Consider a voltage doubler circuit composed of two consecutive sections: a clamping section and a rectifier section.

The clamping section comprises a capacitor C₁ and a diode D₁, while the rectifier section consists of a diode D₂ and a capacitor C₂.

When a sinusoidal input of specific amplitude is applied to the clamping section, it generates an output voltage waveform across the diode, assuming ideal diode behavior.

It clamps the positive peaks to zero volts while allowing the negative peak to reach a value twice the amplitude of the sinusoidal input.

The output waveform across the clamping section serves as an input to the rectifier section.

It generates a DC voltage across the capacitor C₂, which equals twice the amplitude of the sinusoidal input.

As the output voltage is double the peak value of the input voltage, this circuit is known as a voltage doubler.

This technique can be extended to generate output voltages with higher multiples of the input sinusoid's amplitude.

Voltage doublers are used in various applications, including scientific equipment, signal processing, and DC to DC converters in electronic devices.