Half Wave Rectifier

The half wave rectifier circuit consists of a transformer, a single p-n junction diode acting as the rectifying element, and a load resistor $R_L$. During the POSITIVE half cycle of the AC input, terminal A becomes positive with respect to terminal B, the diode is forward biased and conducts, and current flows through $R_L$, developing an output voltage $V_0$ across it that follows the shape of the input's positive half. During the NEGATIVE half cycle, terminal A is negative with respect to B, the diode is reverse biased and does not conduct (the tiny reverse saturation current is negligible), so no voltage develops across $R_L$ and the negative half of the input is suppressed entirely at the output. Because only one half of the input wave ever reaches the output, this is called a half wave rectifier -- reversing the diode's polarity would instead pass the negative half and block the positive half. The resulting output is not a steady DC voltage but a PULSATING wave …