Electronics Workshop Companion for Hobbyists by Gibilisco Stan

Author:Gibilisco, Stan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
Published: 2015-05-18T04:00:00+00:00

FIGURE 6-8 Connection of a Zener diode for voltage regulation.

Amplitude Limiting

A forward-biased diode won’t conduct until the voltage reaches the forward breakover point, but it will always conduct when the forward-bias voltage exceeds forward breakover. In a diode, the voltage between the P and N type layers remains roughly equal to the forward breakover voltage as long as current flows. For silicon diodes, this voltage drop is 0.5 V to 0.6 V. For germanium diodes, the voltage drop is roughly 0.3 V, and for selenium diodes it’s around 1 V.

You can take advantage of the “constant-voltage-drop” property of diodes to build a circuit that limits, or clips, the amplitude of a signal. Figure 6-9A shows how to connect two identical diodes back-to-back in parallel with the signal path to clip the positive and negative peaks. The positive and negative peak voltages can never exceed the forward breakover voltage of the diodes.

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