Chapter 3

Diode application (cont.)

DIODE LIMITERS AND CLAMPERS
 limiters or clippers, are sometimes used to clip off
portions of signal voltages above or below certain
levels.
 a clamper, is used to add or restore a dc level to an
electrical signal.
 Diode Limiters
 Figure shows a diode positive limiter (also called clipper) that
limits or clips the positive part of the input voltage

 Limiting of the positive alternation. The diode is forward biased

during the positive alternation (above 0.7 V) and reverse-biased
during the negative alternation
 Negative Limiter
 Figure shows a diode negative limiter that limits or clips
the negative part of the input voltage
 a magnitude determined by the voltage divider formed by R1 and
the load resistor, RL, as follows:

 If R1 is small compared to RL, then

Vout≈Vin
 Small-signal diodes have a smaller junction area than rectifier
diodes because they are optimized to work at higher frequencies.
 they have more bulk resistance.
 the clipper will not work properly unless the series resistance R1 is
much greater than the bulk resistance.
 the series resistance R1 is much smaller than the load resistance.
Example
 Biased Limiters
 The level to which an ac voltage is limited can be
adjusted by adding a bias voltage, VBIAS, in series
with the diode
 The voltage must equal VBIAS + 0.7 V before the
diode will become forward-biased and conduct.
 all input voltage above this level is clipped off
 Combination Clipper
 We can combine the two biased clippers as shown in Fig.
Diode D1 clips off positive parts above the positive bias level,
and diode D2 clips off parts below the negative bias level.
When the input voltage is very large compared to the bias
levels, the output signal is a square wave,
Example
 Voltage-Divider Bias
 The bias voltage is set by the resistor values according to the
voltage-divider formula.
Example
 Diode Clampers
 A clamper adds a dc level to an ac voltage.
 Clampers are sometimes known as dc restorers.
 When the input voltage initially goes negative, the diode is
forward biased, allowing the capacitor to charge to near the
peak of the input(Vpin-0.7V)
 The capacitor can only discharge through the high resistance of
RL.
 the peak of one negative half-cycle to the next, the capacitor
discharges very little, depends on the value of RL
 If the RC time constant is 100 times the period, the clamping
action is excellent.
 The capacitor voltage acts as a battery in series with the input
voltage.
 The dc voltage of the capacitor adds to the input voltage by
superposition,
Negative clamper
Example
 VOLTAGE MULTIPLIERS
 Voltage multipliers use clamping action to increase
peak rectified voltages without the necessity of
increasing the transformer’s voltage rating.
Multiplication factors of two,three, and four are
common
 Voltage multipliers are used in high-voltage, low-
current applications
Voltage Doubler