Experiment#3:

ClipperandClamperCircuits

FridayGroup

Dr.Somnath AriMahpour
92509and10209 TeddyAriyatham
Due10909 JaysondelaCruz
TableofContents

Objective .............................................................................................................................. 3
Tools .................................................................................................................................... 3
Theory .................................................................................................................................. 3
Preliminary Calculations ..................................................................................................... 4
Discussion and Results ........................................................................................................ 5
Steps 1 and 2: Single Positive Peak Clipper .................................................................... 5
Steps 3 and 4: Single Negative Peak Clipper .................................................................. 7
1 Volt Input: ................................................................................................................. 7
2 Volt Input: ................................................................................................................. 8
3 Volt Input: ................................................................................................................. 9
4 Volt Input: ............................................................................................................... 10
Step 5: Zener Diode Clipper (10V Input) ...................................................................... 11
Steps 6 and 8: Clamper Circuit ...................................................................................... 12
0.1 F Capacitor:........................................................................................................ 12
470 F Capacitor:....................................................................................................... 13
Step 7: Clamper Circuit ................................................................................................. 14
Step 9: Clamper Circuit (10F): .................................................................................... 15
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 16

Objective
Thislaboratoryexperimentexplorestheapplicationsofthediode.Thepurposeofthis
experimentistoobservetheclippingandclampingfunctionsfoundinourcircuitdesigns.The
designsthatarerequiredtobeimplementedandbuiltisthezenerdiodeclippercircuitand
variousformsoftheclampercircuit.

Tools
- Oscilloscope
- Functionalgenerator
- Powersupply
- Diodes:D1N4002andD1N746A(zener)
- Capacitors:0.1 Fand10F
- Resistors:1k and 15k

Theory
Whenobservingthecircuits,onecanseethattheboththeclippingandclamping
functionswilloccur.Clippingentailsthattheendsofthewaveformsbecomecutoffor
clipped.Thereareseveraldifferentcasesthatareexploredinthisexperimentwithrespectto
clipping.Acaseofclippingwouldoccurintheforwardactiveregion.Forexample,adiodes
voltagethresholdvalueis0.7V.Ifoneweretoapplyitacrossthediode,theclippingwould
occurat0.7Vsincethatisitsthresholdvoltage.Byaddingabattery,thethresholdisraised.
Addinga1Vbatterynexttothediodewillnowcreateatotalthresholdvoltageof1.7V.
Applyinganythinggreaterthan1.7Vasaninputwouldcauseaclippingat1.7V.Anythingless
thanthatthresholdvaluewillpassrightthrough,thusresultinginnoclippingoccurring.
Whenintroducingacapacitorintothecircuitclampingoccurs.Thisessentiallyshiftsthe
DCoffsetupordowndependingonthedirectionofthediode.Aswewillseewhentesting
circuitswithdifferentcapacitances,forwardactivemodewilldeterminewhethertherewillbea
fullshiftorifthecircuitwillbepartiallyscaleddown(i.e.squashed).Thedirectionofthediode
willalsodeterminewhethertherewillbeapositiveornegativeshiftontheyaxis.
PreliminaryCalculations

DiscussionandResults
Steps1and2:SinglePositivePeakClipper

Figure2.1:PSPICEModel
 12V

8V

4V

0V

-4V

-8V

-12V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(R1:2,0)
Time

Figure2.2:PSPICESimulation

Thecircuitinfigure2.1isapositivepeakclippercircuit.Thereasonthegraphoutput
resemblesanegativehalfwaverectifierisbecausethevoltagemeasuredisacrossthediode,
ratherthanaloadresistor.Whenthediodeisinforwardbias,thepositiveportionsofthewave,
theonlyvoltagemeasuredintheobservableareaisthe+1Vdcsourceplusthediodevoltage
whichis0.7Vwhenforwardbiased.Thisaccountsforthepositivewaveoutputof+1.7Vdc.The
oscilloscopeimagestothecorrespondingcircuitcanbefoundattached(Figure1.1andFigure
1.2).

Steps3and4:SingleNegativePeakClipper
1VoltInput:

Figure4.1:PSPICEModel

1.0V

0.5V

0V

-0.5V

-1.0V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(R1:2,0)
Time

Figure4.1b:PSPICESimulation

Theclippingcircuitinfigure4.1showsanegativepeakclippercircuit,butthegraphseemsto
showtheentiresinewave.Thenegativepeakisntclippedbecausetheinputvoltagewasnt
greaterthanthe1.7Vitwouldtaketoputthediodeintolinear/activemode.Thereforethe
diodestaysinsaturationmodeandthefull1Visreadacrossthevoltmeterleads.
2VoltInput:

Figure4.2:PSPICEModel

2.0V

1.0V

0V

-1.0V

-2.0V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(R1:2,0)
Time

Figure4.2b:PSPICESimulation

Figure4.2showsthesamecircuitasfigure4.1exceptwitha2Vinputratherthana1V
input.Thepositivesectionshowsthefull2Vamplitudebecausethediodeisreversebiased.The
negativehalfofthewaveisgreaterthanthe1.7voltsrequiredtoactivatethediode,butinthe
process,itloses1.7Vofitspotential,accordingtoKVL.Thereforethedifferencebetweenthe
leadsis1.7V,resultinginaclippedsinwave.
3VoltInput:

Figure4.3:PSPICEModel

3.0V

2.0V

1.0V

0V

-1.0V

-2.0V

-3.0V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(R1:2,0)
Time

Figure4.3b:PSPICESimulation

Figure4.3showsthesamecircuitasfigure4.1exceptwitha3Vinputratherthana2V
input.Thepositivesectionshowsthefull3Vamplitude,whilethebottomsectionagainonly
showsthe1.7Vdifferencebetweenthepositiveandnegativeleads.

4VoltInput:

Figure4.4:PSPICEModel

4.0V

2.0V

0V

-2.0V

-4.0V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(R1:2,0)
Time

Figure4.4b:PSPICESimulation

Figure4.4showsthesamecircuitasfigure4.1exceptwitha4Vinputratherthana3V
input.hepositivesectionshowsthefull3Vamplitude,whilethebottomsectionagainonly
showsthe1.7Vdifferencebetweenthepositiveandnegativeleads.Thiscircuitisalwaysgoing
tobeclippedat1.7Vbecauseanyvoltagegreaterthan1.7Vwillactivatethediode,therefore
negatinganydifferenceinpotentialbetweenthetwovoltmeterleads.
Step5:ZenerDiodeClipper(10VInput)

Figure5.1:PSPICEModel
4.0V

2.0V

0V

-2.0V

-4.0V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(D1:2,0)
Time

Figure5.2:PSPICESimulation

Figure5.1isazenerdiodeclippercircuit.Zenerdiodesarediodeswitharelativelylow
breakdownvoltage.Thisgraphrepresentsthevoltageacrossareversebiasedzenerdiodeuntil
thesourcevoltageovertakesthezenerbreakdownvoltage.Oncethishappens,thevoltage
potentialquicklyflatlines.Accordingtothegraph,thebreakdownvoltageofthesezener
diodesissomewherearound3V.When10Vpositiveisappliedtothecircuit,the10Visreadby
thepositivelead,while10V0.7V3V=6.3Visreadacrosstheoutput.Thiscausesavoltage
differenceof3.7tobereadasoutput,whichisclosetothevalueweobtainedinthesimulation.
Steps6and8:ClamperCircuit
0.1FCapacitor:

Figure8.1:PSPICEModel
20V

10V

0V

-10V

-20V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(C1:1,C1:2) V(R1:2,0)
Time

Figure8.2:PSPICESimulation

Figure8.1isaclampercircuitthatusesadiodeandacapacitortoapplyadcoffsetto
thesourcewave.Whiletheinputwaveispositive,allofthevoltagegoesintothecapacitor,
whichiswhynovoltageshowsduringthepositiveoutputportions.Whiletheinputwaveis
negative,thecapacitordischargesandstacksontopoftheinput,thereforeamplifyingit.This
explainswhythenegativepeakismorethanthe10Vinputwave.

470FCapacitor:

Figure8.3:PSPICEModel
20V

10V

0V

-10V

-20V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(C1:1,C1:2) V(C1:2,0) V(C1:1,0)
Time

Figure8.4:PSPICESimulation

Thisclampercircuitisidenticaltothepreviousclampercircuit,exceptthatthecapacitor
hasagreatercapacitance,thereforeholdsmorecharge.Duringthefirstpositivehalfwave,the
capacitorbecomeschargedwith10V.Fromthatpointon,thecapacitoractslikeabattery,
shiftingtheentirewaveformdownby10V.

Step7:ClamperCircuit

Asseeninfigure7.1(attached)the10Fcausedaverticalshift.As
opposedtotheprevioustwoclampercircuits,thisshiftisneithernegativenora
positivewithacutoff,ratheritmerelyhasapositiveverticalshift.Thepeakto
peakvoltageisapproximatelythesame,therefore,withrespecttothatnothing
haschanged,however,theDCoffsetmustbeconsidered.Thiscapacitancevalue
wasjustperfecttocauseaDCoffsetof10volts.

Step9:ClamperCircuit(10F):

Figure9.1:PSPICEModel
20V

10V

0V

-10V

-20V
0s 0.5ms 1.0ms 1.5ms 2.0ms 2.5ms 3.0ms 3.5ms 4.0ms 4.5ms 5.0ms
V(C1:1,C1:2) V(C1:2,0) V(C1:1,0)
Time

Figure9.2:PSPICESimulation

Thisclampercircuitactthesameasthepreviousclampercircuitfigure8.3exceptthat
thediodedirectionisflipped,andabatteryisaddedbehindthediode.Thereforetheshifted
valuewillbethecapacitorcharge(10V)0.7voltageacrossthediode,1Vdcbecauseofthe
battery.10.71=8.3VDCoffset.

Conclusion
Thislaboratoryexperimenttaughtusmanythingsaboutcertaincircuits,
butmorethanthat,ittaughtushowtoproblemsolve.Whenrunningintovarious
problems,wewouldpulloutournotesfromthecorrespondinglectureclassand
dissectthephysicsofalltheunitsthatwereundertesting.Byfollowingcharts,
equations,andlectureexampleswewereabletogetthroughtheexperiment
withadeepunderstandingofthematerialthathadtobecoveredthroughoutthe
courseofthisexperiment.Intheworkfieldwewillfindthatthiswillfrequentlybe
thecase,therefore,learningthisskillbeforegoingoutintothefieldisintegral.
Thus,wearebroughtheretogaintheseskillssowewillbeproperlypreparedto
jointheworkforcewhenwefinishouracademiccareerhereatCaliforniaState
University,Northridge.