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Rectifier
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating
current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to
direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The
reverse operation (converting DC to AC) is performed by
an inverter.

The process is known as rectification, since it "straightens"

the direction of current. Physically, rectifiers take a
number of forms, including vacuum tube diodes, wet
chemical cells, mercury-arc valves, stacks of copper and A thyristor (silicon controlled rectifier) and
selenium oxide plates, semiconductor diodes, silicon- associated mounting hardware. The
controlled rectifiers and other silicon-based semiconductor heavy threaded stud attaches the device
switches. Historically, even synchronous electromechanical to a heatsink to dissipate heat.
switches and motor-generator sets have been used. Early
radio receivers, called crystal radios, used a "cat's whisker"
of fine wire pressing on a crystal of galena (lead sulfide) to serve as a point-contact rectifier or
"crystal detector".

Rectifiers have many uses, but are often found serving as components of DC power supplies and
high-voltage direct current power transmission systems. Rectification may serve in roles other
than to generate direct current for use as a source of power. As noted, rectifiers can serve as
detectors of radio signals. In gas heating systems flame rectification is used to detect presence of a
flame.

Depending on the type of alternating current supply and the arrangement of the rectifier circuit,
the output voltage may require additional smoothing to produce a uniform steady voltage. Many
applications of rectifiers, such as power supplies for radio, television and computer equipment,
require a steady constant DC voltage (as would be produced by a battery). In these applications the
output of the rectifier is smoothed by an electronic filter, which may be a capacitor, choke, or set of
capacitors, chokes and resistors, possibly followed by a voltage regulator to produce a steady
voltage.

More complex circuitry that performs the opposite function, that is converting DC to AC, is called
an inverter.

Rectifier devices
Before the development of silicon semiconductor rectifiers, vacuum tube thermionic diodes and
copper oxide- or selenium-based metal rectifier stacks were used.[1] The first vacuum tube diodes
designed for rectifier application in power supply circuits were introduced in April 1915 by Saul
Dushman of General Electric.[2][3] With the introduction of semiconductor electronics, vacuum
tube rectifiers became obsolete, except for some enthusiasts of vacuum tube audio equipment. For
power rectification from very low to very high current, semiconductor diodes of various types
(junction diodes, Schottky diodes, etc.) are widely used.

Other devices that have control electrodes as well as acting as unidirectional current valves are
used where more than simple rectification is required—e.g., where variable output voltage is
needed. High-power rectifiers, such as those used in high-voltage direct current power
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transmission, employ silicon semiconductor devices of various types. These are thyristors or other
controlled switching solid-state switches, which effectively function as diodes to pass current in
only one direction.

Rectifier circuits
Rectifier circuits may be single-phase or multi-phase. Most low power rectifiers for domestic
equipment are single-phase, but three-phase rectification is very important for industrial
applications and for the transmission of energy as DC (HVDC).

Single-phase rectifiers

Half-wave rectification

In half-wave rectification of a single-phase supply, either the positive or negative half of the AC
wave is passed, while the other half is blocked. Because only one half of the input waveform
reaches the output, mean voltage is lower. Half-wave rectification requires a single diode in a
single-phase supply, or three in a three-phase supply. Rectifiers yield a unidirectional but pulsating
direct current; half-wave rectifiers produce far more ripple than full-wave rectifiers, and much
more filtering is needed to eliminate harmonics of the AC frequency from the output.

Half-wave rectifier, 'U' denotes voltage, 'D' denotes a diode, and 'R' a resistance

The no-load output DC voltage of an ideal half-wave rectifier for a sinusoidal input voltage is:[4]

where:

Vdc, Vav – the DC or average output voltage,

Vpeak, the peak value of the phase input voltages,
Vrms, the root mean square (RMS) value of output voltage.

Full-wave rectification

A full-wave rectifier converts the whole of the input waveform to one of constant polarity (positive
or negative) at its output. Mathematically, this corresponds to the absolute value function. Full-
wave rectification converts both polarities of the input waveform to pulsating DC (direct current),
and yields a higher average output voltage. Two diodes and a center-tapped transformer, or four

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diodes in a bridge configuration and any AC source (including a

transformer without center tap), are needed.[5] Single
semiconductor diodes, double diodes with a common cathode or
common anode, and four- or six-diode bridges are manufactured
as single components.

Full-wave rectifier, with vacuum

tube having two anodes.

Graetz bridge rectifier: a full-wave rectifier using four diodes.

For single-phase AC, if the transformer is center-tapped, then two diodes back-to-back (cathode-
to-cathode or anode-to-anode, depending on output polarity required) can form a full-wave
rectifier. Twice as many turns are required on the transformer secondary to obtain the same output
voltage than for a bridge rectifier, but the power rating is unchanged.

Full-wave rectifier using a center tap transformer and 2 diodes.

The average and RMS no-load output voltages of an ideal single-phase full-wave rectifier are:

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Very common double-diode rectifier vacuum tubes contained a single common cathode and two
anodes inside a single envelope, achieving full-wave rectification with positive output. The 5U4 and
the 80/5Y3 (4 pin)/(octal) were popular examples of this configuration.

Three-phase rectifiers

Single-phase rectifiers are commonly used for power supplies for domestic equipment. However,
for most industrial and high-power applications, three-phase rectifier circuits are the norm. As
with single-phase rectifiers, three-phase rectifiers can take the form of a half-wave circuit, a full-
wave circuit using a center-tapped transformer, or a full-wave bridge circuit.

Thyristors are commonly used in place of diodes to create a circuit that can regulate the output
voltage. Many devices that provide direct current actually generate three-phase AC. For example,
an automobile alternator contains six diodes, which function as a full-wave rectifier for battery
charging.

Three-phase, half-wave circuit

An uncontrolled three-phase, half-wave midpoint

circuit requires three diodes, one connected to each
phase. This is the simplest type of three-phase
rectifier but suffers from relatively high harmonic
distortion on both the AC and DC connections. This
type of rectifier is said to have a pulse-number of
three, since the output voltage on the DC side
contains three distinct pulses per cycle of the grid
frequency:

Controlled three-phase half-wave rectifier circuit

using thyristors as the switching elements,
ignoring supply inductance

The peak values of this three-pulse DC voltage are calculated from the RMS value of the
input phase voltage (line to neutral voltage, 120 V in North America, 230 V within Europe at mains
operation): . The average no-load output voltage results from the integral

under the graph of a positive half-wave with the period duration of (from 30° to 150°):

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Three-phase, full-wave circuit using center-tapped transformer

If the AC supply is fed via a transformer with a

center tap, a rectifier circuit with improved
harmonic performance can be obtained. This
rectifier now requires six diodes, one connected to
each end of each transformer secondary winding.
This circuit has a pulse-number of six, and in effect,
can be thought of as a six-phase, half-wave circuit.

Before solid state devices became available, the

half-wave circuit, and the full-wave circuit using a
center-tapped transformer, were very commonly
used in industrial rectifiers using mercury-arc
valves.[6] This was because the three or six AC
supply inputs could be fed to a corresponding
number of anode electrodes on a single tank,
sharing a common cathode.

With the advent of diodes and thyristors, these

Controlled three-phase full-wave rectifier circuit
circuits have become less popular and the three-
using thyristors as the switching elements, with a
phase bridge circuit has become the most common
center-tapped transformer, ignoring supply
circuit.
inductance

Three-phase bridge rectifier uncontrolled

For an uncontrolled three-phase bridge rectifier, six diodes are used, and the circuit again has a
pulse number of six. For this reason, it is also commonly referred to as a six-pulse bridge. The B6
circuit can be seen simplified as a series connection of two three-pulse center circuits.

For low-power applications, double diodes in series, with the anode of the first diode connected to
the cathode of the second, are manufactured as a single component for this purpose. Some
commercially available double diodes have all four terminals available so the user can configure
them for single-phase split supply use, half a bridge, or three-phase rectifier.

For higher-power applications, a single discrete device is usually used for each of the six arms of
the bridge. For the very highest powers, each arm of the bridge may consist of tens or hundreds of
separate devices in parallel (where very high current is needed, for example in aluminium

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smelting) or in series (where very high voltages are needed, for

example in high-voltage direct current power transmission).

Disassembled automobile
alternator, showing the six
diodes that comprise a full-
wave three-phase bridge
rectifier.

The pulsating DC voltage results from the

differences of the instantaneous positive and
negative phase voltages , phase-shifted by 30°:

Controlled three-phase full-wave bridge rectifier

circuit (B6C) using thyristors as the switching
elements, ignoring supply inductance. The
thyristors pulse in order V1–V6.

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The ideal, no-load average output voltage of the B6 circuit results from the integral under the
graph of a DC voltage pulse with the period duration of (from 60° to 120°) with the peak value
:

If the three-phase bridge rectifier is operated symmetrically (as

positive and negative supply voltage), the center point of the
rectifier on the output side (or the so-called isolated reference
potential) opposite the center point of the transformer (or the
neutral conductor) has a potential difference in the form of a
triangular common-mode voltage. For this reason, these two
centers must never be connected to each other, otherwise short-
circuit currents would flow. The ground of the three-phase bridge
rectifier in symmetrical operation is thus decoupled from the
neutral conductor or the earth of the mains voltage. Powered by a
transformer, earthing of the center point of the bridge is possible,
provided that the secondary winding of the transformer is
electrically isolated from the mains voltage and the star point of
the secondary winding is not on earth. In this case, however,
(negligible) leakage currents are flowing over the transformer
windings.
3-phase AC input, half-wave and
The common-mode voltage is formed out of the respective average
full-wave rectified DC output
values of the differences between the positive and negative phase
waveforms
voltages, which form the pulsating DC voltage. The peak value of
1
the delta voltage amounts 4 of the peak value of the
phase input voltage and is calculated with minus half of the DC voltage at 60° of the
period:

The RMS value of the common-mode voltage is calculated from the form factor for triangular
oscillations:

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If the circuit is operated asymmetrically (as a simple supply voltage with just one positive pole),
both the positive and negative poles (or the isolated reference potential) are pulsating opposite the
center (or the ground) of the input voltage analogously to the positive and negative waveforms of
the phase voltages. However, the differences in the phase voltages result in the six-pulse DC
voltage (over the duration of a period). The strict separation of the transformer center from the
negative pole (otherwise short-circuit currents will flow) or a possible grounding of the negative
pole when powered by an isolating transformer apply correspondingly to the symmetrical
operation.

Three-phase bridge rectifier controlled

The controlled three-phase bridge rectifier uses thyristors in place of diodes. The output voltage is
reduced by the factor cos(α):

Or, expressed in terms of the line to line input voltage:[7]

where:

VLLpeak is the peak value of the line to line input voltages,

Vpeak is the peak value of the phase (line to neutral) input voltages, and
α is the firing angle of the thyristor (0 if diodes are used to perform rectification)

The above equations are only valid when no current is drawn from the AC supply or in the
theoretical case when the AC supply connections have no inductance. In practice, the supply
inductance causes a reduction of DC output voltage with increasing load, typically in the range 10–
20% at full load.

The effect of supply inductance is to slow down the transfer process (called commutation) from
one phase to the next. As result of this is that at each transition between a pair of devices, there is a
period of overlap during which three (rather than two) devices in the bridge are conducting
simultaneously. The overlap angle is usually referred to by the symbol μ (or u), and may be 20 30°
at full load.

With supply inductance taken into account, the output voltage of the rectifier is reduced to

The overlap angle μ is directly related to the DC current, and the above equation may be re-
expressed as

where:
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Lc is the commutating inductance per phase, and

Id is the direct current.

Three-phase Graetz bridge rectifier at alpha=0° Three-phase Graetz bridge rectifier at alpha=0°
without overlap with overlap angle of 20°

Three-phase controlled Graetz bridge rectifier at Three-phase controlled Graetz bridge rectifier at
alpha=20° with overlap angle of 20° alpha=40° with overlap angle of 20°

Twelve-pulse bridge

Although better than single-phase rectifiers

or three-phase half-wave rectifiers, six-pulse
rectifier circuits still produce considerable
harmonic distortion on both the AC and DC
connections. For very high-power rectifiers
the twelve-pulse bridge connection is usually
used. A twelve-pulse bridge consists of two
six-pulse bridge circuits connected in series,
with their AC connections fed from a supply
transformer that produces a 30° phase shift
between the two bridges. This cancels many
of the characteristic harmonics the six-pulse
Twelve pulse bridge rectifier using thyristors as the
bridges produce.
switching elements. One six-pulse bridge consists of the
even-numbered thyristors, the other is the odd-numbered
The 30-degree phase shift is usually achieved
set.
by using a transformer with two sets of
secondary windings, one in star (wye)
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connection and one in delta connection.

Voltage-multiplying rectifiers

The simple half-wave rectifier can be built in two

electrical configurations with the diodes pointing in
opposite directions, one version connects the
negative terminal of the output direct to the AC
supply and the other connects the positive terminal
of the output direct to the AC supply. By combining
both of these with separate output smoothing it is
possible to get an output voltage of nearly double
the peak AC input voltage. This also provides a tap
in the middle, which allows use of such a circuit as a
split rail power supply.

A variant of this is to use two capacitors in series for

the output smoothing on a bridge rectifier then Switchable full bridge/voltage doubler.
place a switch between the midpoint of those
capacitors and one of the AC input terminals. With
the switch open, this circuit acts like a normal bridge rectifier. With the switch closed, it acts like a
voltage doubling rectifier. In other words, this makes it easy to derive a voltage of roughly 320 V
(±15%, approx.) DC from any 120 V or 230 V mains supply in the world, this can then be fed into a
relatively simple switched-mode power supply. However, for a given desired ripple, the value of
both capacitors must be twice the value of the single one required for a normal bridge rectifier;
when the switch is closed each one must filter the output of a half-wave rectifier, and when the
switch is open the two capacitors are connected in series with an equivalent value of half one of
them.

In a Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier, stages of

capacitors and diodes are cascaded to amplify a low AC
voltage to a high DC voltage. These circuits are capable of
producing a DC output voltage potential up to about ten
times the peak AC input voltage, in practice limited by
current capacity and voltage regulation issues. Diode
voltage multipliers, frequently used as a trailing boost
Cockcroft Walton voltage multiplier
stage or primary high voltage (HV) source, are used in HV
laser power supplies, powering devices such as cathode ray
tubes (CRT) (like those used in CRT based television, radar
and sonar displays), photon amplifying devices found in image intensifying and photo multiplier
tubes (PMT), and magnetron based radio frequency (RF) devices used in radar transmitters and
microwave ovens. Before the introduction of semiconductor electronics, transformerless vacuum
tube receivers powered directly from AC power sometimes used voltage doublers to generate
roughly 300 VDC from a 100–120 V power line.

Quantification of rectifiers

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Several ratios are used to quantify the function and performance of rectifiers or their output,
including transformer utilization factor (TUF), conversion ratio (η), ripple factor, form factor, and
peak factor. The two primary measures are DC voltage (or offset) and peak-peak ripple voltage,
which are constituent components of the output voltage.

Conversion ratio

Conversion ratio (also called "rectification ratio", and confusingly, "efficiency") η is defined as the
ratio of DC output power to the input power from the AC supply. Even with ideal rectifiers, the
ratio is less than 100% because some of the output power is AC power rather than DC which
manifests as ripple superimposed on the DC waveform. The ratio can be improved with the use of
smoothing circuits which reduce the ripple and hence reduce the AC content of the output.
Conversion ratio is reduced by losses in transformer windings and power dissipation in the
rectifier element itself. This ratio is of little practical significance because a rectifier is almost
always followed by a filter to increase DC voltage and reduce ripple. In some three-phase and
multi-phase applications the conversion ratio is high enough that smoothing circuitry is
unnecessary.[8] In other circuits, like filament heater circuits in vacuum tube electronics where the
load is almost entirely resistive, smoothing circuitry may be omitted because resistors dissipate
both AC and DC power, so no power is lost.

For a half-wave rectifier the ratio is very modest.

(the divisors are 2 rather than √2 because no power is delivered on

the negative half-cycle)

Thus maximum conversion ratio for a half-wave rectifier is,

Similarly, for a full-wave rectifier,

Three-phase rectifiers, especially three-phase full-wave rectifiers, have much greater conversion
ratios because the ripple is intrinsically smaller.

For a three-phase half-wave rectifier,

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For a three-phase full-wave rectifier,

Transformer utilization ratio

The transformer utilization factor (TUF) of a rectifier circuit is defined as the ratio of the DC power
available at the input resistor to the AC rating of the output coil of a transformer.[9][10]

The rating of the transformer can be defined as:

Rectifier voltage drop

See also: Diode § Forward threshold voltage for various semiconductors

A real rectifier characteristically drops part of the input voltage (a voltage drop, for silicon devices,
of typically 0.7 volts plus an equivalent resistance, in general non-linear)—and at high frequencies,
distorts waveforms in other ways. Unlike an ideal rectifier, it dissipates some power.

An aspect of most rectification is a loss from the peak input voltage to the peak output voltage,
caused by the built-in voltage drop across the diodes (around 0.7 V for ordinary silicon p–n
junction diodes and 0.3 V for Schottky diodes). Half-wave rectification and full-wave rectification
using a center-tapped secondary produces a peak voltage loss of one diode drop. Bridge
rectification has a loss of two diode drops. This reduces output voltage, and limits the available
output voltage if a very low alternating voltage must be rectified. As the diodes do not conduct
below this voltage, the circuit only passes current through for a portion of each half-cycle, causing
short segments of zero voltage (where instantaneous input voltage is below one or two diode
drops) to appear between each "hump".

Peak loss is very important for low voltage rectifiers (for example, 12 V or less) but is insignificant
in high-voltage applications such as HVDC power transmission systems.

Harmonic distortion
Non-linear loads like rectifiers produce current harmonics of the source frequency on the AC side
and voltage harmonics of the source frequency on the DC side, due to switching behavior.

Rectifier output smoothing

While half-wave and full-wave rectification deliver unidirectional current, neither produces a
constant voltage. There is a large AC ripple voltage component at the source frequency for a half-

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wave rectifier, and twice the source frequency for a full-wave

rectifier. Ripple voltage is usually specified peak-to-peak.
Producing steady DC from a rectified AC supply requires a
smoothing circuit or filter. In its simplest form this can be just
a capacitor (functioning as both a smoothing capacitor as well
as a reservoir,[11][12] buffer or bulk capacitor), choke, resistor,
Zener diode and resistor, or voltage regulator placed at the
output of the rectifier. In practice, most smoothing filters
utilize multiple components to efficiently reduce ripple voltage The AC input (yellow) and DC
to a level tolerable by the circuit. output (green) of a half-wave
rectifier with a smoothing capacitor.
The filter capacitor releases its stored energy during the part of Note the ripple in the DC signal. The
the AC cycle when the AC source does not supply any power, significant gap (about 0.7V)
that is, when the AC source changes its direction of flow of between the peak of the AC input
current. and the peak of the DC output is
due to the forward voltage drop of
the rectifier diode.
Performance with low impedance source

Full-wave diode-bridge rectifier with parallel RC shunt filter

The above diagram shows the voltage waveforms of the reservoir performance when supplied from
a voltage source with near zero impedance, such as a mains supply. Both voltages start from zero at
time t=0 at the far left of the image, then the capacitor voltage follows the rectified AC voltage as it
increases, the capacitor is charged and current is supplied to the load. At the end of the mains
quarter cycle, the capacitor is charged to the peak value Vp of the rectifier voltage. Following this,
the rectifier input voltage starts to decrease to its minimum value Vmin as it enters the next
quarter cycle. This initiates the discharge of the capacitor through the load while the capacitor
holds up the output voltage to the load.

The size of the capacitor C is determined by the amount of ripple r that can be tolerated, where r=
(Vp-Vmin)/Vp.[13]

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These circuits are very frequently fed from transformers, which may have significant internal
impedance in the form of resistance and/or reactance. Transformer internal impedance modifies
the reservoir capacitor waveform, changes the peak voltage, and introduces regulation issues.

Capacitor input filter

For a given load, sizing of a smoothing capacitor is a tradeoff between reducing ripple voltage and
increasing ripple current. The peak current is set by the rate of rise of the supply voltage on the
rising edge of the incoming sine-wave, reduced by the resistance of the transformer windings. High
ripple currents increase I2R losses (in the form of heat) in the capacitor, rectifier and transformer
windings, and may exceed the ampacity of the components or VA rating of the transformer.
Vacuum tube rectifiers specify the maximum capacitance of the input capacitor, and SS diode
rectifiers also have current limitations. Capacitors for this application need low ESR, or ripple
current may overheat them. To limit ripple voltage to a specified value the required capacitor size
is proportional to the load current and inversely proportional to the supply frequency and the
number of output peaks of the rectifier per input cycle. Full-wave rectified output requires a
smaller capacitor because it is double the frequency of half-wave rectified output. To reduce ripple
to a satisfactory limit with just a single capacitor would often require a capacitor of impractical
size. This is because the ripple current rating of a capacitor does not increase linearly with size and
there may also be height limitations. For high current applications banks of capacitors are used
instead.

Choke input filter

It is also possible to put the rectified waveform into a choke-input filter. The advantage of this
circuit is that the current waveform is smoother: current is drawn over the entire cycle, instead of
being drawn in pulses at the peaks of AC voltage each half-cycle as in a capacitor input filter. The
disadvantage is that the voltage output is much lower – the average of an AC half-cycle rather than
the peak; this is about 90% of the RMS voltage versus times the RMS voltage (unloaded) for a
capacitor input filter. Offsetting this is superior voltage regulation and higher available current,
which reduce peak voltage and ripple current demands on power supply components. Inductors
require cores of iron or other magnetic materials, and add weight and size. Their use in power
supplies for electronic equipment has therefore dwindled in favour of semiconductor circuits such
as voltage regulators.[14]

Resistor as input filter

In cases where ripple voltage is insignificant, like battery chargers, the input filter may be a single
series resistor to adjust the output voltage to that required by the circuit. A resistor reduces both
output voltage and ripple voltage proportionately. A disadvantage of a resistor input filter is that it
consumes power in the form of waste heat that is not available to the load, so it is employed only in
low current circuits.

Higher order and cascade filters

To further reduce ripple, the initial filter element may be followed by additional alternating series
and shunt filter components, or by a voltage regulator. Series filter components may be resistors or
chokes; shunt elements may be resistors or capacitors. The filter may raise DC voltage as well as
reduce ripple. Filters are often constructed from pairs of series/shunt components called RC
(series resistor, shunt capacitor) or LC (series choke, shunt capacitor) sections. Two common filter
geometries are known as Pi (capacitor, choke, capacitor) and T (choke, capacitor, choke) filters.
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Sometimes the series elements are resistors - because resistors are smaller and cheaper - when a
lower DC output is desirable or permissible. Another kind of special filter geometry is a series
resonant choke or tuned choke filter. Unlike the other filter geometries which are low-pass filters, a
resonant choke filter is a band-stop filter: it is a parallel combination of choke and capacitor which
resonates at the frequency of the ripple voltage, presenting a very high impedance to the ripple. It
may be followed by a shunt capacitor to complete the filter.

Voltage regulators

A more usual alternative to additional filter components, if the DC load requires very low ripple
voltage, is to follow the input filter with a voltage regulator. A voltage regulator operates on a
different principle than a filter, which is essentially a voltage divider that shunts voltage at the
ripple frequency away from the load. Rather, a regulator increases or decreases current supplied to
the load in order to maintain a constant output voltage.

A simple passive shunt voltage regulator may consist of a series resistor to drop source voltage to
the required level and a Zener diode shunt with reverse voltage equal to the set voltage. When
input voltage rises, the diode dumps current to maintain the set output voltage. This kind of
regulator is usually employed only in low voltage, low current circuits because Zener diodes have
both voltage and current limitations. It is also very inefficient, because it dumps excess current,
which is not available to the load.

A more efficient alternative to a shunt voltage regulator is an active voltage regulator circuit. An
active regulator employs reactive components to store and discharge energy, so that most or all
current supplied by the rectifier is passed to the load. It may also use negative and positive
feedback in conjunction with at least one voltage amplifying component like a transistor to
maintain output voltage when source voltage drops. The input filter must prevent the troughs of
the ripple dropping below the minimum voltage required by the regulator to produce the required
output voltage. The regulator serves both to significantly reduce the ripple and to deal with
variations in supply and load characteristics.

Applications
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.
AC/DC power supplies may be broadly divided into linear power supplies and switched-mode
power supplies. In such power supplies, the rectifier will be in series following the transformer,
and be followed by a smoothing filter and possibly a voltage regulator.

Converting DC power from one voltage to another is much more complicated. One method of DC-
to-DC conversion first converts power to AC (using a device called an inverter), then uses a
transformer to change the voltage, and finally rectifies power back to DC. A frequency of typically
several tens of kilohertz is used, as this requires much smaller inductance than at lower
frequencies and obviates the use of heavy, bulky, and expensive iron-cored transformers. Another
method of converting DC voltages uses a charge pump, using rapid switching to change the
connections of capacitors; this technique is generally limited to supplies up to a couple of watts,
owing to the size of capacitors required.

Rectifiers are also used for detection of amplitude modulated radio signals. The signal may be
amplified before detection. If not, a very low voltage drop diode or a diode biased with a fixed
voltage must be used. When using a rectifier for demodulation the capacitor and load resistance
must be carefully matched: too low a capacitance makes the high frequency carrier pass to the
output, and too high makes the capacitor just charge and stay charged.

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Rectifiers supply polarized voltage for welding. In such circuits

control of the output current is required; this is sometimes
achieved by replacing some of the diodes in a bridge rectifier
with thyristors, effectively diodes whose voltage output can be
regulated by switching on and off with phase-fired controllers.

Thyristors are used in various classes of railway rolling stock

systems so that fine control of the traction motors can be
Output voltage of a full-wave achieved. Gate turn-off thyristors are used to produce
rectifier with controlled thyristors alternating current from a DC supply, for example on the
Eurostar Trains to power the three-phase traction motors.[15]

Rectification technologies

Electromechanical

Before about 1905 when tube-type rectifiers were developed, power conversion devices were purely
electro-mechanical in design. Mechanical rectifiers used some form of rotation or resonant
vibration driven by electromagnets, which operated a switch or commutator to reverse the current.

These mechanical rectifiers were noisy and had high maintenance requirements, including
lubrication and replacement of moving parts due to wear. Opening mechanical contacts under load
resulted in electrical arcs and sparks that heated and eroded the contacts. They also were not able
to handle AC frequencies above several thousand cycles per second.

Synchronous rectifier

To convert alternating into direct current in electric locomotives, a synchronous rectifier may be
used. It consists of a synchronous motor driving a set of heavy-duty electrical contacts. The motor
spins in time with the AC frequency and periodically reverses the connections to the load at an
instant when the sinusoidal current goes through a zero-crossing. The contacts do not have to
switch a large current, but they must be able to carry a large current to supply the locomotive's DC
traction motors.

Vibrating rectifier

These consisted of a resonant reed, vibrated by an alternating

magnetic field created by an AC electromagnet, with contacts
that reversed the direction of the current on the negative half
cycles. They were used in low power devices, such as battery
chargers, to rectify the low voltage produced by a step-down
transformer. Another use was in battery power supplies for
portable vacuum tube radios, to provide the high DC voltage for
the tubes. These operated as a mechanical version of modern
solid state switching inverters, with a transformer to step the A vibrator battery charger from
battery voltage up, and a set of vibrator contacts on the 1922. It produced 6 A DC at 6 V to
transformer core, operated by its magnetic field, to repeatedly charge automobile batteries.
break the DC battery current to create a pulsing AC to power
the transformer. Then a second set of rectifier contacts on the
vibrator rectified the high AC voltage from the transformer secondary to DC.

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Motor-generator set

A motor-generator set, or the similar rotary converter, is not

strictly a rectifier as it does not actually rectify current, but
rather generates DC from an AC source. In an "M-G set", the
shaft of an AC motor is mechanically coupled to that of a DC
generator. The DC generator produces multiphase alternating
currents in its armature windings, which a commutator on the
A small motor-generator set
armature shaft converts into a direct current output; or a
homopolar generator produces a direct current without the
need for a commutator. M-G sets are useful for producing DC for railway traction motors,
industrial motors and other high-current applications, and were common in many high-power DC
uses (for example, carbon-arc lamp projectors for outdoor theaters) before high-power
semiconductors became widely available.

Electrolytic

The electrolytic rectifier[16] was a device from the early twentieth century that is no longer used. A
home-made version is illustrated in the 1913 book The Boy Mechanic[17] but it would be suitable
for use only at very low voltages because of the low breakdown voltage and the risk of electric
shock. A more complex device of this kind was patented by G. W. Carpenter in 1928 (US Patent
1671970).[18]

When two different metals are suspended in an electrolyte solution, direct current flowing one way
through the solution sees less resistance than in the other direction. Electrolytic rectifiers most
commonly used an aluminum anode and a lead or steel cathode, suspended in a solution of
triammonium orthophosphate.

The rectification action is due to a thin coating of aluminium hydroxide on the aluminum
electrode, formed by first applying a strong current to the cell to build up the coating. The
rectification process is temperature-sensitive, and for best efficiency should not operate above
86 °F (30 °C). There is also a breakdown voltage where the coating is penetrated and the cell is
short-circuited. Electrochemical methods are often more fragile than mechanical methods, and can
be sensitive to usage variations, which can drastically change or completely disrupt the
rectification processes.

Similar electrolytic devices were used as lightning arresters around the same era by suspending
many aluminium cones in a tank of triammonium orthophosphate solution. Unlike the rectifier
above, only aluminium electrodes were used, and used on A.C., there was no polarization and thus
no rectifier action, but the chemistry was similar.[19]

The modern electrolytic capacitor, an essential component of most rectifier circuit configurations
was also developed from the electrolytic rectifier.

Plasma type

The development of vacuum tube technology in the early 20th century resulted in the invention of
various tube-type rectifiers, which largely replaced the noisy, inefficient mechanical rectifiers.

Mercury-arc

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A rectifier used in high-voltage direct current

(HVDC) power transmission systems and
industrial processing between about 1909 to 1975
is a mercury-arc rectifier or mercury-arc valve.
The device is enclosed in a bulbous glass vessel or
large metal tub. One electrode, the cathode, is
submerged in a pool of liquid mercury at the
bottom of the vessel and one or more high purity
graphite electrodes, called anodes, are suspended
above the pool. There may be several auxiliary
electrodes to aid in starting and maintaining the
arc. When an electric arc is established between Early 3-phase industrial 150 kV mercury-arc
the cathode pool and suspended anodes, a stream mercury vapor rectifier valve at Manitoba Hydro
of electrons flows from the cathode to the anodes tube power station, Radisson,
through the ionized mercury, but not the other way Canada converted AC
(in principle, this is a higher-power counterpart to hydropower to DC for
flame rectification, which uses the same one-way transmission to distant
current transmission properties of the plasma cities.
naturally present in a flame).

These devices can be used at power levels of hundreds of kilowatts, and may be built to handle one
to six phases of AC current. Mercury-arc rectifiers have been replaced by silicon semiconductor
rectifiers and high-power thyristor circuits in the mid-1970s. The most powerful mercury-arc
rectifiers ever built were installed in the Manitoba Hydro Nelson River Bipole HVDC project, with
a combined rating of more than 1 GW and 450 kV.[20][21]

Argon gas electron tube

The General Electric Tungar rectifier was a mercury vapor (ex.:5B24) or

argon (ex.:328) gas-filled electron tube device with a tungsten filament
cathode and a carbon button anode. It operated similarly to the
thermionic vacuum tube diode, but the gas in the tube ionized during
forward conduction, giving it a much lower forward voltage drop so it
could rectify lower voltages. It was used for battery chargers and similar
applications from the 1920s until lower-cost metal rectifiers, and later
semiconductor diodes, supplanted it. These were made up to a few
hundred volts and a few amperes rating, and in some sizes strongly
resembled an incandescent lamp with an additional electrode.
Tungar bulbs from 1917,
The 0Z4 was a gas-filled rectifier tube commonly used in vacuum tube 2 ampere (left) and 6
car radios in the 1940s and 1950s. It was a conventional full-wave ampere
rectifier tube with two anodes and one cathode, but was unique in that it
had no filament (thus the "0" in its type number). The electrodes were
shaped such that the reverse breakdown voltage was much higher than the forward breakdown
voltage. Once the breakdown voltage was exceeded, the 0Z4 switched to a low-resistance state with
a forward voltage drop of about 24 V.

Diode vacuum tube (valve)

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The thermionic vacuum tube diode, originally called the

Fleming valve, was invented by John Ambrose Fleming in 1904
as a detector for radio waves in radio receivers, and evolved
into a general rectifier. It consisted of an evacuated glass bulb
with a filament heated by a separate current, and a metal plate
anode. The filament emitted electrons by thermionic emission
(the Edison effect), discovered by Thomas Edison in 1884, and
a positive voltage on the plate caused a current of electrons Vacuum tube diodes
through the tube from filament to plate. Since only the filament
produced electrons, the tube would only conduct current in one
direction, allowing the tube to rectify an alternating current.

Thermionic diode rectifiers were widely used in power supplies in vacuum tube consumer
electronic products, such as phonographs, radios, and televisions, for example the All American
Five radio receiver, to provide the high DC plate voltage needed by other vacuum tubes. "Full-
wave" versions with two separate plates were popular because they could be used with a center-
tapped transformer to make a full-wave rectifier. Vacuum tube rectifiers were made for very high
voltages, such as the high voltage power supply for the cathode ray tube of television receivers, and
the kenotron used for power supply in X-ray equipment. However, compared to modern
semiconductor diodes, vacuum tube rectifiers have high internal resistance due to space charge
and therefore high voltage drops, causing high power dissipation and low efficiency. They are
rarely able to handle currents exceeding 250 mA owing to the limits of plate power dissipation, and
cannot be used for low voltage applications, such as battery chargers. Another limitation of the
vacuum tube rectifier is that the heater power supply often requires special arrangements to
insulate it from the high voltages of the rectifier circuit.

Solid state

Crystal detector

The crystal detector was the earliest type of semiconductor

diode. Invented by Jagadish Chandra Bose and developed by G.
W. Pickard starting in 1902, it was a significant improvement
over earlier detectors such as the coherer. The crystal detector
was widely used prior to vacuum tubes becoming available.
One popular type of crystal detector, often called a cat's
whisker detector, consists of a crystal of some semiconducting
mineral, usually galena (lead sulfide), with a light springy wire Galena cat's whisker crystal
touching its surface. Its fragility and limited current capability detector
made it unsuitable for power supply applications. In the 1930s,
researchers miniaturized and improved the crystal detector for
use at microwave frequencies.

Selenium and copper oxide rectifiers

Once common until replaced by more compact and less costly silicon solid-state rectifiers in the
1970s, these units used stacks of oxide-coated metal plates and took advantage of the
semiconductor properties of selenium or copper oxide.[22] While selenium rectifiers were lighter in
weight and used less power than comparable vacuum tube rectifiers, they had the disadvantage of

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finite life expectancy, increasing resistance with age, and were only
suitable to use at low frequencies. Both selenium and copper oxide
rectifiers have somewhat better tolerance of momentary voltage
transients than silicon rectifiers.

Typically these rectifiers were made up of stacks of metal plates or

washers, held together by a central bolt, with the number of stacks
determined by voltage; each cell was rated for about 20 V. An automotive
battery charger rectifier might have only one cell: the high-voltage power
supply for a vacuum tube might have dozens of stacked plates. Current
density in an air-cooled selenium stack was about 600 mA per square
inch of active area (about 90 mA per square centimeter).
Selenium rectifier

Silicon and germanium diodes

Silicon diodes are the most widely used rectifiers for lower
voltages and powers, and have largely replaced other rectifiers.
Due to their substantially lower forward voltage (0.3V versus
0.7V for silicon diodes) germanium diodes have an inherent
advantage over silicon diodes in low voltage circuits.
A variety of silicon diodes of
different current ratings. At left is a
bridge rectifier. On the 3 center
diodes, a painted band identifies the
cathode terminal

High power: thyristors (SCRs) and newer silicon-based voltage sourced converters

In high-power applications, from 1975 to 2000, most mercury

valve arc-rectifiers were replaced by stacks of very high power
thyristors, silicon devices with two extra layers of semiconductor,
in comparison to a simple diode.

In medium-power transmission applications, even more complex

and sophisticated voltage sourced converter (VSC) silicon
semiconductor rectifier systems, such as insulated gate bipolar
transistors (IGBT) and gate turn-off thyristors (GTO), have made
smaller high voltage DC power transmission systems economical.
All of these devices function as rectifiers.

As of 2009 it was expected that these high-power silicon "self-

commutating switches", in particular IGBTs and a variant Two of three high-power thyristor
thyristor (related to the GTO) called the integrated gate- valve stacks used for long-
commutated thyristor (IGCT), would be scaled-up in power rating distance transmission of power
from Manitoba Hydro dams.
Compare with mercury-arc
system from the same dam-site,
above.

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to the point that they would eventually replace simple thyristor-based AC rectification systems for
the highest power-transmission DC applications.[23]

Active rectifier

Active rectification is a technique for improving the

efficiency of rectification by replacing diodes with actively
controlled switches such as transistors, usually power
MOSFETs or power BJTs.[24] Whereas normal
semiconductor diodes have a roughly fixed voltage drop of
around 0.5 to 1 volts, active rectifiers behave as resistances,
and can have arbitrarily low voltage drop.

Historically, vibrator-driven switches or motor-driven

commutators have also been used for mechanical rectifiers Voltage drop across a diode and a
MOSFET. The low on-resistance property
and synchronous rectification.[25]
of a MOSFET reduces ohmic losses
Active rectification has many applications. It is frequently compared to the diode rectifier (below
used for arrays of photovoltaic panels to avoid reverse 32 A in this case), which exhibits a
significant voltage drop even at very low
current flow that can cause overheating with partial
current levels. Paralleling two MOSFETs
shading while giving minimum power loss.
(pink curve) reduces the losses further,
whereas paralleling several diodes won't
Current research significantly reduce the forward-voltage
drop.
A major area of research is to develop higher frequency
rectifiers, that can rectify into terahertz and light
frequencies. These devices are used in optical heterodyne detection, which has myriad applications
in optical fiber communication and atomic clocks. Another prospective application for such devices
is to directly rectify light waves picked up by tiny antennas, called nantennas, to produce DC
electric power.[26] It is thought that arrays of antennas could be a more efficient means of
producing solar power than solar cells.

A related area of research is to develop smaller rectifiers, because a smaller device has a higher
cutoff frequency. Research projects are attempting to develop a unimolecular rectifier, a single
organic molecule that would function as a rectifier.

See also
AC adapter
Karl Ferdinand Braun (point-contact rectifier, 1874)
Precision rectifier
Rectiformer
Vienna rectifier

References
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[Link]/books?id=rslXJmYPjGIC&pg=PA18). p. 18. ISBN 978-0-86341-227-1.
2. Dushman, S. (1915). "A New Device for Rectifying High Tension Alternating Currents - The
Kenotron" ([Link]
r) General Electric Review pp. 156 - 167. Retrieved Nov. 2021

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3. Dushman, S. (1915). Electrical Discharge Device ([Link]

m/8a/93/b3/2b97df34eaf78e/[Link]). U. S. patent 1,287,265. Retrieved Nov. 2021.
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Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-707714-3.
5. Williams, B. W. (1992). "Chapter 11". Power electronics : devices, drivers and applications
(2nd ed.). Basingstoke: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-57351-8.
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practice of vapour-arc discharge devices and to the study of rectification phenomena ([Link]
[Link]/books?id=S4MhAAAAMAAJ). Sir I. Pitman & sons, ltd.
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rrenttra0000kimb) (4. printing. ed.). New York: Wiley-Interscience. pp. 508 ([Link]
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Electronics, Computer, and Communications, p. 14. 13, Newnes, 2002 ISBN 0-7506-7291-9.
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[Link]/books?id=eS1z95mzi28C&pg=PA153). Elsevier. p. 153. ISBN 9780123820372.
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Inc. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-83111000-0. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
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ps://[Link]/books?id=2ck0AwAAQBAJ) (expanded 12th ed.). Butterworth-
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of Physics Education. 11 (1): 1301–01 1301–11.
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Sams pp. 12-14, 12-15, 12-16
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Engineering Journal. 8 (4): 183. doi:10.1049/pe:19940407 ([Link]
9940407).
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oog). Hawkins Electrical Guide: Principles of electricity, magnetism, induction, experiments,
dynamo. New York: T. Audel.
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-Boy-Mechanic-700-Things-for-Boys-to-Do/[Link]).
[Link]. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
18. US patent 1671970 ([Link]
0), Glenn W. Carpenter, "Liquid Rectifier", issued 1928-06-05
19. American Technical Society (1920). Cyclopedia of applied electricity ([Link]
books?id=PcN-AAAAMAAJ). Vol. 2. American technical society. p. 487.
20. Pictures of a mercury-arc rectifier in operation can be seen here: Belsize Park deep shelter
rectifier 1 ([Link]
Belsize Park deep shelter rectifier 2 ([Link]
ep_shelter/[Link])

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21. Sood, Vijay K (31 May 2004). HVDC and FACTS Controllers: Applications of Static Converters
in Power Systems ([Link]
p=S00T&checkSum=kIuBlcbI0cpOJz1UiVfSKdIqFhPcDOXQ98WG3SabLpA%3D#reader-link).
Springer-Verlag. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-4020-7890-3. "The first 25 years of HVDC transmission
were sustained by converters having mercury arc valves till the mid-1970s. The next 25 years
till the year 2000 were sustained by line-commutated converters using thyristor valves. It is
predicted that the next 25 years will be dominated by force-commutated converters [4]. Initially,
this new force-commutated era has commenced with Capacitor Commutated Converters
(CCC) eventually to be replaced by self-commutated converters due to the economic
availability of high-power switching devices with their superior characteristics."
22. H. P. Westman et al., (ed), Reference Data for Radio Engineers, Fifth Edition ([Link]
v/43014665), 1968, Howard W. Sams and Co., no ISBN, Library of Congress Card No. 43-
14665 chapter 13
23. Arrillaga, Jos; Liu, Yonghe H; Watson, Neville R; Murray, Nicholas J (12 January 2010). Self-
Commutating Converters for High Power Applications. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-
68212-8.
24. Ali Emadi (2009). Integrated power electronic converters and digital control ([Link]
[Link]/books?id=phX659AzaxUC&pg=PA145). CRC Press. pp. 145–146. ISBN 978-1-4398-
0069-0.
25. Maurice Agnus Oudin (1907). Standard polyphase apparatus and systems ([Link]
details/standardpolypha00oudigoog) (5th ed.). Van Nostrand. p. 236 ([Link]
standardpolypha00oudigoog/page/n248). "synchronous rectifier commutator."
26. Idaho National Laboratory (2007). "Harvesting the sun's energy with antennas" ([Link]
[Link]/portal/[Link]?open=514&objID=1269&mode=2&featurestory=DA_10104). Retrieved
3 October 2008.

Retrieved from "[Link]

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