ECE 392:

LAB 2: The Emitter Follower

GROUP 3:

Author: Sanil Patel

Miguel Briones

Nabil Jemal

OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this lab is to construct and test a circuit incorporating a common collector, also
known as, an emitter follower amplifier. Once wired, the gain will be calculated to match a
gain of one which is characteristic for the emitter follower. Then the input and output
impedances, Z ¿ and Z out , will be measured to see if they are related in any way. Lastly
coupling capacitors will be implemented into the circuit to test the AC and DC components of
the amplifiers output voltage.

INTRODUCTION:

1. The emitter follower amplifier is also known as the common collector amplifier. The
common collector produces an output voltage in direct rather than inverse proportion to the
rising input voltage. As the input voltage increases, so does the output voltage. Moreover,
the emitter follower’s output voltage is nearly identical to the input voltage. It lags only by
about .7 V. Thus, the gain of the amplifier is basically 1 or 0 dB. An emitter follower can
serve as a buffer for a voltage source. If a voltage source is strongly affected by the value
of the load resistor, the emitter follower amplifier can be used to supply power to keep the
voltage constant over its range of operation. The impedance matching and current
amplifying characteristics of the emitter follower provides buffering for the Zener diode
and draws less current from it. It is a useful adjunct to a Zener regulator.
2. The input and output impedances differ greatly. The input impedance needs to be much
higher than the output impedance to support the load impedance. The input impedance will
be of infinite value and the output impedance will have a value of zero.

3. Multisim Simulations:

1
Q3
R1
2
3 330Ω
2N1711 V1
Vin 4 Vout
15 V
R2
0
3.3kΩ

0V
PROCEDURE:
Part 1: Emitter Follower with Single and Double Polarity Power Supplies

a)

1. Wire the circuit shown above.

2. Drive a sign wave into the input. Set the V(p-p) to less than 1V.

3. Now set this voltage to about 2V.

4. Look at the input and output waveforms on the oscilloscope. In particular look for the
amplitudes, phase relation, low signal voltage, difference in the peak voltage, and the time of
zero crossing on the two channels.

5. Use the scope dc input to see if there is any dc bias.

6. Connect (5 V) to Vcc to (-5 V) Vee and observe the output in this situation.

7. Measure the output voltage and the voltage gain.

b)

1. Measure the input and output resistances.

2. To measure the input resistance start by measuring the signals on both sides of the 10 k
resistor.
3. Add a 1k load resistor and a 4.7 uF capacitor at the Vout shown in the figure above.
4. At the input use a sinusoidal signal.
5. Observe the change in the output signal when after one connects the resistor.
6. Find the Thevenin resistance while viewing the follower as a voltage source with Zout
in series.

Part 2: Emitter Follower with Coupling Capacitors

1. Build the circuit shown above.

2. Try the circuit shown above.
3. Measure both in ac and dc components of the output voltage with the oscilloscope.
4. Measure the base dc bias and emitter with a DVM.
RESULTS:

Part 1: Emitter follower with single and double polarity power supplies.

Part 1a) Single power supply

The circuit was powered by a sine wave at the input Vin . The signal from the waveform
generator has no dc offset voltage. The input peak to peak voltage was increased from less than
1 V to about 5 V. The output signal was taken across the emitter resistor. Both input and output
waveforms were observed on the scope and their amplitudes and phase relations were noted.

Resistor values: 270 ohms and 3.3k ohms with 5% tolerance

Following singular polarity waveforms were generated on oscilloscope:

Waveform 1 and 2: .7V and 1.3V

Channel 2 represented the input signal and channel 1 represented the output signal

Waveform 1: 0.7V, Ch.2: 1.36V, Ch.1: 0.124V, Phase: 61.66 degrees

Waveform 2: 1.3V, Ch.2: 2.56V, Ch.1: 0.720V, Phase: 46.14 degrees
 Waveform 3 and 4: 2V and 2.5V Input

Waveform 3: 2V Ch.2: 4.88 V Ch.1: 1.88 V Phase: 37.94 degrees

Waveform 4: 2.5V Ch.2: 3.96V Ch.1: 1.34V Phase: 39.54 degrees

Waveform 5 and 6: 3V and 4V Input

Waveform 5: 3V, Ch.2: 7.92V Ch.1: 3.28V Phase: 34.62 degrees

Waveform 6: 4V Ch.2: 5.92V Ch.1: 2.32V Phase: 36.16 degrees

Waveform 7: 4.5V Input

 Waveform 7: 4.5V Ch.2: 8.88 V Ch.1: 3.76V Phase: 33.71 degrees

Dual Polarity Waveforms:

15 V was connected to Vee to observe the output gain. Input and output voltages measured
are shown in waveforms below:

Channel 2 represented the input signal and channel 1 represented the output signal

Waveform 1 and 2: .7V and 1.3V Input

Waveform 1: 0.7 V Ch.2: 1.38V Ch.1: 1.38V Phase: 1.653 degrees Gain: 1
Waveform 2: 1.3 V Ch.2: 2.48V Ch.1: 2.48V Phase: 1.934 degrees Gain: 1

Waveform 3 and 4: 2V and 2.5V Input

Waveform 3: 2V Ch.2: 3.84 V Ch.1: 3.92V Phase: 0.6912 degrees Gain: 1.02
Waveform 4: 2.5V Ch.2: 4.96 V Ch.1: 4.88 V Phase: 1.522 degrees Gain: 0.98

Waveform 5 and 6: 4v and 4.5V Input

Waveform 5: 4V Ch.2: 7.84 V Ch.1: 7.92 V Phase: 0.4157 degrees Gain: 1.01
Waveform 6: Ch.2: 8.96V Ch.1: 8.88 V Phase: 0.4141 degree Gain: 0.99
Difference between Single and Double polarity:

In the single polarity, the output waveform is equal to zero when the input waveform
has negative voltage while the negative voltage shows up in using the dual power supply.
This is the case because there is no input voltage to the emitter of the transistor. When looking
at the data for the single polarity power supply, it looks as if the amplitudes of the
output waveforms are almost half of the amplitudes of the input waveforms. Hence, the
oscilloscope measures half of the amplitude of what it is supposed to be. If the correct
amplitudes are to be measured, the voltage gain with both single and dual power supplies are
less than or equal to one.

The oscilloscope is also measuring big phase between the two waveforms. The emitter
follower circuit is a noninverting amplifier; that means the input and output waveforms
should be in phase. This result can be seen with the dual power experiment where the phase
difference is small.

Part 1b)

Measuring input and output impedance, Zin and Zout

Zin the impedance looking into the transistor base was determined by measuring signals on
both sides of the 10k resistor connected in series at the input. 1K resistor used at the output
load through 4.7 uF blocking capacitor. Sinusoidal signal was used at the input and a change
was observed in the output signal when the resistor was connected.

Input impedance (Ch.2 input, Ch. 1 base) Ch.2 input: 1.98 V Ch.1: 1.94 V
Zin = 1.94V/ ((1.98V1.94V)/10KΩ) = 485K

Output impedance (Ch.2 Voltage across emitter resistor, Ch. 1 output) Ch.2: 940 mV Ch.1:
920 mV
Zout = 920mV/((940mV920mV)/1KΩ) = 46Ω
Part 2: Emitter follower with coupling capacitor

Single polarity power supply was used for a follower operating with a symmetrical input. Both
ac and dc components of the output voltage were measured with a scope.

Channel 1: Input sinusoidal wave with 2V peak to peak with 400 Hz. Amplitude 3.84V
Channel 2: Output sinusoidal wave across emitter. Amplitude observed 3.32V Phase: 30.32
degrees

MultiSim Simulation: Frequency Response

V: 7.59 V
I: 6.43 uA R3 1
130kΩ

C1 Q1 V1
5 3
2N3904 15 V
V2 Probe1
10µF
0
1.591 Vrms
400 Hz 2Probe2
0° R1 R2
150kΩ 7.5kΩ
0
V: 6.93 V
I: 924 uA
0

Percent Error:
Error = |7.1−6.93
7.1 |
∗100=2.39 %

Frequency Response Graphs using MultiSim:

Bode Plot:

This plot shows the magnitude of the frequency for the emitter follower
 This plot shows the phase shift in the frequency for the emitter follower

DISCUSSION:

Part 1:

1. After introducing VEE of 15V, Vin was increased from 0.7 V to 4.5 V (PP). The largest
output voltage we were able to observe without distortion was the amplitude of 8.96 V
when signal with 4.5 (PP) was applied at Vin with an amplitude of 8.88 V. Before
applying the 15V to VEE, the largest output voltage we were able to obtain was 3.78 V
of amplitude while the input amplitude was 8.88 V at 4.5 (PP). So the difference
between both the cases is that with single polarity, the difference between input and
the output was up to 5.04 V ; while with double polarity power source, the difference
between the amplitude of input and output waveform was of only 0.08V. The
reason why such a difference was observed is the double polarity provides the
amplifier with a more amplification to the output signal of the follower while the gain
in circuit with single polarity is about 1.

Part 2:

1. AC component measured 7.7 V at the base and 7.1 V at emitter. DC component was
zero when measured. The DC component of the input wave function is removed due to
the capacitor. To eliminate dc component of voltage on the output, a capacitor was used
to couple the emitter of the amplifier to the output. The natural properties of the
capacitor does not allow DC voltage to travel through it. However, AC voltage is
allowed to travel through a capacitor depending on the value of it. In the complex
domain a capacitor is represented by Zc = 1/(jωc). Z and c are inversely proportional so
as the frequency increases the impedance of the capacitor decreases allowing AC to
travel through.
 2. Frequency response of the last circuit is different from that in Part1. In the first part of
the experiment, there is no capacitor and no bias network to provide the feedback.
However in this circuit, there is a capacitor involved and three resistor bias to provide
feedback to the transistor. The capacitor is a frequency dependent component so there
will be a change in the frequency response. Since we have a three resistor network bias
to provide the feedback, there will be change in how the circuit behaves. There is a
phase shift of 30.2 degrees.

3. The cut off frequency (f3dB) as marked in the frequency response obtained from the
MultiSim graphs. It is approximately 380 Hz.

CONCLUSION:

In the first part of the experiment, we concluded that having different power supplies (single
and dual) can affect the behavior of the output waveform. With the single power applied to
collector, we see that only positive part of the waveform was obtained. That means the negative
part of the waveform was filtered out. This result can be used to obtain only one part of the
input signal which is applied to the base. The output and input impedance are in agreement with
the theory. The input impedance is suppose to be high and the output impedance is supposed to
be low; it is this property that allows the transferring of voltage from one part of the circuit to
the next. The capacitor was then introduced to remove the DC bias. In the third part of the lab,
we see that the input voltage had no DC bias because of the presence of capacitor. The output
voltage is expected to have DC bias because there is no capacitor.