Rectification With A Diode

Rectification is the process of converting an alternating electrical signal into a unidirectional signal. A diode is useful for rectification because it conducts much more easily in one direction than the other.

Suppose an alternating voltage is applied to a diode and load. During the half-cycle that forward biases the diode: diode conducts → current flows through load During the opposite half-cycle: diode is reverse biased → current is strongly restricted The output therefore contains pulses in only one direction. This is called **half-wave rectification**.

The output from a simple rectifier is not automatically a perfectly smooth DC voltage. Additional components can be used to **smooth** the rectified output.

Rectification is important in power supplies that need DC from an AC source.