![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/I-V_curve_for_a_Zener_Diode.svg/640px-I-V_curve_for_a_Zener_Diode.svg.png&w=640&q=50)
Zener effect
Type of electrical breakdown in semiconductors / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In electronics, the Zener effect (employed most notably in the appropriately named Zener diode) is a type of electrical breakdown, discovered by Clarence Melvin Zener. It occurs in a reverse biased p-n diode when the electric field enables tunneling of electrons from the valence to the conduction band of a semiconductor, leading to numerous free minority carriers which suddenly increase the reverse current.[1]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/I-V_curve_for_a_Zener_Diode.svg/320px-I-V_curve_for_a_Zener_Diode.svg.png)