BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR

AMPLIFIERS
PART 1
WHAT IS AN AMPLIFIER?
• It is an electronic device that generally increases the power content of
an input signal

• It contains both passive and active components

▪ Passive components: does not alter the signal
e.g. resistors
▪ Active components: can alter the signal
: can change the waveform
(shape and/or amplitude)
e.g. transistors
TYPES OF AMPLIFIERS
• Voltage Amplifier
: output voltage is greater than the input voltage
• Current Amplifier
: output current is greater than the input current
• Power Amplifier
: output power is greater than the input power; both output current
and voltage are greater than the input values
 Classes of Operation of BJT Amplifiers
➢Class A Amplifier
: all parts of the input waveform are reproduced at the output; complete cycle is
present
Input Output

𝜔𝑡
0 𝜋 2𝜋

➢Class B Amplifier
: only one-half cycle is reproduced at the output
➢Class AB Amplifier
: more than half-cycle but less than one-cycle is
reproduced at the output

➢Class C Amplifier
: less than half-cycle of the input waveform is reproduced at
the output
Note:
Whenever the output is not an exact copy or reproduction of the input; or if there
are parts of the input waveform that are not present at the output, the signal is
described to be distorted.

Class A : has an ideal output, the efficiency is low

: ex. as a driver- circuit before the final audio power
amplifier stage (where the speaker is connected)
: ex. as a preamplifier (circuit to which the source is
connected)

Class B and AB: have higher efficiency compared to Class A

: suitable for high power amplifiers (e.g. sound
system)
: ex. used as last stage amplifier in a sound
system
Class C: is used in radio frequency circuits
 AMPLIFIER CONFIGURATIONS

Common Emitter Amplifier

Input is applied to the Base

Output is taken from the

Collector

Emitter is part of both the

input and output circuits

Emitter is Common to both

input and output
circuits

Sample Common Emitter Amplifier

 AMPLIFIER CONFIGURATIONS

Common Collector Amplifier

Input is applied to the Base

Output is taken from the

Emitter

Collector is part of both the

input and output circuits

Collector is Common to both

input and output
circuits

Sample Common Collector Amplifier

 AMPLIFIER CONFIGURATIONS

Common Base Amplifier

Input is applied to the

Emitter

Output is taken from the

Collector

Base is part of both the input

and output circuits

Base is Common to both

input and output
circuits

Sample Common Base Amplifier

 Capacitors

Present low opposition to the ac or signal; ideally a short circuit

 Coupling Capacitor  Bypass Capacitor

➢ It is connected in series ➢ It is connected in parallel or across a
component; It prevents ac from
flowing through the component
➢ It may also be called a dc blocking
➢ Usually, one of the capacitor
capacitor because it prevents the dc
terminals is connected to ground
from reaching the output or mixing
with the signal
h-parameter Definition
ℎ𝑖 Input ac impedance (output ac short-circuit); this is the ac resistance
across the input of the transistor
ℎ𝑟 Reverse transfer voltage ratio representing how the transistor output
affects the input (input ac open-circuit); in general, ℎ𝑟 is small and can
be neglected
ℎ𝑓 Forward transfer current ratio or current amplification factor (output
ac short-circuit); typically, ℎ𝑓 = β

ℎ𝑜 Output admittance (input ac open-circuit); in general, ℎ𝑜 is small and

can be neglected
AC Equivalent Circuit of the BJT

Simplified Equivalent Circuit

h-parameter ac model of BJT for each amplifier configuration

Common Emitter

Common Collector

Common Base
Performance Measures for Amplifiers

Voltage Gain,
𝑣𝑜
𝐴𝑣 =
𝑣𝑖
Current Gain,
𝑖𝑜
𝐴𝑖 =
𝑖𝑖
Input Impedance,
𝑣𝑖
𝑅𝑖 =
𝑖𝑖
Output Impedance,
𝑣𝑜
𝑅𝑜 =
𝑖𝑜
 Common Emitter Amplifier

𝑣𝑐 = −𝑖𝑐 𝑅𝐿′
𝑣𝑏 = 𝑖𝑏 ℎ𝑖𝑒 + 𝑖𝑒 𝑅𝐸
𝑖𝑐 = ℎ𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑏
𝑖𝑒 = 𝑖𝑏 (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1)
𝑖𝑒

𝑅𝑖 −ℎ𝑓𝑒 𝑅𝐿′
𝐴𝑣 =
𝑅𝑜 → ∞ ℎ𝑖𝑒 + (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1)𝑅𝐸

𝑣𝑜 𝑖𝑜 𝑣𝑖 𝐴𝑖 = −ℎ𝑓𝑒
𝐴𝑣 = 𝐴𝑖 = 𝑅𝑖 =
𝑣𝑖 𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖
𝑅𝑖 = ℎ𝑖𝑒 + (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1)𝑅𝐸
 Common Collector Amplifier

𝑣𝑒 = 𝑖𝑒 𝑅𝐿′
𝑣𝑏 = 𝑖𝑏 ℎ𝑖𝑒 + 𝑖𝑒 𝑅𝐿′

𝑖𝑒 = 𝑖𝑏 (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1) 𝑖𝑐

ℎ𝑖𝑒
𝑅𝑖 𝐴𝑣 = 1 −
𝑅𝑜 𝑅𝑖

𝐴𝑖 = ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1
𝑣𝑏 − 𝑖𝑏 ℎ𝑖𝑒 = 𝑖𝑒 𝑅𝐿′ 𝑣𝑖
𝑣𝑜 𝑖𝑜
𝐴𝑣 = 𝐴𝑖 = 𝑅𝑖 = 𝑅𝑖 = ℎ𝑖𝑒 + (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1)𝑅𝐿′
𝑣𝑖 𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖
𝑣𝑏 − 𝑖𝑏 ℎ𝑖𝑒 = 𝑣𝑒
 𝑅𝑠′ 𝑖

𝑣
𝑅𝑜 =
𝑖
𝑣𝑠 = 0 𝑣

𝑣 = −𝑖𝑏 (𝑅𝑠′ + ℎ𝑖𝑒 )

𝑖 = −𝑖𝑒

𝑖𝑒 = 𝑖𝑏 (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1)
𝑅𝑜

𝑅𝑠′ + ℎ𝑖𝑒
𝑅𝑜 =
ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1
 Common Base Amplifier

𝑖𝑏

𝑣𝑐 = −𝑖𝑐 𝑅𝐿′
𝑖𝑏
𝑖𝑐 = ℎ𝑓𝑒 𝑖𝑏
𝑣𝑒 = −𝑖𝑏 (ℎ𝑖𝑒 + 𝑅𝐵 )

𝑖𝑒 = 𝑖𝑏 (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1)
−ℎ𝑓𝑒 𝑅𝐿′
𝑅𝑖 𝐴𝑣 =
𝑅𝑜 → ∞ ℎ𝑖𝑒 + (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1)𝑅𝐸

𝑣𝑜 𝑖𝑜 𝑣𝑖 𝐴𝑖 = −ℎ𝑓𝑒
𝐴𝑣 = 𝐴𝑖 = 𝑅𝑖 =
𝑣𝑖 𝑖𝑖 𝑖𝑖
𝑅𝑖 = ℎ𝑖𝑒 + (ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1)𝑅𝐸
 Quantity Common Emitter Common Collector Common Base

Voltage Gain, 𝑣𝑐 −ℎ𝑓𝑒𝑅𝐿′ 𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑒 𝑣𝑐 ℎ𝑓𝑒𝑅𝐿′

= =1− =
𝑣𝑏 𝑅𝑖 𝑣𝑏 𝑅𝑖 𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑒 + 𝑅𝐵
𝑣𝑜
𝐴𝑣 =
𝑣𝑖 (high, with 180° phase shift) (very low) (high)
Current Gain, 𝑖𝑐 𝑖𝑒 𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑓𝑒
− = −ℎ𝑓𝑒 = ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1 =
𝑖𝑏 𝑖𝑏 𝑖𝑒 ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1
𝑖𝑜
𝐴𝑖 =
𝑖𝑖 (high, with 180° phase shift) (high) (very low)
Input Resistance, 𝑣𝑏 𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑖𝑒 + 𝑅𝐵
= ℎ𝑖𝑒 + 1 + ℎ𝑓𝑒 𝑅𝐸 = ℎ𝑖𝑒 + (1 + ℎ𝑓𝑒)𝑅𝐿′ =
𝑖𝑏 𝑖𝑏 𝑖𝑏 ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1
𝑣𝑖
𝑅𝑖 =
𝑖𝑖 (high) (high) (low)
Output Resistance, 𝑅𝑠′ + ℎ𝑖𝑒
∞ ℎ𝑓𝑒 + 1 ∞
𝑣
𝑅𝑜 =
𝑖𝑜 (very high) (low) (very high)
Considering another transistor model
with the ac emitter resistance 𝑟𝑒′
𝑟𝑒′ 𝑖𝑒 = ℎ𝑖𝑒 𝑖𝑏

𝑣𝑏𝑒 𝑽𝑻 and 𝑖𝑒 = 𝑖𝑏 (1 + ℎ𝑓𝑒 )

𝑟𝑒′ = 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝒓′𝒆 =
𝑖𝑒 𝑰𝑬
𝐼𝐸 = 𝐼𝐵 (1 + β) 𝑖𝑏 ℎ𝑖𝑒
𝑉𝑇 𝑟𝑒′ =
𝑟𝑒′ = 𝑖𝑏 (1 + ℎ𝑓𝑒 )
𝐼𝐵 (1 + β)

𝑇 𝒉𝒊𝒆 = 𝒓′𝒆 (𝟏 + 𝒉𝒇𝒆 )

𝑉𝑇 =
11586
Using ℎ𝑓𝑒 = β and 𝑉𝑇 = 25 𝑚𝑉
At 20°𝐶, 293 𝐾: 𝑉𝑇 = 25 𝑚𝑉
25 𝑚𝑉
ℎ𝑖𝑒 = (1 + β)
𝑣𝑏𝑒 𝐼𝐵 (1 + 𝛽)
ℎ𝑖𝑒 =
𝑖𝑏 𝟐𝟓 𝒎𝑽
∴ 𝒉𝒊𝒆 =
𝑰𝑩
𝐼𝐵 : DC base current