Avalanche Diode vs Zener Diode
Zener Diodes
allows current flow in one direction and also in reverse
direction if voltage is higher than breakdown voltage called
breakdown voltage or zener knee voltage. Zener Breakdown
happens in heavily doped pn-junctions
But its working is due to Zener Breakdown. In
case of Avalanche diode there is Avalanche breakdown
Avalanche diode is
also made of silicon. Its working is similar to zener diode.
Avalanche breakdown happens in lightly doped pn-junctions.
Avalanche diodes are available with breakdown voltages of
4000v much higher than zener diodes which is limited to few
tens of volts.
In Simpler terms, Avalanche breakdown and Zener
breakdown refer to the breakdown of diode in reverse bias
