ZENER DIODE SHUNT STABILISER
The zener diode stabiliser has the advantage of simplicity, and for many applications, particularly for low current loads, it can give sufficient stabilisation. The arrangement is shown in Fig. 21.3 (a). The zener diode is connected in the reverse direction across the load and is fed from the unstabilised voltage through a series resistor RS. The chracteristic of a zener diode is illustrated in Fig. 21.3 (b). In the reverse direction the current is small until the breakdown in reached, and then the current increases very rapidly for a small increase of voltage. The diode is chosen to have a breakdown voltage equal to the required output voltage, and the input voltage and series resistance are set so that the diode ...
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