University of Tripoli

Faculty of engineering
Department of electrical and electronic engineering
Spring 2024

Zener Diodes
EE311

‫يوسف محمود ابوخيط‬

2200209362
Group D

Date:28/5/2024
Instructors: ‫ناجية جبنوع‬
• Objectives:
1. Construction of the I-V characteristic of a Zener diode.
2. To demonstrate the use of Zener diodes as voltage regulators.
3. To measure the line regulation and output resistance of a Zener diode regulator

Introduction:
• Theory:
Zener diode is a special type of diode in which it can function as a normal diode
when it is forward bias ,however the Zener diode is used in the reverse bias, the
reason for that can be seen in figure 1 as it shows that the voltage (breakdown
voltage) across the diode remains nearly constant as the current increases. This
property is useful for application such as voltage regulation.

Figure 1

• Equipment:
1. ZPD 6.2V (1W) Zener diode

Figure 2

2. Variable dc power supply

Figure 3
3. Resistors: 100Ω,560Ω, 1 kΩ,2.2 kΩ,4.7 kΩ,6.8 kΩ,8.2 kΩ,10kΩ

Figure 4

4. Digital multimeter.

Figure 5

• Procedure:
This experiment consists of three parts :
I. Determination of the forward-biased characteristics
II. Determination of the reverse-biased characteristics
III. Demonstration of the Zener diode as a voltage regulator

Part I: Determination of the forward-biased characteristics:

1. Connect the circuit as shown in figure 6

Figure 6
2. Adjust the applied voltage E so that the voltage of VZ (voltage across Zener diode)
is 0.1 to 0.6.V
3. Measure using the multimeter and record the value of VR (voltage across
resistance) in Table 1
4. Repeat step 2 and 3.
Part II: Determination of the reverse-biased characteristics:
1. Connect the circuit as shown in figure 7.

Figure 7

2. Adjust the applied Voltage E so that I (current) is 0.05 to 30 mA.

3. Measure using the multimeter and record the value of Vz in Table 2.
4. Repeat step 2 and 3.

Part III: Demonstration of Zener diode as voltage regulator.

First: Determination of line regulation:
1. Connect the circuit as shown in figure 8

Figure 8

2. Place 10kΩ resistance (RL)

3. Adjust the applied voltage E from 10V to15V
4. Measure using the multimeter and record the value of VL (voltage across the load)
in Table 3.
5. Repeat step 3 and 4.
Second: Determination of output resistance of the regulator.
1. Connect the circuit as shown in figure 4

Figure 9

2. Set the applied voltage E to 10V.

3. place RL (load resistance) ranging from 10kΩ to 2.2kΩ.
4. Measure using the multimeter and record the value of VL (voltage across the load)
in Table 4.
5. Repeat step 3 and 4.

Results:
Table 1

V(V) VR(V) I(µA)

0.1 0.00 0.00

0.3 0.02 0.02

0.5 0.301 0.301

0.6 1.199 1.199

Table 2 Table 3

I(mA) V(V)
E(V) VL(V)
0.05 -3.38
0.1 -3.8 10 5.9
1 -5.11
5 -5.86 11 5.94
10 -5.97
13 6
15 -6.07
20 -6.15
15 6.06
30 -6.2
 Table 4

RL(KΩ) VL(V) IL(mA) IS(mA) IZ(mA) PZ(mW)

10 5.9 0.59 7.32 6.73 39.71

8.2 5.9 0.72 7.32 6.6 38.94
6.8 5.9 0.87 7.32 6.45 38.06

4.7 5.89 1.25 7.34 6.09 35.87

2.2 5.86 2.66 7.39 4.73 27.72

I-V
1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
-0.2
Figure 10

I-V reverse
5

0
-7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
-5

-10

-15

-20

-25

-30

-35
Figure 11
 ∆𝑉 (−6.15 − (−6.2)) 𝑉
𝑍𝑧 = = = 5Ω
∆𝐼 (−20 − (−30)) 𝑚𝐴

∆𝑉𝐿 𝑉𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑉𝐿𝑚𝑖𝑛

= = ±0.032
∆𝐸 𝐸𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑛

∆𝑉𝐿 𝑉𝐿1 − 𝑉𝐿2 5.86 − 5.9

= = = ±0.02
∆𝐼𝐿 𝐼𝐿1 − 𝐼𝐿2 2.66 − 0.59

𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑛 − 𝑉𝑍 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑛 − 𝑉𝑍
𝑅𝑆 = =
𝑉 𝑉
𝐼𝑧𝑚𝑖𝑛 + 𝑍⁄𝑅 𝐼𝑧𝑚𝑖𝑛 + 𝑍⁄𝑅
𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥

𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑛 −𝑉𝑍 𝐸𝑚𝑖𝑛 −𝑉𝑍

𝑅𝑆 = 𝑉 = 𝑉
𝐼𝑧𝑚𝑖𝑛 + 𝑍⁄𝑅 𝐼𝑧𝑚𝑖𝑛 + 𝑍⁄𝑅
𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥
 Table 6

VZ(V) VR(mV) I(µA)

0.1 0.00 0.00

0.3 0.03 0.03

0.5 0.1126 0.1126

0.6 3.05 3.05

Table 7 Table 8

I(mA) V(V)
E(V) VL(V)
0.05 -6.07
0.1 -6.096 10 6.206
1 -6.156
5 -6.2 11 6.214
10 -6.222
13 6.225
15 -6.233
20 -6.243
15 6.234
30 -6.259

Table 9

RL(KΩ) VL(V) IL(mA) IS(mA) IZ(mA) PZ(mW)

10 6.206 0.6206 6.775 6.1544 38.1942

8.2 6.205 0.7567 6.7768 6.0201 37.3547
6.8 6.205 0.9125 6.7768 5.8643 36.3880

4.7 6.203 1.3198 6.7804 5.4606 33.8721

2.2 6.194 2.8155 6.7964 3.9809 24.6577
 I-V simulation
3.5

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
-0.5
Figure 12

I-V reverse simulation

0
-6.3 -6.25 -6.2 -6.15 -6.1 -6.05
-5

-10

-15

-20

-25

-30

-35
Figure 13

Graph comparison:
3.5 5

3 0
-8 -6 -4 -2 -5 0
2.5
2 -10
1.5 -15
1 -20
0.5 -25
0 -30
-0.5 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 -35
Figure 14
Error calculation:
table 1 error table 2 error
I(µA) V(V)
I(µA) V(V)
sim error percentage (sim) error percentage
0 0 0 -6.07 -3.38 44.31630972
0.03 0.02 33.33333333 -6.096 -3.8 37.66404199
0.1126 0.301 167.3179396 -6.156 -5.11 16.99155296
3.05 1.199 60.68852459 -6.2 -5.86 5.483870968
-6.222 -5.97 4.050144648
-6.233 -6.07 2.615113108
-6.243 -6.15 1.489668429

table 3 error table 4 error

VL(V) error
VL(V) error percentage VL(V) (sim) VL(V)
sim percentage
6.206 5.9 4.930712214 6.206 5.9 4.930712214
6.214 5.94 4.409398133 6.205 5.9 4.915390814
6.225 6 3.614457831 6.205 5.9 4.915390814
6.234 6.06 2.791145332 6.203 5.89 5.04594551

Discussion:
In the Zener diode experiment, we examined its behavior in both forward and reverse
bias conditions, focusing on its reverse breakdown characteristic.
In the first part of the experiment. Under forward bias, the Zener diode behaves like a
regular diode, showing an exponential increase in current once the forward voltage
exceeds the threshold.
In the second part of the experiment. In reverse bias, the diode initially allows
minimal current until the voltage approaches the break down point. At this point, the
current increases sharply, demonstrating the Zener breakdown mechanism which was
around 6.2V.
In the final part of the experiment we highlighted the Zener diode’s ability to
maintain a stable voltage in the breakdown region , despite variations in input
voltage. this makes it an effective component for voltage regulation and over voltage
protection.

Conclusion:
The experiment demonstrated the Zener diode’s properties and its application in
voltage regulation. Although the simulation and the lab values weren’t exactly the
same.