An "active" device

I had a boss who put the word "saute" in his memo. It turned out he was trying to say "sought." He had a PhD in EE, IIRC.

That was the first civil post I've seen from Mr. Allison. I haven't been around long.

Al >Is that what we called a Zener diode in Circuits and Electronics 101?

No.

No, it isn't.

Tunnel diodes aren't seen all that often any more in more mainstream products, but they're basically diodes that have a "negative resistance" region in their forward operation curve (i.e., a part of the curve in which the forward current decreases with increasing forward voltage). They are used for applications requiring extremely fast switching speeds, and in very high-frequency amplifiers and oscillators.

A Zener diode, on the other hand, is one which has been made so as to have a very abrupt reverse breakdown, and typically one which occurs at a relatively low voltage. As such, they're useful as voltage references, limiters, etc..

Bob M.

Amazing. Thanks.