CLIPPER CIRCUITS
Group members -
Manas Inamdar
2023102052
manas.inamdar@students.iiit.ac.in
Deepak Pandey
2023102053
deepak.pandey@students.iiit.ac.in
What are Clipper Circuits?
Clipper circuits are the circuits that clip off or removes a portion of an input signal, without
causing any distortion to the remaining part of the waveform. These are also known as
clippers, clipping circuits, limiters, slicers etc.
The basic operation of a diode in clipping circuits is such that, in forward biased condition,
the diode allows current to pass through it, clamping the voltage. But in reverse biased
condition, no any current flows through the diode, and thus voltage remains unaffected
across its terminals.
A clipping circuit plays a vital role in removing unwanted portions (noise) of the signal.
Classification of Clipper Circuits-
Series Clipper Circuits :-
Here the diode is connected in series with the output thus it is named so. And the output
voltage is measured across the resistor.
Unbiased Series positive Clipper Circuit -
+
R
-
+
The positive half of the input waveform reverse biases the diode. Thus, it acts as an
open switch and all the applied input voltage drops across the diode. Resultantly
providing no output voltage for positive half of the input waveform. Hence Vout = 0.
For the negative half of the input waveform, the diode is in the forward biased state.
Thus, it acts as a closed switch causing no any voltage drop at the diode. Hence, KVL
equation here will be - Vin + Vout = 0 , therefore Vin=Vout
Here, positive part of input waveform is clipped off, therefore this circuit is known as
positive clipper circuit.
Unbiased series negative Clipper Circuit -
-
+
Here, during the positive half cycle of input waveform, the diode becomes forward
biased, thus ensuring a closed circuit. Due to which current appears across the resistor of
the circuit. Hence, KVL equation here will be - Vin + Vout = 0 , therefore Vin=Vout.
For negative half of the input waveform, the diode now becomes reverse biased acting
as an open switch. This causes no current to flow through the circuit. Resultantly
providing no output for negative half of the input waveform. Hence Vout = 0.
Here, negative part of input waveform is clipped off, therefore this circuit is known as
negative clipper circuit.
Positively biased series Clipper Circuit -
+
R
VB
-
Here in the circuit shown above, we can see that the diode is in forward bias condition
concerning the battery. But positive half of the input waveform puts the diode in reverse
biased condition.
The diode will conduct until the supply voltage is less than the battery potential (V in <VB).
As battery potential dominates the supply voltage, the signal appears at the positive half
of output waveform. Hence, KVL equation here will be therefore Vin = Vout.
But as the supply voltage exceeds the battery potential, the diode is now reverse biased.
Resultantly no further current will flow through the diode. Therefore Vout = VB.
For the negative half cycle of the input waveform, the diode is forward biased concerning
both supply voltage and battery potential. Hence, we achieve a complete negative half
cycle at the output waveform.
Another case-
+
R
VB
-
Here in the circuit, we have noticed that for the positive half of input waveform, the
diode becomes forward bias. However, the battery potential causes the diode to be at
the reverse biased condition.
In the beginning, the battery potential is higher than the supply voltage. Thus causing no
current to flow through the circuit at that time. Therefore Vout = VB.
But when the positive half supply voltage exceeds the battery potential then diode
becomes forward biased and starts conduction. Hence signal appears at the output.
Therefore Vout = Vin.
The negative half cycle of the input waveform causes the diode to be reverse biased. At
the same time applied battery potential reverse biases the diode. Thus, output voltage is
equivalent to battery voltage. Therefore Vout = VB.
Negatively biased series Clipper Circuit -
+
R
VB
-
As we can see in the circuit shown above, the diode is reverse bias due to both supply
voltage and battery potential. This cuts off the complete positive half of the input
waveform. Therefore Vout = -VB.
But during the negative half cycle of the input waveform, the diode is in forward biased
condition due to supply voltage but is reverse biased by the battery potential.
Here also initially when battery dominates the supply voltage, the diode is in reverse
biased condition. Therefore Vout = -VB.
But, as the supply voltage becomes greater than the battery potential, the diode will
automatically come in forward biased condition. Thus, the signal starts to appear at the
output. Therefore Vout = Vin.
Another case-
+
R
VB
-
For the positive half of the input cycle, supply voltage and battery potential both cause
the diode to be in forward biased condition. Thus complete output for the positive half is
achieved in this case. Therefore Vout = Vin.
But in the case of the negative half cycle of the input waveform, the diode is now in
reverse biased condition. At the same time due to battery potential, the diode is forward
biased. So, until the battery potential is greater than the supply voltage, current flows
through the circuit. Hence output is achieved. Therefore Vout = Vin.
But as the supply voltage becomes greater than the battery potential, the diode will now
become reverse biased and hence conduction stops. Ultimately no any signal appears for
that portion of the input waveform at the output. Therefore Vout = -VB.
Shunt Clipper Circuits :-
Here the diode is connected in series with the output. And output voltage is measured
across diode.
In this case when we are applying KVL the voltage drop across resistor R will be
neglected since the resistance R taken is very small compared to RL.
Unbiased Shunt positive Clipper Circuit –
R
+
RLRL
Here, the diode is connected in parallel with the load. Hence its working principle is
exactly opposite to that of the shunt clippers. In shunt positive clippers, the output signal
is observed only when the diode is reverse biased.
During the positive half of the input signal, the diode gets forward biased due to which
the current flows through the diode. Hence, due to the parallel combination of diode
and load, no current is observed at the load. Resultantly no output waveform for the
positive half is achieved. Therefore Vout = 0.
On the contrary, during the negative half of the input signal, the diode gets reverse
biased. Thus, no current flows through it, and the output current is observed at the load.
So, for the negative half of input, the entire negative half appears at the output.
Therefore Vout = Vin.
Unbiased Shunt negative Clipper Circuit –
+
R
RL
-
For negative shunt clippers, during the positive half of input, the diode gets reverse
biased. Thus, no current flows through it, and the output current is observed at the load.
Hence output signal is achieved for positive half of the input signal. Therefore Vout = Vin.
During the negative half of the input signal, the diode gets forward biased and hence, no
load current is achieved. Ultimately no output is observed for negative half of the input
signal. Therefore Vout = 0.
Positively biased shunt Clipper Circuit –
+
R
RL
VB
-
During the positive half of the input cycle, the diode gets forward biased but at the same
time battery potential causes the diode to be at the reverse biased condition.
Until the battery potential is greater than the supply voltage, the reverse biased diode by
the battery potential does not allow the flow of current through it. Hence current flows
through load and signal are observed at the output. Therefore Vout = Vin.
But when input voltage increases more than the battery potential, the diode becomes
forward biased due to the supply voltage. Hence, allowing current to flow through the
diode and no output is achieved. Therefore Vout = VB.
In case of negative half of the input cycle, both battery potential and supply voltage
reverse biases the diode. Hence, we get a complete negative half cycle at the output.
Therefore Vout = Vin.
Another case-
+
R
RL
VB
-
In case of positive half of the input signal, the diode gets reverse biased. However, the
battery potential causes the diode to be in forward biased condition. So, until the battery
potential is higher than the supply voltage, the diode conducts due to forward bias.
Therefore Vout = VB.
But as the supply voltage exceeds the battery potential the conduction through diode
stops. Ultimately signal appears at the output. Therefore Vout = Vin.
During the negative half of the input cycle, the diode gets forward biased because of
battery potential and supply voltage. Hence, no output signal appears for the negative
half of the input cycle. Therefore Vout = 0.
Negatively biased shunt Clipper Circuit –
+
R
RL
VB
-
In this case, the positive half of the input cycle and the applied battery potential both
causes the diode to be forward biased. Thus, current flows through the diode, and no
signal is observed across the output. Therefore Vout = -VB.
During the negative half of the input cycle, the diode is reverse biased due to supply
voltage but is in the forward biased state due to battery potential.
So, here output will not appear at the load until battery potential is higher than the
supply voltage. Therefore Vout = -VB.
As the supply voltage exceeds the battery potential, the diode stops conduction due to
the reverse bias condition. Hence signal appears at the output. Therefore Vout = Vin.
Another case-
+
R
RL
VB RL
During the positive half of the input cycle, the diode gets reverse biased due to both
battery potential and supply voltage. Resultantly, we have complete positive half of input
signal at the output. Therefore Vout = Vin.
During the negative half of the input cycle, the diode gets forward biased due to supply
voltage but is reverse biased by the battery potential. Thus, the output signal is achieved
until the battery potential is higher than the supply voltage. Therefore Vout = Vin.
As the supply voltage exceeds the battery potential, the diode completely starts
conduction and signal does not appear at the output. Therefore Vout = -VB.
