Lab 6 Report

Introduction to Diodes
Kevin Bradshaw & Yuan Tian
ECEN 325-503
Instructor: Sebastian Hoyos
October 14, 2015
Items
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Pre-lab
Title Page
Intro /Theory / Procedure
Summary
Experimental Results /
Analysis / Discussion
Problems Encountered
Conclusion
Questions
Total

Grade Assigned
20%
5%
10%
40%
5%
5%
15%
100%

Student's Grade

Objectives

Understand the fundamental characteristics of semi-conducting diodes.

Evaluate the output voltage and current characteristics of a single
diode compared to using several diodes.
Analyze some the uses for diodes including rectification properties to
construct a practical DC power supply from an AC source.

Procedure
Part A: Diode V-I Characteristics
In the first part of this lab, the simple diode and resistor circuit from the prelab was constructed with the values listed in Table 1. The input and output
waveforms for this circuit can be seen in Figure 1 and Figure 2. These figures
resemble the input and output characteristics of a half-wave rectifier. A halfwave rectifier only has the positive cycles of the input wave because it's in
forward bias and when it's in reverse bias, no current flows so there is a
steady flat line. This results in only having a voltage for half the cycle. First
the circuit was built with the 1N4006 Diode (Silicon diode) and then with a
1N34A/60 Diode (Germanium diode). Figures 3 and 4 show the current
plotted versus the voltage for each configuration of the circuit. These graphs
help show the diode's "turn on" voltage and the diode current.
Comparatively, the Germanium has a lower turn on voltage but rises against
current at a slower rate. The silicon diode has a higher turn on voltage and
increases exponentially faster.
Figure 1: Half-Wave Rectifier
Input Waveform

00

Figure 2: Half-Wave Rectifier

Output Waveform

Figure 3: IN4006 Diode IV Characteristic

Measurement

Figure 4: IN34A/60
Diode I-V Characteristic
Measurement

Part B: Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier

In the second part of this lab, the full-wave rectifier from the pre-lab was
constructed with the values listed in Table 2. The input and output
waveforms for this circuit can be seen in Figure 5 and Figure 6. The output
voltage of Figure 6 compared to Figure 2 shows that the full-wave has two
sinusoidal peaks in one cycle and there's a small ramp at the base of each
cycle because of the intersections of the rise and fall transitions. The
average value of the output waveform shown, also known as the DC
component, has an average of about 4.13 Volts. The input peak-to-peak
voltage is approximately 16 Volts, whereas the output is approximately 7.04
Volts. This is interesting because the output is close to half of the input but
there are some losses that occur in the circuit due to it being a non-ideal
case.
Figure 5: Full-Wave
Bridge Rectifier Input
Waveform

Figure 6: Full-Wave
Bridge Rectifier Output
Waveform

Part C: DC Power Supply

In the last part of this lab, the unregulated DC power supply circuit from the
pre-lab was constructed with the values listed in Table 3. The input and
output waveforms for this circuit can be seen in Figures 7. This circuit voltage
is supplied from the wall and then stepped down in order to try and create a
DC supply. Since the output waveform is considered an AC signal, it was
measured as an AC coupling (Figures 8 and 10 for both circuits). The DC
component for the load voltage is approximately 6.7 Volts. The ripple voltage
was then measured to be approximately 6.60 Volts. Afterwards, the capacitor
in the circuit was changed from 10 F to 100 F and the waveforms for this
circuit can be seen in Figure 9. The DC component for the load voltage is
approximately 9.3 Volts while the voltage ripple is 1.4 Volts. This shows that
with a larger capacitor, the DC component is higher because the ripple is
much less. In an ideal case, this could make an AC current source directly
into a DC outputs source. Lastly, the percent regulation was calculated to be
approximately 16.2 % which indicates that the load voltage is fairly
independent of the current drawn by the load.
Figure 7:

V L (t)

V ac ( t) and

Waveform (10F)

Figure 8:

V ac ( t) and

V L (t )

Waveform (10F) (AC Coupling

Figure 9:

V L (t)

V ac (t)

Figure 10:

and

Waveform (100F)

V L (t)

Table 1: Half-Wave Rectifier

Configuration
Value
10 k
4 Vpp
1 kHz
1V
0.7 V

Table 2: Full-Wave Rectifier

Configuration
Component
Resistor 1
Vin
Frequency

and

Waveform (100F)

Data Tables

Component
Resistor 1
Vin
Frequency
Turn On Voltage (Silicon Diode)
Turn On Voltage (Germanium Diode)

V ac (t)

Value
10 k
8 Vpp
100 Hz

Table 3: Unregulated DC Power Supply

Configuration
Component
Value
Resistor 1
1 k
Capacitor 1
10 F

Capacitor 2
Vin

100 F
20 Vpp

Applicable Calculations
Percentage Regulation=

V noload V Full load

V Fullload

V dc =V p ()

V ripp
2

Discussion
1. Data Observations:
See the Procedure section for the data observations of the I-V
characteristics and the voltage input versus the output comparison.
2. Diode Current Vs. Time:
While a diode is in reverse bias, no current flows, explaining the flat
line in the I-V plots we obtained. When the diode is in forward bias, the
voltage drop corresponds to the barrier potential of the specific
material of the diode. For the first circuit, we used a Silicon diode that
has a barrier potential of about 0.3 Volts. After this potential, the
depletion region of the diode is reduced to zero and the current rises
exponentially and flows freely as if in a regular wire. The second circuit
works exactly the same way but it has a higher barrier potential and a
longer transition time.
3. Full-Wave Rectifier Diode Switching:

Figure 11: FullWave Rectifier

Circuit

For the circuit in Figure 11, when the blue diodes are in forward bias,
the green diodes would be in reverse bias, meaning that the positive
half cycle would be seen at the output voltage. In the opposite case,

the green diodes would be seen at the output voltage for the negative
half cycle.
4. Average Value of Output Voltage:
The average output voltage for the full-wave rectifier would be about
4.13 Volts.
5. Bidirectional or Unidirectional Current:
The current flowing through the half-wave rectifier would be
unidirectional. Knowing this, the direction of the current in a circuit can
be manipulated by introducing a diode into the system.
6. Ripple Voltage comparison:
The ripple voltage with the circuit that has a 100 F capacitor is much
smaller than the ripple voltage with a 10 F capacitor. This is because
this capacitor can provide more current after the voltage peak of the
input. Once the input is ramping down, the capacitor is discharging
until the next cycle. The higher the capacitance, the better the
performance to sustain steady DC supply.
Problems Encountered
In part A, we didn't measure the voltages correctly at first because we
misunderstood that the oscilloscope channels were to be connected to a
common node. We fixed this early but it could have been prevented by
reading the instructions again.
Conclusion
The purpose of this lab was to understand the fundamental concepts and
characteristics of diodes. We used diodes to build a half-wave rectifier first to
understand that a single diode gives a unidirectional current. This is useful in
a system of diodes so that the flow of current in a circuit can be manipulated.
We built a full-wave rectifier that showed us how an AC source can be made
into a DC output. Afterwards, we rebuilt a half-wave rectifier but with a
capacitor to show how to bring the current close to being steady. Using all of
these concepts, we would be able to build a full-wave rectifier with a
capacitor so that the DC output can be optimized to the best percent
regulation.