak Vishnu-20240
Physics Lab,
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Una (H.P.)
February 11, 2021

1 Abstract
To draw the reverse characteristic curve of a Zener diode and to find its
reverse breakdown voltage.

2 Theory and Motivation


Zener diode- A Zener diode is a heavily doped silicon crystal diode which
allows current to flow in the forward direction in the same manner as an ideal
diode. It also permits the current to flow in the reverse direction when the
voltage is above a certain value known as the breakdown voltage. Breakdown
voltage is also known as Zener knee voltage.
The device was named after an American Physicist, Clarence Zener, who
described the property concerning the breakdown of electrical insulators.
The device consists of a reverse biased, highly doped, p-n junction diode
operating in the breakdown region. Conventional diodes and rectifiers never
operate in the breakdown region, but the Zener diode can safely be operated
at this point.

Working of Zener diode- As the reverse voltage applied to the Zener

1
diode increases, it reaches the breakdown voltage at which Zener current in-
creases to a large value. In the breakdown region, further increase in reverse
voltage will not increase the voltage across the Zener diode, it only increases
the current. Thus, a constant voltage called Zener voltage (Vz ) is maintained
across the Zener diode when the supply voltage changes. Hence, it acts as a
voltage regulator.
The reverse characteristic is obtained by taking reverse voltage along – ve
X-axis and reverse current along –ve Y-axis. As the reverse voltage reaches
a certain value, the reverse current increases to a large value, but the voltage
across the diode remains a constant. This is the break down voltage Vz .

Figure 1: Zener diode

2
Figure 2: reverse characteristic of zener diode

3 Experimental Setup and Apparatus


• Battery

• Rheostat

• Small resistance

• Milliammeter

• Voltmeter

• Key

• Zener diode

3
4 Observation and Analysis

Sr.no. Rheostat Value Reverse Voltage (V) Reverse Current (I)


1 3 0.360 0.000
2 6 0.720 0.000
3 9 1.079 0.000
4 12 1.434 0.000
5 15 1.783 0.000
6 18 2.126 0.000
7 21 2.463 0.000
8 24 2.796 0.000
9 27 3.125 0.000
10 30 3.450 0.000
11 33 3.774 0.000
12 36 4.095 0.000
13 39 4.415 0.000
14 42 4.733 0.000
15 45 5.050 0.000
16 48 5.367 0.000
17 51 5.682 0.000
18 54 5.998 0.000
19 57 6.312 0.000
20 60 6.626 0.000
21 63 7.500 0.000
22 66 7.500 0.002
23 69 7.500 0.004
24 72 7.500 0.006
25 75 7.500 0.007
26 78 7.500 0.009
27 81 7.500 0.011
28 84 7.500 0.013
29 87 7.500 0.015
30 90 7.500 0.017
31 93 7.500 0.018
32 96 7.500 0.020
33 99 7.500 0.022

Table 1: Observation Table


4
Parameters:

• Zener diode =BZX55C7V5

• Breakdown voltage =7.5V

• Test Current =5mA

• temperature coefficient =0.050

• Maximum current =53mA

Graphical Analysis:

Figure 3: Graph

5 Least Count
Least count of Ammeter = 0.001 A
Least count of Voltmeter = 0.001 V

5
6 Calculation and Error Estimation
From, the above graph we can see that the Zener/breakdown voltage of zener

diode (BZX55C7V5) is 7.500V

Now calculating % Error,


The standard value of breakdown voltage of zener diode (BZX55C7V5) is
7.5V
And, the calculated value of breakdown voltage of zener diode (BZX55C7V5)
is 7.5V
We have,
Vexp − Vtheo
%Error = × 100%
Vtheo

7.5 − 7.5
%Error = × 100%
7.5
%Error = 0%

7 Maximum Possible Error


Since we know that,
VZ
I=
R
Here, value of I is maximum current and value of ∆I is least count
Taking log and then deffrentiating it ,we get
∆VZ ∆I
=
VZ I
∆VZ 0.001
=
VZ 0.022
∆VZ
× 100 = 4.54%
VZ
Maximum possible error = 4.54%

6
8 Result
So the determined value of breakdown voltage of Zener diode (BZX55C7V5)
is VZ =7.5 V with an error of 0%.

And the maximum possible error is 4.54 %.

So, the value of breakdown voltage of Zener diode (BZX55C7V5)


is VZ =7.5±0% V .

9 Application
Zener diodes are used in five main applications in electronic circuits;

• Voltage Regulation

• Waveform Clipper

• Voltage Shifter

• Meter Protector

• Wave Sharper

10 Precaution
• While doing the experiment do not exceed the readings of the diode.
This may lead to damaging of the diode.

• Connect voltmeter and ammeter in correct polarities as shown in the


circuit diagram.

• Do not switch ON the power supply unless you have checked the circuit
connections as per the circuit diagram.

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