ECEG-2131 (AEI): Practical Diode Circuits

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAIT) School of Electrical and

Computer Engineering
Learning Outcomes

 At the end of the lecture, students should

be able to know about:
 Half-Wave and Full-Wave Rectifier.
 Clipper.
 Clamper.
 Zener Regulation.

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 Sinusoidal Inputs: Half-Wave
Rectification
 Used in ac-to-dc conversion circuit.
 The full wave sine wave will be rectified half, becomes a ½
wave rectification.
 Also known as Rectifier Diode with Higher Power & Current
Rating

vi
vm

vi R vo
t

Input sine wave ½ wave rectifier circuit

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 Half-Wave Rectification
 Assume Ideal Diode Model:
During + Cycle

vi
vm s/c
vi R vo=vi
t
vo
vm
 Diode Forward-Bias
 Diode “ON”.
t
 Short-circuit.
Vo = Vi

4
Half-Wave Rectification
During - Cycle

vi
- o/c
vi R vo=0V
t
+
vo
vm vm
 Diode Reversed-Bias.
 Diode “OFF”. t
 Open-circuit.
vo = 0V

5 5
Half-Wave Rectification
vi
vm
Ideal Model

-vm

vo
vm
Vdc  0.318Vm vdc
t

6
Half-Wave Rectification
vi
Approx. Model vm

-vm

vo Vm-VT
Vdc  0.318 Vm - VT 

vdc
t

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 Full-Wave Rectification
 Used in ac-to-dc conversion circuit.
 Improve 100% of the dc level obtained.
 2 common configurations. Bridge & Centre-Tapped
transformer
Bridge Network

vi D1 D2
vm
vo
vi
t R
T/2 T D3 D4

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Full-Wave Rectification
 Assume Ideal Diode Model:

During + Cycle ( t = 0  T/2 )

vi D1 "Off" D2 "On"
vm
vo
vi
t R
T/2 D3 "On" D4 "Off"

 Diode D2 and D3 “On”.

 Diode D1 and D4 “Off”.
vo = vi ( Ideal Diode)

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Full-Wave Rectification
During - Cycle ( t = T/2  T )

vi D1 "On" D2 "Off"

vo
vi
t R
T/2 T D3 "Off" D4 "On"

-vm

 Diode D1 and D4 “On”.

 Diode D2 and D3 “Off”.
vo = -vi ( Ideal Diode)

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Full-Wave Rectification
vi vo
vm vm

vdc

 For the Full-wave rectifier, the dc level is doubled.

Vdc  2(0.318Vm )  0.636Vm
 If we use Silicon diode (Not ideal diode),
vi - VT - vo - VT  0
vo  vi - 2VT and Vdc  0.636(Vm - 2VT )
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 Full-Wave Rectification
Center-Tapped Transformer

 Use two diodes with a Center-tapped transformer.

1:2

vi
vm vi
R
vi
t vo
vi

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 Full-Wave Rectification
Assume Ideal Diode Model:

During + Cycle ( t = 0  T/2 )

1:2 D1 "On"

vi
vm vi
R
vi
t vo
T/2 vi

 Diode D1 “On”, D2 “Off”. vo  v i D2 "Off"

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 Full-Wave Rectification
During - Cycle ( t = T/2  T )
1:2 D1 "Off"

vi
vm vi
R
vi
t vo
T/2 T
vi

D2 "On"
Diode D2 “On”, D1 “Off”.
vo  vi
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Full-Wave Rectification
Example 1: (Boylestad)

 Determine and sketch the output waveform for the

network below. Use ideal diode model.

vi D1 D2
10V
2k
vi
vo
2k 2k

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Full-Wave Rectification
During + Cycle ( t = 0  T/2 )

vi

2k
vi
vo
2k 2k

2k vo 1
vi
v o  v i  5V
2k 2
2k Vdc  0.636Vm  0.636(5)  3.18V
Effect of removing two diodes.
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 Full-Wave Rectification
During - Cycle ( t = T/2  T )
vi

2k
vi
vo
2k 2k

10V

2k 1
vo  vi  5V
vi 2k 2
2k vo
Vdc  0.636Vm  0.636(5)  3.18V

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Full-Wave Rectification

vo
5V
Vdc = 3.18V

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Clippers (Wave Shaping)

 Clippers circuit is used to “clip” off or chunk off a portion

of the input signal.
 There are series and parallel clippers.

Series Clipper Circuit

 Diode in series with the load.

vi R vo

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 Clippers
vi vo

?
 Consider an Ideal diode
 Try to analyze the
following waveform
 Use the series clipper vi vo

circuit before ?

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 Clippers
 Consider Ideal diode for simplification.

Series Clipper With a dc supply

vi
V
Vm

vi R vo

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 Clippers
During + Cycle ( t = 0  T/2 )
vi
V
Vm

vi R vo

vo
 Assume diode to be short circuit “On”. Vm-V
 Use KVL to obtain i/p and o/p relation.
v i - V - vo  0 vo  vi - V
 vo, will be positive only when vi V. Vi=V

 When vi <V, diode is open circuit.

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Clippers
During - Cycle ( t = T/2  T )

vi
V

vi R vo vo  0
vo

Vm-V
 Diode is open circuit “Off”.

Vi=V

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 Clippers
Parallel Clipper Circuit
 Diode in parallel with the load.
vi vo

R ?

vi vo

vi vo

?
 Consider an Ideal diode.
 Observe for each cycle.

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Clippers
Parallel Clipper With a dc supply
vi

vm R

vi vo
V

During + Cycle ( t = 0  T/2 )

 Assume diode to be short circuit.

 Apply KVL.
 Assume vm > V.
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 Clippers

vo  V
R
 Only true when vi < V.
 When vi > V, diode open cct.
vo
vo  vi V

During - Cycle ( t = T/2  T )

 Diode is always short circuit, “On”.

vo  V

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Clippers
vi

vm
V

vo

vm
V

27
Series Clipping Circuits

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Parallel Clipping Circuits

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 Clampers (Wave Shaping)
 Used to “clamp” or attach a signal to a different dc level.
 Circuit usually has a capacitor, diode and a resistor
  = RC is chosen to be large enough to avoid discharging
process
 Assumption: capacitor will fully discharge and charge in
five time constant (5)
C

vi R vo

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Clampers (Wave Shaping)

Steps for Analyzing Clampers Circuit

1. Start the analysis by considering the signal which forward biases the
diode
2. During the period the diode is in the ‘on’ state, assume C will charge
up instantaneously to a voltage level set by the surrounding network
3. During the period the diode is in the ‘off’ state, assume C holds on
to its established voltage level
4. Throughout the analysis, be aware of the location and polarity for
Vo
5. Check that the total swing of the output matches that of the input

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 Clampers
Example 2: (Boylestad 9th ed.)
Example : Determine vo.
vi
f  1000 Hz
C=1uF

10

vi V R 100k vo
5V

-20

 For clamping circuit, start the analysis when the

diode is forward-bias.
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Clampers
C=1uF

From t1-t2 :
vo  5V vi=20V V R 100k vo
Apply KVL, 5V
-20V  VC - 5V  0
25V
VC  25V
From t2-t3 :
Apply KVL, outside loop
vi=10V vo
10V  25V - vo  0 V
5V
R 100k

vo  35V

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 Clampers
Calculate discharging time,
  RC  (100k )(0.1F )  10ms
vo
5  5(10ms )  50ms
Given, 35

f  1000 Hz; T  1ms

1/2T= t2-t3 =0.5ms

* Since 1/2T < 5, therefore 5

capacitor will not have
enough time to discharge. t1 t2 t3 t4

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Clamping circuits with ideal diodes

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 Zener Regulation
 Analysis of networks employing Zener diodes is quite similar
to the analysis of semiconductor diodes in previous sections.
 First the state of the diode must be determined, then
substituting the appropriate model and determining the other
unknown quantities of the network.

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 Zener Regulation
 The use of the Zener diode as a regulator is so common
that three conditions surrounding the analysis of the basic
Zener regulator are considered.
 The analysis is first for fixed quantities, followed by a
fixed supply voltage and a variable load, and finally a
fixed load and a variable supply.

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 Vi and RL fixed
 The analysis can fundamentally be broken down into 2 steps:
1. Determine the state of the Zener diode by removing it from the
network and calculating the voltage across the resulting open circuit.

2. Substitute the appropriate equivalent circuit and solve for unknowns.

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 Fixed Vi variable RL
 If R is too small, the Zener current exceeds the maximum
current rating, IZM. The maximum current for the circuit is then
given by:

 The corresponding minimum load resistance can be calculated

by taking VL=VZ. That is,

 Once the diode is “on”, the voltage across R remains fixed at

 But IZ is limited to IZM as provided on the data sheet. Replacing

IZM for IZ establishes the minimum IL as:

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 Example (Boylestad)
 For the network of Figure below, determine the range of RL
and IL that will result in VRL being maintained at 10 V.
Determine the maximum wattage rating of the diode.

 To determine the value of RL that will turn the Zener diode on,

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 Example
 The voltage across the resistor R is then determined

 The magnitude of IR:

 The minimum level of IL is then,

 Determining the maximum value of RL:

 The maximum power rating will then be given by:

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 Fixed RL variable Vi
 For fixed values of RL, the voltage Vi must be sufficiently large
to turn on the Zener diode. The minimum turn on voltage is
determined by:

 The maximum value of Vi is limited by the maximum Zener

current IZM. Since IZM = IR - IL.

 Since IL is fixed and IZM is the maximum value of IZ, the

maximum IZ is defined by:

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 Example (Boylestad)
 Determine the range of values of Vi that will maintain the
Zener diode in the “on” state

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Example

A Plot of VL Versus Vi
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Zener Limiting (Regulation)

 Its Corresponding input-output characteristic

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What to Do This Week?

 Reading Assignment
 Voltage Multipliers and other practical application
circuits of Diodes.
 For Next class read:
 BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistors).

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