DEVICES AND CIRCUITS

UNIT 1
TOPIC:Rectifier
 Rectifier
• Many electronic circuits use DC voltage for operation.
• We can easily convert AC voltage or current into DC
voltage or current by using a device known as a p-n
junction diode.
• A p-n junction diode allows electric current to flow in
forward bias condition and blocks the current in
reverse bias condition.
• Simply, a diode allows electric current to flow in one
direction only. This unique property of diode allows it
to act as a rectifier.
 What is Rectifier?
• A rectifier is an electronic device that converts an
alternating current into a direct current by using one or
more P-N junction diodes.
• A diode behaves as a one-way valve that allows current
to flow in a single direction. This process is known as
rectification.
• A rectifier can take the shape of several physical forms
such as solid-state diodes, vacuum tube diodes,
mercury-arc valves, silicon-controlled rectifiers, and
various other silicon-based semiconductors switches.
 Different Types of Rectifier

• Rectifiers are mainly classified into two types

as:
• Uncontrolled Rectifier
• Controlled Rectifier
 Uncontrolled Rectifiers
• The type of rectifier whose voltage cannot be controlled is
known as an uncontrolled rectifier.
• Uncontrolled rectifiers are further divided as follows:
• Half Wave Rectifier
• Full Wave Rectifier
• The type of rectifier that converts only the half cycle of the
alternating current into the direct current is known as a half-
wave rectifier.
• Likewise, a full-wave rectifier converts both positive and
negative half cycles of the AC.
• An example of this is a bridge rectifier. A bridge rectifier uses
4 diodes that are connected in the form of a
Wheatstone bridge.
 Controlled Rectifiers
• A type of rectifier whose voltage can be varied is
known as the controlled rectifier.
• We use SCRs, MOSFETs and IGBTs to make an
uncontrolled rectifier a controlled one.
• These rectifiers are preferred over their uncontrolled
counterparts.
• There are two types of controlled rectifiers, and they
are Half Wave Controlled Rectifier and Full Wave
Controlled Rectifier.
• Half-wave controlled rectifier has the same design as
the half-wave uncontrolled rectifier except we replace
the diode with an SCR.
What Are Some Applications of Rectifiers?

Some common applications of rectifiers are:

• Rectifiers are used in electric welding to provide
polarized voltage.
• Half-wave rectifiers are used as a mosquito
repellent.
• Half-wave rectifiers are used as a signal peak
detector in AM radio.
• Rectifiers are used in modulation,
demodulation and voltage multipliers.
 Half Wave Rectifier

• Half-wave rectifiers transform AC voltage to

DC voltage.
• A half wave rectifier circuit uses only one
diode for the transformation.
• A half wave rectifier is defined as a type of
rectifier that allows only one-half cycle of an
AC voltage waveform to pass while blocking
the other half cycle.
 Half Wave Rectifier Circuit

• A half-wave rectifier is the simplest form of

the rectifier and requires only one diode for
the construction of a halfwave rectifier circuit.
• A halfwave rectifier circuit consists of three
main components as follows:
• A diode
• A transformer
• A resistive load
Half-wave rectifier diagram:
 Working of Half Wave Rectifier

• In this section, let us understand how a half-

wave rectifier transforms AC into DC.
• A high AC voltage is applied to the primary
side of the step-down transformer. The
obtained secondary low voltage is applied to
the diode.
• The diode is forward biased during the
positive half cycle of the AC voltage and
reverse biased during the negative half cycle.
 Cont….

The final output voltage waveform is as shown in the figure below:

• For better understanding, let us simplify the half-
wave circuit by replacing the secondary
transformer coils with a voltage source as shown
below:
• For the positive half cycle of the AC source
voltage, the circuit effectively becomes as
shown below in the diagram:
• When the diode is forward biased, it acts as a
closed switch. But, during the negative half
cycle of the AC source voltage, the equivalent
circuit becomes as shown in the figure below
• When a diode is reverse biased, it acts as an
open switch. Since no current can flow to the
load, the output voltage is equal to zero.
 Half Wave Rectifier Waveform

• The halfwave rectifier waveform before and

after rectification is shown below in the figure.
 Half Wave Rectifier Capacitor Filter

• The output waveform of a halfwave rectifier is a

pulsating DC waveform.
• Filters in halfwave rectifiers are used to transform
the pulsating waveform into constant DC
waveforms.
• A capacitor or an inductor can be used as a filter.
• The circuit diagram below shows how a capacitive
filter is used with halfwave rectifier to smoothen
out a pulsating DC waveform into a constant DC
waveform.
 Half Wave Rectifier Formula

• Ripple Factor of Half Wave Rectifier

• Ripple factor determines how well a halfwave
rectifier can convert AC voltage to DC voltage.
• Ripple factor can be quantified using the
following formula:

• The ripple factor of a halfwave rectifier is 1.21.

 Efficiency of Halfwave Rectifier

• The efficiency of a halfwave rectifier is the

ratio of output DC power to the input AC
power.
• The efficiency formula for halfwave rectifier is
given as follows;
 RMS value of Half Wave Rectifier
• The RMS value of the load current for a half-
wave rectifier is given by the formula:
 Form factor of a Half wave Rectifier
• The form factor is the ratio between RMS
value and average value and is given by the
formula:
 Applications of Half Wave Rectifier

• Here are a few common applications of half

wave rectifiers:
• They are used for signal demodulation
purpose
• They are used for rectification applications
• They are used for signal peak applications
 Disadvantages of Half Wave Rectifier
• Power loss
• Low output voltage
• The output contains a lot of ripples
 Questions
Q1. What is a halfwave rectifier?
• The rectifier circuit that converts alternating current into the direct current is known as a
halfwave rectifier circuit. The half-wave rectifier passes only one half of the input sine wave
and rejects the other half.
Q2. Where is a halfwave rectifier used?
• A half-wave rectifier is used in firing circuits and pulse generating circuits. Halfwave rectifiers
are used along with step up and step down transformers to achieve the desired voltage.
Q3. How does a half-wave rectifier work?
• Half wave rectifier circuit uses a PN junction to convert the supplied AC into DC. In a half-
wave rectifier circuit, the load resistance is connected in series with the PN junction diode.
Q4. Is the half-wave rectifier better or the full-wave rectifier?
• Full-wave rectifiers are more efficient than half-wave rectifiers. A full-wave rectifier passes
twice as many waves as a half-wave rectifier. Hence, more of the input is transferred to the
load.
Q5. What is the use of a filter in a half-wave rectifier?
• The filter in a half-wave rectifier is used to smoothen the pulsating fluctuating DC component.
 Full Wave Rectifier
• 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.
 Defining Full Wave Rectifiers
• A full wave rectifier is defined as a rectifier
that converts the complete cycle of alternating
current into pulsating DC.
• Unlike halfwave rectifiers that utilize only the
halfwave of the input AC cycle, full wave
rectifiers utilize the full cycle. The lower
efficiency of the half wave rectifier can be
overcome by the full wave rectifier.
 Full Wave Rectifier Circuit
• 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.
• 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.
 Working of Full Wave Rectifier
• 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 D 1 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.
 Full Wave Rectifier Formula
• 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.
 DC Output Voltage
• The following formula gives the average value
of the DC output voltage:
 RMS Value of Current
• The RMS value of the current can be
calculated using the following formula:
 Form Factor
• The form factor of the full wave rectifier is
calculated using the formula:
 Peak Factor
• The following formula gives the peak factor of
the full wave rectifier:
 Rectification Efficiency
• The rectification efficiency of the full-wave
rectifier can be obtained using the following
formula:

• The efficiency of the full wave rectifiers is

81.2%.
 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 only disadvantage of the full wave rectifier is that they need
more circuit elements than the half wave rectifier which makes,
making it costlier.