Basic Electronics

Lecture # 2
Diode as a Rectifier
 The Basic DC power Supply
• The DC power supply converts the
standard AC Voltage into a constant DC
Voltage.
 The Half – Wave
Rectifier
• A diode is connected to
an ac source which
provides the input
voltage, Vin and to load
resistor RL, forming a
half-wave rectifier.
• When positive cycle
comes then diode allows
it and works in forward
bias and when negative
cycle comes then diode
does not allow it and
works in reverse bias.
Average value of the Half-Wave Output Voltage
• The average value of the half wave rectified output voltage is the
value you would measure on a dc voltmeter.
• Mathematically, it is determined by the area under the curve over a
full cycle, and then dividing by 2 , the number of radians in a full
cycle.
VP
VAVG Where VP is the peak value of the voltage.
 Effect of the Barrier Potential on the Half-
Wave Rectifier Output
• During the +ve half-cycle, the input voltage must
overcome the barrier potential before the diode becomes
forward biased.
• For silicon diode this results in a half-wave output with a
peak value that is 0.7V less than the peak value of input.
VP VP (in) 0.7V
 Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV)
• The maximum value of Reverse voltage, designated as
peak inverse voltage (PIV), occurs at the peak of each
negative alternation of the input voltage when the diode
is reverse-biased.
• The PIV equals the peak value of the input voltage, and
the diode must be capable of withstanding this amount
of repetitive reverse voltage.

PIV VP (in)
 Full-Wave Rectifier
• Full-Wave rectifier allows unidirectional (one-way) current
to the load during the entire 360o of the input cycle.
• Full-Wave rectification is an output voltage with a
frequency twice the input frequency that pulsates every
half-cycle of the input.

2VP
VAVG
 Full-Wave Center-Taped Rectifier
• The full-wave center-taped rectifier uses two
diodes connected to the secondary center-taped
transformer.
• Half of the total secondary voltage appears b/w
the centered tap end of the secondary winding
with opposite polarities.
 Full-Wave Center-Taped Rectifier
• For the +ve half cycle of the input voltage.
• This condition forward-biases D1 and reverse
biases D2.
• For –ve half cycle of the input voltage.
• This condition reverse-biases D1 and forward
biases D2.
• Because the output current during both the
positive and negative portions of the input cycle
is in the same through the load, the output
voltage developed across the load resistor is a
full-wave rectified DC voltage.
 Output Voltage of Center-Taped Rectifier

• The output voltage of center-taped rectifier is

always one-half of the secondary voltage less
the diode drop.
Vsec
Vout 0.7V
2
 Peak Inverse Voltage
• Peak inverse voltage across either diode in the
center-taped full wave rectifier is
PIV 2Vp (out ) 0.7V
 The Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier
• The full wave rectifier uses four diodes, as shown in the
following figure.
• When the input cycle is
positive, diodes D1 and D2
are forward biased and
conduct current. During
this time, diodes D3 and
D4 are reverse-biased.

• When the input cycle is

negative, diodes D3 and
D4 are forward biased and
conduct current. During
this time, diodes D1 and
D2 are reverse-biased.
 Bridge Output Voltage
• During the +ve half-cycle of the total secondary voltage,
diodes D1 and D2 are forward-biased. The same is true
when D3 and D4 during the negative half-cycle.

VP (out ) VP (sec) • Neglecting the diode drops

Two diodes are always in series with the load resistor

during the +ve and –ve half-cycles. If diode drops are taken
into account, the output voltage is

VP ( out ) VP (sec) 1.4V

 Peak Inverse Voltage
• PIV is ideally equal to the secondary voltage.

PIV VP (out )

• If the diode drops of the forward-biased diodes are

included, the peak inverse voltage across each reverse-
biased diode in terms of VP(out) is
PIV VP (out ) 0.7V
 Power Supply Filters
• A power supply filter ideally eliminates the
fluctuations in the output voltage of a half-
wave or full-wave rectifier and produces a
constant-level DC Voltage.
 Half-Wave rectifier with Capacitor Filter
• A half-wave rectifier with a
capacitor filter as shown in
the figure.
• During the +ve quarter cycle
of the input, the diode is
forward-biased, allowing the
capacitor to charge to within
0.7V of the input peak.
• When the input begins to
decrease below its peak, the
capacitor retains its charge
and the diode becomes
reverse-biased.
• During the remaining part of
the cycle, the capacitor can
discharge only through the
load resistance, which is
normally long compared to
the period of input.
 Ripple Voltage
• The capacitor quickly charges and slowly discharges through RL after
the positive peak.
• The variation in the capacitor voltage due to charging and
discharging is called the ripple voltage.

• The ripple factor ( r ) is an indication of the effectiveness of the filter

and is defined as

Vr ( pp ) Where Vr(pp) is the peak-to-peak ripple voltage.

r VDC is the dc (average) value of the filter’s output voltage.
VDC
• The ripple factor can be lowered by increasing the value of the filter capacitor or
increasing the load resistance.
Full-Wave rectifier with Capacitor Filter
• For full wave rectified capacitor filter, approximations for the peak-to-
peak ripple voltage, Vr(pp), and the DC value of the filter output
voltage, VDC, are given in the following experession. Vp(rect) is the
peak rectified voltage.

1
Vr ( pp ) V p ( rect )
fRL C
1
VDC 1 V p ( rect )
2 fRL C
 Power Supply Filters And Regulators

Being that the capacitor

appears as a short during
the initial charging, the
current through the diodes
can momentarily be quite
high. To reduce risk of
damaging the diodes, a
surge current limiting
resistor is placed in series
with the filter and load.
 Power Supply Filters And Regulators
Regulation is the last step in eliminating the remaining ripple and maintaining
the output voltage to a specific value. Typically this regulation is performed by
an integrated circuit regulator. There are many different types used based on
the voltage and current requirements.
 Power Supply Filters And Regulators

How well the regulation is performed by a regulator is measured by it’s

regulation percentage. There are two types of regulation, line and
load. Line and load regulation percentage is simply a ratio of change
in voltage (line) or current (load) stated as a percentage.

Line Regulation = ( VOUT/ VIN)100%

Load Regulation = (VNL – VFL)/VFL)100%
 Diode Limiters
Limiting circuits limit the positive or negative amount of an input voltage
to a specific value.

This positive limiter will limit the output to VBIAS + .7V

 Diode Limiters
The desired amount of limitation can be attained by a power supply or
voltage divider. The amount clipped can be adjusted with different levels of
VBIAS.

This positive limiter will limit The voltage divider provides the
the output to VBIAS + .7V VBIAS . VBIAS =(R3/R2+R3)VSUPPLY
 Diode Clampers
A diode clamper adds a DC level to an AC voltage. The capacitor charges to the
peak of the supply minus the diode drop. Once charged, the capacitor acts like a
battery in series with the input voltage. The AC voltage will “ride” along with the
DC voltage. The polarity arrangement of the diode determines whether the DC
voltage is negative or positive.
 Voltage Multipliers
Clamping action can be used to increase peak rectified voltage. Once C1 and
C2 charges to the peak voltage they act like two batteries in series, effectively
doubling the voltage output. The current capacity for voltage multipliers is low.
 Voltage Multipliers
The full-wave voltage doubler arrangement of diodes and capacitors
takes advantage of both positive and negative peaks to charge the
capacitors giving it more current capacity. Voltage triplers and
quadruplers utilize three and four diode-capacitor arrangements
respectively.
Voltage Multipliers
Voltage Tripler
Voltage Multipliers
Voltage Quadrupler
 The Diode Data Sheet

The data sheet for diodes and other devices gives

detailed information about specific characteristics
such as the various maximum current and voltage
ratings, temperature range, and voltage versus
current curves. It is sometimes a very valuable
piece of information, even for a technician. There
are cases when you might have to select a
replacement diode when the type of diode needed
may no longer be available.
 Summary
 The basic function of a power supply to give us a smooth ripple free
DC voltage from an AC voltage.

 Half-wave rectifiers only utilize half of the cycle to produce a DC

voltage.

 Transformer Coupling allows voltage manipulation through its

windings ratio.

 Full-Wave rectifiers efficiently make use of the whole cycle.

This makes it easier to filter.

 The full-wave bridge rectifier allows use of the full secondary

winding output whereas the center-tapped full wave uses only half.
 Summary

 Filtering and Regulating the output of a rectifier helps keep the DC

voltage smooth and accurate.

 Limiters are used to set the output peak(s) to a given value.

 Clampers are used to add a DC voltage to an AC voltage.

 Voltage Multipliers allow a doubling, tripling, or quadrupling of rectified

DC voltage for low current applications.