I have a zener diode obtained by reverse engineering, there is an icon of what is surely the mathematical model, and there are two numbers 41 and underneath 48, what do these signify?
What do the numbers on a zener diode signify
diodessymbol [~]terminology
Related Solutions
Tentative answer.... iterating as OP adds more details...
... and adding details from the datasheet found by @Shantam
- 3V3 -- a zener of 3.3V
- C -- tolerance, probably 5%
- Stripe indicates cathode end of a diode. That's the end to which the arrow in the symbol points.
- ST -- SGS Thomson
I'm not sure that I can totally answer this, but I'll write down what I know.
The equation that you've given is the voltage of a diode, assuming that the diode is not in breakdown. If you apply a high reverse voltage to the diode, all bets are off - it enters breakdown, and your equation doesn't tell us anything about the breakdown region.
So, what's different about these three types of diodes?
Signal and rectifier diodes have the same voltage-current characteristic. As far as I know, the only difference is that rectifier diodes are made a bit tougher for high voltages and currents (think of a rectifier circuit) while signal diodes are meant for lower operating points. They both follow the Shockley equation.
Zener diodes act differently in the breakdown region - while 'regular' diodes go into avalanche breakdown, Zener diodes go into Zener breakdown (go figure), which happens at a specific voltage. Take a look at the reverse voltage portion of a typical Zener diode (and note that the forward voltage part still matches the Shockley equation):
Best Answer
Sounds like you have a 1N4148 rectifier, and not in fact a zener diode. The icon is likely the manufacturer's logo.