Electronics Lab.

(0903368) 1 Experiment 2

The University of Jordan

School of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department

EE 368
Electronics Lab

Experiment 2
Diode Characteristics and Applications (1)
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 2 Experiment 2

Experiment 2
Diode Characteristics and Applications (1)

Objectives

 To be familiar with the basic properties of the junction diodes.

 To study the characteristics of the diode and investigate the i-v curve.
 To investigate some of the diode applications such as diode rectifier, filter and peak
detector circuits.

Theory

The diode is a two-terminal semiconductor device with a nonlinear i-v characteristic. The Anode
(A) corresponds to p-type side while the Cathode (K) corresponds to n-type side. The current
flows in only one direction through the diode from the anode to the cathode. The diode symbols
and shape are shown in Figure 1.
There are mainly three operating regions for the diode according to its i-v characteristic as shown
in Figure 2:
1) Forward biased: In this region, the anode terminal is more positive than the cathode
terminal such that the voltage drop on the diode is grater than the cut-in voltage ( Vγ ). A
current will flow from anode to cathode terminals in a range of ( mA ). When analyzing the
circuit, the diode is ideally replaced by short circuit, and practically by a DC voltage source
has value of (Vγ ) in series with a small resistor ( rf ).

2) Reverse biased: In this region, the cathode is more positive than the anode terminals, only a
reverse small current in range of ( μA ) called saturation current ( IS ) passing in the circuit
which can be neglected. When analyzing the circuit, the diode is replaced by an open circuit.

3) Reverse breakdown: it typically happens at voltage of 75V, at this moment a very high
value of current will pass through the diode which causes huge power dissipation that may
damage the diode, so we never test reverse breakdown.

Figure 1: Diode component and it symbol

Figure 2: Typical i-v characteristic for a diode

Electronics Lab. (0903368) 3 Experiment 2

Different Diode applications can be found such as: rectifier circuits with its two types: Half
Wave Rectifier (HWR) and Full Wave Rectifier (FWR), clipper circuits, clamper circuits, peak
detector and logic circuits. In this experiment we will study and analyze:
1) The Rectifier Circuit: It converts large Alternating signal (AC) to Direct signal (DC) such
that the current flows through a load in one direction only. There are two types of rectifications:

a) Half Wave Rectifier (HWR):

In which one of the input signal half cycle makes the diode forward biased and there
exist a voltage at the output, while during the other half cycle, the diode will be
reverse biased passes no current (I = 0), therefore the output is zero as shown in
Figure 3. The maximum output peak voltage of the rectified unfiltered signal
( VP (HWR ) ) can be found by:

VP ( HWR)  Vmax (input)  V (1)

Where Vmax (input) is the input signal peak voltage. The amount of the average value
(DC value) of the HWR rectified unfiltered signal over one period is given by:

VP ( HWR )
Vavg ( HWR )   (0.318 )  VP ( HWR ) (2)


The frequency of the rectified output waveform can be expressed as:

f o ( HWR)  f source (3)

Figure 3: Half Wave Rectifier working principle

Electronics Lab. (0903368) 4 Experiment 2

b) Full-Wave Rectifier (FWR):

Uses a diode bridge which consists of four diodes; two of them conduct in each half
cycle of the input signal. As the input signal flips back and forth, the diodes allow
the current to flow in the same direction as shown in Figure 4. The maximum
output voltage of the rectified unfiltered signal ( VP (FWR ) ) can be found by:

VP ( FWR )  Vmax (input)  2  V (4)

The amount of the average value (DC value) of the FWR rectified unfiltered signal
over one period is given by:

2  VP ( FWR )
Vavg ( FWR )   (0.636)  VP ( FWR ) (5)


Now, the frequency of the rectified output waveform can be expressed as:

f o ( FWR)  2  f source (6)

Figure 4: Full Wave Rectifier working principle.

c) The Filter circuit:

The rectified signal does not have a constant value and it has plenty of ripples so it
is not good for DC power supply systems. The output voltage has to be smoothed
out in order to obtain direct signals (it is DC only in the sense that it does not
change polarity). This can be done by adding Filter Capacitor parallel to the load,
with a value that is chosen to get minimum ripple voltage. The capacitor will charge
to the peak voltage of the rectified signal ( VP (HWR ) or VP (FWR ) ) and when the
rectified signal voltage falls below the capacitor maximum voltage, it start to
discharge through the load resistance RL as shown in Figure 5. The discharge time
for the capacitor (τ = RC) has to be much greater than the period of the input signal
(T).

The output filtered signal average voltage can be found as:

Vr  pp
Vavg ( filtered)  VP (rectified)  (7)
2
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 5 Experiment 2

Where VP (rectified) either the HWR or FWR is the signal peak voltage and Vr  pp is
the ripple signal peak to peak voltage. Vr  pp represents the difference between the
capacitor maximum voltage and the capacitor minimum voltage value after
discharging, which can be found by the equation (see Figure 5):

VP (rectified)
Vr  pp  V1  V2  (8)
2 f  R C

Where ( f ) is the frequency of the input signal, ( R ) is the load resistance and ( C )
is the filter capacitor. The ripple voltage can be controlled by changing one or all of
the R, C, f and VP (rectified) values.

Note: VP (rectified) is related to the input signal maximum voltage.

Figure 5: Half Wave Rectification output with capacitor filter

The ripple percentage is a measure of how much efficient is the filter. High values of
ripple percentage means bad filter and low value of ripple percentage means good filter,
it can be expressed as:

Vr  pp
%Ripple Percentage   100% (9)
Vavg ( filtered)
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 6 Experiment 2

2) The Peak Detector circuit: consists of a series connection of a diode and a capacitor, used to
get a DC output voltage without ripple from an AC input signal. When the diode is forward
biased the capacitor start charging until it reaches to a maximum value given by:

Vmax (capacitor)  Vmax (input)  V (10)

When the input signal falls below the maximum voltage stored in the capacitor, the diode
will be reverse biased (open circuit). Since there is no path for the capacitor to discharge, it
will keeps on its maximum voltage value even as the waveform drops to zero as shown in
Figure 6.

Note: The Other Diode applications will be explained and tested in the next experiment..

Figure 6: Peak Detector signal (vo) compared to the input source (vs ) signal
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 7 Experiment 2

Procedure

Equipments & Part List

 Oscilloscope.  DC power supply.

 Function Generator (FG).  Project Breadboard.
 Digital Multi-Meter (DMM).  Connection wires and coaxial cables
 Resistors of values ( 100, 1k, 10k, 100k ) Ω.  Capacitors of values ( 1 and 2.2) µF.
 Diode 1N4006.  Bridge rectifier.

PART-A Diode Testing:

1- Insert the two leads of the Diode 1N4006 into the breadboard.
2- Turn on the DMM:
a) Select the dial point to diode test .
b) Plug a black test lead into the Common (−) banana socket.
c) Plug a red test lead into the V (+) banana socket.
3- a) Connect the red lead of the DMM to the Anode terminal.
b) Connect the black lead of the DMM to the Cathode terminal
c) Read the DMM and record it in the answer sheet.

4- a) Connect the black lead of the DMM to the Anode terminal

b) Connect the red lead of the DMM to the Cathode terminal
c) Read the DMM and record it in the answer sheet.

5- Determine if the diode is working well or not. Explain your testing result.

PART-B Diode ( i - v ) characteristics

B-1 Forward Bias Mode
1- Construct the circuit shown in Figure 7 using R=100. (Make sure your diode has the correct
polarity).
2- Ask the instructor to check your circuit.
3- Set the DC power supply output to minimum value (i.e fully counter-clock-wise (CCW)), then
switch it ON.
4- Adjust the voltage source (Vs) corresponding to Table 1 on the answer sheet. Use the DMM
to measure the remaining values and record them in Table 1.
5- When finished, set the (Vs) to 0.0V, then switch OFF the DC power supply.
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 8 Experiment 2

Figure 7: Forward biased mode circuit

B-2 Reverse Bias Mode
1- Reverse the polarity of the diode as shown in Figure 8.
2- Adjust the voltage source (VS) corresponding to Table 2 in the answer sheet. Use the DMM to
measure the diode current and voltage then record them in Table 2.
3- When finished, set the (VS) to 0.0V, then switch OFF the DC power supply.
4- Using the data from part B-1 and part B-2 above, plot the diode ( i - v) characteristic curve.
5- Write down the equation of the load line for the circuit and draw it on the same (i-v)
characteristic curve and determine the Q-point. Consider Vs = 1V.

Figure 8: Reverse biasing mode circuit.

Electronics Lab. (0903368) 9 Experiment 2

PART-C Rectification
C-1 Unfiltered Half-wave Rectifier
1- Construct the circuit shown in Figure (9 - a) by using RL = 1kΩ.
2- Switch ON the Function Generator (VS):
a) Set the voltage to 10Vp-p
b) Set the frequency of the signal to 100Hz
c) Choose sinusoidal shape.
3- Switch ON the Oscilloscope:
d) Connect channel 1 (CH1) parallel to the Function Generator (VS)
e) Connect channel 2 (CH2) parallel to the load resistor (RL)
f) Adjust channel coupling for CH2 to DC.
4- Sketch the Oscilloscope screen on the respective grids in Table 3 on the answer sheet.
5- Use the Oscilloscope to measure and record the output voltage from CH2.
6- Using the Oscilloscope, measure the Output Signal Frequency.
7- Reverse the diode according to Figure (9 - b) and repeat step 4 and 5.

(a) (b)

Figure 9: Half Wave Rectifier circuits.

C-2 Filtered Half-wave Rectifier

1- Construct the circuit shown in Figure 10.
2- Use a Capacitor C = 1μF and Load resistor R = 1kΩ.
3- Use same voltage and frequency for the Function Generator (Vs) as in part C1.
4- For the signal shown on the scope screen:
a) Sketch the oscilloscope screen on the respective grids in Table 4.
b) Measure the Average Voltage ( Vavg ) using DMM (put the DMM to DC mode).
c) Measure the Ripple Voltage Vr-pp from CH2.
d) Calculate the Ripple Percentage ( Ripp.% ).
e) Record all values you got from steps (b-d) in Table 4.
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 10 Experiment 2

5- Repeat step 4 for all the values of capacitors and resistors shown in Table 4.
6- Switch OFF the Function Generator, Oscilloscope and DMM.

Figure 10: Half Wave Rectifier circuit with filter capacitor

C-3 Full-wave Bridge Rectifier

1- Construct the circuit shown in Figure 11 by using a Bridge rectifier component by using R =
1kΩ and no capacitor.
2- Switch ON the Function Generator (Vs):
a. Set the voltage to 10Vp-p
b. Set the frequency of the signal to 100Hz
c. Choose sinusoidal shape.
3- Use the Oscilloscope CH2 to observe the output FWR signal, and to do that you had to
disconnect CH1 Why?
4- Using the Oscilloscope, measure the Output Signal Frequency?
5- From the signal shown on the scope screen, find the following and record the results in Table
5 in the answer sheet:
a) Sketch the oscilloscope screen on the respective grids.
b) Measure the Average Voltage ( Vavg ) using DMM (put the DMM to DC).
c) Measure the Ripple Voltage Vr-pp from CH2.
d) Calculate the Ripple Percentage ( Ripp.% ).
5- Repeat step 5 for all the values of capacitors and resistors as shown in Table 5.
7- On the same circuit shown in Figure 11:
a) Use R = 1 kΩ, and C = 1.0 µF.
b) Set the input signal frequency to 500 Hz.
c) Measure the ripple voltage (Vr-PP ).
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 11 Experiment 2

d) Record the reading in Table 6 in the answer sheet (Not: You may need to change the
second/Division knob to see the signal clear).
e) Change the value of the frequency according to Table 6 and repeat steps (c - d).
f) What is the effect of increasing input signal frequency on the ripple voltage? Explain.
8- In many ways can we control the ripple voltage? Mention them clearly.

Figure 11: Full Wave Rectifier circuit with filter capacitor.

PART-D The Peak Detector

1- Construct the circuit shown in Figure 12 using C = 10 µF.
2- Switch ON the Function Generator (VS):
a) Set the voltage to 10Vp-p
b) Set the frequency of the signal to 100Hz
c) Choose sinusoidal shape.
3- Sketch the oscilloscope screen shown on CH2 on the respective grids on the answer sheet
4- Comment on the output signal shown on CH2.
5- Give examples where can you find such circuit?

Figure 12: Peak Detector

circuit.
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 1 Experiment 2

University of Jordan
Faculty of Engineering
Electrical Engineering Department

Electronics Lab Report

0903368

Experiment No.: ______ Student Group #: ______

Experiment Title: _________________________________________

Students Name:

1) _________________________________________

2) _________________________________________

3) _________________________________________

4) _________________________________________
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 2 Experiment 2

Report of Experiment 2
Diode Characteristics and Applications (1)
PART-A Diode Testing
3- Read the DMM and records it in the answer sheet.

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4- Read the DMM and record it in the answer sheet.

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5- Determine if the diode is working well or not. Explain your test result!
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PART-B Diode (i-v) characteristics

B-1 Forward Biased Mode

Table 1

VS (V) 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2

ID (mA)
VD (V)

B-2 Reverse Biased Mode

Table 2

VS (V) 2.0 5.0

ID (mA)
VD (V)
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 3 Experiment 2

4- Using the data from part B-1 and part B-2 above, plot precisely the diode (i-v) characteristic
curve in the following squared sheet.

5- Write down the equation of the load line for the circuit and draw it on the same (i-v)
characteristic curve and determine the Q-point. Consider Vs = 1V.
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Electronics Lab. (0903368) 4 Experiment 2

PART-C Rectification

C-1 Unfiltered Half-wave Rectifier

Table 3

Output signal for Figure 4 (a) Output signal for Figure 4 (b)

6- Using the Oscilloscope, measure the Output Signal Frequency?

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Electronics Lab. (0903368) 5 Experiment 2

C-2 Filtered Half-wave Rectifier

Table 4
VS and Vo waveforms Vr-PP (V) Vavg (V) Ripp.%

RL = 1 kΩ
C = 1 µF.

RL = 10 kΩ
C = 1 µF

RL = 10 kΩ
C = 2.2 µF

RL = 100 kΩ
C = 2.2 µF
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 6 Experiment 2

C-3 Full-wave Bridge Rectifier

Table 5

Vo waveforms Vr-PP (V) Vavg (V) Ripp.%

RL = 1 kΩ
Without
capacitor

RL = 1 kΩ
C = 2.2 µF

RL = 10 kΩ
C = 2.2 µF

RL = 100 kΩ
C = 2.2 µF
Electronics Lab. (0903368) 7 Experiment 2

3- Use the Oscilloscope CH2 to observe the output FWR signal, and to do that you had to
disconnect CH1 Why?

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4- Using the Oscilloscope, measure the Output Signal Frequency?

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7- On the same circuit shown in Figure 11 use RL = 1 kΩ, and C = 1.0 µF, measure the ripple
voltage (Vr-PP ) when the input signal frequency is 500Hz, 1kHz, 5kHz and 10kHz and record it
in Table 6 in the answer sheet. What is the effect of increasing input signal frequency on the
ripple voltage? Explain.

Table 6

Frequency (kHz) 0.5 1 5 10

Vr-PP (V)

Explain & Why?:

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8- In many ways we can control the ripple voltage? Mention.

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Electronics Lab. (0903368) 8 Experiment 2

PART-D Peak Detector

4- Comment on the output signal shown on CH2?

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5- Give examples where can you find such circuits.

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