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AmplifierWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Amplifier
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Anamplifier,electronicamplifieror(informally)ampisanelectronicdevicethatcanincreasethepowerofasignal.
Itdoesthisbytakingenergyfromapowersupplyandcontrollingtheoutputtomatchtheinputsignalshapebutwithalargeramplitude.Inthissense,anamplifier
modulatestheoutputofthepowersupplytomaketheoutputsignalstrongerthantheinputsignal.Anamplifieriseffectivelytheoppositeofanattenuator:whilean
amplifierprovidesgain,anattenuatorprovidesloss.
Anamplifiercaneitherbeaseparatepieceofequipmentoranelectricalcircuitwithinanotherdevice.Theabilitytoamplifyisfundamentaltomodernelectronics,and
amplifiersarewidelyusedinalmostallelectronicequipment.Thetypesofamplifierscanbecategorizedindifferentways.Oneisbythefrequencyoftheelectronicsignal
beingamplifiedaudioamplifiersamplifysignalsintheaudio(sound)rangeoflessthan20kHz,RFamplifiersamplifyfrequenciesintheradiofrequencyrangebetween
20kHzand300GHz.Anotheriswhichquantity,voltageorcurrentisbeingamplifiedamplifierscanbedividedintovoltageamplifiers,currentamplifiers,
transconductanceamplifiers,andtransresistanceamplifiers.Afurtherdistinctioniswhethertheoutputisalinearornonlinearrepresentationoftheinput.Amplifierscan
alsobecategorizedbytheirphysicalplacementinthesignalchain.[1]
ThefirstpracticalelectronicdevicethatcouldamplifywastheAudion(triode)vacuumtube,inventedin1906byLeeDeForest,whichledtothefirstamplifiersaround
1912.Theterms"amplifier"and"amplification"(fromtheLatinamplificare,'toenlargeorexpand'[2])werefirstusedforthisnewcapabilityaround1915whentriodes
becamewidespread.[2]Forthenext50years,vacuumtubesweretheonlydevicesthatcouldamplify.Allamplifiersusedthemuntilthe1960s,whentransistorsappeared.
Mostamplifierstodayusetransistors,thoughtubeamplifiersarestillproduced.

Contents
1 Figuresofmerit
2 Amplifiertypes
2.1 Poweramplifier
2.1.1 Poweramplifiersbyapplication
2.1.2 Poweramplifiercircuits
2.2 Vacuumtube(valve)amplifiers
2.3 Transistoramplifiers
2.4 Magneticamplifiers
2.5 Operationalamplifiers(opamps)
2.6 Fullydifferentialamplifiers
2.7 Videoamplifiers
2.8 Oscilloscopeverticalamplifiers
2.9 Distributedamplifiers
2.10 Switchedmodeamplifiers
2.11 Negativeresistancedevices
2.12 Microwaveamplifiers
2.12.1 Travellingwavetubeamplifiers
2.12.2 Klystrons
2.13 Musicalinstrumentamplifiers
3 Classificationofamplifierstagesandsystems
3.1 Inputandoutputvariables
3.2 Commonterminal
3.3 Unilateralorbilateral
3.4 Invertingornoninverting
3.5 Function
3.6 Interstagecouplingmethod
3.7 Frequencyrange
4 Poweramplifierclasses
4.1 Conductionangleclasses
4.2 ClassA
4.2.1 AdvantagesofclassAamplifiers
4.2.2 DisadvantageofclassAamplifiers
4.2.3 SingleendedandtriodeclassAamplifiers
4.3 ClassB
4.4 ClassAB
4.5 ClassC
4.6 ClassD
4.7 Additionalclasses
4.7.1 ClassE
4.7.2 ClassF
4.7.3 ClassesGandH
4.7.4 Dohertyamplifiers
5 Implementation
5.1 Amplifiercircuit
5.2 Notesonimplementation
6 Seealso
7 References
8 Externallinks

Apracticalbipolartransistoramplifiercircuit

Figuresofmerit
Amplifierqualityischaracterizedbyalistofspecificationsthatinclude:
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Gain,theratiobetweenthemagnitudeofoutputandinputsignals
Bandwidth,thewidthoftheusefulfrequencyrange
Efficiency,theratiobetweenthepoweroftheoutputandtotalpowerconsumption
Linearity,theextenttowhichtheproportionbetweeninputandoutputamplitudeisthesameforhighamplitudeandlowamplitudeinput
Noise,ameasureofundesirednoisemixedintotheoutput
Outputdynamicrange,theratioofthelargestandthesmallestusefuloutputlevels
Slewrate,themaximumrateofchangeoftheoutput
Risetime,settlingtime,ringingandovershootthatcharacterizethestepresponse
Stability,theabilitytoavoidselfoscillation

Amplifiertypes
Amplifiersaredescribedaccordingtotheirinputandoutputproperties.[3]Theyexhibitthepropertyofgain,ormultiplicationfactorthatrelatesthemagnitudeoftheoutput
signaltotheinputsignal.Thegainmaybespecifiedastheratioofoutputvoltagetoinputvoltage(voltagegain),outputpowertoinputpower(powergain),orsome
combinationofcurrent,voltage,andpower.Inmanycases,withinputandoutputinthesameunit,gainisunitless(thoughoftenexpressedindecibels(dB)).
Thefourbasictypesofamplifiersareasfollows:[1]
1.VoltageamplifierThisisthemostcommontypeofamplifier.Aninputvoltageisamplifiedtoalargeroutputvoltage.Theamplifier'sinputimpedanceishighand
theoutputimpedanceislow.
2.CurrentamplifierThisamplifierchangesaninputcurrenttoalargeroutputcurrent.Theamplifier'sinputimpedanceislowandtheoutputimpedanceishigh.
3.TransconductanceamplifierThisamplifierrespondstoachanginginputvoltagebydeliveringarelatedchangingoutputcurrent.
4.TransresistanceamplifierThisamplifierrespondstoachanginginputcurrentbydeliveringarelatedchangingoutputvoltage.Othernamesforthedeviceare
transimpedanceamplifierandcurrenttovoltageconverter.
Inpractice,amplifierpowergaindependsonthesourceandloadimpedances,aswellastheinherentvoltageandcurrentgain.Aradiofrequency(RF)amplifierdesign
typicallyoptimizesimpedancesforpowertransfer,whileaudioandinstrumentationamplifierdesignsnormallyoptimizeinputandoutputimpedanceforleastloadingand
highestsignalintegrity.Anamplifierthatissaidtohaveagainof20dBmighthaveavoltagegainoftentimesandanavailablepowergainofmuchmorethan20dB
(powerratioof100)yetactuallydeliveramuchlowerpowergainif,forexample,theinputisfroma600ohmmicrophoneandtheoutputconnectstoa47kilohminput
socketforapoweramplifier.
Inmostcases,anamplifierislinear.Thatis,itprovidesconstantgainforanynormalinputlevelandoutputsignal.Ifthegainisnotlinear,e.g.,clippingofthesignal,the
outputsignaldistorts.Thereare,however,caseswherevariablegainisuseful.Certainsignalprocessingapplicationsuseexponentialgainamplifiers.[1]
Manydifferentelectronicamplifiertypesexistthatarespecifictoareassuchas:radioandtelevisiontransmittersandreceivers,highfidelity("hifi")stereoequipment,
microcomputersandotherdigitalequipment,andguitarandotherinstrumentamplifiers.Essentialcomponentsincludeactivedevices,suchasvacuumtubesortransistors.
Abriefintroductiontothemanytypesofelectronicamplifiersfollows.

Poweramplifier
Thetermpoweramplifierisarelativetermwithrespecttotheamountofpowerdeliveredtotheloadand/orprovidedbythepowersupplycircuit.Ingeneralthepower
amplifieristhelast'amplifier'oractualcircuitinasignalchain(theoutputstage)andistheamplifierstagethatrequiresattentiontopowerefficiency.Efficiency
considerationsleadtothevariousclassesofpoweramplifierbasedonthebiasingoftheoutputtransistorsortubes:seepoweramplifierclasses.
Poweramplifiersbyapplication
Audiopoweramplifiers:Speakersallowtheclienttousebothsidestomaximizevolume,buteachsidereceiveshalfofwhatitcouldpotentiallysupply.
RFpoweramplifiertypicalintransmitterfinalstages(seealso:Linearamplifier)
Servomotorcontrollersamplifyacontrolvoltagewherelinearityisnotimportant
PiezoelectricaudioamplifierincludesaDCtoDCconvertertogeneratethehighvoltageoutputrequiredtodrivepiezoelectricspeakers[4]
Poweramplifiercircuits
Poweramplifiercircuitsincludethefollowingtypes:
Vacuumtube/valve,hybridortransistorpoweramplifiers
Pushpulloutputorsingleendedoutputstages

Vacuumtube(valve)amplifiers
AccordingtoSymons,whilesemiconductoramplifiershavelargelydisplacedvalveamplifiersforlowpowerapplications,valveamplifiersaremuchmorecosteffectivein
highpowerapplicationssuchas"radar,countermeasuresequipment,orcommunicationsequipment"(p.56).Manymicrowaveamplifiersarespeciallydesignedvalves,such
astheklystron,gyrotron,travelingwavetube,andcrossedfieldamplifier,andthesemicrowavevalvesprovidemuchgreatersingledevicepoweroutputatmicrowave
frequenciesthansolidstatedevices(p.59).[5]
Valves/tubeamplifiersalsohavefollowingusesinotherareas,suchas
electricguitaramplification
inRussianmilitaryaircraft,fortheirelectromagneticpulse(EMP)tolerance
nicheaudiofortheirsoundqualities(recording,andaudiophileequipment)

Transistoramplifiers
Theessentialroleofthisactiveelementistomagnifyaninputsignaltoyieldasignificantlylargeroutputsignal.Theamountofmagnification(the"forwardgain")is
determinedbytheexternalcircuitdesignaswellastheactivedevice.
Manycommonactivedevicesintransistoramplifiersarebipolarjunctiontransistors(BJTs)andmetaloxidesemiconductorfieldeffecttransistors(MOSFETs).
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Applicationsarenumerous,somecommonexamplesareaudioamplifiersinahomestereoorPAsystem,RFhighpowergenerationfor
semiconductorequipment,toRFandMicrowaveapplicationssuchasradiotransmitters.
Transistorbasedamplifiercanberealizedusingvariousconfigurations:forexamplewithabipolarjunctiontransistorwecanrealizecommon
base,commoncollectororcommonemitteramplifierusingaMOSFETwecanrealizecommongate,commonsourceorcommondrain
amplifier.Eachconfigurationhasdifferentcharacteristic(gain,impedance...).

Magneticamplifiers
Thesearedevicessomewhatsimilartoatransformerwhereonewindingisusedtocontrolthesaturationofamagneticcoreandhencealterthe
impedanceoftheotherwinding.
TheyhavelargelyfallenoutofuseduetodevelopmentinsemiconductoramplifiersbutarestillusefulinHVDCcontrol,andinnuclearpower
controlcircuitrytotheirnotbeingaffectedbyradioactivity.
AnECC83tubeglowing
insideapreamp

Operationalamplifiers(opamps)
Anoperationalamplifierisanamplifiercircuitwhichtypicallyhasveryhighopenloopgainanddifferentialinputs.Feedbackviaan
externalcircuitcanbeusedtocontrolthetransferfunction,orgain.Thoughthetermtodaycommonlyappliestointegratedcircuits,
theoriginaloperationalamplifierdesignusedvalves,andlaterdesignsuseddiscretetransistorcircuits.

Fullydifferentialamplifiers
Afullydifferentialamplifierissimilartotheoperationalamplifier,butalsohasdifferentialoutputs.Theseareusuallyconstructed
usingBJTsorFETs.

Videoamplifiers
ThesedealwithvideosignalsandhavevaryingbandwidthsdependingonwhetherthevideosignalisforSDTV,EDTV,HDTV720p
or1080i/petc..Thespecificationofthebandwidthitselfdependsonwhatkindoffilterisusedandatwhichpoint(1dBor3dB
forexample)thebandwidthismeasured.CertainrequirementsforstepresponseandovershootarenecessaryforanacceptableTV
image.

AnLM741generalpurposeopamp

Oscilloscopeverticalamplifiers
Thesedealwithvideosignalsthatdriveanoscilloscopedisplaytube,andcanhavebandwidthsofabout500MHz.Thespecificationsonstepresponse,risetime,overshoot,
andaberrationscanmakedesigningtheseamplifiersdifficult.OneofthepioneersinhighbandwidthverticalamplifierswastheTektronixcompany.

Distributedamplifiers
Theseuseabalancedtransmissionlinestoseparateindividualsinglestageamplifierstheoutputsofwhicharesummedbythesametransmissionline.Thetransmissionline
isabalancedtypewiththeinputatoneendandononesideonlyofthebalancedtransmissionlineandtheoutputattheoppositeendisalsotheoppositesideofthebalanced
transmissionline.Thegainofeachstageaddslinearlytotheoutputratherthanmultipliesoneontheotherasinacascadeconfiguration.Thisallowsahigherbandwidthto
beachievedthancouldotherwiseberealisedevenwiththesamegainstageelements.

Switchedmodeamplifiers
Thesenonlinearamplifiershavemuchhigherefficienciesthanlinearamps,andareusedwherethepowersavingjustifiestheextracomplexity.

Negativeresistancedevices
Negativeresistancescanbeusedasamplifiers,suchasthetunneldiodeamplifier.

Microwaveamplifiers
Travellingwavetubeamplifiers
Travelingwavetubeamplifiers(TWTAs)areusedforhighpoweramplificationatlowmicrowavefrequencies.Theytypicallycanamplifyacrossabroadspectrumof
frequencieshowever,theyareusuallynotastunableasklystrons.
Klystrons
Klystronsarespecializedlinearbeamvacuumdevices,designedtoprovidehighpower,widelytunableamplificationofmillimetreandsubmillimetrewaves.Klystronsare
designedforlargescaleoperationsanddespitehavinganarrowerbandwidththanTWTAs,theyhavetheadvantageofcoherentlyamplifyingareferencesignalsoitsoutput
maybepreciselycontrolledinamplitude,frequencyandphase.

Musicalinstrumentamplifiers
Anaudiopoweramplifierisusuallyusedtoamplifysignalssuchasmusicorspeech.Inthemid1960s,amplifiersbegantogainpopularitybecauseofitsrelativelylow
price($50)andguitarsbeingthemostpopularinstrumentsaswell.[6]Severalfactorsareespeciallyimportantintheselectionofmusicalinstrumentamplifiers(suchas
guitaramplifiers)andotheraudioamplifiers(althoughthewholeofthesoundsystemcomponentssuchasmicrophonestoloudspeakersaffecttheseparameters):
Frequencyresponsenotjustthefrequencyrangebuttherequirementthatthesignallevelvariessolittleacrosstheaudiblefrequencyrangethatthehumanear
noticesnovariation.Atypicalspecificationforaudioamplifiersmaybe20Hzto20kHz+/0.5dB.
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Poweroutputthepowerlevelobtainablewithlittledistortion,toobtainasufficientlyloudsoundpressurelevelfromtheloudspeakers.
Lowdistortionallamplifiersandtransducersdistorttosomeextent.Theycannotbeperfectlylinear,butaimtopasssignalswithoutaffectingtheharmoniccontent
ofthesoundmorethanthehumanearcantolerate.Thattoleranceofdistortion,andindeedthepossibilitythatsome"warmth"orsecondharmonicdistortion(Tube
sound)improvesthe"musicality"ofthesound,aresubjectsofgreatdebate.
Beforecomingontothemusicscene,amplifierswereheavilyusedincinema.InthepremiereofNoah'sArkin1929,themovie'sdirector(MichaelKurtiz)usedthe
amplifierforafestivalfollowingthemovie'spremiere.[7]

Classificationofamplifierstagesandsystems
Manyalternativeclassificationsaddressdifferentaspectsofamplifierdesigns,andtheyallexpresssomeparticularperspectiverelatingthedesignparameterstothe
objectivesofthecircuit.Amplifierdesignisalwaysacompromiseofnumerousfactors,suchascost,powerconsumption,realworlddeviceimperfections,andamultitude
ofperformancespecifications.Belowareseveraldifferentapproachestoclassification:

Inputandoutputvariables
Electronicamplifiersuseonevariablepresentedaseitheracurrentandvoltage.Eithercurrentorvoltagecanbeusedas
inputandeitherasoutput,leadingtofourtypesofamplifiers.Inidealizedformtheyarerepresentedbyeachofthefour
typesofdependentsourceusedinlinearanalysis,asshowninthefigure,namely:
Input Output

Dependentsource

Amplifiertype

CurrentcontrolledcurrentsourceCCCS

Currentamplifier
Transresistanceamplifier

CurrentcontrolledvoltagesourceCCVS

VoltagecontrolledcurrentsourceVCCS Transconductanceamplifier

VoltagecontrolledvoltagesourceVCVS

Voltageamplifier

Eachtypeofamplifierinitsidealformhasanidealinputandoutputresistancethatisthesameasthatofthe
correspondingdependentsource:[8]
Amplifiertype

Thefourtypesofdependentsourcecontrol
variableonleft,outputvariableonright

Dependentsource Inputimpedance Outputimpedance

Current

CCCS

Transresistance

CCVS

Transconductance

VCCS

Voltage

VCVS

Inpracticetheidealimpedancesareonlyapproximated.Foranyparticularcircuit,asmallsignalanalysisisoftenusedtofindtheimpedanceactuallyachieved.Asmall
signalACtestcurrentIxisappliedtotheinputoroutputnode,allexternalsourcesaresettoACzero,andthecorrespondingalternatingvoltageVxacrossthetestcurrent
sourcedeterminestheimpedanceseenatthatnodeasR=Vx/Ix.
Amplifiersdesignedtoattachtoatransmissionlineatinputand/oroutput,especiallyRFamplifiers,donotfitintothisclassificationapproach.Ratherthandealingwith
voltageorcurrentindividually,theyideallycouplewithaninputand/oroutputimpedancematchedtothetransmissionlineimpedance,thatis,matchratiosofvoltageto
current.ManyrealRFamplifierscomeclosetothisideal.Although,foragivenappropriatesourceandloadimpedance,RFamplifierscanbecharacterizedasamplifying
voltageorcurrent,theyfundamentallyareamplifyingpower.[9]

Commonterminal
Onesetofclassificationsforamplifiersisbasedonwhichdeviceterminaliscommontoboththeinputandtheoutputcircuit.Inthecaseofbipolarjunctiontransistors,the
threeclassesarecommonemitter,commonbase,andcommoncollector.Forfieldeffecttransistors,thecorrespondingconfigurationsarecommonsource,commongate,
andcommondrainfortriodevacuumdevices,commoncathode,commongrid,andcommonplate.Thecommonemitter(orcommonsource,commoncathode,etc.)ismost
oftenconfiguredtoprovideamplificationofavoltageappliedbetweenbaseandemitter,andtheoutputsignaltakenbetweencollectorandemitterisinverted,relativetothe
input.Thecommoncollectorarrangementappliestheinputvoltagebetweenbaseandcollector,andtotaketheoutputvoltagebetweenemitterandcollector.Thiscauses
negativefeedback,andtheoutputvoltagetendsto'follow'theinputvoltage.(Thisarrangementisalsousedastheinputpresentsahighimpedanceanddoesnotloadthe
signalsource,thoughthevoltageamplificationislessthan1(unity).)Thecommoncollectorcircuitis,therefore,betterknownasanemitterfollower,sourcefollower,or
cathodefollower.

Unilateralorbilateral
Anamplifierwhoseoutputexhibitsnofeedbacktoitsinputsideisdescribedas'unilateral'.Theinputimpedanceofaunilateralamplifierisindependentofload,andoutput
impedanceisindependentofsignalsourceimpedance.
Anamplifierthatusesfeedbacktoconnectpartoftheoutputbacktotheinputisabilateralamplifier.Bilateralamplifierinputimpedancedependsontheload,andoutput
impedanceonthesignalsourceimpedance.Allamplifiersarebilateraltosomedegreehowevertheymayoftenbemodeledasunilateralunderoperatingconditionswhere
feedbackissmallenoughtoneglectformostpurposes,simplifyinganalysis(seethecommonbasearticleforanexample).
Anamplifierdesignoftendeliberatelyappliesnegativefeedbacktotailoramplifierbehavior.Somefeedback,positiveornegative,isunavoidableandoftenundesirable
introduced,forexample,byparasiticelements,suchasinherentcapacitancebetweeninputandoutputofdevicessuchastransistors,andcapacitivecouplingofexternal
wiring.Excessivefrequencydependentpositivefeedbackcanturnanamplifierintoanoscillator.
Linearunilateralandbilateralamplifierscanberepresentedastwoportnetworks.

Invertingornoninverting

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