Experiment: Diode

Half Wave Rectifier Circuits Part (1-a)

1 Objective:
The trainee is able:
 To construct a one-way rectifier circuit according to the circuit
diagram.
 To calculate the relation between the effective value of the input AC
voltage and the arithmetical mean value of the output DC voltage.
 To oscilloscope the voltage curve Uout = f(t) and to represent it
graphically.
 To describe the influence of the capacitor on output voltage.
2 Apparatus
 Voltage supply 24V AC.
 Dual channel oscilloscope.
 Universal meter (2 pieces).
 Resistor 3.3k Ω.
 Capacitor 0.47 µF.
 Capacitor 10 µF bipolar.
 Capacitor 47 µF bipolar.
 Diode 1 N4007.

3 Theoretical Background
3.1 Rectifiers

The diode is a two-terminal device that ideally behaves like an ordinary

switch with the special condition that it can only conduct in one direction.
Semiconductor diodes are commonly used to convert alternating current (a.c.)
to direct current (d.c), in which case they are referred to as rectifiers.

The simplest form of rectifier circuit makes use of a single diode and,
since it operates on only either positive or negative half-cycles of the supply,
it is known as a half wave rectifier.

Figure 1 shows a simple half-wave rectifier circuit. Mains voltage (220

to 240 V) is applied to the primary of a step-down transformer (T1). The
secondary of T1 steps down the 240 V r.m.s. to 12 V r.m.s. (the turns ratio of
T1 will thus be 240/12 or 20:1). Diode D1 will only allow the current to flow

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in the direction shown. D1 will be forward biased during each positive half-
cycle (relative to common) and will effectively behave like a closed switch.
When the circuit current tries to flow in the opposite direction, the voltage
bias across the diode will be reversed, causing the diode to act like an open
switch (see Figure 2.a and Figure 2.b, respectively).

Figure 1. A simple half-wave rectifier circuit.

Figure 2.a Half-wave rectifier circuit with D1 conducting (positive-going

half-cycles of secondary voltage)
Figure 2.b half-wave rectifier with D1 not conducting (negative-going half-
cycles of secondary voltage)

The switching action of D1 results in a pulsating output voltage which

is developed across the load resistor (RL). Since the mains supply is at 50 Hz,
the pulses of voltage developed across RL will also be at 50 Hz even if only
half the a.c. cycle is present.

During the positive half-cycle, the diode will drop the 0.6 V to 0.7 V
forward threshold voltage normally associated with silicon diodes. However,
during the negative half-cycle the peak a.c. voltage will be dropped across D1
when it is reverse biased. This is an important consideration when selecting a
diode for a particular application.

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 When selecting a diode for a particular application. Assuming that the
secondary of T1 provides 12 V r.m.s., the peak voltage output from the
transformer’s secondary winding will be given by:
Vpk = 1.414 × Vr.m.s. = 1.414 × 12 V = 16.97 V
The peak voltage applied to D1 will thus be approximately 17 V. The
negative half-cycles are blocked by D1 and thus only the positive half cycles
appear across RL. Note, however, that the actual peak voltage across RL will
be the 17 V positive peak being supplied from the secondary on T1, minus the
0.7 V forward threshold voltage dropped by D1. In other words, positive half-
cycle pulses having a peak amplitude of 16.3 V will appear across RL.

3.2 Reservoir and Smoothing Circuits

Figure 3 shows a considerable improvement to the circuit of Figure1.

The capacitor, C1, has been added to ensure that the output voltage remains
at, or near, the peak voltage even when the diode is not conducting. When the
primary voltage is first applied to T1, the first positive half-cycle output from
the secondary will charge C1 to the peak value seen across RL. Hence C1
charges to 16.3 V at the peak of the positive half-cycle. Because C1 and RL
are in parallel, the voltage across RL will be the same as that across C1.

The time required for C1 to charge to the maximum (peak) level is

determined by the charging circuit time constant (the series resistance
multiplied by the capacitance value). In this circuit, the series resistance
comprises the secondary winding resistance together with the forward
resistance of the diode and the (minimal) resistance of the wiring and
connections. Hence C1 charges very rapidly as soon as D1 starts to conduct.

The time required for C1 to discharge is, in contrast, very much greater.
The discharge time constant is determined by the capacitance value and the
load resistance, RL. In practice, RL is very much larger than the resistance of
the secondary circuit and hence C1 takes an appreciable time to discharge.
During this time, D1 will be reverse biased and will thus be held in its non-
conducting state. As a consequence, the only discharge path for C1 is through
RL.

C1 is referred to as a reservoir capacitor. It stores charge during the

positive half-cycles of secondary voltage and releases it during the negative
half-cycles. The circuit of Fig.2 is thus able to maintain a reasonably constant
output voltage across RL. Even so, C1 will discharge by a small amount
during the negative half-cycle periods from the transformer secondary.

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 Figure 3. A simple half-wave rectifier circuit with reservoir capacitor

Figure 4. A simple half-wave rectifier circuit with reservoir capacitor

Figure 4 shows the secondary voltage waveform together with the

voltage developed across RL with and without C1 present. This gives rise to a
small variation in the d.c. output voltage (known as ripple). Since ripple is
undesirable we must take additional precautions to reduce it.

One obvious method of reducing the amplitude of the ripple is that of

simply increasing the discharge time constant. This can be achieved either by
increasing the value of C1 or by increasing the resistance value of RL.

In practice, however, the latter is no really an option because RL is the

effective resistance of the circuit being supplied and we don’t usually have the
ability to change it! Increasing the value of C1 is a more practical alternative
and very large capacitor values (often in excess of 4,700 μF) are typical.

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3.3 Circuit Diagram:
The circuit shown in Figure 5, together with its component layout in Figure
6.

Figure 5. The circuit diagram of the diode circuit.

Figure 6. The layout of the rectifier circuit circuit.

4 Experimental Procedure
(1) Construct the circuit as shown above and according to the circuit
diagram without the capacitor.
(2) Meter output DC voltage Uout and input AC voltage Uin
approximately 24 V ~ with the universal meters. Enter the metered
values on the chart. Oscilloscope voltage Uin on channel Y1 and
Uout on channel Y2 of the oscilloscope. Represent voltage Uout
and Uin as functions of time graphically.
(3) Determine the relation between output DC voltage and input AC
voltage for the one-way rectifier circuit.
(4) Insert capacitor C = 0.47 µF into the circuit. Meter output DC
voltage Uout and input AC voltage Uin = 24 V ~ with the
universal meters. Enter the metered values on the worksheet.
Repeat the experiments with C = 10 µF and C = 47 µF.
(5) Describe the influence of capacitor on the output DC voltage.

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 Bridge Rectifier Circuits Part (1-b)

1 Objective:
The trainee is able:
 To construct a Two-pulse center tap circuit according to the
circuit diagram.
 To calculate the relation between the effective value of the
input AC voltage and the arithmetical mean value of the output
DC voltage.
 To describe influence of capacity on output DC voltage.

2 Apparatus
 Voltage supply 24V AC
 Oscilloscope
 Universal meter (2 pieces)
 Resistor 3.3k Ω
 Capacitor 0.47 µF
 Capacitor 10 µF bipolar
 Capacitor 47 µF bipolar
 Diode 1 N4007 (4 pieces)

3 Theoretical Background
3.1 Full-wave rectifiers

The half-wave rectifier circuit is relatively inefficient as conduction

takes place only on alternate half-cycles. A better rectifier arrangement would
make use of both positive and negative half-cycles. These full-wave rectifier
circuits offer a considerable improvement over their half-wave counterparts.
They are not only more efficient but are significantly less demanding in terms
of the reservoir and smoothing components. There are two basic forms of full
wave rectifier; the bi-phase type and the bridge rectifier type.

3.2 Bridge rectifier circuits

An alternative to the use of the bi-phase circuit is that of using a four

diode bridge rectifier (see Figure 7) in which opposite pairs of diode conduct
on alternate half-cycles. This arrangement avoids the need to have two
separate secondary windings.

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 Figure 7. Four diodes connected as a bridge

A full-wave bridge rectifier arrangement is shown in Figure 8. Mains

voltage (240 V) is applied to the primary of a step-down transformer (Tl). The
secondary winding provides 12 V r.m.s. (approximately 17 V peak) and has a
turns ratio of 20:1, as before.

On positive half-cycles, point A will be positive with respect to point B.

In this condition Dl and D2 will allow conduction while D3 and D4 will not
allow conduction. Conversely, on negative half-cycles, point B will be
positive with respect to point A. In this condition D3 and D4 will allow
conduction while Dl and D2 will not allow conduction.

Figure 9 shows the bridge rectifier circuit with the diodes replaced by four
switches. In Fig. 9(a) Dl and D2 are conducting on a positive half-cycle while
in Fig. 9(b) D3 and D4 are conducting. Once again, the result is that current is
routed through the load in the same direction on successive half-cycles.

As with the bi-phase rectifier, the switching action of the two diodes
results in a pulsating output voltage being developed across the load resistor
(RL). Once again, the peak output voltage is approximately 16.3 V (i.e. 17 V
less the 0.7 V forward threshold voltage).

Figure 10 shows how a reservoir capacitor (C1) can be added to maintain the
output voltage when the diodes are not conducting. This component operates
in exactly the same way as for the bi-phase circuit, i.e. it charges to
approximately 16.3 V at the peak of the positive half-cycle and holds the
voltage at this level when the diodes are in their non-conducting states.

This component operates in exactly the same way as for the bi-phase
circuit and the secondary and rectified output waveforms are shown in Fig.
11. Once again note that the ripple frequency is twice that of the incoming a.c.
supply.

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 Figure 8. Full-wave bridge rectifier circuit

Figure 9.a Bridge rectifier with D1 and D2 conducting, D3 and D4 non

conducting
Figure 9.b bridge rectifier with D1 and D2 non-conducting, D3 and D4
conducting

Figure 10. Bridge rectifier with reservoir capacitor

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 Figure 11. Waveforms for the bridge rectifier

3.3 Circuit Diagram:

The circuit shown in Figure 12., together with its component layout in Figure
13.

Figure 12. The circuit diagram of the diode circuit.

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 Figure 13. The layout of the rectifier circuit.

4 Experimental Procedure

(1) Construct the circuit as shown above and according to the circuit
diagram without the capacitor.
(2) Meter output DC voltage Uout and input AC voltage Uin approximately 24
V ~ with the universal meters. Enter the metered values on the chart.
Oscilloscope voltage Uin and subsequently voltage Uout. Represent
voltage as functions of time graphically.
(3) Determine the relation between output DC voltage and input AC voltage
for the bridge rectifier circuit.
(4) Insert capacitor C = 0.47 µF into the circuit. Meter output DC voltage
Uout and input AC voltage Uin = 24 V ~ with the universal meters. Enter
the metered values on the worksheet. Repeat the experiments with C = 10
µF and C = 47 µF.
(5) Describe the influence of capacitor on the output DC voltage.

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 Voltage Stabilization with Zener Diodes Part (1-c)
1 Objective:
The trainee is able :
 To construct a voltage stabilizing circuit with Z-diodes
according to circuit diagram.
 To determine the dependence of the output voltage to the input
voltage by measurements and to plot the corresponding graphs.
 To describe the operational behavior of voltage stabilizing
circuit with Z-diodes.

2 Apparatus
 Power supply unit 0…12 V/DC stab..
 Multimeter (2 pieces).
 Z-diode ZD6.2
 Z-diode ZD 8.2.
 Resistance decade x 100Ω
 Resistance decade x 1kΩ
 Resistance 100Ω

3 Theoretical Background
3.1 Zener diode

The Zener diode is a diode that take full advantage of the avalanche
region as shown by the characteristics in Figure 14. The symbol for the device
and its defined polarities appear in the sam figure. For V(with the polarity
shown) less than VZ but greater than 0 V, the device has the characteristics of
an open circuit. For applied voltages V >= VZ the diode conducts and assumes
the short-circuit state indicated by vertical line. Of course, in this state the
short circuit must be associated with the required applied voltage V Z as
shown in Figure 15. For voltages less than V=0 the Zener diode has the
characteristics of a forward-biased semiconductor diode.
One of the most common application of Zener diode is a Zener
regulator , such as that shown in Fig.6. The purpose of the Zener diode is to
maintain VL at a fixed level---specifically VZ --- even though E and RL may
vary in magnitude.

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 Figure 14 Zener diode Charactristics.
Figure 15. Zener Regulator.

3.2 Circuit Diagram:

The circuit shown in Fig.16, together with its component layout in Figure 17.

Figure 16. The circuit diagram of the Zener Regulator

Figure 17. The circuit layout of the Zener Regulator

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4 Experimental Procedure
(1) Construct the circuit according to the layout and the circuit diagram
using Z-diode ZD 8.2 without R2
(2) Select the input voltage Uin in accordance with the values given in the
table and measure the corresponding output voltage Uout. Write down the
results.
(3) Plot a graph of the output voltage Uout as function of the input voltage
Uin.
(4) Repeat the experiments with V= ZD 6.2.
(5) Set the input voltage Uin =12 V at a Z-diode 6.2. Apply a load in
accordance with the values given in the table to the output and measure
the output voltage. Write down the results.
(6) Plot a graph of the output voltage as function of the applied load at
constant input voltage.
(7) Describe the operational behavior of stabilizing circuits with Z-diodes.

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