Clamper circuit

A Clamper Circuit is a circuit that adds a DC level to an AC signal. Actually, the positive and negative peaks of the signals can be placed at desired levels using the clamping circuits. As the DC level gets shifted, a clamper circuit is called a Level Shifter. Clamper circuits consist of energy storage elements like capacitors. A simple clamper circuit comprises a capacitor, a diode, a resistor, and a dc battery if required. A Clamper circuit can be defined as the circuit that consists of a diode, a resistor, and a capacitor that shifts the waveform to the desired DC level without changing the actual appearance of the applied signal. In order to maintain the time period of the waveform, the "tau" must be greater than, half the time period discharging time of the capacitor should be slow. τ=Rc Where, R is the resistance of the resistor employed C is the capacitance of the capacitor used The time constant of charge and discharge of the capacitor determines the output of a clamper circuit. In a clamper circuit, a vertical shift of upward or downward takes place in the output waveform with respect to the input signal. The load resistor and the capacitor affect the waveform. So, the discharging time of the capacitor should be large enough. The DC component present in the input is rejected when a capacitor coupled network is used as a capacitor blocks dc. Hence when dc needs to be restored, the clamping circuit is used.