Module 1

Electronic Circuits
Power Supplies: Block diagram, Rectifiers, Reservoir and smoothing circuits, Full-wave
rectifiers, Bi-phase rectifier circuits, Bridge rectifier circuits, Voltage regulators, Output
resistance and voltage regulation, Voltage multipliers.
Amplifiers: Types of amplifiers, Gain, Input and output resistance, Frequency
response, Bandwidth, Phase shift, Negative feedback, Multi-stage amplifiers.

1.1 POWER SUPPLIES

1.1.1 Block Diagram
 Power supply is a device that supplies electric power to a load.
 The block diagram of a d.c. power supply is shown in Fig. 1.1.
 Step-down transformer: The high voltage a.c. input (220-240V) is converted to a low
voltage (5V, 9V, 12V etc.) using a step-down transformer of appropriate turns ratio.
 Rectifier: The a.c. output from the transformer secondary is then rectified using
conventional silicon rectifier diodes to produce an unsmoothed (pulsating d.c.) output.
 Reservoir/Filtering Circuit: The unsmoothed output from rectifier is smoothened by
reservoir/filtering circuit (a high value capacitor). The capacitor helps to smooth out the
voltage pulses produced by the rectifier.
 Voltage Regulator: The stabilizing circuit (a series transistor regulator and a Zener
diode voltage reference) stabilizes and produces a constant voltage.
1.1.2 Rectifiers
 A rectifier is a device that converts alternating current (ac) to direct current (dc).
 Semiconductor diodes are commonly used for converting ac to dc.
 Rectifiers can be classified as:
1. Half wave rectifier.
2. Full wave rectifier.
 Bi-phase rectifier.
 Bridge rectifier.
1.1.3 Half wave rectifiers
 The simplest form of rectifier circuit uses a single diode and operates only in positive or
negative half cycles of the supply, known as half-wave rectifier.
 Figure 1.2 shows a simple half wave rectifier circuit.

 The mains voltage (220 to 240V) applied to primary of step-down transformer.

 Secondary of transformer steps down the 240V rms to 12V rms (turns ratio 20:1).
 Operation: Diode D1 will allow the current to flow in the direction is shown in fig. 1.3.
 D1 will be forward biased during each positive half-cycle & behaves as a closed switch.
 When the circuit current flows in opposite direction, the voltage bias across the diode
will be reversed, causing the diode to be reverse biased and act like an open switch.

 Switching action of D1 results in a pulsating output voltage across the load RL.
 During the positive half-cycle, the diode will drop 0.6V to 0.7V forward threshold voltage
normally associated with silicon diodes.
 However, during the negative half-cycle the peak ac voltage will be dropped across D1
when it is reverse biased.
Problem 1.1: A mains transformer having a turns ratio of 44:1 is connected to a 220 V
rms. mains supply. If the secondary output is applied to a half-wave rectifier, determine the
peak voltage that will appear across a load.
Solution: The rms secondary voltage is be given by:
Vs = Vp / 44 = 240 / 44 = 5V
The peak voltage developed after rectification will be
Vpk = 1.414 x 5 = 7.07V
The actual peak voltage dropped across the load will be (Assuming Silicon diode):
VL = 7.07 – 0.6 = 6.47V
Half Wave Rectifier with a Reservoir Capacitor
 Figure 1.4 (a) shows a Half Wave Rectifier with a Reservoir Capacitor.
 During the first positive half-cycle, output from secondary will charge C1 to peak value
seen across RL. Hence C1 charges to maximum at the peak of positive half-cycle (16.3V).
 The time required for C1 to discharge is very much greater and is determined by the
capacitance value and the load resistance, RL.
 During this time, D1 will be reverse biased & will be held in its non-conducting state.
 As a consequence, the only discharge path for C1 is through RL.

 C1 is referred to as a reservoir capacitor. It stores charge during the positive half cycles
of secondary voltage and releases it during the negative half-cycles.
 The circuit of Fig. 1.4(a) is thus able to maintain a constant output voltage across RL.
 Fig. 1.4(b) shows the secondary voltage waveform together with the voltage developed
across RL with and without C1 present.
Half wave Rectifier with Smoothing Circuit
 Output of reservoir circuit consists of ripple which is undesirable & shall be removed.
 Figure 1.5 shows half wave rectifier’s circuit with smoothing filters.
 Two components R & C or L & C acts as a filter to remove ripple.

 The amount of ripple is reduced by an approximate factor equal to:

Problem 1.2: The R–C smoothing filter in a 50 Hz mains operated half-wave rectifier circuit
consists of R1 = 100Ω and C2 = 1,000F. If 1 V of ripple appears at the input of the circuit,
determine the amount of ripple appearing at the output.
Solution: The reactance of the capacitor, C2, at the ripple frequency (50 Hz):

The amount of ripple at the output of the circuit is given by:

1.1.4 Full Wave Rectifiers

 The rectifier circuit that can convert both positive and negative half cycles of ac signal
into dc signal are called full wave rectifier circuits.
 The two basic forms of full wave rectifier are: Bi-phase type and Bridge rectifier type.
1.1.5 Bi-Phase Full Wave Rectifiers
 Fig. 1.6 shows a simple bi-phase rectifier circuit.
 Mains voltage (240 V) is applied to the primary of the step-down transformer (T1) which
has two identical secondary windings, each providing 12 V rms.
 On positive half-cycles, point A will be positive with respect to point B and point B will
be positive with respect to point C. In this condition D1 will allow conduction while D2
will not allow conduction. Thus D1 alone conducts on positive half-cycles.
  On negative half-cycles, point C will be positive with respect to point B and point B will
be positive with respect to point A. In this condition D2 will allow conduction while D1
will not allow conduction. Thus D2 alone conducts on negative half-cycles.
 The operation of the bi-phase rectifier circuit with the diodes replaced by switches is
shown in Fig. 1.7. In fig. 1.7 (a) D1 is shown conducting on a positive half-cycle while in
Fig. 1.7 (b) D2 is shown conducting.

Bi-Phase Rectifier with Reservoir Circuit

 Fig. 1.8(a) shows a reservoir capacitor C1 connected to ensure that the output voltage
remains at, or near, the peak voltage even when the diodes are not conducting.
 The C1 charges to maximum (16.3V) at the peak of the positive half-cycle and holds the
voltage at this level when the diodes are in their non-conducting states.
 The time required for C1 to discharge is very much greater and is determined by the
capacitance value and the load resistance RL.
 During this time, D1 and D2 will be reverse biased and held in a non-conducting state.
As a consequence, the only discharge path for C1 is through RL.
 Fig. 1.8(b) shows voltage waveforms with and without C1 present.
1.1.6 Bridge Rectifier
 An alternative to the use of the bi-phase circuit is that of using a four-diode bridge
rectifier in which opposite pairs of diode conduct on alternate half-cycles.
 This arrangement avoids the need to have two separate secondary windings.
 A full-wave bridge rectifier arrangement is shown in Fig. 1.9.
 Mains voltage (240V) is applied to the primary of a step-down transformer (T1).
 The secondary winding provides 12V rms and has a turns ratio of 20:1.
 On positive half-cycles, point A will be positive with respect to point B. In this condition
D1 and D2 will allow conduction while D3 and D4 will not allow conduction.
 On negative half-cycles, point B will be positive with respect to point A. In this condition
D3 and D4 will allow conduction while D1 and D2 will not allow conduction.

 Fig. 1.10 shows the bridge rectifier circuit with the diodes replaced by four switches. D1
& D2 are conducting on positive half-cycle (fig. a) while D3 & D4 are conducting on
negative half cycle (fig. b).
Bridge Rectifier with Reservoir Capacitor
 Fig. 1.11(a) shows a reservoir capacitor C1 connected to ensure that the output voltage
remains at, or near, the peak voltage even when the diodes are not conducting.
1.1.7 Voltage Regulator
 A voltage regulator provides a constant DC output voltage that is independent of AC line
voltage variations, load current and temperature.
 A simple voltage regulator is shown in Fig. 1.12.
 RS is included to limit the Zener current to a
safe value when the load is disconnected.
 When a load (RL) is connected, Zener current (IZ)
will fall as current is diverted into load resistance.
 The output voltage (VZ) will remain at the Zener
voltage until regulation fails at the point at which
potential divider formed by RS & RL produces a lower output voltage that is less than VZ.
 The Zener voltage is given by:

where VIN is the unregulated input voltage.

 Thus the maximum value for RS can be calculated from:

 The power dissipated in the Zener diode will be given by PZ = VZ x IZ

 Hence the minimum value for RS can be determined from the off-load condition when:

 The internal resistance appears at the output of the supply and defined as change in
output voltage to change in output current

where,
∆VOUT represents a small change in output (load) current and ∆IOUT represents a
corresponding small change in output voltage.
 The regulation of a power supply is given by the relationship:

 Ideally, the value of regulation should be very small.

Problem 1.3: A 5 V Zener diode has a maximum rated power dissipation of 500 mW. If the
diode is to be used in a simple regulator circuit to supply a regulated 5 V to a load having a
resistance of 400 ohms, determine a suitable value of series resistor for operation in
conjunction with a supply of 9 V.
Solution: The maximum value for the series resistor is:

The minimum value for the series resistor is:

Hence a suitable value for RS would be 150 ohms (Midway between two extremes).
1.1.8 Voltage Multipliers
 By adding a second diode and capacitor,
the output of a simple half-wave
rectifier can be increased.
 A voltage doubler using this technique
is shown in Fig. 1.13.
 In this arrangement C1 will charge to the
positive peak secondary voltage while C2 will
charge to the negative peak secondary voltage.
 Since the output is taken from C1 and C2 connected in series the resulting output
voltage is twice that produced by one diode alone.
 The voltage doubler can be extended to
produce higher voltages using the cascade
arrangement shown in Fig. 1.14.
 C1 charges to positive peak secondary voltage,
while C2 and C3 charges to twice the positive
peak secondary voltage.
 The result is that the output voltage is the
sum of the voltages across C1 and C3 which
is 3 times the voltage that would be produced by a single diode.
1.2 AMPLIFIER
 An amplifier is an electronic device that can increase the power of a signal (a time-
varying voltage or current).It is a two port electronic circuit used to increase
the amplitude of a signal applied to its input terminals.
 The amount of amplification provided by an amplifier is measured by its gain: the ratio
of output voltage, current, or power to input.
 1.2.1 Types of Amplifier
AC Amplifier
 Stages are coupled together in such a way that dc levels are isolated and only the ac
components of a signal are transferred from stage to stage.
DC Amplifier
 Stages are coupled together in such a way that stages are not isolated to d.c. potentials.
 Both a.c. and d.c. signal components are transferred from stage to stage.
Large Signal Amplifier
 Designed to cater for appreciable voltage and/or current levels (from 1V - 100V or more).
Small signal amplifier
 Designed to cater for low-level signals (normally less than 1 V and often much smaller).
 Specially designed to combat the effects of noise.
Audio frequency amplifier
 Operate in the band of frequencies that is normally associated with audio signals (e.g.
20 Hz to 20 kHz).
Radio Frequency amplifiers
 Operate in the band of frequencies that is normally associated with radio signals (e.g.
from 100 kHz to over 1 GHz).
Wideband amplifiers
 Capable of amplifying a very wide range of frequencies, typically from a few tens of hertz
to several megahertz.
Low noise amplifiers
 Designed so that they contribute negligible noise to the signal being amplified.
 Designed for use with very small signal levels (usually less than 10 mV or so).
Gain of an amplifier
 Important parameters of amplifier are the amount of amplification or gain that it
provides.
 Gain is simply the ratio of output voltage to input voltage, output current to input
current, or output power to input power.
 These are called as: Voltage gain (Av), Current gain (AI) and Power gain (AP), given by

 Since power is the product of current and voltage (P = IV), we can infer that:
Problem 1.4: An amplifier produces an output voltage of 2 V for an input of 50 mV. If the
input and output currents in this condition are, respectively, 4 mA and 200 mA, determine:
(a) The voltage gain (b) the current gain (c) the power gain.
Solution: Given: Vi = 50mV, Vout = 2V , Iin = 4mA , Iout= 200mA
(a)
The voltage gain is calculated from: Av = Vout / Vin = 2V / 50mV = 40.
(b)
The current gain is calculated from: AI = Iout / Iin = 200mA / 4mA = 50
(c)
The power gain is calculated from: Ap = Av x AI = 40 x 50 = 2000.
1.2.2 Input and output resistance
 Input resistance is the ratio of input voltage to input current and is expressed in ohms.
 Input of an amplifier is normally purely resistive & measured in mid-band frequency.
 In some cases, the reactance of the input may become appreciable & in such cases we
would refer to input impedance rather than input resistance.
 Output resistance is the ratio of open-circuit output voltage to short-circuit output
current and is measured in ohms.
 If output is not purely resistive, then referred as output impedance.
 Fig. 1.15 shows how the input and output resistances are ‘seen’ looking into the input
and output terminals, respectively.

1.2.3 Frequency Response

 Frequency response characteristics for various types of amplifier are shown in Fig. 1.16.
 The frequency response of an amplifier is usually specified in terms of the upper and
lower cut-off frequencies of the amplifier.
 These frequencies are those at which the output power has dropped to 50% (known as
the -3 dB points) or where the voltage gain has dropped to 70.7% of its mid-band value.
1.2.4 Bandwidth
 The bandwidth of an amplifier is usually taken as the difference between the upper and
lower cut-off frequencies.
 The bandwidth of an amplifier must be sufficient to accommodate the range of
frequencies present within the signals that it is to be presented with.
 Figs 1.17 (a) and (b), shows the bandwidth expressed in terms of either power or voltage.

1.2.5 Phase Shift

 It is the phase angle between the input and output signal voltages measured in degrees.
 The measurement is usually carried out in the mid-band.
 Single-stage transistor amplifiers provide phase shifts of either 180° or 360°.
1.2.6 Negative Feedback
 Most of the practical amplifiers use negative feedback to precisely control the gain,
reduce distortion and improve bandwidth.
 Gain can be reduced to a manageable value by feeding back a small proportion of the
output. The amount of feedback determines the overall (or closed-loop) gain.
 Negative feedback has the effect of reducing the overall gain of the circuit.
 In positive feedback, the output is fed back in such a way as to reinforce the input
(rather than to subtract from it).
 Fig. 1.18 shows the block diagram of an amplifier stage with negative feedback applied.
 The proportion of the output voltage fed back to the input is given by β and the overall
voltage gain will be given by: Overall Gain G = Vout / Vin
 Applying KVL to the input, Vin’ = Vin - Vout β
 Thus, Vin = Vin’ + Vout β and Vout = Av x Vin’

 Therefore, the overall gain with negative feedback applied will be less than the gain
without feedback.
Problem 1.5: An amplifier with negative feedback applied has an open-loop voltage gain of
50, and one-tenth of its output is fed back to the input (i.e. β = 0.1).
(a) Determine the overall voltage gain with negative feedback applied.
(b) If the amplifier’s open-loop voltage gain increases by 20%, determine the percentage
increase in overall voltage gain.
Solution: (a) With negative feedback applied the overall voltage gain will be given by:

(b) The new value of voltage gain will be given by:

AV’ = AV + 0.2 AV = 50 + 0.2(50) = 60
The overall voltage gain with negative feedback will then be:

The increase in overall voltage gain, expressed as a percentage, will thus be:

1.2.7 Multi-stage amplifiers

 In order to provide sufficiently large values of gain, it is frequently necessary to use a
number of interconnected stages within an amplifier.
 The overall gain of an amplifier with several stages (i.e. a multi-stage amplifier) is simply
the product of the individual voltage gains.
 Hence: AV = AV1 x AV2 x AV3, etc.
 The bandwidth of a multistage amplifier will be less than the bandwidth of each
 individual stage. In other words, an increase in gain can only be achieved at the expense of a
reduction in bandwidth.
 Signals can be coupled between the individual stages of a multi-stage amplifier using a
suitable coupling device.
Types of coupling
 RC coupling: In this coupling method, the stages are coupled together using capacitors
having a low reactance at the signal frequency and resistors.
 L–C coupling: In this method, the stages are coupled together using inductors having a
high reactance at the signal frequency. This type of coupling is generally only used in RF
and high-frequency amplifiers.
 Transformer Coupling: In this method, the transformer is used as coupling device.