Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

Electrical and Electronics Laboratory

DIODE CLIPPER, CLAMPER CIRCUITS And VOLTAGE DOUBLER CIRCUITS

(Electronics Experiment No. 1)

Aim: To design clipping and clamping circuits and observe/analyze their behavior. These
circuits are used in several applications. For example, clipper circuits are used limit voltages to
safe levels in circuits, in wave-shaping circuits, etc., clamper circuits are used to restore dc
levels in TV receiver circuits; and voltage doublers are used in safety testing of high energy
circuits.

Pre-lab work:
Review the material on clipper, clamper, and voltage doubler circuits. If required to design any
circuit in this lab sheet, do the paper design prior to your lab session.

Caution:
Do not connect a voltage source directly across a diode, as very high current may flow through
the device and damage it.

1. Clipper Circuits

a) Wire up the biased clipper circuit shown in Figure 1 on a breadboard. Apply a 10 V p-p,
1 kHz sinusoidal voltage Vin to the circuit.

Figure 1: Biased Clipper.

View the input voltage vin on Channel 1 of the CRO, and the output voltage vo on
Channel 2. Sketch the output waveforms. Explain how the circuit works and derive the
transfer characteristics (vo vs vi) of the circuit (assuming a constant voltage drop model
of 0.7 V for the diode), for each of the following:
i. Vs = 0 V, ii. Vs = 3V, iii. Vs = -3V.
 Also plot the transfer characteristics by putting the oscilloscope in the XY mode, and
compare with the characteristics you derived.

b) The circuit in Figure 1 is called a negatively biased clipper. Make some simple
modifications to this circuit to implement a positively biased clipper, and repeat Part 1)
for each of the Vs values.

c) Design a circuit to implement the input-output characteristics shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2.

2. Clamper Circuits

Figure 3 shows a positive clamper circuit. Make simple modifications to the circuit to obtain a
negative clamper circuit.

Figure 3: Positive clamper circuit.

a) View the input voltage vin on Channel 1 of the CRO, and the output voltage Vout on
Channel 2. Observe and sketch in your report, the input and output voltage waveforms
for (i) Vs = 0V (ii) Vs = +3V (iii) Vs = 3V. (Be mindful of the oscilloscope signal coupling
mode required for this part of the experiment). Obtain the transfer characteristics by
placing the CRO in the XY mode. Explain all your observations.
b) Change the load resistance (RL) as below. Observe and explain the changes in output
waveforms for:
a. RL = RL /4 b. RL = RL /2 c. RL = 3 RL /4
3. Voltage doubler circuit.

Wire up the voltage doubler circuit, shown in Figure 4 on your breadboard.

Figure 4: Voltage doubler circuit.

Observe the voltage across the diode D1 and the voltage Vout simultaneously on the CRO.
Sketch these in your report. Explain how this circuit functions.