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Understand the concept of amplifiers
Identify and apply internal transistor parameters Understand and analyze common-emitter, common-base, and common-collector amplifiers Discuss multistage amplifiers Troubleshoot amplifier circuits
Introduction
One of the primary uses of a transistor is to amplify ac signals. This could be an audio music signal or perhaps some high frequency radio/television/video signal. It has to be able to do this without distorting the original input.
Amplifier Operation
Recall from the previous chapter that the purpose of dc biasing was to establish the Q-point for operation. The collector curves and load lines help us to relate the Q-point and its proximity to cutoff and saturation. The Q-point is best established where the signal variations do not cause the transistor to go into saturation or cutoff, as either will create distortion of the signal. What we are most interested in is the ac signal itself. Since the dc part of the overall signal is filtered out in most cases, we can view a transistor circuit in terms of just its ac component.
Amplifier Operation
For the analysis of transistor circuits from both dc and ac perspectives, the ac subscripts are lower case and italicized. Instantaneous values use both italicized lower case letters and subscripts.
Amplifier Operation
The boundary between cutoff and saturation is called the linear region. A transistor which operates in the linear region is called a linear amplifier. Note that only the ac component reaches the load because of the capacitive coupling and that the output is 180 out of phase with input.
rc = 25mV/IE
re = hre/hoe
Voltage fb ratio CE
rc = hre+1/hoe Voltage fb ratio +1 / o/p Admittanc (CE) -fb volt./1/Z rb = hie - (1+ hfe) Z
i/p (Voltage
fb ratio/1/Z(o/p))(1+Igain(fwd)(CE)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-port_network#Hybrid_parameters_.28h-parameters.29
Now lets use our dc and ac analysis methods to view this type of transistor circuit.
Voltage-Divider bias
1800 phase-shift
Rin(base) = acre
The output resistance is for all practical purposes the value of RC.
Rout RC
See Ex 6-3
Av = RC/re
Av = (Vb/Vs)Av
or Av = Rin(total)/ Rsupply + Rin(total)
Effect of Emitter Bypass Capacitor on Voltage Gain
The bypass capacitor shorts the ac signal around RE (remember, Av = RC/(RE+ re), making the gain
RSupply
Rin
See Ex 6-8
The bypass capacitor makes the gain unstable since transistor amplifier becomes more dependent on IE. This effect can be swamped or somewhat alleviated by adding another emitter resistor(RE1).
Swamping resistor
Bypass Capacitor
Av = Re/re +Re
Av 1
Rin(base) ac Re
Rin(Tot) = R1//R2//Rin(base)
Because of its high input resistance the commoncollector amplifier used as a buffer to reduce the loading effect of low impedance loads. The input resistance can be determined by the simplified formula below.
Ai = Ic/Iin
Power Gain
Ap = Ai
Rin = ac1ac2Re
=1k
= 8
Complementary-Darlington Alternative
Use a PNP & an NPN Similar Ai (current gain) to Darlington (excellent) Single-junction turn-on voltage (Darlington requires 1.4V nominal)
i/p
i/p
The common-base voltage gain (Av) is approximately equal to Rc /re The current gain (Ai) is approximately 1. The power gain (AP) is approximately equal to the voltage gain (Av) . The input resistance (Ri) is approximately equal to re.
Multistage Amplifiers
Gain
Two or more amplifiers can be connected to increase the gain of an ac signal. The overall gain can be calculated by simply multiplying each gain together.
Av = Av1Av2Av3
Multistage Amplifiers
Gain
Gain can be expressed in decibels(dB). The formula below can be used to express gain in decibels.
A v(dB) = 20 log Av
Each stages gain can now can be simply added together for the total.
See Ex 6-12
Decibel
magnitude of a physical quantity (usually power) relative to a specified or implied reference level. Its logarithmic nature allows very large or very small ratios to be represented by a convenient number, in a similar manner to scientific notation. Being essentially a ratio, it is a dimensionless unit. Decibels are useful for a wide variety of measurements in acoustics, physics, electronics and other disciplines.
The decibel is not an SI unit, although the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) has recommended its inclusion in the SI system. Following the SI convention, the d is lowercase, as it represents the SI prefix deci-, and the B is capitalized, as it is an abbreviation of a name-derived unit, the bel (see below). The full name decibel follows the usual English capitalization rules for a common noun. The decibel symbol is often qualified with a suffix, which indicates which reference quantity has been assumed. For example, "dBm" indicates that the reference quantity is one milliwatt. A decibel is one tenth of a bel (B). Devised by engineers of the Bell Telephone Laboratory to quantify the reduction in audio level over a 1 mile (1.6 km) length of standard telephone cable, the bel was originally called the transmission unit or TU, but was renamed in 1923 or 1924 in honor of the laboratory's founder and telecommunications pioneer Alexander Graham Bell. In many situations, however, the bel proved inconveniently large, so the decibel has become more common. The definitions of the decibel and bel use base-10 logarithms. For a similar unit using natural logarithms to base e, see neper.
Shortcut to About Deci bel s.doc.l nk
Multistage Amplifiers
The capacitive coupling keeps dc bias voltages separate but allows the ac to pass through to the next stage.
Multistage Amplifiers
The output of stage 1 is loaded by input of stage 2. This lowers the gain of stage 1.
This ac equivalent circuit helps give a better understanding how loading can effect gain.
o/p 1st stage
Differential Amplifier
A differential amplifier produces outputs based on the difference between two voltage inputs. Operational amplifiers employ this technique. 3 types of differential amplifiers will examined. single-ended differential double-ended differential common-mode operation
Assume: - Q1 and Q2 are identically matched - w/ both i/ps grounded, Emitter1 = Emitter2 = -0.7 Volts - IE1 = IE2
-
IC1 = IC2
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting techniques for transistor amplifiers is similar to fundamental techniques. Required knowledge for troubleshooting: - how an amplifier works - symptoms exhibited by the circuit - expected voltages & signals within the amplifier - confirmation thru signal tracing These are all valuable parts of troubleshooting.
Needless to say, experience is an excellent teacher, but having a clear understanding of how these circuits work makes the troubleshooting process more efficient and understandable.
Troubleshooting
The following slide is a diagram for a two stage commonemitter amplifier with correct voltages at various points.
Utilize your knowledge of transistor amplifiers and troubleshooting techniques and imagine what the effects would be with various faulty componentsfor example, open resistors, shorted transistor junctions or capacitors. More importantly, how would the output be affected by these faults? In troubleshooting it is most important to understand the operation of a circuit.
What faults could cause low or no output?
AV < 4.7
AActual= 6.85??
Troubleshooting
Note: N0 lose Av=197 Note: N0 lose
Summary
Most transistors amplifiers are designed to operate in the linear region. Transistor circuits can be view in terms of its ac equivalent for better understanding.
Summary
The common-base has a high voltage gain and a current gain of 1. It has a low input impedance and high output impedance Multistage amplifiers are amplifier circuits cascaded to increased gain. We can express gain in decibels (dB). Troubleshooting techniques used for individual transistor circuits can be applied to multistage amplifiers as well.