How can this circuit be best described?
The first half-cycle charges C1 so Vc1 goes positive while C2 is still uncharged.
The second half-cycle charges C2 so that Vc2 goes negative. Since Vc1 is still positive the difference between the two is doubled.
The circuit is called &quot;a voltage doubler&quot;.



simulate this circuit &ndash; Schematic created using CircuitLab
Figure 1. A more usual way of drawing the circuit may look more familiar.