Clarence Zener
1905 – 1993
Explained the diode breakdown that bears his name.
An American physicist, Zener explained the electrical breakdown mechanism in 1934 that bears his name — the effect exploited in every voltage-reference diode. He also did foundational work in materials and metallurgy.
The zener-regulator tools here use the diode named for his theory: a component that turns a 'failure' mode into a precision reference.
Portrait: a stylized blueprint-line rendering, not a photograph.
Contributions in the toolbox
- 1934
Quantum-tunneling theory of electrical breakdown in solids.
→ Zener Shunt Regulator