Name: Sahil Agrawal

Roll Number: 20IM10045

Aim of the Experiment

To study and understand the principles and the working of the Half-
Wave Rectifier and Full-Wave Rectifier and Zener Diode voltage
regulator.

Tools Used

1- P-N Junction Diodes

2- Zener Diode
3- Resistor
4- Capacitor
5- Voltage Source
6- Oscilloscope
7- Connecting Wire

Background Knowledge-

PN Junction Diode:

It is formed when the p-type semiconductor is fused to an n-type

semiconductor creating a potential barrier voltage across the Diode
junction. A PN junction Diode is one of the simplest semiconductor
devices around which has the characteristic of passing current in
only one direction ,however unlike a resistor, a Diode does not
behave linearly with respect to the applied voltage and the Diode
has an equipotential current-voltage relationship.
Zener Diode:

It operates just like the normal Diode when in the forward-biased

mode and has a turn on voltage of between 0.3 and 0.7 V, however
when connected in the reverse mode, which is usually in most of its
applications a small leakage current may flow .As the reverse
voltage increases to the pre-determined breakdown voltage Vz, a
current starts flowing through the Diode. The current increases to a
maximum which is determined by the series resistor after which it
stabilizes and remains constant over a wide range of applied
voltage.

Rectifier:

A Rectifier is an electrical device that converts AC to DC which

flows in only one direction. There are two types of Rectifiers-:

Half Wave Rectifier is an electronic circuit that converts only one

half of the AC cycle into DC. It utilizes only half of the AC cycle for
the conversion process.

Full Wave Rectifier consists of two Diodes and one step down
transformer which is centre tapped. The p terminal of the Diodes is
connected to the secondary winding of the transformer and the n-
terminal of both the Diodes are connected to the centre tapping
point of the secondary winding and they are also connected to load
terminal.
Circuit Diagrams:

Full Wave Rectifier:

Half Wave Rectifier:

Half Wave Capacitive Rectifier:

Full Wave Capacitive Rectifier:

Zener Diode:

Observation Table:

Unregulated supply Regulated Output

Load Current(IL) Zener Current(IZ)
Serial No. voltage(VS) Voltage(VO)

V mAmp mAmp V
1 0 1.77 0 0
2 1.2 1.77 0 1.2
3 2 1.77 0 2
4 3.8 1.77 0 3.8
5 5.8 1.77 -1.598 5.5
6 8.4 1.77 -0.068 5.5
7 10.8 1.77 1.343 5.5
8 14 1.77 3.226 5.5
9 18.8 1.77 6.049 5.5
10 23.8 1.77 8.991 5.5
11 28.4 1.77 11.696 5.5
Graph:

Zener Diode:

Half Wave Rectifier:

Full Wave Rectifier:
Capacitive Half Wave Rectifier:

Capacitive Full Wave Rectifier:

Conclusion:

We were able to verify the theoretical principles of Rectifiers and

Diodes in this experiment. We observed that in the case of Half-
Wave Rectifiers, only the +ve part of the input signal was allowed to
pass through and the rest of it was blocked. Whereas in the case of
Full-Wave Rectifiers, a complete input signal was allowed to pass
through and both parts were transformed to the same polarity.
Using a Capacitor as a filter helped to smoothen out the output
signal, reducing the Ripple Effect. Finally, using a Zener Diode in a
voltage regulated DC circuit, we were able to observe the properties
of a Zener Diode and it’s behaviour in the break-down region. In the
Zener Diode experiment, it was seen that after a particular voltage
(Zener Voltage), the Zener current grew sharply while the regulated
output voltage remained constant at Zener voltage. The output
voltage for Zener Diode - Line Regulator became constant and was
equal to the Zener voltage, for all input values greater than or equal
to the Zener voltage. All this behaviour is a result of the special
property of semiconductor Diodes which allows current to flow when
forward biased but not as easy when reversing biased.

Discussions:

The primary application of Rectifiers is to derive DC power from an

AC supply (AC to DC converter).
Rectifiers are used inside the power supplies of virtually all
electronic equipment.
Rectifiers are used in mobile and laptop chargers, TVs, kitchen
appliances, car alternators, and in many more areas to smoothen
the output waveform. Here we have used capacitors as a filter. If
the capacitor value is very low, there will be huge ‘gaps’ and the
Ripple Effect will be much more prominent. However, for large
enough values of capacitors, the output signal will be much more
smoothened out and the observed Ripple Effect will be reduced.
Ripple Factor is inversely proportional to Capacitor Value in the
case of capacitive circuits.
Zener Diode Voltage Regulator has a thinner depletion region.
When we apply a voltage more than the Zener breakdown voltage
(can range from 1.2 volts to 200 volts), the depletion region
vanishes, and a large current starts to flow through the junction.
Also, Zener Diodes are bi-directional whereas, normal p-n junction
Diodes are uni-directional.