Question

Is Zener diode a rectifier?

Answer 1

Hint: We know that a zener diode is a special type of semiconductor, which is doped heavily. This results in a p-n junction, which enables the zener diode to work in the reverse voltage, by allowing the current to flow in the backward direction.

Complete answer:
We know that Zener diode is a special type of semiconductor diode, which allows the current to flow backwards in the circuit, beyond a threshold voltage, called the zener voltage. This is also commonly known as the zener effect. However, below the zener voltage, it acts as a normal diode.
These are often used in the regulation of voltages.
Similarly, we know that a rectifier is a device, which can convert the oscillating AC into DC. These are often used in vacuum diodes , powering the circuit , used in soldering, used in transformers and many more.
There are two types of rectifier, namely the half wave rectifier and the full wave rectifier.
Also,we don’t use zener as a rectifier, as in a rectifier circuit, the peak voltage is maximum, whereas in zener diode, peak voltage is found at the lower value. This is an undesirable characteristic, and hence thus, a zener diode is not used in a rectifier circuit.

Note:
There are two types of breakdowns which happen for a zener diode, namely the avalanche breakdown and the zener breakdown. The former occurs at high voltages, i.e. the normal diode and the zener diode at high reverse voltage, while the latter occurs when reverse biased at low voltages.