What is a zener diode and how does it work? | Intermediate Electronics

We've talked about the PN junction of a diode in several videos, describing how a diode works when forward biased, reverse biased, or just at equilibrium. In this video, we talk about what a Zener diode is, how it's different, why you usually reverse bias a Zener diode, and what's going on at the semiconductor level. This video is a great theoretical description and lays the groundwork for a practical demonstration of the usage of a Zener diode. There's a great written tutorial that accompanies this video as well on CircuitBread.com - https://www.circuitbread.com/tutorial...

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Table of Contents:
0:00 Introduction
0:25 Why is it called a Zener diode?
0:57 How does a Zener diode act when reverse biased?
1:32 What are the different types of reverse breakdown?
2:30 What is the Zener knee and what happens as the reverse voltage is increased?

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