Full-Wave Rectifiers

This lab guides students in building a full-wave bridge rectifier and in

exploring the V-I characteristic of a diode. Students will first simulate
and build the rectifier to gain an understanding of the purpose of a
rectifier. Then, students will use LabVIEW to explore the individual
components of the rectifier in order to visualize and understand how
these components limit its operating range. Advanced students can
explore ways to overcome the threshold voltage limit when using
diodes in a rectifier or learn more about programming practices and
user-friendliness.

Introduction
A rectifier is a diode circuit that converts an alternating current (AC)
waveform into a waveform that has constant polarity (also sometimes
called a direct current or DC waveform), either always negative or
always positive depending on the direction of the diodes. There are
two major classifications of rectifiers, half-wave and full-wave
rectifiers. Half-wave rectifiers are so called because they only pass
through one polarity of the circuit while the opposite polarity is
removed.
Full-wave rectifiers reproduce the whole waveform, but with one of the
polarities inverted. You can think of full-wave rectification as putting
an AC waveform through an absolute value function. In this lab we will
simulate, build, and explore the bridge rectifier – a type of full-wave
rectifier constructed using diodes.

Learning Objectives
In this section, students will:

 Simulate a bridge rectifier in Multisim.

 Build a bridge rectifier and explore its response to different input
waveforms and loads.
  Use LabVIEW to characterize diodes and find the minimum input
voltage for a diode.

Part List
The following equipment is required for this experiment:
Hardware

 Analog Discovery Studio

 Breadboard Canvas
 4x 1N4001, or compatible diodes
 100KΩ resistor
 100Ω resistor
 4.7Ω resistor

Software

 Multisim Live
 WaveForms
 LabVIEW Community
 Digilent WaveForms VIs

Circuit Theory and Simulation

Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier

The bridge rectifier consists of four diodes laid out in a bridge pattern.
Using the forward-biased behavior of diodes, we can force current to
flow in the same direction through a load. This allows us to convert an
AC waveform into a DC waveform. Many circuits require the use of DC
waveforms and the rectifier circuit is an important part of a power
supply circuit.
The image to the right shows a typical configuration for a bridge
rectifier. You can see that Diodes D1 – D4 are laid out in a bridge
pattern with their anodes on the left and the cathodes on the right and
the load is connected across the joint cathodes and the joint anodes.
Compare the output of the bridge rectifier to the input by using probes
on the input and output of the bridge rectifier circuit and simulating
the circuit in Interactive Mode. Remember that the probes are
automatically

After rectifying the AC signal in simulation and in the actual circuit, you may have noticed a
smaller peak voltage in the output signal than the input. Analyzing the circuit, there is only one
possible culprit for the difference: the diodes. While we can usually model diodes as components
that either act as an open or a short, a small amount of voltage does get dropped over real diodes.
When the diode is operating in forward-bias operation, this voltage is generally referred to as the
forward “threshold” voltage (VTH���) of the diode. Ideally a diode would
have VTH=0���=0, but common silicone diodes generally have
a VTH=0.7V���=0.7�, while germanium diodes have a VTH=0.3V���=0.3� and
Schottky diodes have a VTH=0.2V���=0.2�.
But you might be asking, if VTH��� is defined as a single point, why does the attenuation
vary with different input voltage levels? This is because VTH��� is only a typical value and
not an absolute value. In real-world diodes, the current through the diode, the voltage dropped
across the diode and the input voltage are tied together in a non-linear relationship.
In this section, we will look to graphically model this relationship using two plots. The first plot
will show us the relationship between the current through the diode and the voltage drop across
the diode, and the second plot will show how these two quantities change with respect to the
input voltage. We will use LabVIEW, a graphical programming language, to first automate the
plotting of these graphs and then, secondly, analyze these relationships. This section of the lab
will assume a working knowledge of the LabVIEW environment and basic programming
conventions. For help with getting started in LabVIEW, including installation of the Digilent
WaveForms VIs, please view the resources available here: Getting Started with LabVIEW and a
Test and Measurement Device
Note: Before testing or running your LabVIEW code, make sure that you exit WaveForms. The
Digilent WaveForms VIs will throw an error if Digilent WaveForms is still open when you run
your code.
Note: If you don't know what a VI does, you can check the Context Help by pressing Ctrl+H,
then highlighting the respective VI.

Objectives
Design a VI in LabVIEW that will map out the I-V curve of a diode. You can build your own VI,
following the steps below, or you can download the VI used in this guide from here: i-
v_curve.zip
The I-V curve allows us to explore the relationship between voltage and current through a given
circuit element – in this case a diode. As the front panel shows, current (I) is plotted on the y-axis
and voltage (V) is plotted on the x-axis.
The Front Panel is where you place your UI elements in LabVIEW and how you can interact
with the program while it is running. There are two major components on this front panel: the
controls are how you can give information to the program, and the indicators are how the
program gives data back to the user.

The Block Diagram is where you will actually code in LabVIEW. Any controls you have will
show up in the block diagram. As shown, in this VI we have one string, two numeric and one
boolean controls. Any indicators you have will also show up in the block diagram. As shown, in
this VI we have three graphs corresponding to the graphs we want the VI to plot.
The Functions Palette can be accessed by right-clicking on the Block Diagram. The Functions
Palette is how you can place different functions and VIs that build up your code into the block
diagram. For this VI we will primarily be using VIs from the Digilent WF VIs palette. The
Digilent WF VIs palette gives us access to the VIs that control the different instruments on
Analog Discovery devices and can be accessed by navigating to Functions Palette →
Measurement I/O → Digilent WF VIs.

General Operation
The VI is able to sweep through a range of voltages, measuring voltage and current at each point.
The sweep should start from 0V, end at the Maximum Input Voltage, and increase by the 0.1V in
each step. In each sep, the scopes should acquire several samples and the average of these
samples should be calculated to get the voltage drop and the current through the diode.
In each step, the calculated values should be appended to arrays, and these array should be
displayed on the front panel, on one of the three plots. The first graph is the I-V curve of the
diode. The second graph will show the current through the diode with respect to the input
voltage. The third one shows the voltage drop on the diode against the input voltage. While the
first graph lets us directly examine the voltage and current relationship of the diode, the second
and the third graphs will let us examine how the current and the voltage react to different input
voltages. The image to the right shows the general program flow for this VI and the Software
Setup section goes over each of these steps in more detail.

Hardware Setup
While we can measure voltage across the diode directly, we will have to use a sense resistor
(Rsense������) and Ohm’s law to measure current through the diode. We will use the
same full-wave rectifier circuit we used previously, however we will change the load resistance
to 4.7Ω and will use the Supplies instrument to output a DC voltage instead of an AC waveform
as our input voltage.
Build the circuit presented in Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier on the Breadboard Canvas. Connect
the positive power supply V+ (red wire) to the input of the circuit and the 2+ channel of the
oscilloscope (blue wire) to the positive output of the circuit. Connect the 2- channel of the scope
(blue-white wire) to the negative output. Connect together the ground of the circuit and the
ground of the Analog Discovery Studio (black wire). Connect the 1+ channel of the scope
(orange wire) to the anode of a diode and the 1- channel (orange-white wire) to the cathode of
the same diode.
Don't forget to turn the Scope Channel 1 and Scope Channel 2 switches towards the MTE
headers and the and the V± switch towards the POWER inscription.
You can download the wiring diagram here: wiring_diagram_iv_curve.zip
Software Setup
Setup and Instrument Configuration
As a first step the control and indicator elements should be placed by right-clicking on the Front
Panel and selecting the required element. In this VI we need a Combo Box, which sets the device
type, with the elements “Analog Discovery Studio”, “Analog Discovery 2” and “Analog
Discovery”, we need a Numeric Control for the load resistance value and a Knob, to set the
maximum input voltage. A Stop Button should also be placed on the Front Panel, to interrupt the
program if needed.
To display the results, we need three XY Graphs. Arrange everything on the Front Panel, then
right-click on the x-axis of the graphs and deselect Autoscale. The range of these axes will be set
according to the maximum input voltage. Rename the placed elements by double-clicking on
their name.
In the Block diagram, right-click the VD vs Vin graph and create a property node for
the XScale.Maximum property. Repeat this step for the ID vs Vin graph. Change both property
nodes to write, then connect the Maximum Input Voltage control to them.

Initialize the Scope instrument (MSO), then configure both analog channels (mso/1 and mso/2)
in DC mode, with 1X probe attenuation, set the vertical offset to 0 and the vertical range to the
double of the maximum input voltage. Enable the channels with a True constant.
Configure the timing of the Scope to sampling mode, with a sampling rate of 100000 samples/s,
acquisition time of 0.1s and pretrigger time of 0s.

Initialize the Supplies instrument and configure the positive voltage supply (ps/+5V) to have a
default current limit (0) and an output voltage level of 0V. Enable the power supply.

Acquiring Data
In a loop, run the Scope and read its output. The first element of the output array is the channel 1
data, the second element is the channel 2 data. Average the output arrays to get the voltage drop
on the diode (channel 1) and the voltage drop on the sense resistor (channel 2). Divide the sense
resistor voltage with the resistor value to get the current through the diodes.

Outside the loop, initialize three empty cluster arrays, with the clusters containing two numbers.
Shift these arrays into the loop. Shift the voltage level of the power supply from the previous step
(0V) into the loop.
Inside the loop, bundle together the diode voltage and the diode current, the input voltage and the
diode current and the input voltage and the diode voltage, then append the resulting clusters to
the arrays shifted into the loop. Connect the appended arrays to the respective XY Graphs, then
shift them out of the loop.

Stepping the Input Voltage and Exiting

In each iteration, increment with 0,1 the voltage level shifted in the loop in the previous step,
then reconfigure the positive power supply, setting the voltage level to this value.
Also compare this value to the Maximum Input Voltage, and if it is exceeded, exit the loop. The
user should also be able to exit the loop if they press the stop button, so the the button should be
connected to the exit condition. In case of any error the program will be finished, therefore
connect the error signal to the exit condition as well.
If the loop is exited, the instruments must be stopped, then the errors should be handled.

Questions and Exercises

Further Exploration
The topics below go over two ways you can continue exploring after finishing this lab. The first
topic goes more into the limitations on using diodes as a rectifier and the second topic covers
some ideas for user-friendly programming.

Diodes and Rectifiers

Looking at your results, you should see a breakpoint in current around 0.6 – 0.7V. This matches
with the typical VTH��� of a silicon diode. However, we also saw that the current through
the diode at that point is relatively small; on the order of 10s of milliamps. In order to increase
the current, we will need to increase the voltage. While this works for most circuit applications,
what happens when we need to rectify a signal with an amplitude less than 0.6V?
We saw earlier that with the bridge rectifier, as the input voltage decreased we reached a point
where our output signal was effectively zero. And looking at the diode curves we found using
LabVIEW, it is very likely that while the voltage waveform was rectified, no current was
actually flowing once the input voltage dipped below 0.6V. Therefore, in order to rectify a small
signal, we would need some method of isolating the effects of VTH��� from our output
signal. This is where the op-amp based precision rectifier comes in. The image to the right shows
one typical configuration for a precision rectifier.
Use what you have learned in this lab to build the precision rectifier and compare it against the
bridge rectifier. What are some of the tradeoffs with the precision rectifier? Aside from being
able to rectify small signals, are there any other benefits to using a precision rectifier?

LabVIEW Programming and User Friendliness

Set up your LabVIEW VI to sweep to 2.5V again, but now change the step increment to 0.01V.
Notice how much longer it takes to complete the VI this time. What is on screen while the VI is
running? Is there any indication that it is working? How would you tell if the program was just
busy processing your instructions or actually stuck in a loop? One of key aspect of user friendly
programming is to give feedback to the user that a program is running or doing something. For
example, loading bars show progress while a program is loading a big file or using a rotating
wheel to symbolize that a program is busy executing your last command.
What other ways can we show the user that the program is running as expected? Use what you
know of loops and iterations to implement a way to let the user know that the program is running
correctly. You can even display an estimated time of completion for longer tasks.

Next Steps
For more complementary laboratories, return to the Complementary Labs for Electrical
Engineering page of this wiki.
For technical support, please visit the Test and Measurement section of the Digilent Forums.
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