Early Radio Receivers, Called Crystal Radios, Used A "Cat's Whisker" of Fine Wire Pressing On A Crystal of

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 process is
known as rectification. Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms, including vacuum tube diodes,
mercury-arc valves, solid-state diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and other silicon-based semiconductor
switches. Historically, even synchronous electromechanical switches and motors 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, detectors of radio signals
serve as rectifiers. In gas heating systems flame rectification is used to detect presence of flame.
The simple process of rectification produces a type of DC characterized by pulsating

voltages and currents (although still unidirectional). Depending upon the type of end-use, this type of DC
current may then be further modified into the type of relatively constant voltage DC characteristically
produced by such sources as batteries and solar cells.
A device which performs the opposite function (converting DC to AC) is known as an inverter.
Rectifier devices
Before the development of silicon semiconductor rectifiers, vacuum tube diodes and
copper(I) oxide or selenium rectifier stacks were used. 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 which 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 are used in high-
voltage direct current power 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.
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.
The output DC voltage of an ideal half wave rectifier is:
A real rectifier will have a characteristic which 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 will distort waveforms in other ways; unlike an ideal
rectifier, it will dissipate power.
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. Full-wave rectification converts both polarities of the input
waveform to DC (direct current), and yields a higher mean output voltage. Two diodes and a center
tapped transformer, or four diodes in a bridge configuration and any AC source (including a transformer
without center tap), are needed. Single semiconductor diodes, double diodes with common cathode or
common anode, and four-diode bridges, are manufactured as single components.
Rectifier output smoothing
While half-wave and full-wave rectification can deliver unidirectional current, neither
produces a constant voltage. In order to produce steady DC from a rectified AC supply, a smoothing
circuit or filter is required. In its simplest form this can be just a reservoir capacitor or smoothing
capacitor, placed at the DC output of the rectifier. There will still be an AC ripple voltage component at
the power supply frequency for a half-wave rectifier, twice that for full-wave, where the voltage is not
completely smoothed.
Sizing of the capacitor represents a tradeoff. For a given load, a larger capacitor will
reduce ripple but will cost more and will create higher peak currents in the transformer secondary and in
the supply feeding it. The peak current is set in principle by the rate of rise of the supply voltage on the
rising edge of the incoming sine-wave, but in practice it is reduced by the resistance of the transformer
windings. In extreme cases where many rectifiers are loaded onto a power distribution circuit, peak
currents may cause difficulty in maintaining a correctly shaped sinusoidal voltage on the ac supply.
To limit ripple 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. The load current and the supply frequency are generally outside the control of the
designer of the rectifier system but the number of peaks per input cycle can be affected by the choice of
rectifier design.
A half-wave rectifier will only give one peak per cycle and for this and other
reasons is only used in very small power supplies. A full wave rectifier achieves two peaks per cycle, the
best possible with a single-phase input. For three-phase inputs a three-phase bridge will give six peaks per
cycle; higher numbers of peaks can be achieved by using transformer networks placed before the rectifier
to convert to a higher phase order.
To further reduce ripple, a capacitor-input filter can be used. This complements the
reservoir capacitor with a choke (inductor) and a second filter capacitor, so that a steadier DC output can
be obtained across the terminals of the filter capacitor. The choke presents a high impedance to the ripple
current.[2] For use at power-line frequencies 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.
A more usual alternative to a filter, and essential if the DC load requires very low
ripple voltage, is to follow the reservoir capacitor with an active voltage regulator circuit. The reservoir
capacitor needs to be large enough to 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. It would be
possible to use a smaller reservoir capacitor (these can be large on high-current power supplies) and then
apply some filtering as well as the regulator, but this is not a common strategy. The extreme of this
approach is to dispense with the reservoir capacitor altogether and put the rectified waveform straight into
a choke-input filter. The advantage of this circuit is that the current waveform is smoother and
consequently the rectifier no longer has to deal with the current as a large current pulse, but instead the
current delivery is spread over the entire cycle. The disadvantage, apart from extra size and weight, is that
the voltage output is much lower approximately the average of an AC half-cycle rather than the peak.

Early Radio Receivers, Called Crystal Radios, Used A "Cat's Whisker" of Fine Wire Pressing On A Crystal of

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Early Radio Receivers, Called Crystal Radios, Used A "Cat's Whisker" of Fine Wire Pressing On A Crystal of

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Early Radio Receivers, Called Crystal Radios, Used A "Cat's Whisker" of Fine Wire Pressing On A Crystal of

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which

The simple process of rectification produces a type of DC characterized by pulsating

In half wave rectification of a single-phase supply, either the positive or negative

The output DC voltage of an ideal half wave rectifier is:

To limit ripple to a specified value the required capacitor size is proportional to

You might also like