Zeners are commonly used as low-current sources for bias voltage functions, but the proper voltage reference can give the same result and with much-lower dissipation and no performance tradeoffs.

IC references are popular with circuit designers because they are accurate and exhibit low drift. Some of my future columns will cover the three types of IC references: buried zener, bandgap, and XFET ...

We’re quite sure that all hobbyists have used the 7805 voltage regulator at least once in their lives. They are a simple way to regulate 7V+ voltages to the 5V that some of our low power projects need ...