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Laboratory Exercise No. 5

EE 01 (Electronic Circuits: Devices and Analysis)
Small Signal Amplifier; Common-Base
Group Leader:
Group Members:

Course Year & Section: Date Performed:

Course In-Charge: Date Submitted:
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I. Introduction

A common base amplifier is a particular kind of transistor amplifier circuit where the transistor's
base terminal is shared by the input and output signal lines. In this setup, the collector is wired up to
the power source, while the emitter serves as the output terminal.
The voltage gain, low output impedance, and high input impedance of the common base
amplifier define it. The fact that it has low input and output capacitances and can function at high
frequencies makes it a popular choice for RF (radio frequency) applications.
The common base amplifier has a smaller voltage gain but a broader bandwidth when compared
to other transistor amplifier layouts like common emitter and common collector. It can run in Class A,
Class AB, or Class B amplifier modes and is less susceptible to changes in transistor characteristics
like beta.
In summary, the common base amplifier is an adaptable and practical circuit for RF applications
where high input impedance, low output impedance, and broad bandwidth are preferred.

II. Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this laboratory exercise, the student will be able to:
 To examine the Common Base (CB) Amplifier characteristic of transistor.
 To explain saturation and cutoff regions in relation to the curves.
 To understand common base input and output characteristics of BJT transistors.
 To determine the input and output resistance of BJT transistors in common base.
III. Materials and Equipment
• Two DC power supply
• Function generator
• AVOmeter
• Oscilloscope
• Transistor
• Resistors 1 KΩ and 100 KΩ
• Capacitors 1µ

IV. Theory

Fig. 1 shows the circuit of a single-stage CB amplifier using NPN transistor. As seen, input ac signal is
injected into the emitter-base circuit and output is taken from the collector-base circuit. The E/B junction
is forward-biased by VEE whereas C/B junction is reverse-biased by VCC. The Q-point or dc working
conditions are determined by dc batteries along with resistors RE and RC. In other words, values of IE, IB
and VCB are decided by VCC, VEE, RE and RC. The voltage VCB is given by the equation VCB= VCC – ICRC.
When no signal is applied to the input circuit, the output just sits at the Q-point so that there is no
output signal. Let us now see what happens when we apply an ac signal to the E/B junction via a
coupling capacitor C1 (which is assumed to offer no reactance to the signal).

Circuit Operation

When positive half-cycle of the signal is applied, then.

1. forward bias is decreased because VBE is already negative with respect to the ground.
2. consequently, IB is decreased.
3. IE and hence IC are decreased (because they are both nearly β times the base current).
4. the drop IC RC is decreased.
5. hence, VCB is increased as seen by the equation given above

Common-base amplifier has

1. very low input resistance (30 – 150 Ω).
2. very high output resistance (up to 500 K).
3. a current gain α < 1.
4. large voltage gain of about 1500.
5. power gain of up to 30 dB.
6. no phase reversal between input and output voltages.

V. Procedure
Step 1. Connect the circuit as shown in figure (2).

Step 2. Measure Ic and Ie.

Step 3. Draw output waveform on graph paper.

VI. Guiding Questions

1. Discuss your experimental results.
2. Determine Ai, Av, and Ap.
3. What is the effect of Re on amplifier?