Bridge Rectifier

Advantage:

- Transformer utilization factor, in case of a bridge rectifier, is higher than that of a center tap
rectifier
- Can be used in application allowing floating output terminals (no output terminal is grounded)
- Transformer is less costly as it is required to provide only half the voltage of an equivalent center
tapped transformer used in full wave rectifier
- If stepping up or stepping down of AC voltage is not needed, and then it does not even require
any transformer
- Suited for high voltage applications

Disadvantage:

- Two diodes in series conduct at a time on alternate half cycles. This creates a problem when low
DC voltages are required. This leads to poor voltage regulation
- Requires four semiconducting diodes

Applications of Bridge Rectifier

- Because of their low cost compared to center tapped, they are widely used in power supply circuit
- This can be used to detect the amplitude of modulated radio signal
- Can be used to supply polarized voltage in welding

Center Tapped Transformer

Advantages:

- The ripple factor is much less than that of half wave rectifier
- The rectification efficiency is twice than that of a half wave rectifier. For full wave rectifier, the
maximum possible value of rectification efficiency is 81.2% while that half wave rectifier is
40.6%.
- The DC output voltage and DC load current values are twice than those of a half wave rectifier.
Disadvantages:

- It is expensive to manufacture a center tapped transformer which produces equal voltage on each
half of the secondary windings.
- The output voltage is half of the secondary voltage as each diode utilizes only half of the
transformer secondary voltage
- The PIV of diode used twice that of the diode used in half wave rectifier, so diodes used must
have high PIV
Applications of Center Tapped Transformer

- The conversion between high AC to low DC can be done by using this type of rectifiers
- The efficiency is high in these circuits make it capable of using it as a basic component in the
power supply units
- In the criteria of powering on the devices like LED’s or it may be motors this type of rectifiers are
preferred
Transformer Utilization Factor – ratio of DC power delivered to the load and the input AC rating of the
transformer secondary

- P(output_dc)/P(input_ac)

Parameters Center tapped full wave Bridge rectifier

rectifier
Number of diodes 2 4
Maximum efficiency 81.2% 81.2%
Peak Inverse Voltage 2Vm Vm
Vdc (no load) 2Vm/π 2Vm/π
Transformer Utilization Factor 0.693 0.812
Ripple Factor 0.48 0.48
Form Factor 1.11 1.11
Peak Factor √2 √2
Average Current Idc/2 Idc/2
Output Frequency 2f 2f
Applications of Rectifier Diode

- Rectifying a voltage such as turning the AC into DC voltages

- Isolating signals from a supply
- Voltage Reference
- Controlling the size of a signal
- Mixing signals
- Detection signals
- Lighting systems
- LASER Diodes

Bipolar Transistor

Active Region – transistor operates as an amplifier and I C =β (I B )

Saturation Region – transistor is Fully-ON operating as a switch and I C =I saturation

Cut-off Region – transistor is Fully-OFF operating as a switch and I C =0

Common Base Configuration – has Voltage Gain but no Current Gain

Common Emitter Configuration – has both Current and Voltage Gain
Common Collector Configuration – has Current Gain but no Voltage Gain

Characteristic Common Base Common Emitter Common Collector

Input Impedance Low Medium High
Output Impedance Very High High Low
Phase Shift 0 180 0
Voltage Gain High Medium Low
Current Gain Low Medium High
Power Gain Low Very High Medium
Junction Field Effect Transistor
Different Regions of Operation of JFET
1. Ohmic Region – When VGS = 0, the depletion layer of the channel is very small and JFET acts
like voltage-controlled resistor
2. Cut-off Region – also known as the pinch off region where the gate voltage, VGS is sufficient to
cause the JFET to act as an open circuit as the channel resistance is at maximum
3. Saturation or Active Region – JFET becomes a good conductor and controlled by Gate-Source
Voltage, while Drain-Source voltage has little or no effect
4. Breakdown Region – voltage between the drain and the source is high enough to cause JFET
resistive channel to break down and pass uncontrolled maximum current
Advantages and Disadvantages of FETs
The advantages of FETs relative to BJTs are summarized as follows:
1. FETs are voltage sensitive devices with high input impedance. Since this input impedance is
considerably higher than that of BJTs, FETs are preferred over BJTs for use as the input stage to
a multistage amplifier.
2. One class of FETs (JFETs) generates lower noise than BJTs.
3. FETs are more temperature stable than BJTs.
4. FETs are generally easier to fabricate than BJTs. Greater numbers of devices can be fabricated on
a single chip.
5. FETs react like voltage controlled variable resistors for small values of drain-to-source voltage.
6. The high input impedance of FETs permits them to store charge long enough to allow them to be
used as storage elements.
7. Power FETs can dissipate high power and can switch large currents.
8. FETs are not as sensitive to radiation as BJTs.
Several disadvantages that limit the use of FETs in some applications:
1. FETs amplifiers usually exhibit poor frequency response because of high input capacitance
2. Some types of FETs exhibit poor linearity
3. FETs can be damaged in handling due to static electricity
JFET vs MOSFET vs MESFET vs Power MOSFET
RC Coupled Amplifier
The potential divider network R1 and R2 and the resistor RE form the biasing and stabilization network.
The emitter by-pass capacitor CE offers a low reactance path to the signal.
The capacitor CC is the coupling capacitor that connects two stages and prevents DC interference
between the stages and controls the shift of operating point.
Advantages of RC Coupled Amplifier

- Frequency response of RC amplifier provides constant gain over a wide frequency range, suitable
for audio applications
- Circuit is simple and has low cost because it employs resistors and capacitors which are cheap
- More compact with upgrading technology

Disadvantages of RC Coupled Amplifier

- Voltage and power gain are low because of the effective load resistance
- Become noise with age
- Due to poor impedance matching, power transfer will be low

Applications of RC Coupled Amplifier

- Have excellent audio fidelity over a wide range of frequency

- Widely used as voltage amplifiers
- Due to poor impedance matching, RC coupling is rarely used in the final stages

Transformer Coupling
Frequency Response of Transformer Coupled Amplifier
At low frequencies, the reactance of primary begins to fall, resulting in decreased gain.
At high frequencies, the capacitance between turns of windings acts as a bypass condenser to reduce the
output voltage and hence gain.
The amplification of audio signals will not be proportionate and some distortion will also get introduced,
which is called as Frequency Distortion.
Advantages of Transformer Coupled Amplifier

- Excellent impedance matching is provided

- Gain achieved is higher
- No power loss in collector and base resistors
- Efficient in operation

Disadvantages of Transformer Coupled Amplifier

- Poor frequency response

- Frequency distortion is higher
- Tends to produce hum noise
- Bulky and costly

Applications

- Impedance matching purposes

- Power amplification
- Used in applications where maximum power transfer is needed
Direct Coupled Amplifier

Advantages

- The circuit arrangement is simple because of minimum use of resistors

- Circuit is low of cost because of absence of expensive coupling devices
Disadvantages

- Cannot be used for amplifying high frequencies

- Operating point is shifted due to temperature variations

Applications

- Low frequency amplifications

- Low current amplifications

Comparisons

Particular RC Coupling Transformer Direct Coupling

Coupling
Frequency response Excellent in audio Poor Best
frequency range
Cost Less More Least
 Space and Weight Less More Least
Impedance Not good Excellent Good
Matching
Use For voltage For Power For amplifying extremely
amplification amplification low frequencies
Classification of Power Amplifiers
The power amplifiers amplify the power level of the signal.
This amplification is done in the last stage in audio applications.
The applications related to radio frequencies employ radio power amplifiers.
Classification Based on Frequencies

- Audio Power Amplifiers – audio power amplifiers raise the power level of signals that have
audio frequency range (20 Hz to 20 kHz)
o Also known as Small Signal Power Amplifier
- Radio Power Amplifiers – tuned power amplifiers raise the power level of signals that have
radio frequency range (3 kHz to 300 GHz)
o Also known as Large Signal Power Amplifier

Classification Based on Mode of Operation

- Class A Power Amplifier – When the collector current flows at all times during the full cycle of
signal, the power amplifier is known as class A power amplifier.
- Class B Power Amplifier – When the collector current flows only during the positive half cycle
of the input signal, the power amplifier is known as class B power amplifier.
- Class C Power Amplifier – When the collector current flows for less than half cycle of the input
signal, the power amplifier is known as class C power amplifier.
Collector Efficiency
When the DC supply is given by the battery but no AC signal input is given, the collector output at such a
condition is observed as collector efficiency.
average ac power input
η= transistor ¿
average dc power input ¿
Power Dissipation Capability – ability of a power transistor to dissipate the heat developed
Distortion – define as the change of output wave shape from the input wave shape of the amplifier.
An amplifier that has lesser distortion produces a better output and hence considered efficient.
Class A Power Amplifier
Advantages of Class A Amplifiers

- Current flows for complete input cycle

- Can amplify small signals
- Output is same as input
- No distortion is present
Disadvantages of Class A Amplifiers

- Low power output

- Low collector efficiency

Transformer Coupled Class A Power Amplifier

- Advantages
o No loss of signal power in the base or collector resistors
o Excellent impedance matching is achieved
o High gain
o DC isolation is provided
- Disadvantages
o Low frequency signals are less amplified comparatively
o Hum noise is introduced by transformers
o Transformers are bulky and costly
o Poor frequency response
- Applications
o This circuit is where impedance matching is the main criterion
o Used as driver amplifiers and sometimes as output amplifiers

Class A Push-Pull Amplifier

- Advantages
o High ac output is obtained
o Output is free from even harmonics
o Effect of ripple voltages are balanced out. These are present in the power supply due to
inadequate filtering
- Disadvantages
o Transistors are to be identical to produce equal amplification
o Center-tapping is required for transformers
o Bulk and costly

Class B Operation

- Advantages
o No need of center tapped transformers, weight and cost are reduced
o Equal and opposite input signal voltages are not required
- Disadvantages
o Difficult to get a pair of transistors (NPN and PNP) that have similar characteristics
o Require positive and negative supply voltages
- Applications
o Used in low-cost design
o More significant than class A amplifier
o Suffers from bad distortion if signal level is low

Class AB Operation
 - Advantages
o Linear Behavior
o Simple Design
o Distortion is less than 0.1%
o Sound quality is very high
- Disadvantages
o Power dissipation of this amplifier generates the heat and requires large amount of heat
sink
o Low power efficiency and average efficiency is less than 50%
- Applications
o Used in hi-fi systems

Class C Power Amplifier

- Advantages
o High efficiency
o Physical size is low for given o/p power
- Disadvantages
o Low linearity
o Not used in audio amplifiers
o Dynamic range is decreased
o Produces more RF interfaces
- Applications
o Used in RF amplifiers

Class D Power Amplifier

- Advantages
o More efficiency that is more than 90%
o There is a low power dissipation
- Disadvantages
o More complex than class AB amplifier
- Applications
o Amplifiers used in sound cards of mobile devices and personal computers
o Used in cars of audio subwoofer amplifiers

Class F Power Amplifier

- Boost efficiency and output by using harmonic resonators in output network to shape the output
waveform into a square wave
- Capable of high efficiencies of more than 90% if infinite harmonic tuning is used

Class G Power Amplifier

- Offers enhancements to the basic class AB amplifier design

- Uses multiple power supply rails of various voltages and automatically switches between these
supply rails as the input signal changes
 - Constant switching reduces the average power consumption and power loss caused by wasted
heat
Class I Power Amplifier

- Has two sets of complementary output switching devices arranged in a parallel push-pull
configuration
- With no input signal applied, or when a signal reaches the zero-crossing point, the switching
devices are both turned ON and OFF simultaneously with 50% PWM duty cycle cancelling out
any high frequency signals.
- To produce the positive half of the output signal, the output of the positive switching device is
increased in duty cycle while the negative switching device is decreased by the same and vice
versa
Class S Power Amplifier

- Non-linear switching mode amplifier similar to class D amplifier

- Converts analogue input signals into digital square wave pulses by a delta-sigma modulator
- Amplifies them to increase output power before finally being demodulated by a band pass filter
- Theoretically zero power dissipation, wherein efficiencies reaching 100% are possible

Class T Power Amplifier

- Converts analogue signals into digital pulse width modulated signals for amplification increasing
the amplifiers efficiency
- Combines both low distortion signals levels of class AB amplifier and power efficiency of class
D amplifier

Tuned Amplifier – amplifiers that are employed for the purpose of tuning
Tuning means selecting
Selection – process where there is a need to select a particular frequency while rejecting all other
frequencies
When an amplifier circuit has its load replaced by a tuned circuit, such an amplifier can be called as a
Tuned Amplifier Circuit.
A tuned circuit is capable of amplifying a signal over a narrow band of frequencies that are centered at
resonant frequency.
When the reactance of the inductor balances the reactance of the capacitor, in the tuned circuit at some
frequency, such a frequency can be called as resonant frequency.
Types of Tuned Circuit
1. Series Tuned Circuit
- At resonant frequency, a series resonant circuit offers low impedance which allows high current
2. Parallel Tuned Circuit
- Offers high impedance which does not allow high current through it