Okay, I'm building a serial link cable for my TI calculator and the plans call for two zener diodes. What exactly is a zener diode? Is that just a regular diode, because I have some diodes, and if ...

The diode has a very high resistance in one direction. This means that current can only flow in the other direction. This is the graph of current against voltage for a diode.

The history of the diode is a fun one as it’s rife with accidental discoveries, sometimes having to wait decades for a use for what was found. Two examples of that are our first two topics ...