Constructor University

Electronics

Lab Experiment 2 - Diode

Author: Shreesal Shrestha

Experiment Done by: Shreesal Shrestha, Pablo Vasquez Pocasangre

Place of Execution: Teaching Lab EE

Date of Execution: October 29th , 2024
1 Introduction and Prelab - Diode
The objective of this experiment is to understand semiconductor diodes and their
application. Throughout the experiment several applications like rectifiers, voltage
regulators, clampers and clippers were examined.

1.1 Prelab Problem 1 : Current/voltage characteristics of a

diode
Implement the following circuit using LTSpice:

Perform a DC sweep analysis:

1. Plot the diode characteristic If = f (Vf ).

2. Plot the diode characteristic log(If ) = f (Vf ).

3. Extract the values of ideality or diode factor, n, and the saturation current Is
from the graph. The voltage VT can be assumed to be 26mV .

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 Figure 1.1: Diode characteristic If = f (Vf ), where vo is the voltage over diode

Figure 1.2: Diode characteristic log (If = f (Vf )

To extract the diode factor n, and the saturation current Is , two points from the
fig(1.1) were taken,

I V
671.4 × 10−6 565 × 10−3
264.8 × 10−6 522.8 × 10−3

Using the points and eqn(1),

V
I = Is . exp (1)
nVT

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 565 × 10−3
671.4 × 10−6 = Is . exp
n × 26 × 10−3

522.8 × 10−3
264.8 × 10−6 = Is . exp
n × 26 × 10−3
Now solving the two,

n = 1.74
Is = 2.54 × 10−9

1.2 Prelab Problem 2 : Halfwave rectifier

Implement the following circuit using LTSpice:

Perform a transient analysis (4 cycles of the sinusoidal input) for all following cases.
Use the following parameters: .tran 0 1 960m .05m

1. Simulate the circuit without C1. Plot V L, Vin and I D. Measure the peak
voltage at R L and the peak current I D.

2. Simulate the circuit with C1 connected. Plot V L, Vin and I D. Measure the
peak voltage at R L, the peak current I D, and the ripple of the voltage VL at
the load resistor. Use the formula from the handout to calculate the ripple value.
Compare!

The give circuit was simulated in LTspice as per the instructions,

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 Figure 1.3: LTspice simulation : Halfwave rectifier - without capacitor

Running the simulation and plotting, V L, Vin and I D,

Figure 1.4: Plot of V L, Vi n and I D

Using the cursor function of LTspice, the peak voltage at R L and peak current
I D were measured,

Peak Current I D 4.151 mA

Peak voltage at R L 9.132 V

Table 1: Peak Voltage at R L and Peak Current I D

The simulation was ran again, but with the Capacitor C1 connected,

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 Figure 1.5: LTspice simulation : Halfwave rectifier - with capacitor

Figure 1.6: Plot of V L, Vi n and I D

Using the cursor function of LTspice, the peak voltage at R L, the peak current
I D and the ripple of the voltage V L were measured,

Peak Current I D 29.375 mA

Peak voltage at R L 8.069 V
Ripple Voltage 0.614 V

Table 2: Peak Voltage at R L, Peak Current I D and Ripple Voltage

The formula from the handout was also used the calculate the ripple voltage,
r !
Vp Ri
Vr = 1− 4 (2)
f CRL RL

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 r !
10 4 50
Vr = 1− = 0.592V
100 × 47 × 10−6 × 2200 2200

1.3 Prelab Problem 3 : Fullwave rectifier

Implement the following circuit using LTSpice:

Perform a transient analysis (4 cycles of the sinusoidal input) for all following cases.
Use the following parameters: .tran 0 1 960m .05m

1. Simulate the circuit without C1. Plot V L, Vin and I D. Measure the peak
voltage at R L and the peak current I D.

2. Simulate the circuit with C1 connected. Plot V L, Vin and I D. Measure the
peak voltage at R L, the peak current I D, and the ripple of the voltage VL at
the load resistor. Use the formula from the handout to calculate the ripple value.
Compare!

The given circuit was simulated using LTspice and plotting, V L, Vin and I D,

Figure 1.7: LTspice simulation : Fullwave rectifier - without capacitor

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 Figure 1.8: Plot of V L, Vi n and I D

Using the cursor, the peak voltage V L and peak current I D were measured,

Peak Current I D 3.903 mA

Peak voltage at R L 8.563 V

Table 3: Peak Voltage at R L and Peak Current I D

The simulation was ran again, but with the Capacitor C1 connected,

Figure 1.9: LTspice simulation : Fullwave rectifier - with capacitor

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 Figure 1.10: Plot of V L, Vi n and I D

Again using the cursor, the peak voltage at R L, the peak current I D and the
ripple of the voltage V L were measured,

Peak Current I D 17.859 mA

Peak voltage at R L 7.887 V
Ripple Voltage 0.263 V

Table 4: Peak Voltage at R L, Peak Current I D and Ripple Voltage

The formula from the handout was also used the calculate the ripple voltage,
r !
Vp Ri
Vr = 1− 4 (3)
2f CRL RL

r !
10 4 50
Vr = 1− = 0.296V
2 × 100 × 47 × 10−6 × 2200 2200

1.4 Prelab Problem 4 : Rectifier

Explain the general function of the rectifier circuit with capacitor. Use simple principle
circuit diagrams and the hard copies from the simulation to prove your statements!
1. What are the maximum peak voltages without a capacitor at the load for each
rectifier (in our case!)? Why are these values different from the input sine am-
plitude? Why is there a difference between half- and full-wave rectifier?
2. Explain the differences of the current I D for all cases. What is the consequence
for the used diode in a rectifier circuit?
3. What is the influence of the ratio C ∗ RL to the quality of the output DC?

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 The maximum peak voltages without a capacitor at the load for each rectifier were,
9.132 V (half wave rectifier) and 8.563 V (full wave rectifier). These values are different
from the input sine amplitude because there is also a voltage drop across the diode,
which reduces the voltage drop across the load. Since there is a voltage drop across
two diodes in a full wave rectifier, it can be easily inferred that the voltage drop across
the load for a full wave rectifier is less than that for a half wave rectifier.
For a halfwave rectifier, the diode allows the current flow only when the half cycle
of the input sine wave is positive, meaning a pulse like positive current is observed.
However, if a capacitor is introduced, a much more sharper and higher peak pulse can
be observed. It is due to the fact that when the diode the forward biased, the capacitor
quickly charges up to the peak input voltage, so the diode only conducts briefly to top
up the capacitor charge, resulting in short, high-current pulses.
For a fullwave rectifier, the diode bridge allows the current to flow during both
positive and negative half cycles. Thus observing a pulse like waveform with both
positive and negative values. A small ripple can also be seen, which is occurs when
both diode circuits in the bridge is turned off. Introducing a capacitor, like for the half
wave rectifier, a sharper and higher peak pulses are observed.
The C ∗ RL value influences how much of a smoothened DC output is observed.
The greater the ratio value the more smoother the DC output.

1.5 Prelab Problem 5 : Zener Diode

Implement the following circuit using LTSpice:

1. Perform a transient analysis (5 cycles of the sinusoidal input). Plot the input
voltage (DC + AC voltage) and the output voltage across the load resistor RL

2. Explain the operation of the circuit.

The circuit was simulated in LTspice and the plots were taken,

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 Figure 1.11: LTspice simulation : Zener diode

Figure 1.12: Plot of input voltage and the output voltage across the load (Vo )

The circuit in question is a voltage regulator. It helps in regulating the output

voltage to a constant value, regardless of the input voltage and the load current. The
principle behind the circuit is that when the voltage across the load increases, the
Zener diode takes in more current, this causes the current across R1 to increase, which
increases the voltage drop across it as well. Thus, resulting in the voltage drop across
the load to decrease and remain constant to the required value. Similarly, if the voltage
across the load decreases, the Zener diode takes in less current, decreasing the voltage

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drop across R1 and increasing the voltage drop across the load, thus again maintaing
a constant voltage drop across the load.

2 Execution Set-up and Results - Diode

Tools and Equipment

• 47µF ,100µF and 5 x 1µF Capacitors

• 1kΩ, 100kΩ and 2K20Ω resistors

• 1N4001, DF02M-E rectifier, BZX85C5V6 Zener and 4 x 1N4148 Diodes

• Breadboard, wires and probes

• Oscilloscope

• Function generator

2.1 Execution Problem 1 : Diode switching characteristics

The goal of the first part of the experiment is to investigate the reverse/forward and
forward/reverse transition behavior of rectifier and a single diode. The following circuit
was assembled.

And using the following diagram, fig(2.1) as reference, td and ts for the 1N4001
rectifier diode were measured,

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 Figure 2.1: Reference diagram

td 22 ns
ts 3.52 µs

Table 5: td and ts for the 1N4001 rectifier diode

The 1N4001 rectifier diode was replaced by 1N4148 signal diode and the measure-
ments were taken again,

td 9.2 ns
ts 8.0 ns

Table 6: td and ts for the 1N4148 signal diode

2.2 Execution Problem 2 : Rectifier

2.2.1 Half-Wave Rectifier
For the first part of the second experiment the following circuit was built on the bread-
board,

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 C1 was removed and the peak voltage of Vin and VL were measured using the
measure function of the oscilloscope. See fig(2.2),

Figure 2.2: Half wave rectifier - without C1 with measured values

C1 was now inserted in the circuit and the measurements were taken again, see
fig(2.3),

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 Figure 2.3: Half wave rectifier - with C1 with measured values

The signal of the ripple voltage VL , was zoomed into and the peak to peak value was
measured, see fig(2.4). AC-Coupling was used in the channel menu of the oscilloscope.

Figure 2.4: Zoomed in signal of the Ripple voltage with measured value

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2.2.2 Full-Wave Rectifier
For the second part of the second experiment the following circuit was built on the
breadboard,

C1 was removed and the peak voltage VL was measured using the measure function
of the oscilloscope. See fig(2.5),

Figure 2.5: Full wave rectifier - without C1 with measured value

C1 was now inserted in the circuit and the measurement was taken again, see
fig(2.6),

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 Figure 2.6: Full wave rectifier - with C1 with measured value

The signal of the ripple voltage VL , was zoomed into and the peak to peak value
was measured, see fig(2.7). AC-Coupling was again used in the channel menu of the
oscilloscope.

Figure 2.7: Zoomed in signal of the Ripple voltage with measured value

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2.3 Execution Problem 3 : Zener Diode
For the third part of the experiment, the following circuit was implemented,

The oscilloscope was used to then measure the DC and ripple voltage at C1 and
the output DC voltage and the ripple voltage across RL. The hard copies were taken
along with the measurements,

Figure 2.8: DC voltage at C1

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 Figure 2.9: Ripple voltage at C1

Figure 2.10: DC voltage and ripple voltage at RL

Please note that the hard copies for the DC voltage and Ripple voltage across the
RL resistor were wrongly taken. The values were however recorded in excel sheet.
Hence, to summarize all the obtained values for the problem,

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 C1 RL
DC voltage 6.88 V 5.6 V
Ripple Voltage 0.362 V 0.0208 V

Table 7: The DC voltage and Ripple voltage across C1 and RL

2.4 Execution Problem 4 : Voltage Multiplier

For the final part of the experiment, the following circuit was assembled on the bread-
board,

The oscilloscope was then used to measure the voltage at ’A’ and ’C’, and the voltage
at ’B’ and ’Uout . The mean measurement was taken using the measure function. The
hard copies were obtained as follows,

Figure 2.11: Voltage at ’A’ and ’C’

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 Figure 2.12: Voltage at ’B’ and ’Uout ’

Similarly, the ripple voltage at ’Uout ’ was measured. It is to be noted that the
average function inside the acquire mode of the oscilloscope should have been used to
smoothen the obtained function and to get more accurate value.

Figure 2.13: Ripple voltage at ’Uout ’

Finally, the multimeter was also used the measure the voltages across ’C’ and ’Uout ’,

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 Voltage across ’C’ 17.764 V
Voltage across ’Uout ’ 35.519 V

Table 8: Values measured through multimeter

Hence, summarizing the measured values into a single table,

Voltage at ’A’ 8.77 V

Voltage at ’C’ 18.2 V
Voltage at ’B’ 27.1 V
Voltage at ’Uout ’ 34.9 V
Ripple Voltage at ’Uout ’ 44 mV
(Multimeter) Voltage at ’C’ 17.764 V
(Multimeter) Voltage at ’Uout ’ 35.519 V

Table 9: Measured value for problem 4

3 Evaluation - Diode
3.1 Evaluation Problem 1 : Diode switching characteristics
Comparing the two storage times, the storage time ts for the 1N4001 is 3.52µs whereas,
for the 1N4148 diode is 8.0ns. Meaning that the 1N4001 diode takes longer than the
1N4148 diode to switch on and off. This is due to, larger amount of charge being stored
in the junction of the 1N4001 diode, thus taking longer to switch when going from the
forward to reverse bias.
In high frequency applications, like AM demodulation when using several 100KHz
where the polarity of the signal changes very quickly a long storage time can cause
several issues. The diode is not able to capture or follow the change in polarity quick
enough causing distortions and attenuation of high frequency components. However,
at lower frequencies, such issues wouldn’t arise as diodes with long storage times would
still have enough time to switch on and off within each cycle.

3.2 Evaluation Problem 2 : Rectifier

The above schematic shows the typical conversion of AC signal to DC signal. First
the AC signal is passed through a transformer which steps up/down the voltage to the

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required voltage. The rectifier, usually containing diodes, is then used to convert the
signal to a pulsating DC signal. Since the obtained DC signal is pulsating, it is passed
through a filter, usually containing capacitors, to smoothen the signal. Typically, the
higher the value of the capacitor the better the smoothing of the signal. For the final
step, the signal is also passed through a regulator, containing a Zener diode, which
regulates the ripple/fluctuating DC signal to a constant DC signal. Finally, the DC
signal is obtained in the output.
To compare the measured values of the peak-to-peak ripple voltages with the prelab
values from simulation and calculation, a table is drawn,

Measured Values Simulated Values Calculated Values

Half Wave rectifier 0.644 V 0.614 V 0.592 V
Full Wave rectifier 0.284 V 0.263 V 0.296 V

Table 10: Comparison between the measured, simulated and calculated values for the
ripple voltage

Observing, the table it can be seen that all of the values, the measured, simulated
and calculated were within the same range of each other. The difference between
them occurred due to several factors. The diodes used in the simulation and in the
practical circuits, although the same type, could give different values as the diodes in
the practical circuit may have been altered due to factors such as junction wear out,
degradation of the material and temperature. Since the oscilloscope and the function
generators were used, errors arise from the instrumental errors. Furthermore, errors
could also potentially arise while using the cursor function of the LTspice itself.

3.3 Evaluation Problem 3 : Zener diode

To find the current through the Zener Diode we use KCL. First finding the current
through the load using the measured values from section(2.3),
5.6
IRL = = 1.436 × 10−4 A
39000
Similarly, the current through the R1 resistor was calculated as,
6.88 − 5.6
IR1 = = 0.0128A
100
Now using KCL,

IZ = IR1 − IRL = 0.0128 − 1.436 × 10−4 A = 0.01266A/12.66mA

3.4 Evaluation Problem 4 : Voltage Multiplier

Comparing the circuit in part 4 of the experiment, the given circuit is composed of a
clamper circuit given in the diode application part of the handout.
The given circuit works as a voltage multiplier, the DC output at the end is much
higher than the peak of the input AC signal. In the first stage, at point ’A’ to ’C’,
in the positive half wave cycle the the C1 capacitor is charged up to the peak of the

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input signal and holds it. Then during the negative half wave cycle, the voltage across
C1 combines with the input AC to make the voltage at point A roughly double the
AC peak. D2 conducts, allowing this doubled voltage to charge C3. Similarly, in the
second stage, in the next positive half wave cycle, the boosted voltage from C3 is now
used to charge C2 through D3. And, during the negative cycle, the voltage across C2
”pushes” charge onto C4 through D4. This results in a voltage near four times the
input peak at point B, with C4 holding the boosted charge. Finally, the C5 capacitor
is used to reduce any leftover ”ripple” voltage to get a smooth DC current at the load.
Using LTspice to simulate the circuit,

Figure 3.1: LTspice simulation - Voltage Multiplier

Plotting Vout and Vin and taking the peak magnitudes of both using the cursor
function we get, (the time base was modified to view the plot from 3ms to ensure that
the peak for the output was stable)

Figure 3.2: Plot of Vout and Vin

Vout was measured as 36.0129V and the Vin was measured as 9.998 which is approx-
imately 10V as expected. Therefore, for the ideal case the multiplication factor (m)

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between the input amplitude and the output voltage was calculated to be,
Output 36.0129
m= = = 3.601
Input 10

Similarly, for the measured values from section (2.4), the multiplication factor was
calculated to be,
Output 34.9
m= = = 3.49
Input 10
The differences exist between the two cases because, the diodes used in the LTspice
are in ideal conditions while the ones used for the experiment were conditioned to
various factors such as material degradation due to usage and temperature. Similarly,
in practical scenarios there are also factors such as the capacitor leakage and the load
resistance which also reduces the overall DC voltage at the output.
The entire circuit can essentially be divided into 2 parts, the first part of the circuit
from node A to C, the C3 capacitor stores the doubled voltage of the input. Similarly,
in the second part from node C to B, the C4 diode stores the voltage which is 4 times
the input voltage. To obtain the maximum voltage, the capacitor values should be
increased as their charge storage capacity is greater.
The circuit with 100Hz input frequency was again simulated in LTspice

Figure 3.3: LTspice simulation - Voltage Multiplier

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 Figure 3.4: Plot of Vout

As observed, when the frequency of the input is reduced to a 100Hz, the output
voltage reduces to 24.58V. The ripple voltage is also significantly increased and the
output is no longer a smooth DC signal but a pulsating DC signal.

4 Conclusion
Throughout the experiment the application of diodes were investigated. The first
focused on presenting the difference in storage times between two different diodes when
changing the bias from forward to reverse. In the second part of the experiment, the two
types of rectifiers : half wave and full wave rectifiers were investigated. The effect of the
capacitors in such circuits were also observed and it was concluded that it smoothens
the pulsating DC signal obtained from the rectifier circuit. In the evaluation section
of this part, the peak to peak voltage was compared between the measured values
and the prelab simulated and calculated values. The values were consistent with each
other but errors and differences were present between each other. In the third part,
the effect of the Zener diode was observed and for the final part the voltage multiplier
was investigated. In the evaluation section for the final part, the effect of lowering the
input frequency in the voltage multiplier circuit was also observed. Most of the errors
in the experiment were from instrumental errors and from the components used like
the diodes, resistors and capacitors.

5 References
1. 20240829-co-526-b manual - U.Pagel, Page(11-39)

2. Behzad, Razavi, 2nd edition, Fundamentals of Microelectronics

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6 Appendix
6.1 Experiment 1 : LTSpice Tutorial - Execution and Data
6.1.1 Problem 1 : Simulate a circuit using a Netlist
V1 1 0 5

Rr1 1 2 11k

Rr2 2 0 1k

Rr3 1 3 1e3

Rr4 3 0 1000

Rr5 2 3 1k

.op
.end

6.1.2 Problem 2 : Perform a DC Sweep Simulation

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6.1.3 Problem 3 : Perform a Transient Analysis

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 6.1.4 Problem 4 : Export Data to Matlab

1 % 1. Clear the MatLab environment

2 clear ; clc ; close all
3 % 2. Read the data from the LTSpice file .
4

5 y_arr = readmatrix ( ’ Exp3 . txt ’) ;

6 % 3. Read every column of the matrix into a separate array
for time ,
7 % voltage 1 , and voltage 2 and the current
8 t = y_arr (1: end , 1) ; % start reading column 2 ( first is
empty !)
9 v1 = y_arr (1: end , 2) ;
10 v2 = y_arr (1: end , 3) ;
11 i = y_arr (1: end , 4) ;
12 % 4. Plot the different properties
13 plot (t , v1 ) ;
14 hold on
15 plot (t , v2 ) ;
16 hold on
17 plot (t , i ) ;
18 legend ( ’ v1 ’ , ’ v2 ’ , ’i ’) ;

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6.1.5 Problem 5 : Perform a AC Analysis

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