Electronics Device and Circuits

(EDC)

Arjun Singh Vijoriya

Assistant Professor & ICT Manager
Amplifiers
• An amplifier is an electronic device or circuit that is designed to increase the amplitude or strength of an
electrical signal maintaining the essential characteristics of the input signal.

• The primary purpose of an amplifier is to boost the power of a weak signal, making it stronger and
suitable for various applications.

• Amplifiers are widely used in audio systems, radio frequency communication, and other electronic
devices where the amplification of signals is necessary.

• There are different types of amplifiers, such as audio amplifiers, radio frequency (RF) amplifiers, and
operational amplifiers (op-amps), each serving specific purposes.

Amplifier
Input Output
Circuit
Amplifiers
Classifications Amplifiers
 Based on Biasing
 Based on Power
 Base Biased Amplifiers
 Emitter Biased Amplifiers ( VDB &  Class A amplifier
TSEB)  Class B amplifier
 Class C amplifier
 Based on number of stages
 Single-stage Amplifiers  Class AB amplifier
 Multi-stage Amplifiers  Based on the Coupling method

 Based on its output  RC Coupled amplifier

 Voltage Amplifiers  Transformer Coupled amplifier
 Power Amplifiers
 Direct Coupled amplifier
 Based on the input signals  Based on the Transistor Configuration
 Small Signal Amplifiers
 Large Signal Amplifiers  CE amplifier
 CB amplifier
 Based on the frequency range
 Audio Amplifiers  CC amplifier
 Radio-Amplifier
Base-Biased Amplifier
A base-biased amplifier has instructional value because its
basic ideas can be used to build more complicated amplifiers.

Coupling Capacitor: Coupling capacitors are important

because they allow us to couple an ac signal into an
amplifier without disturbing its Q point.

Dc voltage has a frequency of zero, the

reactance of a coupling capacitor is
infinite at zero frequency. Therefore, we
will use these two approximations for a
capacitor:
1. For dc analysis, the capacitor is open.
2. For ac analysis, the capacitor is
shorted.
Base-Biased Amplifier
Base-Biased Amplifier
Base-Biased Amplifier

Amplifying Circuit:

• A coupling capacitor is used between an ac

source and the base.
• A coupling capacitor is used between the
collector and the load resistor.
• The total base current will have a dc
component and an ac component .
Base-Biased Amplifier
• The ac source voltage is a small sinusoidal voltage.
This is coupled into the base, where it is
superimposed on the dc component of +0.7 V.
• The variation in base voltage produces sinusoidal
variations in base current, collector current, and
collector voltage.
• The total collector voltage is an inverted sine wave
superimposed on the dc collector voltage of +15 V.
Base-Biased Amplifier
Base-Biased Amplifier
Emitter-Biased Amplifier
The base-biased amplifier has an unstable Q point. For this reason, it
is not used much as an amplifier. Instead, an emitter-biased amplifier
(either VDB or TSEB) with its stable Q point is preferred.
Bypass Capacitor:
A bypass capacitor is similar to a coupling capacitor because it
appears open to direct current and shorted to alternating current. But
it is not used to couple a signal between two points. Instead, it is used
to create an ac ground.
Emitter-Biased Amplifier
VDB Amplifier

• The base voltage is an ac voltage

superimposed on a dc voltage of +1.8 V.
• The collector voltage is an amplified
and inverted ac voltage superimposed
on the dc collector voltage of +6.04 V.
• The load voltage is the same as the
collector voltage. There is no ac emitter
voltage because emitter is at ac
ground, a direct result of using a bypass
Emitter-Biased Amplifier
TSEB Circuit

The ac operation of the circuit is similar to that of a VDB amplifier. We couple a signal
into the base. The signal is amplified to get the collector voltage. The amplified signal is
then coupled to the load.
• The base voltage has a small ac
component riding on a dc component of
approximately 0 V.

• The total collector voltage is an inverted

sine wave riding on the dc collector
voltage of +5.32 V. The load voltage vout
is the same amplified signal with no dc
component.

• If the bypass capacitor were to open, an

ac voltage would appear at the emitter.
Small-Signal Operation
• When an ac voltage is coupled into the base of a transistor, an
ac voltage appears across the base-emitter diode. This
produces the sinusoidal variation in V BE.

• The size of the ac voltage determines how far the

instantaneous point moves away from the Q point. Large ac
base voltages produce large variations, whereas small ac
base voltages produce small variations.

• The ac emitter current has the same frequency as the ac

base voltage.

• The ac emitter current is not a perfect replica of the ac base

voltage because of the curvature of the graph. Since the
graph is curved upward, the positive half-cycle of the ac
emitter current is elongated (stretched) and the negative half-
cycle is compressed. This stretching and compressing of
alternate half-cycles is called distortion. It is undesirable in
high-fidelity amplifiers because it changes the sound of voice
and music.

• One way to reduce distortion is by keeping the ac base

voltage small and it reduces the movement of the
instantaneous operating point.
Small-Signal Operation
The 10 Percent Rule:

• This says that the ac signal is small when the peak-to-peak

ac emitter current is less than 10 percent of the dc emitter
current.

• Amplifiers that satisfy the 10 percent rule are called small-

signal amplifiers.

• This type of amplifier is used at the front end of radio and

television receivers because the signal coming in from the
AC Beta
AC Resistance of the Emitter Diode
• When a small ac voltage is across the emitter diode, it produces the ac emitter
current.

• The size of this ac emitter current depends on the location of the Q point. Because of
the curvature, we get more peak-to-peak ac emitter current when the Q point is
higher up the graph.
Two Transistor Models
• To analyse the ac operation of a transistor
amplifier, we need an ac-equivalent circuit for
a transistor.

• T and models are two ac-equivalent

circuits for a transistor.
The T Model

• For small ac signals, the emitter diode of

a transistor acts like an ac resistance r’e
and the collector diode acts like a
current source ic .

• Since this model looks like a T on its

side, the equivalent circuit is also called
the T model.

• It is also knows as Ebers-Moll model.

Two Transistor Models - The T Model
Looking into the base of the transistor, the ac voltage
source sees an input impedance Zin(base). At low
frequencies, this impedance is purely resistive and
defined as:
Transistor Π - Models
• It’s a visual representation of Eq. (8-12).

• The model is easier to use than the T

model (Fig. 8-18b) because the input
impedance is not obvious when you look
at the T model.

• On the other hand, this model clearly

shows that an input impedance of β r’e
will load the ac voltage source driving the
base.
Analyzing an Amplifier
• To analyse amplifiers, we can calculate the effect of the dc
sources and then the effect of the ac sources.

• Using the superposition theorem in this analysis, the effect of

each source acting alone is added to get the total effect of all
sources acting simultaneously.

• The simplest way to analyse an amplifier is to split the analysis

into two parts: a dc analysis and an ac analysis.

• In the dc analysis, we calculate the dc voltages and currents. To

do this, we mentally open all capacitors. The circuit that remains
is the dc-equivalent circuit.

• To analyse the ac equivalent circuit mentally shorted all

capacitors and dc voltage sources. The transistor can be replaced
by either the model or the T model.
Analyzing an Base-Biased Amplifier
Analyzing a VDB Amplifier
Analyzing an TSEB Amplifier
Example
Example
Voltage Gain
Voltage gain was defined as the ac
output voltage divided by the ac input
voltage. With this definition, we can
derive another equation for voltage
gain that is useful in troubleshooting.
Voltage Gain
Voltage Gain
Voltage Gain
Voltage Gain
The Loading Effect of Input Impedance
Input Impedance Internal Resistance
of Source Voltage
When the ac generator is not stiff, some of the ac
source voltage is dropped across its internal
resistance. As a result, the ac voltage between the
base and ground is less than ideal.

The ac generator has to drive the input impedance of

the stage Zin(stage). This input impedance includes the
effects of the biasing resistors R1 and R2, in parallel
with the input impedance of the base zin(base).
The Loading Effect of Input Impedance
Swamped Amplifier
• The voltage gain of a CE amplifier
changes with the quiescent current,
temperature variations, and transistor
replacement because these quantities
change r’e and β.

• One way to stabilize the voltage gain is

to leave some of the emitter
resistance un-bypassed, producing ac
emitter feedback.

• The ac voltage across re opposes

changes in voltage gain. The un-
bypassed resistance re is called a
feedback resistor because it has an ac
voltage across it that opposes changes
in voltage gain.
Swamped Amplifier
Swamped Amplifier

A swamped amplifier, therefore, has three advantages: It stabilizes

voltage gain,
increases the input impedance of the base, and reduces the distortion
Multistage Amplifiers:
• To get more voltage gain, we can create a multistage amplifier by cascading
two or more amplifier stages.

• This means using the output of the first stage as the input to a second stage. In
turn, the output of the second stage can be used as the input to the third stage,
and so on….

• The amplified and inverted signal out of the first stage is coupled to the base of
the second stage.

• The amplified and inverted output of the second stage is then coupled to the
load resistance.

• The signal across the load resistance is in phase with the generator signal. The
reason is that each stage inverts the signal by 180°. Therefore, two stages
invert the signal by 360°, equivalent to 0° (in phase).

I/P Amplifier 1 Amplifier 2 O/P

Multistage Amplifiers:
Multistage Amplifiers:
Multistage Amplifiers:
Multistage Amplifiers:
Two-Stage Feedback

• The first stage has an un-bypassed emitter resistance of re. This first stage is often referred to
as a pre-amplifier.
• It is used to pick up the input signal from the source, without loading down the source, and to
pass on the signal to the second stage for further amplification.
• The second stage is a CE stage, with the emitter at ac ground to produce maximum gain in this
stage.
Two-Stage Feedback A swamped
The output signal is coupled back
through a feedback resistance rf to the
first emitter. Because of the voltage
divider, the ac voltage between the
first emitter and ground is:
Two-Stage Feedback A swamped
The voltage gain
depends only on
external resistances rf
and re. Since these
resistances are fixed in
value, the voltage gain
is fixed.

Here is the basic idea of how the two-stage feedback works: Assume that an increase in
temperature causes the output voltage to increase. Since part of the output voltage is fed-back
to the first emitter, ve increases. This decreases vbe in the first stage, decreases vc in the first
stage, and decreases vout. On the other hand, if the output voltage tries to decrease, vbe increases
and vout increases.
Two-Stage Feedback A swamped
The voltage gain
depends only on
external resistances rf
and re. Since these
resistances are fixed in
value, the voltage gain
is fixed.

Here is the basic idea of how the two-stage feedback works: Assume that an increase in
temperature causes the output voltage to increase. Since part of the output voltage is fed-back
to the first emitter, ve increases. This decreases vbe in the first stage, decreases vc in the first
stage, and decreases vout. On the other hand, if the output voltage tries to decrease, vbe increases
and vout increases.
Frequency Response of an Amplifier
• The frequency response of an amplifier describes how it amplifies signals of different
frequencies.
• An ideal amplifier maintains the same gain across the entire frequency spectrum.
• However, real-world amplifiers, including BJT amplifiers, exhibit limitations in amplifying
extremely low and extremely high frequencies.
Frequency Response of an Amplifier
Factors Affecting Frequency Response in BJT
Amplifiers

Coupling and Bypass Capacitors:

• Coupling capacitors block DC signals, ensuring the
BJT is properly biased, but they introduce low-
frequency roll-off.
• Bypass capacitors are used to provide AC signal
paths to ground. However, their interaction with
circuit resistances also limit low-frequency
response.

Internal Transistor Capacitances:

• BJTs have internal junction capacitances between
their terminals (base-emitter, base-collector,
collector-emitter). These capacitances form low-
pass filters with the resistances in the circuit,
limiting the high-frequency response.
Frequency Response of an Amplifier
Frequency Response of an Amplifier
Frequency Response of an Amplifier
CC Amplifier
• The common-collector (CC)
amplifier is also called emitter
follower.
• The input signal is coupled to the
base, and the output signal is
taken from the emitter.
• This output voltage is in phase
and is approximately equal to the
input voltage. The reason the
circuit is called an emitter
follower is because the output
voltage follows the input voltage.
CC Amplifier
The voltage gain is ultra-stable, the
distortion is almost non-existent, and
the input impedance of the base is
very high. Because of these
characteristics, the emitter follower is
often used as a pre-amplifier or as a
Buffer.
CC Amplifier

• The emitter follower can produce

the large output currents needed
by low-impedance loads.
• In short, although it is not a
voltage amplifier, the emitter
follower is a current or
• power amplifier.
CC Amplifier
Input Impedance of the
Base

Input Impedance of the Stage

CC Amplifier
CC Amplifier
CC Amplifier
Cascading CE and CC
If we have a load resistance of 270
ohm. If we try to couple the output of
a CE amplifier directly into this load
resistance, we may overload the
amplifier. One way to avoid this
overload is by using an emitter
follower between the CE amplifier
and the load resistance.
• The base of the second transistor is connected directly to the
collector of the first transistor. Because of this, the dc collector
voltage of the first transistor is used to bias the second transistor.
• The amplified voltage out of the first stage drives the emitter
follower and appears across the final load resistance of 270 ohm.
Without the emitter follower, the 270 ohm would overload the first
stage.
• But with the emitter follower, its impedance effect is increased by a
factor of β . Instead of appearing like 270 ohm, it now looks like 27 K
ohm in both the dc- and the ac-equivalent circuits.
Darlington Connections

VBE = VBE1 + VBE2

Darlington Connections
Voltage Regulation
• Besides being used in buffer circuits and impedance matching
amplifiers, the emitter follower is widely used in voltage regulators.
• In conjunction with a Zener diode, the emitter follower can produce
regulated output voltages with much larger output currents.

Zener Follower
• The dc output voltage of the emitter
follower is:
Vout = VZ - VBE
• This output voltage is fixed so that it is equal to
the zener voltage minus the VBE drop of the
transistor.
• If the supply voltage changes, the zener voltage
remains approximately constant, and so does
the output voltage.
• In other words, the circuit acts like a voltage
regulator.

The zener follower has two advantages over an

ordinary zener regulator:
• First, Base current is much smaller than the
output current, we can use a much smaller
zener diode.
Voltage Regulation
The second advantage of a zener follower is its low output
impedance. In an ordinary zener regulator, the load resistor sees an
output impedance of approximately RZ, the zener impedance. But in
the zener follower, the output impedance
is:

Because zout is usually very small compared to RL,

an emitter follower can hold the dc output voltage
almost constant because the source looks stiff.

The zener follower provides the regulation of a

zener diode
with the increased current-handling capability of
an emitter follower.
The Common-Base Amplifier
A common-base (CB) amplifier using a dual polarity or split power
supply.
Since the base is grounded, this circuit is also called a grounded-
based amplifier.
The output voltage of the CB amplifier is in phase with the input
signal.

Emitter Biased

Voltage Divider
Biased
The Common-Base Amplifier
The dc emitter current is found by:

From ac-equivalent circuit, The ac collector

voltage, or vout, equals

This is in phase with the ac input voltage Ve.

Since the input voltage equals:

The voltage gain

is:
The Common-Base Amplifier
The output impedance of a CB
amplifier is:
One of the major differences between the CB amplifier and other
amplifier configurations is its low input impedance. Looking into the
emitter, we have an input impedance of:

The input impedance of a

CB amplifier is normally
so low that it overloads
most signal sources.
Because of this, a
discrete CB amplifier is
Since RE is normally much larger
not used too often at low
than r’e : frequencies. It is mainly
Zin = r’e
used in high-frequency
applications (above 10
MHz) where low source
impedances are common.
A common-base
circuit can be used
to couple a low
impedance source
Calculate Voltage Gain ?
Power Amplifiers: Amplifier Terms
Classes of
Operation
Class-A operation: An amplifier means that the transistor operates in
the active region at all times. This implies that collector current flows
for 360° of the ac cycle. With a Class-A amplifier, the designer usually
tries to locate the Q point somewhere near the middle of the load line.
This way, the signal can swing over the maximum possible range
without saturating or cutting off the transistor, which would distort the
signal.

Class-B operation: The collector current flows for only half the cycle
(180°), as shown in Fig. To have this kind of operation, a designer
locates the Q point at cutoff. Then, only the positive half-cycle of ac
base voltage can produce collector current. This reduces the wasted
heat in power transistors.

Class-C operation: The collector current flows for less than 180° of the
ac cycle, as shown in Fig. 10-1c. With Class-C operation, only part of the
positive half-cycle of ac base voltage produces collector current. As a
result, we get brief pulses of collector current like those of Fig. 10-1c.
Power Amplifiers: Types of Coupling
Types of Coupling

Capacitive coupling: The coupling capacitor

transmits the amplified ac voltage to the next
stage

Transformer coupling: Here, the ac voltage is

coupled through a transformer to the next
stage. Capacitive coupling and transformer
coupling are both examples of ac coupling,
which blocks the dc voltage.

Direct coupling: There is a direct connection

between the collector of the first transistor and
the base of the second transistor.
Because of this, both the dc and the ac voltages
are coupled. Since there is no lower frequency
limit, a direct-coupled amplifier is sometimes
called a dc amplifier.
Power Amplifiers:
Ranges of
Frequency
Audio amplifier refers to an amplifi er that operates in the range of
20 Hz to 20 kHz.

Radio-frequency (RF) amplifier is one that amplifies frequencies above

20 kHz, usually much higher. For instance, the
RF amplifiers in AM radios amplify frequencies between 535 and 1605
kHz, and
the RF amplifiers in FM radios amplify frequencies between 88 and
108 MHz.

Narrowband or Wideband Amplifier:

A narrowband amplifier works over a small frequency range like 450
to 460 kHz.
A wideband amplifier operates over a large frequency range like 0 to 1
MHz.

Narrowband amplifi ers are usually tuned RF amplifiers, which means

that their ac load is a high-Q resonant tank tuned to a radio station or
television
channel.
Two Load Lines:
Every amplifier has a dc-equivalent circuit and an ac-equivalent
circuit. Because of this, it has two load lines: a dc load line and an
ac load line.
Two Load Lines: AC Load Line
Signal Clipping
Class-A Operation
• An amplifier in which transistor
operates in the active region at all
times.
• i.e collector current flows for 360°
of the ac cycle.
• With a Class-A amplifier, the
designer usually tries to locate the
Q point somewhere near the
middle of the load line. This way,
the signal can swing over the
maximum possible range without
saturating or cutting off the
transistor, which would distort the
signal.
• Preferred for radios, audio
systems, and TV receivers.
Class-A Operation

Maximum efficiency of a Class-A amplifier with a dc collector

resistance and a separate load resistance is 25%.
Class-A Operation
Class-B Power Amplifier
The collector current flows for only half the cycle (180°). To have this
kind of operation, a designer locates the Q point at cutoff. Then, only
the positive half-cycle of ac base voltage can produce collector current.
This reduces the wasted heat in power transistors.
• When a transistor operates as Class-B, it clips off
half a cycle. To avoid the resulting distortion, we
can use two transistors in a push-pull
arrangement.

• Push-pull means that one transistor conducts for

half a cycle while the other is off, and vice versa.
Class-B Power Amplifier
Class-B Power Amplifier

Advantages and Disadvantages

• Each transistor is at cutoff when there is no input signal, an

advantage because there is no current drain when the signal
is zero.

• Another advantage is improved efficiency where there is an

input signal.

• The maximum efficiency of a Class-B push-pull amplifier is

78.5 percent,

• Class-B push-pull power amplifier is more commonly used for

an output stage than a Class-A power amplifier.

• The main disadvantage of the amplifier is the use of

transformers. Audio transformers are bulky and expensive.
• Used in Speakers, Headphones, Public Address (PA) systems,
Musical instrument amplifiers, Servo Motor Control.
Class-B Push-Pull Amplifier
Class-B Push-Pull Amplifier
Crossover Distortion

Suppose that no bias is applied to

the emitter diodes. The incoming
ac voltage has to rise to about 0.7
V to overcome the barrier
potential of the emitter diodes.
Because of this, no current flows
through Q1 when the signal is less
than 0.7 V.

The action is similar on the other

half-cycle. No current flows
through Q2 until the ac input
voltage is more negative than - 0.7
V. For this reason, if no bias is
applied to the emitter diodes, the
output of a Class-B push-pull
Becausefollower
emitter of clipping between
looks like Fig.half-cycles, the output is distorted. Since
the clipping occurs between the time one transistor cuts off and the
other one comes on, we call it crossover distortion.
Crossover Distortion
Class-AB Amplifier
• To eliminate crossover distortion, we need
to apply a slight forward bias to each
emitter diode. This means locating the Q
point slightly above cutoff.
• The slight forward bias implies that the
conduction angle will be slightly greater
than 180° because the transistor will
conduct for a bit more than half a cycle.
• It has a conduction angle between 180°
and 360°.
• Preferred for radios, audio systems, and TV receivers.
Class-C Amplifier
• Also Called Tuned Amplifier.
• This is having an un-biased transistor.
• Operational angle is below 180 degree.
• Efficiency is 90-100 %.
• Distortion is very high.
• Works in two mode tuned and untuned mode.
• Not Suitable for Audio Amplification due to high signal
distortion.
• Works for high frequencies .
• Used for Radio Signal Transmitters, FM Transmitters,
Modulator , Signal Boosters, RF Oscillators.

Because of the parallel

resonant circuit, the output
voltage is maximum at the
resonant frequency
Class-C Amplifier
Summary