UNIT - V

POWER AMPLIFIERS AND DC CONVERTERS

1. CE, CB and CC Amplifiers:

An amplifier is used to increase the signal level. It is used to get a larger signal
output from a small signal input. Assume a sinusoidal signal at the input of the
amplifier. At the output, signal must remain sinusoidal in waveform with
frequency same as that of input. To make the transistor work as an amplifier, it
is to be biased to operate in active region. It means base-emitter junction is
forward biased and base-collector junction is reverse biased.

Let us consider the common emitter amplifier circuit using voltage divider bias.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

In the absence of input signal, only D.C. voltage is present in the circuit. It is
known as zero signal or no signal condition or quiescent condition. D.C.
collector-emitter voltage VCE, D.C. collector current IC and base current IB is
the quiescent operating point for the amplifier. Due to this base current varies
sinusoidaly as shown in the below figure.
 Fig. IBQ is quiescent DC base current

If the transistor is biased to operate in active region, output is linearly

proportional to the input.

The collector current is β times larger than the input base current in CE
configuration. The collector current will also vary sinusoidally about its
quiescent value ICQ. The output voltage will also vary sinusoidally as shown in
the below figure.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Variations in the collector current and voltage between collector and emitter due
to change in base current are shown graphically with the help of load line in the
above figure.
 2. Common Emitter Amplifier Circuit:

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

From above circuit, it consists of different circuit components. The functions of

these components are as follows:

1. Biasing Circuit:
Resistors R1, R2 and RE forms the voltage divider biasing circuit for CE
amplifier and it sets the proper operating point for CE amplifier.

2. Input Capacitor C1:

C1 couples the signal to base of the transistor. It blocks any D.C. component
present in the signal and passes only A.C. signal for amplification.

3. Emitter Bypass Capacitor CE:

CE is connected in parallel with emitter resistance RE to provide a low reactance
path to the amplified A.C. This will reduce the output voltage and reducing the
gain value.

4. Output Coupling Capacitor C2:

C2 couples the output of the amplifier to the load or to the next stage of the
amplifier. It blocks D.C. and passes only A.C. part of the amplified signal.
 Need for C1, C2, and CE:
The impedance of the capacitor is given by,
XC = 1/ (2∏fc)

Phase reversal:
The phase relationship between the input and output voltages can be determined
by considering the effect of positive and negative half cycle separately. The
collector current is β times the base current, so the collector current will also
increases. This increases the voltage drop across RC.
VC = VCC - ICRC
Increase in IC results in a drop in collector voltage V C, as VCC is constant.
Vi increases in a positive direction, Vo goes in negative direction and negative
half cycle of output voltage can be obtained for positive half cycle at the input.
In negative half cycle of input, A.C. and D.C. voltage will oppose each other.
This will reduce the base current. Accordingly collector current and drop across
RC both will reduce and it increases the output voltage. So positive half cycle at
the output for negative half cycle at the input can be obtained. So there is a
phase shift of 180º between input and output voltages for a common emitter
amplifier.

3. Common Collector Amplifier Circuit:

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

From above circuit, D.C. biasing is provided by R1, R2 and RE. The load
resistance is capacitor coupled to the emitter terminal of the transistor. When a
 signal is applied to base of the transistor, V B is increased and decreased as the
signal goes positive and negative respectively.

From figure, VE = VB - VBE

Consider VBE is constant, so the variation in VB appears at emitter and emitter

voltage VE will vary same as base voltage VB. In common collector circuit,
emitter terminal follows the signal voltage applied to the base. It is also known
as emitter follower.

4. Common Base Amplifier Circuit:

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]
From above circuit, the signal source is coupled to the emitter of the transistor
through C1. The load resistance RL is coupled to the collector of the transistor
through C2. The positive going pulse of input source increases the emitter
voltage. As base voltage is constant, forward bias of emitter-base junction
reduces. This reduces Ib, Ic and drop across Rc.

Vo = VCC - ICRC

Reduction in IC results in an increase in Vo. Positive going input produces

positive going output and vice versa. So there is no phase shift between input
and output in common base amplifier.
 Small Signal Low Frequency h-parameter Model:

Let us consider the transistor amplifier as a block box.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Where, Ii – input current to the amplifier

Vi - input voltage to the amplifier

Io – output current of the amplifier

Vo – output voltage of the amplifier

Input current is an independent variable. Input voltage and output current are
dependent variables. Input current and output voltage are independent variables.

This can be written in the equation form as,

The above equation can also be written using alphabetic notations,

Definitions of h-parameter:
The parameters in the above equations are defined as follows:

h11 – input resistance with output short-circuited in ohms

h12 – fraction of output voltage at input with input open circuited, it is unitless

h21 – forward current transfer ratio or current gain with output short circuited, it
is

unitless

h22 – output admittance with input open circuited in mhos

 Benefits of h-parameters:
1. Real numbers at audio frequencies
2. Easy to measure
3. Can be obtained from the transistor static characteristic curve
4. Convenient to use in circuit analysis and design
5. Most of the transistor manufacturers specify the h-parameters

1. h-Parameters for all three configurations:

Transistor can be represented as two port network by making anyone terminal

common between input and output. There are three possible configurations in
which a transistor can be used, there is a change in terminal voltage and current
for different transistor configurations. To designate the type of configuration
another subscript is added to h-parameters.

hie = h11e– input resistance in CE configuration

hfb = h21b – short circuit current gain in CB configuration

 The basic circuit of hybrid model is same for all three configurations, only
parameters are different.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

The circuit and equations are valid for either NPN or PNP transistor and are
independent of the type of load or method of biasing.

Determination of h-parameters from characteristics:

Consider CE configuration, its functional relationship can be defined from the

following equations:
The input characteristic curve gives the relationship between input voltage
VBE and input current IB for different values of output voltage VCE. The
following figure shows the typical input characteristic curve for CE
configuration.

Determination of hie and hre from characteristic curve:

Parameter hie:

Parameter hre:
The output characteristic curve gives the relationship between output current
IC and output voltage VCE for different values of input current IB.

Determination of hfe and hoe from output characteristic curve:

Parameter hfe:
Parameter hoe:

2. Method for analysis of a transistor circuit:

The analysis of transistor circuits for small signal behaviour can be made by
following simple guidelines. These guidelines are,

1. Draw the actual circuit diagram

2. Replace coupling capacitors and emitter bypass capacitor by short circuit
3. Replace D.C. source by a short circuit
4. Mark the points B, E, C on the circuit diagram and locate these points as
the start of the equivalent circuit
5. Replace the transistor by its h-parameter model

Problem 1:

For the common base circuit shown in figure, transistor parameters are hib =
22Ω,

hfb = -0.98, hob = 0.49µA/V, hrb = 2.9*10-4. Calculate the values of input
resistance, output resistance, current gain and voltage gain for the given circuit.
[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Solution:

Change the given figure into h-parameter equivalent model.

General shape of frequency response of amplifiers:
An audio frequency amplifier which operates over audio frequency range
extending from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Audio frequency amplifiers are used in radio
receivers, large public meeting and various announcements to be made for the
passengers on railway platforms. Over the range of frequencies at which it is to
be used an amplifier should ideally provide the same amplification for all
frequencies. The degree to which this is done is usually indicated by the curve
known as frequency response curve of the amplifier.
To plot this curve, input voltage to the amplifier is kept constant and frequency
of input signal is continuously varied. The output voltage at each frequency of
input signal is noted and the gain of the amplifier is calculated. For an audio
frequency amplifier, the frequency range is quite large from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. In
this frequency response, the gain of the amplifier remains constant in mid-
frequency while the gain varies with frequency in low and high frequency
regions of the curve. Only at low and high frequency ends, gain deviates from
ideal characteristics. The decrease in voltage gain with frequency is called roll-
off.

1. Definition of cut-off frequencies and bandwidth:

The range of frequencies can be specified over which the gain does not deviate
more than 70.7% of the maximum gain at some reference mid-frequency.

From above figure, the frequencies f1 & f2 are called lower cut-off and upper
cut-off frequencies.
Bandwidth of the amplifier is defined as the difference between f2 & f1.
Bandwidth of the amplifier = f2 - f1
The frequency f2 lies in high frequency region while frequency f1 lies in low
frequency region. These two frequencies are also called as half-power
frequencies since gain or output voltage drops to 70.7% of maximum value and
this represents a power level of one half the power at the reference frequency in
mid-frequency region.
Low frequency analysis of amplifier to obtain lower cut-
off frequency:

Decibel Unit:

The decibel is a logarithmic measurement of the ratio of one power to another

or one voltage to another. Voltage gain of the amplifier is represented in
decibels (dBs). It is given by,

Voltage gain in dB = 20 log Av

Power gain in decibels is given by,

Power gain in dB = 10 log Ap

Where Av is greater than one, gain is positive and when A v is less than one, gain
is negative. The positive and negative gain indicates that the amplification and
attenuation respectively. Usually the maximum gain is called mid frequency
range gain is assigned a 0 db value. Any value of gain below mid frequency
range can be referred as 0 db and expressed as a negative db value.

Example:

Assume that mid frequency gain of a certain amplifier is 100. Then,

Voltage gain = 20 log 100 = 40 db

At f1 and f2 Av = 100/√2 = 70.7

Voltage gain at f1 = Voltage gain at f2 = 20 log 70.7 = 37 db

From above figure, it shows that the voltage gain at f1 and f2 is less than 3db of
the maximum voltage gain. Due to this the frequencies f 1 and f2 are also called
as 3 db frequencies. At f1 & f2 power gain drops by 3 db. For all frequencies
within the bandwidth, amplifier power gain is at least half of the maximum
power gain. This bandwidth is also referred to as 3 db bandwidth.

Significance of octaves and decades:

The octaves and decades are the measures of change in frequency. A ten times
change in frequency is called a decade. Otherwise, an octave corresponds to a
doubling or halving of the frequency.

Example:

An increase in frequency from 100 Hz to 200 Hz is an octave.

A decrease in frequency from 100 kHz to 50 kHz is also an octave.

At lower and higher frequencies the decrease in the gain of amplifiers is often
indicated in terms of db/decades or db/octaves. If the attenuation in gain is 20
db for each decade, then it is indicated by line having slope of 20 db/decade. A
rate of -20 db/decade is approximately equivalent to - 6db/octave. A rate of -40
db/decade is approximately equivalent to -12db/octave.

Midband gain:

It is defined as the band of frequencies between 10 f1 and 0.1 f2. It is denoted as

midband gain or Amid.

The voltage gain of the amplifier outside the midband is approximately given
as,
Problem:
For an amplifier, midband gain = 100 and lower cutoff frequency is 1 kHz. Find
the gain of an amplifier at frequency 20 Hz.

Solution:

Below midband:

Effect of various capacitors on frequency response:

Effect of coupling capacitors:

The reactance of the capacitor is Xc = 1/2∏fc

At medium and high frequencies, the factor f makes Xc very small, so that all
coupling capacitors behave as short circuits. At low frequencies, X cincreases.
This increase in Xc drops the signal voltage across the capacitor and reduces the
circuit gain. As signal frequencies decrease, capacitor reactance increase and
gain continues to fall, reducing the output voltage.
 Effect of Bypass capacitors:
At lower frequencies, bypass capacitor CE is not a short. So emitter is not at ac
ground. Xc in parallel with RE creates an impedance. The signal voltage drops
across this impedance reducing the circuit gain.

Effect of internal transistor capacitances:

At high frequencies, coupling and bypass capacitors act as short circuit and do
not affect the amplifier frequency response. At high frequencies, internal
capacitances, commonly known as junction capacitances. The following figure
shows the junction capacitances for both BJT and FET. Incase of BJT, Cbe is the
base emitter junction capacitance and Cbc is the base collector junction
capacitance. Incase of FET, Cgs is the internal capacitance between gate and
source and Cgd is the internal capacitance between gate and drain.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

MOSFET small signal model Amplifiers

It provides an excellent voltage gain with high input impedance. Due to these
characteristics, it is often preferred over BJT.

Three basic FET configurations

Common source, common drain and common gate

 1. MOSFET low frequency a.c Equivalent circuit

Figure shows the small signal low frequency a.c Equivalent circuit for n-
channel JFET.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Common Source Amplifier With Fixed Bias

Figure shows Common Source Amplifier With Fixed Bias. The coupling
capacitor C1 and C2 which are used to isolate the d.c biasing from the applied
ac signal act as short circuits for ac analysis.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

The following figure shows the low frequency equivalent model for Common
Source Amplifier With Fixed Bias. It is drawn by replacing

All capacitors and d.c supply voltages with short circuit

JFET with its low frequency a.c Equivalent circuit

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Input Impedance Zi
o Zi = RG
Output Impedance Zo

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

It is the impedance measured looking from the output side with input voltage Vi
equal to Zero.

As Vi=0,Vgs =0 and hence gmVgs =0 . And it allows current source to be

replaced by an open circuit.

If the resistance rd is sufficiently large compared to RD, then

2. Common source amplifier with self bias(Bypassed Rs)

Figure shows Common Source Amplifier With self Bias. The coupling
capacitor C1 and C2 which are used to isolate the d.c biasing from the applied
 ac signal act as short circuits for ac analysis. Bypass capacitor Cs also acts as a
short circuits for low frequency analysis.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

The following figure shows the low frequency equivalent model for Common
Source Amplifier With self Bias.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]
 The negative sign in the voltage gain indicates there is a 180o phase shift
between input and output voltages.

Common source amplifier with self bias (unbypassed Rs)

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Now Rs will be the part of low frequency equivalent model as shown in figure.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Input Impedance Zi

o Zi = RG

Output Impedance Zo

It is given by
 Common source amplifier with Voltage divider bias(Bypassed Rs)
Figure shows Common Source Amplifier With voltage divider Bias. The
coupling capacitor C1 and C2 which are used to isolate the d.c biasing from the
applied ac signal act as short circuits for ac analysis. Bypass capacitor Cs also
acts as a short circuits for low frequency analysis.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

The following figure shows the low frequency equivalent model for Common
Source Amplifier With voltage divider Bias
[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

The negative sign in the voltage gain indicates there is a 180 o phase shift
between input and output voltages.

Common Drain Amplifier

In this circuit, input is applied between gate and source and output is taken
between source and drain.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]
 In this circuit, the source voltage is

Vs = VG+VGS

When a signal is applied to the MOSFET gate via C1 ,VG varies with the
signal. As VGS is fairly constant and Vs = VG+VGS, Vs varies with Vi.

The following figure shows the low frequency equivalent model for common
drain circuit.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Input Impedance Zi

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Zi = RG

Output Impedance Zo

It is given by
Substitute the value Vo and Vi. Then

Common drain circuit does not provide voltage gain.& there is no phase shift
between input and output voltages.

Table summarizes the performance of common drain amplifier

High frequency analysis of MOSFET:

1. Common source amplifier at high frequencies:
This increase in input capacitance Ci over the capacitance from gate to source is
called Miller effect.

This input capacitance affects the gain at high frequencies in the operation of
cascaded amplifiers. In cascaded amplifiers, the output from one stage is used as
the input to a second amplifier. The input impedance of a second stage acts as a
shunt across output of the first stage and Rd is shunted by the capacitance Ci.
 Output Admittance:

From above figure, the output impedance is obtained by looking into the drain
with the input voltage set equal to zero. If Vi = 0 in figure, rd , Cds and Cgd in
parallel. Hence the output admittance with RL considered external to the
amplifier is given by,

2. Common Drain Amplifier at High Frequencies:

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Fig. Common Drain Amplifier Circuit & Small signal equivalent circuit at high
frequencies.

Voltage gain:

The output voltage Vo can be found from the product of the short circuit and the
impedance between terminals S and N. Voltage gain is given by,
 Input Admittance:

Input Admittance Yi can be obtained by applying Miller‘s theorem to Cgs. It is

given by,

Output Admittance:

Output Admittance Yo with Rs considered external to the amplifier, it is given

by,
 Frequency Response of Common Source Amplifier:

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Let us consider a typical common source amplifier as shown in the above

figure.
[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

From above figure, it shows the high frequency equivalent circuit for the given
amplifier circuit. It shows that at high frequencies coupling and bypass
capacitors act as short circuits and do not affect the amplifier high frequency
response. The equivalent circuit shows internal capacitances which affect the
high frequency response.

Using Miller theorem, this high frequency equivalent circuit can be further
simplified as follows:

The internal capacitance Cgd can be splitted into Cin(miller) and Cout(miller) as
shown in the following figure.
[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

From simplified high frequency equivalent circuit, it has two RC networks

which affect the high frequency response of the amplifier. These are,

1. Input RC network
2. Output RC network
 Input RC network:

This network is further reduced as follows since Rs << RG

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]
 Output RC network:
[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

Fig. Output RC network

The critical frequency for the above circuit is,

It is not necessary that these frequencies should be equal. The network which
has lower critical frequency than other network is called dominant network.
The phase shift in high frequency is
POWER AMPLIFIERS :

The ideal amplifier would deliver 100 percent of the power it draws from the dc
power supply to its load. In practice, 100 percent efficiency cannot be achieved
(at this time) because every amplifier uses some percentage of the power it
draws from the dc power supply.

The efficiency of an amplifier is the ratio of ac output power to dc input power,

written as a percentage. By formula:

The lower the position of the Q-point on the dc load line, the higher the
maximum theoretical efficiency of a given amplifier. Typical Q-point locations
for class A, B, AB, and C amplifiers are shown in Figure 11.1 of the text.

AC Load Lines

The ac load line is a graph of all possible combinations of i c and vce for a given
amplifier. Under normal circumstances, the ac and dc load lines for a given
amplifier are not identical (see Figure 11.3 of the text).

Amplifier Compliance

The compliance (PP) of an amplifier is the limit that the output circuit places on
its peak-to-peak output voltage. The compliance for a given amplifier is found
using the following equations:

PP = 2lCQrC and PP = 2VCEQ

These equations are developed as illustrated in Figure 11.1.

The compliance of an amplifier is determined by solving both PP equations and
using the lower of the two results, as demonstrated in Example 11.1 of the text.
Note the following:

· When an amplifier has a value of PP = 2VCEQ, exceeding the value of PP

results in saturation clipping.
· When an amplifier has a value of PP = 2lCQrC, exceeding the value of PP
results in cutoff clipping. However, the circuit will experience nonlinear
distortion before the amplifier peak-to-peak output reaches the value of PP.

1. Transformer-Coupled Class A Amplifiers

A transformer-coupled class A amplifier is shown in Figure 11.2. The

transformer is used to couple the amplifier output signal to its load.
[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

The dc biasing of the transformer-coupled class A amplifier is similar to that of

other amplifiers, outside of the fact that the value of V CEQ is designed to be as
close as possible to the value of VCC.
Plotting the ac load line of a transformer-coupled class A amplifier is
demonstrated in Section 11.3.3 of the text. The following are typical
characteristics for the transformer-coupled circuit:
· VCEQ is very close to the value of VCC.
· The maximum output voltage is very close to 2VCEQ and therefore, can
approach the value of 2VCC.
The maximum theoretical efficiency of a transformer-coupled class A amplifier
is 50%.
In practice, the transformer-coupled amplifier has a value of < 25%. The high
theoretical value is a result of assuming that VCEQ = VCC and ignoring
transformer (and other) circuit losses. The efficiency of a transformer-coupled
circuit is calculated as shown in Example 11.7 of the text.
The transformer-coupled class A amplifier has the following advantages over
the RC-coupled circuit:
· Higher efficiency.
· It is relatively simple to match the amplifier and load impedance using a
transformer.
· A transformer-coupled circuit can easily be converted to a tuned
amplifier; that is, a circuit that provides a specific value of gain over a specified
range of operating frequencies.
 2. Class B Amplifiers

The class B amplifier is a two-transistor circuit that is designed to improve on

the efficiency characteristics of class A amplifiers. A class B amplifier is shown
in Figure 11.3. The Q-point values for the circuit in Figure 11.3 are found using

where ICO is the collector cutoff current rating for the transistor.

[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

The circuit shown in Figure 11.3 is a complementary-symmetry amplifier, or a

push-pull emitter follower. The circuit contains one npn transistor (Q 1) and one
pnp transistor (Q2). The circuit contains complementary transistors; that is, npn
and pnp transistors with identical characteristics

3. Class C Amplifiers

Class C amplifiers were briefly mentioned in Chapter 11. The transistor in a

class C amplifier conducts for less than 180° of the input cycle. A basic class C
amplifier is illustrated in Figure 17.14.
[Source: Sedra and Smith, ―Micro Electronic Circuits‖; Sixth Edition, Oxford University Press]

The most important aspect of the dc operation of this amplifier is that it is

biased deeply into cutoff, meaning that VCEQ =~~=VCC and ICQ =~~= 0 A. If a
negative supply is used to bias the base circuit, the value of VBB usually fulfills
the following relationship:
–VBB = 1 V – Vin(pk)
The ac operation of the class C amplifier is based on the characteristics of the
parallel-resonant tank circuit. If a single current pulse is applied to the tank
circuit, the result is a decaying sinusoidal waveform (as shown in Figure 17.43b
of the text). The waveform shown is a result of the charge/discharge cycle of the
capacitor and inductor in the tank circuit, and is commonly referred to as the
flywheel effect.
To produce a sine wave that does not decay, we must repeatedly apply a current
pulse during each full cycle. At the peak of each positive alternation of the input
signal, the tank circuit in a class C amplifier gets the current pulse it needs to
produce a complete sine wave at the output. This concept is illustrated in Figure
17.44 of the text. Note that T1, T2, and T3 are inverted at the output relative to
the input. This is due to the fact that a common-emitter amplifier produces a
180° voltage phase shift. Note that the bandwidth, Q, and QL characteristics of a
class C amplifier are the same as those for any tuned discrete amplifier
One final point about the class C amplifier. In order for this amplifier to work
properly, the tank circuit must be tuned to the same frequency as the input
signal, or to some harmonic of that frequency. For instance, you could tune the
class C amplifier to the third harmonic of the input and have an output that is
three times the input frequency. As such, the class C amplifier can be used as a
frequency multiplier.