UNIT I DIODE AND ITS APPLICATIONS

Introduction:

Formation of depletion layer:

 Let two semiconductor materials, one n-type and the other p-type.
 An n-type semiconductor has electrons as the majority carriers, and a p-type semiconductor has
holes as the majority carriers.
 Diode is formed simply by joining p-type and n-type semiconductor material.

 To understand depletion region, consider p-type and n-type semiconductor when they are joined
together.
 We know that holes are majority carriers in p-type, and electrons are majority carriers in n-type
materials.
 When the two types of semiconductor materials are joined together, the electrons from the n-type
material diffuse into p-type material and combines with holes. This creates a layer of negative
ions near the junction in p-type material.
 Negative ions are formed because the trivalent impurities ( e.g. Aluminum) now has an extra
electron from the n-type material.
 Similarly the holes from the p-type material diffuse into n-type material resulting in a layer of
positive ions in the n-type material.
 These two layers of positive and negative ions form the depletion region.
 The term “depletion” refers to the fact that the region near the junction is depleted of their
respective majority charge carriers.

 The diffusion does not occur indefinitely and it stops after a quick span of time and the depletion
region is said to be completely formed.

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  As the electrons from the n-type material diffuse into p-type material, it forms negative ions near
the junction. These negative ions will create an electric field in the direction from n-type to p-
type.
 As more electrons diffuse into p-type material, the electric field strength goes on increasing.
 The electrons from n-type material now diffusing into p-type material will have to overcome the
electric field due to negative ions.
 At one point the electric field becomes sufficiently strong to stop further diffusion of electrons.
 The same discussion also applies to holes and positive ions in n-type material.
 The depletion region is formed very quickly and the thickness of depletion region is very less as
compared to that of n and p type material.

Depletion barrier or potential barrier:

 The depletion region consists of positive and negative ions on the opposite side of the junction.
 By Coulomb’s law that electric field is established when charges are separated from each other.
 The electric field acts a “barrier” which prevents further diffusion of electrons and holes after
equilibrium is established.
 So if we want to move an electron from n-type material to p-type material, energy must be
supplied to the electrons to overcome the “barrier”.
 The external voltage required to move the electrons through the electric field is called
barrier potential. Barrier potential is measured in volts.
 There are many factors which affects barrier potential-type of semiconductor material,
temperature, doping concentration etc.
o If the doping concentration is less, then the electric field becomes weaker near the
junction and the width of the depletion region is wider.
o If the doping concentration is high, then the electric field near the junction is stronger
and the width of depletion region is less. Typical value of barrier potential at 25° C is
0.7 V for silicon and 0.3 V for germanium.

1.1 PN JUNCTION DIODE

Definition:
A diode is a semiconductor device which allows flow of current in only one [Link] name
diode is derived from "di-ode" which means a device having two electrodes(anode, cathode)

 A PN junction is the simplest form of the diode which behaves as ideally short circuit when
it is in forward biased and behaves as ideally open circuit when it is in the reverse biased.

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  A particular arrangement of diodes can convert AC to pulsating DC, and hence, it is sometimes
also called as a rectifier.

Symbol of Diode:

 This “arrow-like” symbol indicates the direction of conventional current flowing through the
diode.
 Diode allows the current to flow in only one direction (anode to cathode).

Working Principle of Diode:

FORWARD BIASING:

Definition:
Positive terminal of a source is connected to the p-type side, and the negative terminal of the
source is connected to the n-type side, the diode is said to be in forward biased condition.

 Diode can only allow current to flow in the forward direction when forward applied voltage
is more than barrier potential of the junction and this voltage is called forward biased
voltage.
 For silicon diode, it is 0.7 volts. For germanium diode, it is 0.3 volts.
 Under forward biasing, the free electrons and holes are attracted towards junction. So the
Depletion region becomes narrow.
 When forward applied voltage is more than barrier potential there will be forward current
in the diode, and the diode will become short circuited.
 Thus, if forward applied voltage increases from zero, the diode will start conducting only after
this voltage reaches just above the barrier potential or forward biased voltage of the junction.

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REVERSE BIASING:

Definition:Positive terminal of a source is connected to the n-type side, and the negative terminal of
the source is connected to the p-type side, the diode is said to be in reverse biased condition.

 In this, no current through the diode except reverse saturation current.

 At the reverse biased condition the depletion layer of the junction becomes wider with
increasing reverse biased voltage.
 Thesmall current called reverse saturation current is from n-type end to p-type end in the
diode due to minority carriers.
 Minority carriers are mainly thermally generated electrons and holes in p-type and n-type
semiconductor respectively.
 Now if reverse applied voltage across the diode is continually increased, then after certain applied
voltage the depletion layer will destroy which will cause a huge reverse current to flow through
the diode.
.
Breakdown of Diode under Reverse Bias:
 Avalanche Breakdown
 Zener Breakdown

Avalanche Breakdown

 As the magnitude of the reverse voltage increases, the kinetic energy of the minority charge
carriers also increases. These fast moving electrons collide with the other atoms in the device to
knock-off some more electrons from them.
 The electrons so released further release much more electrons from the atoms by breaking the
covalent bonds.
 This process is termed as carrier multiplication and leads to a considerable increase in the flow
of current through the p-n junction. The associated phenomenon is called Avalanche Breakdown
 Avalanche breakdown occurs in a pn junction diode which is moderately doped and has a thick
junction (means its depletion layer width is high).
Zener Breakdown
 When we increase the reverse voltage across the PN junction diode, the electric field across the
diode junction increases (both internal & external). This results in a force of attraction on the
negatively charged electrons at junction.
 This force frees electrons from its covalent bond and moves those free electrons to conduction
band. When the electric field increases (with applied voltage), more and more electrons are freed
from its covalent bonds.

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  This results in drifting of electrons across the junction and electron hole recombination occurs. So
a net current is developed and it increases rapidly with increase in electric field.
 A zener breakdown phenomenon occurs in a pn junction diode with heavy doping& thin junction
(means depletion layer width is very small).
 Since current is only due to drifting of electrons, there is a limit to the increase in current as well.

V-I Characteristics of Diode: (Voltage Vs Current)

Applications of p-n junction diodes

 Can be used as rectifier in DC Power Supplies.

 In Demodulation or Detector Circuits.
 In clamping networks used as DC Restorers
 In clipping circuits used for waveform generation.
 As switches in digital logic circuits.
1.2 DIODE EQUIVALENT MODELS:
Definition:
An equivalent circuit is a combination of elements that best represents the actual terminal
characteristics of the device. In simple the diode in the circuit can be replaced by other elements without
severely affecting the behavior of circuit.
The diode can be modeled in three different ways depending on the accuracy required.
1. Piece-wise linear model
2. Simplified model
3. Ideal diode model
Piece-wise linear model
The piece-wise linear model, as the name suggests, is a model in which the characteristics of diode is
approximated by “piece-wise linear” line segments.

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  The battery simply indicates that it opposes the flow of current in forward direction until 0.7 V.
As the voltage becomes larger than 0.7 V, the current starts flowing in forward direction.
 An ideal diode is also connected in series with the battery which indicates that no current flows
in the circuit in reverse biased condition.
 The straight vertical line indicates constant slope. Slope in the V-I graph indicates resistance. So
we add a resistor in the diode model.
 Thus the average value of resistance is (0.8 V-0.7 V)/(15 mA-0 mA) = 6.67 Ω. Thus the value of
resistance in the equivalent model is approximately 6.67 Ω.

Simplified model:

 In piece-wise linear model, the average resistance of diode in forward bias configuration is very
less and the average resistance was merely 6.67 Ω.
 Such small value of resistance can usually be ignored in comparison with other elements in the
circuit. Hence the characteristic and diode model will be as follows.

 The equivalent model in this case consists of a battery and an ideal diode.
 The battery indicates that the current flowing through the diode in forward bias condition is zero
until the diode voltage reaches 0.7 V (for Si).

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Ideal diode model

 The voltage drop across the diode (0.7 V for Si) is negligible as compared to other voltage drops
in the circuit.
 Hence the diode voltage drop can be ignored for simplification purpose. The resultant model is an
ideal diode model.

 Ideal diode allows the flow of forward current for any value of forward bias voltage. Hence, Ideal
diode can be modeled as closed switch under forward bias condition.
 Ideal diode allows zero current to flow under reverse biased condition. Hence it can be modeled
as open switch.

1.4TRANSITION AND DIFFUSION CAPACITANCE

Transition capacitances:

1. When P-N junction is reverse biased the depletion region act as an insulator or as a dielectric
medium and the p-type an N-type region have low resistance and act as the plates.

2. Thus this P-N junction can be considered as a parallel plate capacitor.

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3. This junction capacitance is called as space charge capacitance or transition capacitance and is
denoted as CT .

4. Since reverse bias causes the majority charge carriers to move away from the junction , so the
thickness of the depletion region denoted as W increases with the increase in reverse bias voltage.

5. This incremental capacitance CT may be defined as

CT = dQ/dV,

Where dQ is the increase in charge and dV is the change or increase in voltage.

6. The depletion region increases with the increase in reverse bias potential the resulting transition
capacitance decreases.

7. The formula for transition capacitance is given as CT = Aε/W, where A is the cross sectional area
of the region, and W is the width.

Diffusion capacitance:

1. When the junction is forward biased, a capacitance comes into play , that is known as diffusion
capacitance denoted as CD. It is much greater than the transition capacitance.

2. During forward biased the potential barrier is reduced. The charge carriers move away from the
junction and recombine.

3. The density of the charge carriers is high near the junction and reduces or decays as the distance
increases.

4. Thus in this case charge is stored on both side of the junction and varies with the applied potential.
So as per definition change in charge with respect to applied voltage results in capacitance which here
is called as diffusion capacitance.

5. The formula for diffusion capacitance is CD = τID / ηV , where τ is the mean life time of the charge
carrier, ID is the diode current and V is the applied forward voltage, and η is generation recombination
factor.

6. The diffusion capacitance is directly proportional to the diode current.

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 7. In forward biased CD>> CT. And thus CT can be neglected.

1.5 REVERSE RECOVERY TIME:

 According to the characteristics of a diode, ignoring the leakage current, when reverse biased there
should be no reverse current once the reverse voltage does not exceed in magnitude to the
breakdown voltage.
 In practical, the diode does exhibit a reverse characteristic for a short space of time due to the free
carriers.
 These minority carriers require some finite time, the reverse recovery time, to recombine
with opposite charges in order to be neutralized. This time is called the reverse recovery
time.

 Two reverse recovery characteristics exist. They are:

1. Soft recovery
2. Abrupt recovery

trr = reverse recovery time, measured as the time between the initial zero crossing of the diode current to
the time when this current reaches 25% of the peak reverse current.

IRR = maximum reverse current

ta = time between zero crossing and the maximum reverse current and it is due to the charge stored in the
depletion region of the junction

tb = time between maximum reverse current IRR and 25% of the of the maximum reverse current IRR and is
due to charge stored in the bulk semiconductor material
 The reverse recovery time is measured from the initial zero crossing from forward conduction to
reverse blocking condition of the diode current to 25% of the maximum reverse current IRR. Its
magnitude depends on:
1. junction temperature
2. rate of fall of forward current
3. forward current prior to commutation

The Reverse recovery time is calculated by,

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1.6 ZENER DIODE:
 If reverse biased voltage applied to the p-n junction diode is highly increased, a sudden rise in
current occurs. At this point, a small increase in voltage will rapidly increases the electric current.
 This sudden rise in electric current causes a junction breakdown called zener or avalanche
breakdown.
 The voltage at which zener breakdown occurs is called zener voltage and the sudden increase in
Definition:
A zener diode is a p-n junction semiconductor device designed to operate in the reverse breakdown
region. The breakdown voltage of a zener diode is carefully set by controlling the doping level during
manufacture.
 Zener diodes are mainly used to protect electronic circuits from over voltage.
 Zener diodes acts like normal p-n junction diodes under forward biased condition also allows
electric current in the reverse direction if the applied reverse voltage is greater than the zener
voltage.
 Zener diode is always connected in reverse direction because it is specifically designed to
work in reverse direction.
 Zener diode is heavily doped than the normal p-n junction diode. Hence, it has very thin
depletion region. Therefore, zener diodes allow more electric current than the normal p-n junction
diodes.
Symbol of zener diode:Zener diode consists of two terminals: cathode and anode. In zener diode,
electric current flows from both anode to cathode and cathode to anode.

FORWARD BIASING:

 Under forward biasing, the free electrons and holes are attracted towards junction. So the
Depletion region becomes narrow.
 When forward applied voltage is more than barrier potential there will be forward current
in the diode, and the diode will become short circuited.
 Thus, if forward applied voltage increases from zero, the diode will start conducting only after this
voltage reaches just above the barrier potential or forward biased voltage of the junction.

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REVERSE BIASING:

 When the applied reverse voltage is less than breakdown voltage there is a small current
flow through the diode.
 If Voltage exceeds breakdown voltage, the current suddenly increased by the following
mechanism.

Breakdown in zener diode:

There are two types of reverse breakdown regions in a zener diode: avalanche breakdown and zener
breakdown.
Avalanche breakdown

 The avalanche breakdown occurs in both normal diodes and zener diodes at high reverse voltage.
 When high reverse voltage is applied to the p-n junction diode, the free electrons (minority
carriers) gains large amount of energyand accelerated to greater velocities.
 The free electrons moving at high speed will collides with the atoms and knock off more electrons.
These electrons are again accelerated and collide with other atoms.
 Because of this continuous collision with the atoms, a large number of free electrons are
generated. As a result, electric current in the diode increases rapidly.
 This sudden increase in electric current may permanently destroys the normal diode.
 However, avalanche diodes may not be destroyed because they are carefully designed to operate
in avalanche breakdown region. Avalanche breakdown occurs in zener diodes with zener voltage
(Vz) greater than 6V.

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Zener breakdown
 The zener breakdown occurs in heavily doped p-n junction diodes because of their narrow
depletion region. When reverse biased voltage applied to the diode is increased, the narrow
depletion region generates strong electric field.

 When reverse biased voltage applied to the diode reaches close to zener voltage, the electric field
in the depletion region is strong enough to pull electrons from their valence band.
 The valence electrons which gains sufficient energy from the strong electric field of depletion
region will breaks bonding with the parent atom.
 The valance electrons which break bonding with parent atom will become free electrons. This free
electrons carry electric current from one place to another place. At zener breakdown region, a
small increase in voltage will rapidly increases the electric current.

 Zener breakdown occurs at low reverse voltage whereas avalanche breakdown occurs at
high reverse voltage.
 Zener breakdown occurs in zener diodes because they have very thin depletion region.
 Breakdown region is the normal operating region for a zener diode.
 Zener breakdown occurs in zener diodes with zener voltage (V z) less than 6V.

VI characteristics of zener diode

 When forward biased voltage is applied to the zener diode, it works like a normal diode. However,
when reverse biased voltage is applied to the zener diode, it works in different manner.

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  When reverse biased voltage is applied to a zener diode, it allows only a small amount of leakage
current until the voltage is less than zener voltage.

 When reverse biased voltage applied to the zener diode reaches zener voltage, it starts allowing
large amount of electric current. At this point, a small increase in reverse voltage will rapidly
increases the electric current. Because of this sudden rise in electric current, breakdown occurs
called zener breakdown.
 The zener breakdown voltage of the zener diode is depends on the amount of doping applied.
 If the diode is heavily doped, zener breakdown occurs at low reverse voltages. On the other hand,
if the diode is lightly doped, the zener breakdown occurs at high reverse voltages.
 Zener diodes are available with zener voltages in the range of 1.8V to 400V.

Advantages of zener diode:

 Power dissipation capacity is very high

 High accuracy
 Small size
 Low cost

Applications of zener diode:

 It is normally used as voltage reference

 Zener diodes are used in voltage stabilizers or shunt regulators.
 Zener diodes are used in switching operations
 Zener diodes are used in clipping and clamping circuits.
 Zener diodes are used in various protection circuits

1.7 APPLICATIONS OF DIODE

1. AND/OR Gate using Diodes
2. Clippers
3. Clampers
4. Voltage Doubler
5. Voltage Tripler

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1.7.1 AND/OR Gate

 An AND gate requires two or more inputs and produce only one output.
 The AND gate produces an output of logic 1 state when each of the inputs are at logic 1 state and
also produces an output of logic 0 state even if any of its inputs are at logic 0 state.
 The symbol for AND operation is ‘.’ or we use no symbol for representing.
 If the inputs are of X and Y, then the output can be expressed as Z=XY.
 The AND gate is also named as all or nothing gate.

AND gate using Diode:

Operation:

 The inputs represented as X and Y may be either 0V or +5V correspondingly. The output is
represented by Z.
 In the diode of AND gate, when both the inputs are of same value, X=+5V and Y= +5V, then the
diodes are in OFF condition. As a result, no current flows through the resistor and there will not be
any voltage drop across the resistor. Here the output will be Z=+5V.
 Similarly, when both the inputs such as X and Y are equal to 0V, then the corresponding diodes
such as either D1 or D2 or both the diodes are at ON state and act as short circuits. Here the output
will be Z corresponds to 0V
 In practical cases the output z corresponds to 0.6V or 0.7V, which is treated as logic 0 state.

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OR GATE

 An OR gate have two or more inputs but produce only one output.
 The OR gate produces an output of logic 1 state even if any of its inputs is in logic 1 state and also
produces an output of logic 0 state if any of its inputs is in logic 0 state.
 The symbol for OR operation is ‘+’.
 If the inputs are of X and Y, then the output can be represented as Z=X+Y. An OR gate may also
be defined as a device whose output is 1, even if one of its input is 1.
 OR gate is also called as any or all gate. It is also called as an inclusive OR gate because it
consists of the condition of ‘both the inputs can be present’.

Logic symbols and truth table for two-input OR gates :

OR gate using Diode:

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 Operation:

 The inputs represented as X and Y may be either 0V or +5V correspondingly. The output is
represented by Z.
 In the diode of OR gate, when both the inputs are of same value, X=0V and Y= 0V, then both the
diodes are in OFF condition. As a result, no current flows through the resistor and there will not be
any voltage drop across the resistor. Here the output will be Z=0V.
 Similarly, when both the inputs or either the inputs such as X and Y are equal to +5V, then the
corresponding diodes either D1 or D2 or both the diodes are at ON state and act as short circuits.
Here the output will be Z corresponds to +5V.
 In practical cases the output Z corresponds to +5V-diode drop = +5V – 0.7V = +4.3V, which is
regarded as Logic 1 state.

1.7.2 DIODE CLIPPERS

Definition:

The Diode Clipper, also known as a Diode Limiter, is a wave shaping circuit that takes an input
waveform and clips or cuts off its top half, bottom half or both halves together to produce an output
waveform

Clippers:
 The basic components required for a clipping circuit are – an ideal diode and a resistor. In order to
fix the clipping level to the desired amount, a dc battery must also be included.
 When the diode is forward biased, it acts as a closed switch, and when it is reverse biased, it acts
as an open switch.
 Different levels of clipping can be obtained by varying the amount of voltage of the battery and
also interchanging the positions of the diode and resistor.
 Depending on the features of the diode, the positive or negative region of the input signal is
“clipped” off and accordingly the diode clippers may be positive or negative clippers.

Two general categories of clippers:

series and parallel (or shunt). The series configuration is defined as one where diode is in series with the
load, while the shunt clipper has the diode in a branch parallel to the load.

1. Positive Clipper and Negative Clipper (Ideal Diode):

Positive Diode Clipper:

In a positive clipper, the positive half cycles of the input voltage will be removed. The circuit
arrangements for a positive clipper are illustrated in the figure given below.

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Series Positive clipper:

 The diode is kept in series with the load(fig 1)

 During the positive half cycle of the input waveform, the diode ‘D’ is reverse biased, which
maintains the output voltage at 0 Volts. Thus causes the positive half cycle to be clipped off.
 During the negative half cycle of the input, the diode is forward biased and so the negative half
cycle appears across the output.

Shunt Positive clipper:

 The diode is kept in parallel with the load (fig 2).

 During the positive half cycle, the diode ‘D’ is forward biased and the diode acts as a closed
switch. This causes the diode to conduct heavily. This causes the voltage drop across the diode or
across the load resistance RL to be zero.
 During the negative half cycles of the input signal voltage, the diode D is reverse biased and
behaves as an open switch. Consequently the entire input voltage appears across the diode or
across the load resistance RL if R is much smaller than RL

Negative Diode Clipper:

 The negative clipping circuit is almost same as the positive clipping circuit, with only one
difference. If the diode in figures (1) and (2) is reconnected with reversed polarity, the circuits will
become for a negative series clipper and negative shunt clipper respectively. The negative series
and negative shunt clippers are shown in figures (1) and (2) as given below.

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In a practical diode, the breakdown voltage will exist (0.7 V for silicon and 0.3 V for Germanium). When
this is taken into account, the output waveforms for positive and negative clippers will be of the shape
shown in the figure below.

2. Biased Positive Clipper and Biased Negative Clipper:

 In a biased clipper when a small portion of positive or negative half cycles of the signal voltage is
to be removed.

Biased Negative Clipper :

When a small portion of the negative half cycle is to be removed, it is called a biased negative clipper. The
circuit diagram and waveform is shown in the figure below.

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  During the positive half cycle, the diode ‘D’ is reverse-biased. This causes it to act as an open-
switch. Thus the entire positive half cycle appears across the load, as illustrated by output
waveform [figure (a)].
 When the input signal voltage is negative but does not exceed battery the voltage ‘V’, the diode
‘D’ remains reverse-biased and most of the input voltage appears across the output.
 During the negative half cycle of input signal, the signal voltage becomes more than the battery
voltage V, the diode D is forward biased and so conducts heavily. The output voltage is equal to
‘- V’ and stays at ‘- V’ as long as the magnitude of the input signal voltage is greater than the
magnitude of the battery voltage, ‘V’.
 Thus a biased negative clipper removes input voltage when the input signal voltage becomes
greater than the battery voltage.

Biased Positive Clipper:

Clipping can be changed by reversing the battery and diode connections, as illustrated in figure
(b).

3. Combination Clipper:
 When a portion of both positive and negative of each half cycle of the input voltage is to be
clipped (or removed), combination clipper is employed.

 During the positive half cycle when input voltage exceeds battery voltage + V1 diode D1 conducts
heavily while diode ‘D2‘ is reversed biased and so voltage ‘+ V1‘ appears across the output. This
output voltage ‘+ V1‘stays as long as. The input signal voltage exceeds ‘+ V1‘.

 On the other hand for the negative input voltage signal, the diode ‘D1‘ remains reverse biased
and diode ‘D2‘ conducts heavily only when input voltage exceeds battery voltage ‘V2‘ in
magnitude. Thus during the negative half cycle the output stays at ‘- V2‘ so long as the input signal
voltage is greater than ‘-V2‘

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1.7.3 CLAMPER:

Definition:

A clamping circuit is used to place either the positive or negative peak of a signal at a desired
level. The dc component is simply added or subtracted to/from the input signal.

 The clamper is also referred to as an DC restorer and ac signal level shifter.

 A clamp circuit adds the positive or negative dc component to the input signal so as to push it
either on the positive side, as illustrated in figure (a) or on the negative side, as illustrated in figure
(b).
 For a clamping circuit at least three components — a diode, a capacitor and a resistor are required.
Sometimes an independent dc supply is also required to cause an additional shift.

Types of Clamper:

 Positive Clamper: when the signal is pushed upward by the circuit. When the signal moves
upward, as shown in figure (a), the negative peak of the signal coincides with the zero level.
 Negative clamper: when the signal is pushed downward by the circuit. When the signal is pushed
on the negative side, as shown in figure (b), the positive peak of the input signal coincides with the
zero level.

Negative clamping circuit:

 A circuit that shifts the original signal in a vertical downward direction, as shown in the
figure.
 When an input signal is applied the diode D will be forward biased and the capacitor C is charged
with the polarity shown.
 During the positive half cycle of input, the output voltage will be zero. But practically output is
equal to the barrier potential of the diode (V0=0.7V) and the capacitor is charged to (V – V0).
 During the negative half cycle, the diode becomes reverse-biased and acts as an open-circuit.
Thus, there will be no effect on the capacitor voltage.
 The resistance R, being of very high value, cannot discharge C a lot during the negative portion of
the input waveform.
 Thus during negative input, the output voltage will be the sum of the input voltage and the
capacitor voltage and is equal to – V – (V — V0) or – (2 V – V0).
 The value of the peak-to-peak output will be the difference of the negative and positive peak
voltage levels is equal to V0-[-(2V-V0)] or 2 V.

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Positive clamping circuit:

 The positive clamping circuit moves the original signal in a vertical upward direction.
 It contains a diode D and a capacitor C as are contained in a negative clamper. The only difference
in the circuit is that the polarity of the diode is reversed.

1.7.4 VOLTAGE MULTIPLIER

 Voltage multipliers are similar rectifiers in that they convert AC-to-DC voltages for use
in many applications.

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1.8 VOLTAGE REGULATION:

 The voltage regulation of the transformer is the percentage change in the output voltage from no-
load to full-load.
 Regulator circuits sense changes in output voltages and compensate for the changes.

 A voltage regulator is a voltage stabilizer that is designed to automatically stabilize a constant

voltage level.
 A voltage regulator circuit is also used to change or stabilize the voltage level according to the
necessity of the circuit. Thus, a voltage regulator is used for two reasons:-

1. To regulate or vary the output voltage of the circuit.

2. To keep the output voltage constant at the desired value in-spite of variations in the supply voltage
or in the load current.

TYPES OF REGULATORS:( depending on the location or position of the regulating element(s) in

relation to the circuit load resistance)

 SERIES VOLTAGE REGULATORS

 SHUNT VOLTAGE REGULATORS

Discrete Transistor Series Voltage Regulator

 A control element is placed to collect the unregulated input which controls the magnitude of the
input voltage and passes it to the output.
 The output voltage is then fed back to a sampling circuit and then compared with a reference
voltage and sent back to the output.

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  Thus, if the output voltage tends to increase the comparator circuit provides a control signal to
cause the control element to reduce the magnitude of the output voltage by passing it through the
sampling circuit and comparing it, thereby maintaining a constant and steady output voltage.
 Suppose the output voltage tends to decrease, the comparator circuit provides a control signal that
causes the series control element to increase the magnitude of output voltage, thus maintaining the
steadiness.

Discrete Transistor Shunt Voltage Regulator

 The voltage regulation is provided by shunting the current away from the load.
 The control element shunts a part of the current that is produced as a result of the input
unregulated voltage that is given to the load. Thus the voltage is regulated across the load.
 Due to the change in load, if there is a change in the output voltage, it will be corrected by giving a
feedback signal to the comparator circuit which compares with a reference voltage and gives the
output control signal to the control element to correct the magnitude of the signal required to shunt
the current away from the load.

 If the output voltage increases, the shunt current increases and thus produces less load current and
maintains a regulated output voltage.
 If the output voltage reduces, the shunt current reduces and thus produces more load current and
maintains a regulated constant output voltage.
 In both cases, the sampling circuit, comparator circuit and control element plays an important
role.

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Limitations of Transistor Voltage Regulators

 The steady and stabilized output voltage that is obtained from the regulator is limited to a voltage
range of (30-40) Volts.
 This is because of the small value of the maximum collector emitter voltage of transistor (50
Volts).

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