case is 513 milliamps). This is the familiar power equation P= IE. The answer is 6.

15
watts. Therefore, ZD would need to be a 12-volt, 10-watt zener with an appropriate heat
sink. Another option would be to use two 5-watt, 6-volt zeners in series. The latter option
eliminates the need for a heat sink, but care must be exercised to assure plenty of “air
space” around the zener diodes for adequate convection cooling. As the design example
illustrates, zener-regulated power supplies are not extremely efficient because the zener
diode wastes a significant amount of power when the current flow through the load is
small. For this reason, zener-regulated power supplies are typically restricted to low-
power applications. However, zener diodes are commonly used as voltage references in
high-power circuits.

Diode as Clippers

There are a variety of diode networks called clippers that have the ability to “clip”
off a portion of the input signal without distorting the remaining part of the alternating wave
form. The half-wave rectifier is an example of the simplest form of diode clipper—one
resistor and diode. Depending on the orientation of the diode, the positive or negative
region of the input signal is “clipped” off. There are two general categories of clippers:
series and parallel. The series configuration is defined as one where the diode is in series
with the load, while the parallel variety has the diode in a branch parallel to the load.

Series

The response of the series configuration of Figure 32 (a) to a variety of alternating

waveforms is provided in Figure 32 (b). Although first introduced as a half-wave rectifier
(for sinusoidal waveforms), there are no boundaries on the type of signals that can be
applied to a clipper. The addition of a dc supply such as shown in the next figure can have
a pronounced effect on the output of a clipper. Our initial discussion will be limited to ideal
diodes, with the effect of VT reserved for a concluding example.

Figure 32. Diode clippers