Introduction to Amplifier

Amplifier Gain
Then the gain of an amplifier can be said to be the relationship that exists between the signal measured at
the output with the signal measured at the input. There are three different kinds of Amplifier Gain, Voltage
Gain (Av), Current Gain (Ai) and Power Gain (Ap) and examples of these are given below.
Amplifier Gain of the Input Signal
Voltage Amplifier Gain
Current Amplifier Gain
Power Amplifier Gain
Note that for the Power Gain you can also divide the power obtained at the output with the power obtained
at the input. Also, the subscripts v, i and p denote the type of signal gain.
oltage Gain in d!" av # $% log Av

&urrent Gain in d!" ai # $% log Ai

Power Gain in d!" ap # '% log Ap
Example o!
(etermine the oltage, &urrent and Power Gain of an amplifier that has an input signal of 'mA at '%m and
a corresponding output signal of '%mA at '. Also, express all three gains in decibels, )d!*.
Amplifier Gain.
in (ecibels )d!*.
Then the amplifier has a oltage Gain of '%%, a &urrent Gain of '% and a Power Gain of ',%%%.
Amplifiers can be divide into two distinct types, Small Signal Amplifier" such as pre+amplifiers,
instrumentation amplifiers etc, which are designed to amplify very small signal voltage levels of only a few
micro+volts ),* from sensors or audio signals and #arge Signal Amplifier" such as audio power amplifiers
or switching amplifiers, which are designed to amplify large input voltage signals or switch high current
loads.
Power Amplifier"
Small "ignal amplifier" are generally referred to as -oltage- amplifiers as they convert a small input
voltage into a much larger output voltage. .ometimes an amplifier is re/uired to drive a motor or feed a
loudspeaker and for these types of applications where high switching currents are needed Power
Amplifier" are re/uired.
The main function of Power amplifiers )also known as large signal amplifiers* is to deliver power, which as
we know from above, is the product of the voltage and current applied to the load. The power amplifier
works on the basic principle of converting the (& power drawn from the power supply into an A& voltage
signal delivered to the load. Although the amplification is high the efficiency of the conversion from the (&
power supply input to the A& voltage signal output is usually poor. The perfect or ideal amplifier would give
us an efficiency rating of '%%0 or at least the power 1N is e/ual to the power 23T. 4owever, this can never
happen as some of its power is lost in the form of heat and also, the amplifier itself consumes power during
the amplification process. Then the efficiency of an amplifier is given as"
Amplifier Efficienc$
Amplifier Cla""e"
Audio Power Amplifier" are classified in order according to their circuit configurations and mode of
operation being designated different classes of operation in alphabetical order such as A, !, &, A!, etc.
These different classes of operation range from a near linear output but with low efficiency to a non+linear
output but with a high efficiency. There are typical maximum efficiencies for the various types or class of
amplifier, with the most commonly used being"
&lass A + a maximum theoretical efficiency of less than 5%0

&lass ! + with a maximum theoretical efficiency of about 6%0

&lass A! + which an efficiency rating between that of &lass A and &lass !
%he Common Emitter Amplifier Circuit
&utput Characteri"tic" Curve"
Completed Common Emitter Circuit
easily calculated using the simple voltage divider formula"
This same supply voltage, )cc* also determines the maximum &ollector current, 1c when the transistor is
switched fully -2N- )saturation*, ce # %. The !ase current 1b for the transistor is found from the &ollector
current, 1c and the (& current gain !eta, 7 of the transistor.
!eta is sometimes referred to as h89 which is the transistors forward current gain in the common emitter
configuration. !eta has no units as it is a fixed ratio of the two currents, 1c and 1b so a small change in the
!ase current will cause a large change in the &ollector current. 2ne final point about !eta. Transistors of the
same type and part number will have large variations in their !eta value for example, the !&'%6 NPN
!ipolar transistor has a (& current gain !eta value of between ''% and 5:% )data sheet value* this is
because !eta is a characteristic of their construction.
As the !ase;9mitter <unction is forward+biased, the 9mitter voltage, e will be one <unction voltage drop
different to the !ase voltage. 1f the voltage across the 9mitter resistor is known then the 9mitter current, 1e
can be easily calculated using &hm'" #aw. The &ollector current, 1c can be approximated, since it is
almost the same value as the 9mitter current.
Example o!
Assuming a load resistor, => of '.$k?s and a supply voltage of '$v. &alculate the maximum &ollector
current )1c* flowing through the load resistor when the transistor is switched fully -2N-, assume ce # %.
Also find the value of the 9mitter resistor, =9 with a voltage drop of 'v across it and the values of all the
other resistors assuming a silicon transistor.
&peration Point
This static (& load line produces a straight line e/uation whose slope is given as" +';)=> @ =9* and that it
crosses the vertical 1c axis at a point e/ual to cc;)=> @ =9*. The actual position of the A+point on the (&
load line is determined by the mean value of 1b.
As the &ollector current, 1c of the transistor is also e/ual to the (& gain of the transistor )!eta*, times the
!ase current )7 x 1b*, if we assume a !eta )7* value for the transistor of say '%%, )one hundred is a
reasonable average value for low power signal transistors* the !ase current 1b flowing into the transistor will
be given as"
1nstead of using a separate !ase bias supply, it is usual to provide the !ase !ias oltage from the main
supply rail )cc* through a dropping resistor, ='. =esistors, =' and =$ can now be chosen to give a
suitable /uiescent !ase current of 5:.B,A or 5C,A rounded off. The current flowing through the potential
divider circuit has to be large compared to the actual !ase current, 1b, so that the voltage divider network is
not loaded by the !ase current flow. A general rule of thumb is a value of at least '% times 1b flowing
through the resistor =$. Transistor !ase;9mitter voltage, be is fixed at %.6 )silicon transistor* then this
gives the value of =$ as"
1f the current flowing through resistor =$ is '% times the value of the !ase current, then the current flowing
through resistor =' in the divider network must be '' times the value of the !ase current. The voltage
across resistor =' is e/ual to cc + '.6v )=9 @ %.6 for silicon transistor* which is e/ual to '%.D, therefore
=' can be calculated as"
The value of the 9mitter resistor, =9 can be easily calculated using &hm'" #aw. The current flowing
through =9 is a combination of the !ase current, 1b and the &ollector current 1c and is given as"
=esistor, =9 is connected between the 9mitter and ground and we said previously that it has a voltage of '
volt across it. Then the value of =9 is given as"
Voltage Gain
The Voltage Gain of the common emitter amplifier is e/ual to the ratio of the change in the input voltage to
the change in the amplifiers output voltage. Then E> is out and E! is in. !ut voltage gain is also e/ual
to the ratio of the signal resistance in the &ollector to the signal resistance in the 9mitter and is given as"
Fe mentioned earlier that as the signal fre/uency increases the bypass capacitor, &9 starts to short out the
9mitter resistor. Then at high fre/uencies =9 # %, making the gain infinite. 4owever, bipolar transistors have
a small internal resistance built into their 9mitter region called =e. The transistors semiconductor material
offers an internal resistance to the flow of current through it and is generally represented by a small resistor
symbol shown inside the main transistor symbol. Transistor data sheets tell us that for a small signal bipolar
transistors this internal resistance is the product of $:m G 1e )$:m being the internal volt drop across the
!ase;9mitter <unction depletion layer*, then for our common 9mitter amplifier circuit above this resistance
value will be e/ual to"
This internal 9mitter leg resistance will be in series with the external 9mitter resistor, =9, then the e/uation
for the transistors actual gain will be modified to include this internal resistance and is given as"
At low fre/uency signals the total resistance in the 9mitter leg is e/ual to =9 @ =e. At high fre/uency, the
bypass capacitor shorts out the 9mitter resistor leaving only the internal resistance =e in the 9mitter leg
resulting in a high gain. Then for our common emitter amplifier circuit above, the gain of the circuit at both
low and high signal fre/uencies is given as"
At #ow (re)uencie"
At *igh (re)uencie"
2ne final point, the voltage gain is dependent only on the values of the &ollector resistor, => and the 9mitter
resistance, )=9 @ =e* it is not affected by the current gain !eta, 7 )h89* of the transistor.
.o, for our simple example above we can now summarise all the values we have calculated for our common
emitter amplifier circuit and these are"
Hinimum Hean Haximum

!ase &urrent $%,A :%,A B%,A
&ollector &urrent $.%mA 5.BmA 6.6mA
2utput oltage .wing $.% :.B I.D
Amplifier Gain +:.D$ +$'B