Full-Wave Rectification and Half-Wave Rectification

Full-Wave and Half-Wave Rectification

Rectification methods to convert AC (Alternating Current) to DC (Direct Current) include full-wave rectification and half-wave rectification. In both cases, rectification is performed by utilizing the characteristic that current flows only in the positive direction in a diode.

Full-wave rectification rectifies the negative component of the input voltage to a positive voltage, then converts it into DC (pulse current) utilizing a diode bridge configuration. In contrast, half-wave rectification removes just the negative voltage component using a single diode before converting to DC.
Afterward, the waveform is smoothed by charging/discharging a capacitor, resulting in a clean DC signal.
From this, it can be said that full-wave rectification is a more efficient method than half-wave rectification since the entire waveform is used.
Also, a ripple voltage that appears after smoothing will vary depending on the capacitance of this capacitor and the load.
Given the same capacitance and load, ripple voltage is smaller with full-wave rectification than haif-wave rectification. Of course it goes without saying that the smaller the ripple voltage the better the stability.