INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE

ECE-101: (Fundamentals of Electronics)

Applications of Diode
Special Types of Diode
Rectifier Circuits

• One important application of diode is the rectifier –

➢ Electrical device which converts alternating current (AC) to direct current
(DC)
• One important application of rectifier is dc power supply.

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Figure: Block diagram of a dc power supply

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step #1: Decrease RMS magnitude of AC wave
via power transformer
step #2: convert full-wave AC signal to full-wave
rectified signal (still time-varying and periodic)
step #3: employ low-pass filter to reduce wave
amplitude by > 90%
step #4: employ voltage regulator to eliminate
ripple
step #5: supply dc load
.

Figure: Block diagram of a dc power supply

The Half-Wave Rectifier

• half-wave rectifier – utilizes

only alternate half-cycles of
the input sinusoid

➢ Constant voltage drop diode

model is employed.

Figure: (a) Half-wave rectifier (b) Transfer characteristic of the rectifier circuit
(c) Input and output waveforms

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The Half-Wave Rectifier

• In selecting diodes for rectifier design, two important parameters

must be specified:

➢ current-handling capability: What is maximum forward current diode is

expected to conduct?

➢ peak inverse voltage (PIV): What is maximum reverse voltage it is

expected to block w/o breakdown?

• It is usually prudent to select a diode that has a reverse breakdown

voltage at least 50% greater than the expected PIV.

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The Full-Wave Rectifier

• Q: How does full-wave rectifier differ from half-wave?

➢ A: It utilizes both halves of the input

Figure: Full-wave rectifier utilizing a transformer with a center-

tapped secondary winding.
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 Figure: full-wave rectifier utilizing a transformer with a center-
tapped secondary winding: (a) circuit; (b) transfer characteristic
assuming a constant-voltage-drop model for the diodes; (c) input and
output waveforms.
When instantaneous source voltage is positive, D1
conducts while D2 blocks…

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when instantaneous source voltage is negative, D2
conducts while D1 blocks

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The Full-Wave Rectifier

• Q: What are most important observation(s) from

this operation?
➢A: The direction of current flowing across load
never changes (both halves of AC wave are
rectified). The full-wave rectifier produces a
more “energetic” waveform than half-wave.
❑PIV for full-wave = 2VS – VD

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The Bridge Rectifier

• An alternative implementation of the full-wave rectifier is

bridge rectifier.

Figure: The bridge rectifier circuit.

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when instantaneous source voltage is positive, D1
and D2 conduct while D3 and D4 block

Figure 4.23: The bridge rectifier circuit.

when instantaneous source voltage is positive, D1
and D2 conduct while D3 and D4 block

Figure 4.23: The bridge rectifier circuit.

The Bridge Rectifier (BR)

• Q: What is the main advantage of BR?

➢A: No need for center-tapped transformer.

• Q: What is main disadvantage?

➢A: Series connection of TWO diodes will
reduce output voltage.

• PIV = VS – VD

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The Rectifier with a Filter Capacitor

• Pulsating nature of rectifier output makes unreliable dc supply.

• As such, a filter capacitor is employed to remove ripple.

Figure: (a) A simple circuit used to illustrate the effect of a filter capacitor.
(b) input and output waveforms assuming an ideal diode.

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The Rectifier with a Filter Capacitor

• step #1: source voltage is

positive, diode is forward
biased, capacitor charges.

• step #2: source voltage is

reverse, diode is reverse-biased
(blocking), capacitor cannot
discharge.

• step #3: source voltage is

positive, diode is forward
biased, capacitor charges
(maintains voltage).

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The Rectifier with a Filter Capacitor

• Q: Why is this example unrealistic?

➢A: Because for any practical application, the
converter would supply a load (which in turn
provides a path for capacitor discharging).

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The Rectifier with a Filter Capacitor

• Q: What happens when load resistor is placed in series with

capacitor?
➢ A: One must now consider the discharging of capacitor across
load.

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 The Rectifier
with a Filter Capacitor

circuit state #1

6output
4 4voltage
7 for4 state
4 8#1
vO ( t ) = v I ( t ) − v D
t
−
vO ( t ) = Vpeak e RC
1 4 42 4 43
output voltage for state #2
circuit state #2
output voltage for state #1
6 44 7 4 48
vO ( t ) = v I ( t )
t
−
vO ( t ) = Vpeak e RC
1 4 42 4 43
output voltage for state #2

Figure: Voltage and Current Waveforms in the Peak Rectifier

Circuit with RC >> T. The diode is assumed ideal.
Limiting and Clamping Circuits

• Q: What is a limiter circuit?

➢ A: One which limits voltage output.

𝑣𝑖
𝑣𝑜

Figure: General transfer characteristic

for a limiter circuit

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single limiters
employ one diode

double limiters
employ two
diodes of
opposite polarity
linear range may
be controlled via
string of diodes
and dc sources
zener diodes may
be used to
implement soft
limiting

Figure: Variety of basic limiting circuits.

The Clamped Capacitor or DC Restorer

• Q: What is a dc restorer?
➢ A: Circuit which removes the dc
component of an AC wave.
• Q: Why is this ability important?
➢ A: Average value of this output
is effective way to measure duty
cycle

Figure: The clamped capacitor or

dc restorer with a square-wave
input and no load
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The Voltage Doubler

• Q: What is a voltage
doubler?
➢A: One which
multiplies the amplitude
of a wave or signal by
two.

Figure: Voltage doubler: (a) circuit;

(b) waveform of the voltage across D1.

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Special Diode Types

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Optical Diodes

• There are two popular types of optoelectronic devices:

• light-emitting diode (LED) and photodiode.
• The Light-Emitting Diode (LED)
• LED is diode that emits light when biased in the forward direction
of p-n junction.

Anode Cathode

The schematic symbol and construction features.

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The Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

LEDs are produced in an array of shapes and sizes. The 5 mm cylindrical package (red, fifth from the left) is the most common, estimated at 80% of world production. The color of the plastic lens is often
the same as the actual color of light emitted, but not always. For instance, purple plastic is often used for infrared LEDs, and most blue devices have clear housings. There are also LEDs in extremely tiny
packages, such as those found on blinkies (not shown).

LED that are produced in an array of shapes and sizes.

LED characteristics:

characteristic curves are very similar to those for p-n junction diodes
higher forward voltage (VF)
lower reverse breakdown voltage (VBR).

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The Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

Application
The seven segment display is an example of LEDs use for display of decimal digits.

The 7-segment LED display.

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LED Displays

LED displays are packages of many LEDs arranged in a pattern, the most familiar
pattern being the 7-segment displays for showing numbers (digits 0-9).
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The Photodiode

• Photodiode is a p-n junction that can convert light energy

into electrical energy.
• It operates in reverse bias voltage (VR), as shown in
Figure, where Iλ is the reverse light current.
• It has a small transparent window that allows light to
strike the p-n junction.
• The resistance of a photodiode is calculated by the
formula as follows:

Iλ

VR
RR =
I
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The Schottky Diode

❑ The Schottky diode’s significant characteristic is its fast switching

speed.
❑ This is useful for high frequencies and digital applications.
❑ It is not a typical diode in that it does not have a p-n junction.
❑ Instead, it consists of a doped semiconductor (usually n-type) and
metal bound together.

Schottky diode (a) symbol and (b) basic internal construction

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Zener Diode
• Zener diode is a p-n junction diode Cathode (K) K
that is designed to operate in the +
reverse breakdown region.
V I
• Two things happen when the reverse
breakdown voltage (VBR) is reached:
Z − Z
➢ The diode current increases Anode (A) A
drastically.
➢ The reverse voltage (VR) across the
diode remains relatively constant.
• In other words, the voltage across a
zener diode operated in this region is VB
R
relatively constant over a range of
reverse current and nearly equal to its
zener voltage (VZ) rating.

Zener diode voltage-curent (V-I) characteristic.

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Zener Diode
Ideal-and-Practical Zener Equivalent Circuits
I
F

VR
V VF
Z

IR
Ideal model and characteristic curve of a zener
diode in reverse breakdown.
The constant voltage drop = the
Practical model and characteristic curve of a zener diode, where the
nominal zener voltage.
zener impedance (resistance), ZZ is included.

A change in zener current (ΔIZ) produces a small

change in zener voltage (ΔVZ).

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Varactor (Varicap Diode)
• Varactor is a type of p-n junction diode that
operates in reverse bias. The capacitance of
the junction is controlled by the amount of
reverse bias.
• Varactor diodes are also referred to as
varicaps or tuning diodes and they are Varactor diode symbol
commonly used in communication systems.
Basic Operation
• The capacitance of a reverse-biased varactor
junction is found as:
A
C=
d
C = the total junction capacitance.
A = the plate area.
ε = the dielectric constant (permittivity).
d = the width of the depletion region Reverse-biased varactor diode acts
(plate separation). as a variable capacitor.

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Varactor (Varicap Diode)
• When the junction diode is
reverse biased, the insulating
barrier widens reducing diode
capacitance.

• The barrier forms the dielectric,

of variable width, of a capacitor.

• The N and P type cathode and anode are the two plates of the capacitor.
• In the diagram, the diode and coil form a resonant circuit.
•
The capacitance of the diode, and thereby the resonant frequency, is
varied by means of the potentiometer controlling the reverse voltage
across the varicap.

• The capacitor prevents the coil shorting out the voltage across the
potentiometer.
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