German Jordanian University

School of Applied Medical Sciences

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Second Semester 2014/2015
Experiment No. 3
Diode Circuits Applications
Wave Shaping & Rectifier Circuits

Instructor name: Eng. Mohammed

Lab
supervisor Hussam Kloub
name:
Section number:

Student name / Hala

ID:
20132302004

Al-Jarajrah

Rukaya
20132302062

Fakrun

Dana Abboud 20132302006

Date
submission:

of Monday, March 23, 2015

I. Objectives
The main objective of this experiment is to convert an AC signal to DC signal
while adding to the circuit components to achieve this goal. To achieve this,
the PN-Junction diode response in wave shaping, clipper and clamper circuits
is experimented and its response in full-wave rectifier circuit is shown.
Moreover, the functions of the capacitor filter and IC
regulator in full-wave rectifier circuit are identified.

II. Results and Discussions

Part I.a: Positive Clipper
In this part of the experiment, the circuit shown in
Figure 1.a was assembled connected to the
Function Generator and the oscilloscope. The
resulting Vout wave was as shown in Figure 1.b. The
wave shown by the oscilloscope was of a positive
clipper circuit. This type of circuit clips the positive
part of the input voltage. As the input voltage
increases, the diode becomes forward biased and
current is conducted; however, when the input
voltage exceeds the turn-on voltage of the diode
(0.7 V) the voltage is clipped. The clipping of the
signal occurs due to the property of diode to
conduct current in only one direction and block the
current in the other direction.

Figure 1.a

Figure 1.b

Figure 1.c
Next, a VDC=2V was added. The level of AC voltage
was adjusted by adding the VBIAS, as shown in Figure 1.c. This way, the voltage
at the point before the diode must equal VBIAS + 0.7V before the diode
becomes forward biased and conducts current. Once the diode conducts
current, the voltage at the diode is limited to V BIAS+0.7 and all input voltage
above this level is clipped off.

Part I.b: Negative Clipper

Figure 2.a

Figure 2.b

Figure 2.c

The circuit shown in Figure 2.a was assembled

and the resulting Vout wave was as shown in Figure
2.b. The wave shown by the oscilloscope was of a
negative clipper circuit. This type of circuit clips
the negative part of the input voltage. As the
input voltage decreases, the diode becomes
reverse biased and current is conducted;
however, when the input voltage decreases
beyond the turn-on voltage of the diode ( -0.7 V)
the voltage is clipped.
When a VDC=-2V was added, the level of AC
voltage was adjusted by adding the VBIAS. This
way, the voltage at the point before the diode
must equal -VBIAS - 0.7 V before the diode becomes
reverse biased and conducts current. Once the
diode conducts current, the voltage at the diode is

limited to -VBIAS-0.7 and all input voltage below this level is clipped off. This is
shown in Figure 2.c.

Part I.c: Independent Level Double

Clipper
This type of clipper combines a parallel negative
clipper with reverse bias and a parallel positive
bias with forward bias. Such a clipper circuit can
clip at both two in dependent levels depending
upon the bias voltages. During the positive half
cycle, the diode D1 is forward biased, while diode
D2 is reverse biased. Therefore the diode D 1 will
conduct and will acts as a short circuit. On the
other hand, diode D2will acts as an open circuit.
Moreover, the value of output voltage will not
.exceed VB1+VD1
Similarly during the negative input half cycle the
diode D2 acts as a short circuit while the diode
D1 as an open circuit and the value of output
voltage will not exceed -VB1-VD1. Since the values
of VB1 and VB2 are equal, the circuit will clip both
the positive and negative half cycles at the same
voltage level. Such a circuit is known as a
.symmetrical clipper

Part II.a: Positive Clamper

Figure 3.a

Figure 3.b

Figure 4.a

Figure 4.b

A circuit that places either the positive or negative peak of a signal at a

desired DC level is known as a clamping circuit.
A clamper circuit adds the positive or negative DC component to the input
signal to push it either on the positive side or on the negative side. The circuit
will be called a positive clamper when the signal is pushed upward by the
circuit so that the negative peak of the signal coincides with the zero level, as
shown in Figure 4.b. Clamper circuits cause no change in the peak-to-peak of
the waveform. During the negative half cycle of the input signal, the diode
conducts, acting as a short circuit. During this half
cycle, the capacitor is charged to the peak value of
Vin and it behaves like a battery. During the positive
half of the input signal, the diode does not conduct
and acts as an open circuit. Hence the Vout= Vin + VC
= Vin + Vin = 2Vin, resulting in a a positively clamped
Figure 5.a
.voltage

Part II.b: Negative Clamper

Figure 5.b

The circuit will be called a negative clamper when the signal is pushed
downward by the circuit. When the signal is pushed on the negative side, as
shown in Figure 5.b, the positive peak of the input signal coincides with the
zero level. During the positive half cycle the diode conducts and acts like a
short circuit. The capacitor charges to peak value of Vin. During this interval
the Vout will be zero and the capacitor will charge to the max negative peak of
the signal. During the negative half cycle, the diode is open and the capacitor
.will act as a battery. Thus, Vout = - Vin - VC = - Vin - Vin = -2Vin

Part III: Full Wave Rectifier

A
bridge
rectifier
is
an
arrangement of four diodes in a
bridge circuit configuration which
is used for converting an AC input
into a DC output. In this part of the
experiment the circuit shown in
Figure 6.a was assembled gradually. This
experiment involves constructing a rectifier and
filter circuit. The output waveform of the diode
bridge and a load resistor is shown in Figure 6.b.
This waveform shows the change from AC input
to DC output with great ripple voltage.

Figure 6.a

Figure 6.b

Capacitors are included in the circuit to act as

a filter to reduce ripple voltage (the ripple voltage
of a DC signal is zero). The filtering action of the
Figure 6.c
capacitor provides a DC output voltage equal to
the peak AC voltage with a ripple voltage of zero.
Adding only one capacitor to the diode bridge
resulted in the waveform in Figure 6.c, and
adding 2 more capacitors and a regulator resulted
in the waveform in Figure 6.d. The AC ripple
Figure 6.d
voltage magnitude is measured and shown on the
output waveform. You should notice a much smaller ripple voltage in a circuit
with higher capacitance than that of a lower one. Moreover, a regulator was
added in order to control the DC output voltage. Since we used a LM7805
regulator, the output voltage was expected to be 5 V; however, it was shown
.to be slightly less and that could be due to device malfunctioning

III. Conclusion
In conclusion, it was found that the clipping circuit (positive or negative) can
be used to control the signal so that the output voltage doesnt increase over
a certain value.
Also, it was shown that a circuit that places either the positive or negative
peak of a signal at a desired D.C level is known as a clamping circuit.
Clamping circuits are used to shift any part of the input signal waveform and
can be maintained at a specified voltage level. Such circuits are used in
television receivers to restore the original DC reference signal.
Moreover, we can derive that an AC signal can be converted to a DC signal
using a diode bridge circuit, capacitors and a load resistor. It was shown that
the greater the capacitance of the capacitor is (or the more numerous the
capacitors are) the less the ripple voltage is. This effect is favorable because
the less ripple voltage, the closer the AC signal is to becoming a Dc signal.

The load resistor is used as a medium for the capacitors discharging. A

regulator is used to control the exact DC output.