UNIT-4

The basic concept of a diode

• It is a semiconductor device that allows current to flow in one direction but
restricts it in the opposite direction.
• Diodes are also known as rectifiers and can be thought of as switches that
control the flow of electrons in an electrical circuit.
• The fundamental property of a diode is to conduct electric current in only one
direction.
• Diodes can be used as rectifiers, signal limiters, voltage regulators, switches,
signal modulators, signal mixers, signal demodulators and oscillators.
• A diode is a two-terminal electronic component that has a low resistance to
the flow of current in one direction thus allowing the passage of current in one
direction whereas there will be a high resistance in the other, thus restricting
the flow of current in that direction.
Diode Construction
• Diodes can be made of either of the two semiconductor materials, silicon and
germanium.
• When the anode voltage is more positive than the cathode voltage, the diode
is said to be forward-biased, and it conducts readily with a relatively low-
voltage drop.
• Likewise, when the cathode voltage is more positive than the anode, the diode
is said to be reverse-biased.
• The arrow in the diode symbol represents the direction of conventional current
flow when the diode conducts.

Construction of the diode

The semiconductor materials are of two types, namely,
• Intrinsic Semiconductor
• Extrinsic Semiconductor

Intrinsic Semiconductor
An intrinsic semiconductor is a pure or undoped semiconductor free from any
impurities and with low conductivity. At a given room temperature, the number of
holes and the number of electrons are the same. The conductivity of an intrinsic
semiconductor is based only on the room temperature.
Example: pure silicon and pure germanium, which are naturally available elements.
Extrinsic Semiconductor
An extrinsic semiconductor is an impure or doped semiconductor that contains
impurities and has a higher conductivity compared to that of the intrinsic
semiconductor. It is developed by adding impurities to the pure or intrinsic
semiconductor to increase the number of holes or electrons. The conductivity of an
extrinsic semiconductor is based on both the room temperature and the impurities
added.
Example: Pure silicon and pure germanium that are doped with chemical impurities
such as Boron, Aluminium, Phosphorous, Arsenic, Antimony, Indium, and Gallium

What are the materials used to produce diodes?

A diode is made of semiconductor materials, such as
• Silicon
• Germanium
• Selenium

Different forms of diodes are available on the market

• Metal Case
• Stud Mount
• Plastic case with band
• Plastic case with chamfer
• Glass case
Diode ratings are made based on the following parameters
• Voltage
• Diode Type
• Current capacity

Types of Diodes

1. Light Emitting Diode

2. Laser diode

3. Avalanche diode

4. Zener diode
 5. Schottky diode

6. Photodiode

7. PN junction diode

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

When an electric current between the electrodes passes through this diode,
light is produced. LEDs are available in different colours. There are tricolour LEDs
that can emit three colours at a time. Light colour depends on the energy gap
of the semiconductor used.

Laser Diode

It is a different type of diode as it produces coherent light. It is highly used in CD

drives, DVDs and laser devices. These are costly when compared to LEDs and
are cheaper when compared to other laser generators. Limited life is the only
drawback of these diodes.

Avalanche Diode

This diode belongs to a reverse bias type and operates using the avalanche
effect. They exhibit high levels of sensitivity and hence are used for photo
detection.
Zener Diode

It is the most useful type of diode as it can provide a stable reference voltage.
These are operated in reverse bias and break down on the arrival of a certain
voltage. If current passing through the resistor is limited, a stable voltage is
generated. Zener diodes are widely used in power supplies to provide a
reference voltage.

Schottky Diode

It has a lower forward voltage than other silicon PN junction diodes. The drop
will be seen where there is low current and at that stage, voltage ranges
between 0.15 and 0.4 volts. These are constructed differently in order to obtain
that performance. Schottky diodes are highly used in rectifier applications.

Photodiode

A photo-diode can identify even a small amount of current flow resulting from
the light. These are very helpful in the detection of the light. This is a reverse
bias diode and used in solar cells and photometers. They are even used to
generate electricity.

P-N Junction Diode

The P-N junction diode is also known as rectifier diodes. These diodes are used
for the rectification process and are made up of semiconductor material.

• The P-N junction diode includes two layers of semiconductors.

• One layer of the semiconductor material is doped with P-type material

and the other layer with N-type material.

• The combination of these both P and N-type layers form a junction

known as the P-N junction. Hence, the name P-N junction diode.

• P-N junction diode allows the current to flow in the forward direction and
blocks the flow of current in the reverse direction.
What are the two layers of a semiconductor diode?
• P-type layer
• N-type layer
P-type layer
When a trivalent impurity or acceptor impurity (boron, indium, aluminum, or
gallium) is added to an intrinsic semiconductor, the number of holes will be in
excess, and it will have a positive charge; hence, this type of layer is termed a p-type
layer.
N-type layer
When a pentavalent impurity or donor impurity (Arsenic, Antimony, or
Phosphorous) is added to an intrinsic semiconductor, the number of electrons will
be in excess and it will have a negative charge, and hence this type of layer is termed
the n-type layer.

Working Principles of Diode

In the n-type layer, electrons are the majority charge carriers, and holes are the
minority charge carriers. In the p-type layer,holes are the majority charge carriers,
and electrons are the minority charge carriers. Due to the concentration difference,
diffusion occurs in majority charge carriers and recombines with minority charge
carriers, which in turn are collected near the junction. This region is known as the
depletion region.

Forward Bias Condition

When the ptype of the diode (anode) is connected to the positive terminal of the
battery and the nytpe of the diode (cathode) is connected to the negative terminal of
the battery, then this type of connection is called a forward bias condition.When the
anode's voltage is more positive than the cathode's voltage, the diode is forward
biased and conducts current easily.

Reverse Bias Condition

When the ptype of the diode (anode) is connected to the negative terminal of the
battery and the nytpe of the diode (cathode) is connected to the positive terminal of
the battery, then this type of connection is called a reverse bias condition. When the
cathode voltage is more positive than the anode voltage, the diode is reverse biased
and current flow is hindered. A reverse-biased diode prevents current from going
through it, but a very small amount of current can still go through, called the
leakage current.

Characteristics of Diode
The following are the characteristics of the diode:

• Forward-biased diode
• Reverse-biased diode
• Zero biased diode

Forward-biased Diode
There is a small drop of voltage across the diode when the diode is forward-biased
and the current is conducting. For silicon diodes, the forward voltage is 690mV and
for germanium, 300mV is the forward voltage. The potential energy across the p-
type material is positive and across the n-type material, the potential energy is
negative.
• In forward biasing, the n-type of the semiconductor is connected to the
negative terminal of the battery, and the p-type of the semiconductor is
connected to the positive terminal of the battery. This type of junction is said
to be a forward-biased junction.
• In the forward bias condition, the built-in electric field direction near the
junction and the applied electric field direction are opposite to each other.
• Therefore, the magnitude of the resultant electric field is less than that of the
built-in electric field.
• This results in less resistivity, and hence the depletion region is thinner.
• At 0.6V in silicon, the depletion region resistance is completely negligible.
When we apply the external voltage across the semiconductor diode in such a way
that the p-side is connected to the positive terminal of the battery and the n-side is
connected to the negative terminal, then the semiconductor diode is said to be
forward-biased. In this case, the built-in potential of the diode and thus the width of
the depletion region decreases, and the height of the barrier gets reduced. The overall
barrier voltage, in this case, comes out to be V0-V, which is the difference between
the built-in potential and the applied potential. As we supply a small amount of voltage,
the reduction in the barrier voltage from the above-given formula is very less and
thus only a small number of current carriers cross the junction in this case. Whereas,
if the potential is increased by a significant value, the reduction in the barrier height
will be more, thus allowing the passage of more number of carriers.

Reverse-biased Diode
A diode is said to be reverse-biased when the battery’s voltage is dropped
completely. For silicon diodes, the reverse current is -20μA and for germanium, -
50μA is the reverse current. The potential energy across the p-type material is
negative and across the n-type material, the potential energy is positive.
• In reverse biasing, the n-type of the semiconductor is connected to the positive
terminal, and the p-type of the semiconductor is connected to the negative
terminal of the battery. This type of junction is said to be a reverse-biased
junction.
• In the reverse bias condition, the built-in electric field direction and the
applied electric field direction are the same.
• Therefore, the magnitude of the resultant electric field is higher than the
magnitude of the built-in electric field.
• This results in high resistivity, and hence the depletion region is thicker.
When we apply the external voltage across the semiconductor diode in such a way
that the positive terminal of the battery is connected to its n-side and the negative
terminal of the battery is connected to the p-side of the diode, then it is said to be in
the condition of reverse bias. When an external voltage is applied across the diode,
as the direction of the external voltage is the same as that of the barrier potential, the
total voltage barrier sums up to be (V0+V). Also, the width of the depletion region
increases. As a result of this, the motion of carriers from one side of the junction to
another decreases significantly.

Zero-biased Diode
When the diode is zero-biased, the voltage potential across the diode is zero.

• If a semiconductor is not connected to an external source, it is called a zero-biased diode

or an unbiased diode.
• During doping, when there is an imbalance of holes and electrons, the electric field is
developed between the n-type and p-type materials across the depletion layer.
• The barrier potential of a silicon diode at room temperature is 0.7 V.

Ideal Diodes
• Ideal diodes are diodes where current flow is allowed only in one direction (forward) and
is not allowed in the reverse direction.
• In a reverse-biased condition, the ideal diodes act as an open circuit, and the voltage across
the diode is negative in this condition.
The V-I characteristics curve of a semiconductor diode is given below. This
characteristic curve is a typical explanation for the V-I characteristic of a
semiconductor diode. Current in the semiconductor diode starts to conduct when the
current exceeds the threshold of the forward voltage, which is mentioned by the
manufacturer.

Diode Applications
Following are the applications and uses of the diode:

• Diodes as a rectifier
• Diodes in the clipping circuit
• Diodes in clamping circuits
• Diodes in logical gates
• Diodes in reverse current protection
What is a rectifier ? Explain the construction and working of a Half wave rectifier

What is common emitter bipolar junction transistor ? Explain its characteristics

Diode as a Rectifier: Half Wave Rectifier and
Full Wave Rectifier
The main application of p-n junction diode is in rectification circuits. These circuits are
used to describe the conversion of a.c signals to d.c in power supplies. Diode rectifier
gives an alternating voltage which pulsates in accordance with time. The filter
smoothes the pulsation in the voltage and to produce d.c voltage, a regulator is used
which removes the ripples.

Electric circuits that convert AC to DC are known as rectifiers. Rectifiers are classified
into two types as Half Wave Rectifiers and Full Wave Rectifiers. Significant power is lost
while using a half-wave rectifier and is not feasible for applications that need a
smooth and steady supply. For a more smooth and steady supply, we use the full wave
rectifiers. In this article, we will be looking into the working and characteristics of a full
wave rectifier.

There are two primary methods of diode rectification:

• Half Wave Rectifier

• Full Wave Rectifier

What Is Half Wave Rectifier?

In a half-wave rectifier, one half of each a.c input cycle is rectified. When the p-
n junction diode is forward biased, it gives little resistance and when it is
reversed biased it provides high resistance. During one-half cycles, the diode
is forward biased when the input voltage is applied and in the opposite half
cycle, it is reverse biased. During alternate half-cycles, the optimum result can
be obtained.

Working of Half Wave Rectifier

The half-wave rectifier has both positive and negative cycles. During the
positive half of the input, the current will flow from positive to negative which
will generate only a positive half cycle of the a.c supply. When a.c supply is
applied to the transformer, the voltage will be decreasing at the secondary
winding of the diode. All the variations in the a.c supply will reduce, and we will
get the pulsating d.c voltage to the load resistor.

In the second half cycle, the current will flow from negative to positive and
the diode will be reverse biased. Thus, at the output side, there will be no current
generated, and we cannot get power at the load resistance. A small amount of reverse
current will flow during reverse bias due to minority carriers.

Characteristics of Half Wave Rectifier

Following are the characteristics of half-wave rectifier:

Ripple Factor
Ripples are the oscillations that are obtained in DC which are corrected by
using filters such as inductors and capacitors. These ripples are measured with
the help of the ripple factor and are denoted by γ. Ripple factor tells us the
number of ripples presents in the output DC. Higher the ripple factor, more is
the oscillation at the output DC and lower is the ripple factor, less is the
oscillation at the output DC.

Ripple factor is the ratio of RMS value of the AC component of the output
voltage to the DC component of the output voltage.
DC Current

DC current is given as:

Where,

• Imax is the maximum DC load current

DC Output Voltage
The output DC voltage appears at the load resistor RL which is obtained by
multiplying output DC voltage with the load resistor RL. The output DC voltage is
given as:

Where,

• VSmax is the maximum secondary voltage

Form Factor
The form factor is the ratio of RMS value to the DC value. For a half-wave
rectifier, the form factor is 1.57.
Rectifier Efficiency
Rectifier efficiency is the ratio of output DC power to the input AC power. For a
half-wave rectifier, rectifier efficiency is 40.6%.

Advantages of Half Wave Rectifier

• Affordable

• Simple connections

• Easy to use as the connections are simple

• Number of components used are less

Disadvantages of Half Wave Rectifier

• Ripple production is more

• Harmonics are generated

• Utilization of the transformer is very low

• The efficiency of rectification is low

Applications of Half Wave Rectifier

Following are the uses of half-wave rectification:

• Power rectification: Half wave rectifier is used along with a transformer for power
rectification as powering equipment.

• Signal demodulation: Half wave rectifiers are used for demodulating the AM
signals.

• Signal peak detector: Half wave rectifier is used for detecting the peak of the
incoming waveform.
What Is Full Wave Rectifier?
Full-wave rectifier circuits are used for producing an output voltage or output
current which is purely DC. The main advantage of a full-wave rectifier over
half-wave rectifier is that such as the average output voltage is higher in full-
wave rectifier, there is less ripple produced in full-wave rectifier when
compared to the half-wave rectifier.

Defining Full Wave Rectifiers

A full wave rectifier is defined as a rectifier that converts the complete cycle of
alternating current into pulsating DC.
The circuit of the full wave rectifier can be constructed in two ways. The first
method uses a centre tapped transformer and two diodes. This arrangement
is known as a centre tapped full wave rectifier. The second method uses a
standard transformer with four diodes arranged as a bridge. This is known as
a bridge rectifier

Types of Full Wave Rectifier

There are two main types of full-wave rectifiers, and they are:

• Two diodes full-wave rectifier circuit (requires a center-tapped transformer and

is used in vacuum tubes)

• Bridge rectifier circuit (doesn’t require a centre-tapped transformer and is used

along with transformers for efficient usage)

Working of Full Wave Rectifier

The circuit of the full wave rectifier consists of a step-down transformer and two
diodes that are connected and centre tapped. The output voltage is obtained across
the connected load resistor.
The input AC supplied to the full wave rectifier is very high. The step-down
transformer in the rectifier circuit converts the high voltage AC into low voltage
AC. The anode of the centre tapped diodes is connected to the transformer’s
secondary winding and connected to the load resistor. During the positive half
cycle of the alternating current, the top half of the secondary winding becomes
positive while the second half of the secondary winding becomes negative.

During the positive half cycle, diode D1 is forward biased as it is connected to

the top of the secondary winding while diode D2 is reverse biased as it is
connected to the bottom of the secondary winding. Due to this, diode D1 will
conduct acting as a short circuit and D2 will not conduct acting as an open
circuit
During the negative half cycle, the diode D1 is reverse biased and the diode
D2 is forward biased because the top half of the secondary circuit becomes
negative and the bottom half of the circuit becomes positive. Thus in a full
wave rectifiers, DC voltage is obtained for both positive and negative half
cycle.

Advantages of Full Wave Rectifier

• The rectification efficiency of full wave rectifiers is double that of half wave rectifiers.
The efficiency of half wave rectifiers is 40.6% while the rectification efficiency of full
wave rectifiers is 81.2%.

• The ripple factor in full wave rectifiers is low hence a simple filter is required. The
value of ripple factor in full wave rectifier is 0.482 while in half wave rectifier it is
about 1.21.

• The output voltage and the output power obtained in full wave rectifiers are higher
than that obtained using half wave rectifiers.

• The power loss is very low

Disadvantages of Full Wave Rectifier

• Very expensive

• The only disadvantage of the full wave rectifier is that they need more
circuit elements than the half wave rectifier which makes, making it
costlier.
Bridge rectifiers
bridge rectifier uses four or more diodes in a bridge circuit configuration to efficiently
convert alternating (AC) current to a direct (DC) current.

Construction
The construction of a bridge rectifier is shown in the figure below. The bridge
rectifier circuit is made of four diodes D1, D2, D3, D4, and a load resistor RL. The four
diodes are connected in a closed-loop configuration to efficiently convert the
alternating current (AC) into Direct Current (DC). The main advantage of this
configuration is the absence of the expensive centre-tapped transformer.
Therefore, the size and cost are reduced.

The input signal is applied across terminals A and B, and the output DC signal is
obtained across the load resistor RL connected between terminals C and D. The four
diodes are arranged in such a way that only two diodes conduct electricity during
each half cycle. D1 and D3 are pairs that conduct electric current during the positive
half cycle/. Likewise, diodes D2 and D4 conduct electric current during a negative half
cycle.
Working
When an AC signal is applied across the bridge rectifier, terminal A becomes
positive during the positive half cycle while terminal B becomes negative. This
results in diodes D1 and D3 becoming forward biased while D2 and D4 becoming
reverse biased.

The current flow during the positive half-cycle is shown in the figure below:

During the negative half-cycle, terminal B becomes positive while terminal A

becomes negative. This causes diodes D2 and D4 to become forward biased
and diode D1 and D3 to be reverse biased.

The current flow during the negative half cycle is shown in the figure below:
From the figures given above, we notice that the current flow across load
resistor RL is the same during the positive and negative half-cycles. The output
DC signal polarity may be either completely positive or negative. In our case, it
is completely positive. If the diodes’ direction is reversed, we get a complete
negative DC voltage.

Thus, a bridge rectifier allows electric current during both positive and negative
half cycles of the input AC signal.

The output waveforms of the bridge rectifier are shown in the below figure.
Characteristics of Full Wave Rectifier
Following are the characteristics of full-wave rectifier:

Ripple Factor
Ripple factor for a full-wave rectifier is given as:

DC Current
Currents from both the diodes D1 and D2 are in the same direction when they
flow towards load resistor RL. The current produced by both the diodes is the
ratio of Imax to π, therefore the DC current is given as:

Where,

• Imax is the maximum DC load current

RMS Value of Current

The RMS value of the current can be calculated using the following formula:

DC Output Voltage
DC output voltage is obtained at the load resistor RL and is given as:
Where,

• Vmax is the maximum secondary voltage

The form factor is the ratio of RMS value of current to the output DC voltage. The
form factor of a full-wave rectifier is given as 1.11
Rectifier efficiency is used as a parameter to determine the efficiency of the
rectifier to convert AC into DC. It is the ratio of DC output power to the AC input
power. The rectifier efficiency of a full-wave rectifier is 81.2%.

Peak Inverse Voltage

Peak inverse voltage is the maximum voltage a diode can withstand in the
reverse-biased direction before breakdown. The peak inverse voltage of the
full-wave rectifier is double that of a half-wave rectifier. The PIV across D1 and
D2 is 2Vmax.

Advantages
• The efficiency of the bridge rectifier is higher than the efficiency of a half-wave
rectifier. However, the rectifier efficiency of the bridge rectifier and the centre-
tapped full-wave rectifier is the same.
• The DC output signal of the bridge rectifier is smoother than the output DC signal
of a half-wave rectifier.
• In a half-wave rectifier, only half of the input AC signal is used, and the other half is
blocked. Half of the input signal is wasted in a half-wave rectifier. However, in a
bridge rectifier, the electric current is allowed during both positive and negative
half cycles of the input AC signal. Hence, the output DC signal is almost equal to
the input AC signal.

Disadvantages
• The circuit of a bridge rectifier is complex when compared to a half-wave rectifier
and centre-tapped full-wave rectifier. Bridge rectifiers use 4 diodes while half-
wave rectifiers and centre-tapped full wave rectifiers use only two diodes.
• When more diodes are used more power loss occurs. In a centre-tapped full-
wave rectifier, only one diode conducts during each half cycle. But in a bridge
rectifier, two diodes connected in series conduct during each half cycle. Hence,
the voltage drop is higher in a bridge rectifier.
 Applications of Full Wave Rectifier
Following are the uses of full-wave rectifier:

• Full-wave rectifiers are used for supplying polarized voltage in welding and for this
bridge rectifiers are used.

• Full-wave rectifiers are used for detecting the amplitude of modulated radio
signals.

Difference between Half Wave Rectifier and Full Wave

Rectifier
Parameter Half Wave Rectifier Full Wave Rectifier

A full-wave rectifier is a
The half-wave rectifier is a
rectifier which is used for
rectifier which is used for
Definition converting both the half
converting the one-half cycle
cycles of AC input into DC
of AC input to DC output
output

2 or 4 depending on the type

No. of diodes used 1
of circuit

Form factor 1.57 1.11

Rectifier efficiency 40.6% 81.2%

Ripple factor of a half-wave Ripple factor of a full-wave

Ripple factor
rectifier is more rectifier is less
Numericals with Solutions
Q1. The applied input a.c. power to a half-wave rectifier is 100 watts.
The d.c. output
power obtained is 40 watts.
(i) What is the rectification efficiency ?
(ii) What happens to remaining 60 watts ?
Solution :
(i)

(ii) 40% efficiency of rectification does not mean that 60% of power is lost
in the rectifier circuit. In fact, a crystal diode consumes little power due
to its small internal resistance. The 100 W a.c. power is contained as 50
watts in positive half-cycles and 50 watts in negative half-cycles. The 50
watts in the negative half-cycles are not supplied at all. Only 50 watts in
the positive half-cycles are converted into 40 watts.
Although 100 watts of a.c. power was supplied, the half-wave rectifier
accepted only 50 watts and converted it into 40 watts d.c. power.
Therefore, it is appropriate to say that efficiency of rectification is 40%
and not 80% which is power efficiency.

Q2. An a.c. supply of 230 V is applied to a half-wave rectifier circuit

through a transformer of turn ratio 10 : 1. Find (i) the output d.c.
voltage and (ii) the peak inverse voltage. Assume the diode to be ideal.

Fig. 1

Solution :
Primary to secondary turns is

Max. secondary voltage is

(i)
(ii) During the negative half-cycle of a.c. supply, the diode is reverse
biased and hence conducts no current. Therefore, the maximum
secondary voltage appears across the diode.

Q3. A crystal diode having internal resistance rf = 20Ω is used for half-
wave rectification. If the applied voltage v = 50 sin ω t and load
resistance RL= 800 Ω, find :
(i) Im, Idc, Irms (ii) a.c. power input and d.c. power output (iii) d.c.
output voltage (iv) efficiency of rectification.
Solution :

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

(iv)

Q4. A half-wave rectifier is used to supply 50V d.c. to a resistive load of

800 Ω. The diode has a resistance of 25 Ω. Calculate a.c. voltage
required.
Solution :
Q5. A full-wave rectifier uses two diodes, the internal resistance of
each diode may be assumed constant at 20 Ω. The transformer r.m.s.
secondary voltage from centre tap to each end of secondary is 50 V
and load resistance is 980 Ω. Find : (i) the mean load current (ii) the
r.m.s. value of load current.
Solution :

(i)

(ii)
Q6. In the centre-tap circuit shown in Fig. 2, the diodes are assumed to
be ideal i.e. having zero internal resistance. Find :(i) d.c. output
voltage(ii) peak inverse voltage (iii) rectification efficiency.
 Fig. 2

Solution :
Primary to secondary turns, N1 / N2 = 5

(i) Average current, Idc =

(ii) The peak inverse voltage is equal to the maximum secondary

voltage, i.e
(iii)

Q7. In the bridge type circuit shown in Fig. 3, the diodes are assumed
to be ideal. Find : (i) d.c. output voltage (ii) peak inverse voltage (iii)
output frequency. Assume primary to secondary turns to be 4.

Fig.3

Solution :
Q8. Fig. 4(i) and Fig. 4 (ii) show the centre-tap and bridge type circuits
having the same load resistance and transformer turn ratio. The
primary of each is connected to 230V, 50 Hz supply. (i) Find the d.c.
voltage in each case. (ii) PIV for each case for the same d.c. output.
Assume the diodes to be ideal.

Fig. 4
Solution :
(i) DC output voltage :
Centre-tap circuit :

Bridge circuit :
This shows that for the same secondary voltage, the d.c. output voltage
of bridge circuit is twice that of the centre-tap circuit

(ii) PIV for same d.c. output voltage :

The d.c. output voltage of the two circuits will be the same if Vm (i.e.
max. voltage utilized by each circuit for conversion into d.c.) is the
same. For this to happen, the turn ratio of the transformers should be as
shown in Fig. 5.

Fig.5

Centre-tap circuit :

Bridge circuit :
This shows that for the same d.c. output voltage, PIV of bridge circuit is
half that of centre-tap circuit. This is a distinct advantage of bridge
circuit.

Q9. The four diodes used in a bridge rectifier circuit have forward
resistances which may be considered constant at 1Ω and infinite
reverse resistance. The alternating supply voltage is 240 V r.m.s. and
load resistance is 480 Ω. Calculate (i) mean load current and (ii)
power dissipated in each diode.
Solution :

Q10. The bridge rectifier shown in Fig. 6 uses silicon diodes. Find (i)
d.c. output voltage (ii) d.c. output current. Use simplified model for the
diodes

Fig.6

Solution :
The conditions of the problem suggest that the a.c voltage across
transformer secondary is 12V r.m.s.
Q11. A power supply A delivers 10 V dc with a ripple of 0.5 V r.m.s.
while the power supply B delivers 25 V dc with a ripple of 1 mV r.m.s.
Which is better power supply ?
Solution :
The lower the ripple factor of a power supply, the better it is.

For power supply A

For power supply B

Q12. For the circuit shown in Fig.7, find the output d.c. voltage.

Fig.7
Solution :
It can be proved that output d.c. voltage is given by :

Q13. The choke of Fig.8 has a d.c. resistance of 25 Ω. What is the d.c.
voltage if the full-wave signal into the choke has a peak value of 25.7 V
?

Fig.8

Solution :
The output of a full-wave rectifier has a d.c. component and an a.c.
component. Due to the presence of a.c. component, the rectifier output
has a pulsating character as shown in Fig. 9.
 Fig. 9

The maximum value of the pulsating output is Vm and d.c. component

is V′dc = 2 Vm/π.

For d.c. component V′dc, the choke resistance is in series with the load
as shown in 10.

Fig. 10
 Unit-4: Transistor characteristics
• There are three leads in a transistor viz., emitter, base and collector terminals.
• when a transistor is to be connected in a circuit, we require four terminals; two
for the input and two for the output.
• This difficulty is overcome by making one terminal of the transistor common
to both input and output terminals.
• The input is fed between this common terminal and one of the other two
terminals. The output is obtained between the common terminal and the
remaining terminal.
• Accordingly; a transistor can be connected in a circuit in the following three
ways :
(i) common base connection
(ii) common emitter connection and
(iii) common collector connection.
• Each circuit connection has specific advantages and disadvantages
• The complete electrical behaviour of a transistor can be described by stating
the interrelation of the various currents and voltages.
• These relationships can be conveniently displayed graphically and the curves
thus obtained are known as the characteristics of transistor
•
(i) Characteristics of Common Base Connection
The most important characteristics of common base connection are input characteristics and output
characteristics.
 (a) Input characteristics
• It is the curve between emitter current IE and emitter-base voltage VEB at
constant collector-base voltage VCB.
• The emitter current is generally taken along y-axis and emitter-base voltage
along x-axis.
• Fig. shows the input characteristics of a typical transistor in CB arrangement

The following points may be noted from these characteristics :

(i) The emitter current IE increases rapidly with small increase in emitter-base
voltage VEB. It means that input resistance is very small.
(ii) The emitter current is almost independent of collector-base voltage VCB.
This leads to the conclusion that emitter current (and hence collector
current) is almost independent of collector voltage.

Input resistance is the ratio of change in emitter-base voltage (∆VEB) to the resulting
change in emitter current (∆IE) at constant collector-base voltage (VCB).
 (b) Output characteristics
• It is the curve between collector current IC and collector-base voltage VCB
at constant emitter current IE.
• Generally, collector current is taken along y-axis and collector- base voltage
along x-axis.

Fig. shows the output characteristics of a typical transistor in CB arrangement.

• The collector current IC varies with VCB only at very low voltages ( < 1V ).
The transistor is never operated in this region.
• When the value of VCB is raised above 1 - 2 V, the collector current
becomes constant as indicated by straight horizontal curves.
• It means that now IC is independent of VCB and depends upon IE only.
• The emitter current flows almost entirely to the collector terminal. The
transistor is always operated in this region.
• A very large change in collector-base voltage produces only a tiny change in
collector current. This means that output resistance is very high.
• Output resistance. It is the ratio of change in collector-base voltage (∆VCB)
to the resulting change in collector current (∆IC) at constant emitter current.
• The output resistance of CB circuit is very high, of the order of several tens
of kilo-ohms since the collector current changes very slightly with the
change in VCB.

(iii) Common Emitter Connection

• In this circuit arrangement, input is applied between base and emitter and
output is taken from the collector and emitter.
• Here, emitter of the transistor is common to both input and output circuits
and hence the name common emitter connection.

(a) Input characteristics

• It is the curve between base current IB and base-emitter voltage VBE
at constant collector-emitter voltage VCE.
• Keeping VCE constant (say at 10 V), note the base current IB for
various values of VBE.
• Then plot the readings obtained on the graph, taking IB along y axis
and VBE along x-axis.
• This gives the input characteristic at VCE = 10V.
• The characteristic resembles that of a forward biased diode curve.
• This is expected since the base-emitter section of transistor is a diode
and it is forward biased.
• As compared to CB arrangement, IB increases less rapidly with VBE.
• Therefore, input resistance of a CE circuit is higher than that of CB
circuit.
 • Input resistance is the ratio of change in base-emitter voltage (∆VBE)
to the change in base current (∆IB) at constant VCE.
• The value of input resistance for a CE circuit is of the order of a few
hundred ohms

(b) Output characteristic

It is the curve between collector current IC and collector-emitter voltage VCE at

constant base current IB

• Output resistance: It is the ratio of change in collector-emitter voltage

(∆VCE) to the change in collector current (∆IC) at constant IB.
• The output characteristics of CB circuit are horizontal, they have noticeable
slope for the CE circuit. Therefore, the output resistance of a CE circuit is
less than that of CB circuit.