Ravi Shankara.M.N.

ECE Dept, SCE Bangalore

Associate Professor ravishankarmn@sapthagiri.edu.in

Module 1(b) – Amplifiers

Amplifiers – Types of amplifiers, Gain, Input and output resistance, Frequency response, Bandwidth, Phase shift, Negative feedback,
Multi-stage amplifiers

Amplifiers
The process of increasing the magnitude of the input signal without changing its parameters (like frequency and
phase) is known as Amplification and the Electronic device which does this is known as an Amplifier.
Types of Amplifiers (Classification of Amplifiers)
Sl No Amplifier type Description
1 AC coupled amplifiers In a.c. coupled amplifiers, stages are coupled together in such a way that
d.c. levels are isolated and only the a.c. components of a signal are
transferred from stage to stage.
2 DC coupled amplifiers In d.c. (or direct) coupled amplifiers, stages are coupled together in such
a way that stages are not isolated to d.c. potentials. Both a.c. and d.c.
signal components are transferred from stage to stage.
3 Large-signal amplifiers Large-signal amplifiers are designed to cater for appreciable voltage /
current levels (typically from 1 V to 100 V or more).
4 Small-signal amplifiers Small-signal amplifiers are designed to cater for low-level signals
(normally less than 1 V and often much smaller) and are specially
designed to combat the effects of noise.
5 Audio frequency Audio frequency amplifiers operate in the band of frequencies that is
amplifiers normally associated with audio signals (e.g. 20 Hz to 20 kHz).

6 Wideband amplifiers
7 Radio frequency
amplifiers
8 Low-noise amplifiers
Wideband amplifiers are capable of amplifying a very wide range of
frequencies, typically from a few tens of hertz to several megahertz.
Radio frequency (RF) amplifiers operate in the RF band normally
associated with radio signals (from 100 kHz to 1 GHz).
Low-noise amplifiers are designed so that they contribute negligible
noise (signal disturbance) to the signal being amplified. These amplifiers
are usually designed for use with very small signal levels (usually less
than 10 mV or so).

Amplifier Parameters
Gain : The amount of amplification produced by an amplifier measured as Gain and is simply the ratio of
output voltage to input voltage or output current to input current, or output power to input power These three
ratios give, respectively, the voltage gain, current gain and power gain and can be expressed as

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Ravi Shankara.M.N. ECE Dept, SCE Bangalore
Associate Professor ravishankarmn@sapthagiri.edu.in

Example - An amplifier produces an output voltage of 2 V for an input of 50 mV. If the input and output
currents in this condition are, respectively, 4 mA and 200 mA, determine: (a) the voltage gain; (b) the
current gain; (c) the power gain.

Solution: Given Vout = 2V; Vin = 50 mV and Iin = 4 mA ; Iout = 200 mA

V out 2 I out 200×10 −3
Voltage gain AV = = 50×10 −3 = 40 Current gain AI = = = 50
V in I in 4×10 −3
Power gain AP = AVAI = 40×50 = 2000

Input Resistance (Rin)

Figure shows the equivalent circuit of a basic amplifier showing currents and voltages associated with it. Input
resistance is the ratio of input voltage to input current and it is expressed
in ohms. The input resistance of an amplifier is normally purely resistive
in the mid-band. In some cases, if the reactance at the input side may
become appreciable (e.g. if a large value of stray capacitance appears in
parallel with the input resistance). In such cases it is referred as Input
impedance (Zin)
Output Resistance (RO)
Output Resistance is the ratio of open-circuit output voltage to short-circuit output current and is measured in
ohms. The output resistance of an amplifier is normally purely resistive in the mid-band. If the reactive
components are considered then it is referred as Output impedance (Zo)

Frequency Response
It is the graph of for gain of the amplifier verses different values of input signal frequency plotted on a
logarithmic scale. . The frequency response of an amplifier is usually specified in terms of the upper (f2) and
lower (f1) cut-off frequencies of the amplifier. These frequencies are those at which the output power has
dropped to 50% (otherwise known as the −3 dB points) or where the voltage gain has dropped to 70.7% of its
mid-band value. Figure shows the frequency response of an amplifier interns of power vs frequency and voltage
vs frequency respectively.

Bandwidth
It is the desired range of frequencies of interest. The bandwidth of an amplifier is the difference between the
upper and lower cut-off frequencies.
BW = [f2 – f1 ] Hz

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Ravi Shankara.M.N. ECE Dept, SCE Bangalore
Associate Professor ravishankarmn@sapthagiri.edu.in

Phase Shift
Phase shift is the phase angle difference between the input and output signal voltages measured in degrees in
the midband (where the gain remains relatively constant). The phase-shift provided by the amplifiers will be
either 180° or 360°.
Feedback Amplifiers
Feedback plays an important role in almost all electronic circuits and is invariably used in amplifiers to improve its performance and
to make it more ideal. A feedback amplifier is also called as a closed loop amplifier, since feedback forms a closed loop between the
input and the output. In the process of feedback, a part of the output (which can be current or voltage) is sampled and fed back to the
input of the amplifier. Hence at the input, there are two signals: input signal and the part of the output which is fed back to the input
(feedback signal).Both these signals may be in phase or out of phase.
Hence there are two categories of feedback as – (i) Positive feedback (ii) Negative feedback

Negative Feedback:
When the input signal and feedback signal are out of phase (feedback signal is subtracted from input signal),
then the feedback is known as Negative feedback.
Features of Negative Feedback (Properties of Negative Feedback)
(i) Decreased gain (ii) Increased bandwidth (iii) Linear operation (iv) Changes in input and output resistances
(v) Improvement noise immunity (vi) The amplifier system is stable (vii) Decreased distortion
Many practical amplifiers use negative feedback in order to precisely control the gain, reduce distortion and
improve bandwidth. Figure shows the block diagram of an amplifier stage with negative feedback applied.
V out
A= or Vout = A Vin
V in
Feedback voltage Vf = β Vout
Input VS = Vin + Vf
Vout A Vin
The overall gain Af = G = =
Vs Vin + Vf
A Vin A Vin
Af = =
Vin + βVout Vin + βAVin
A
Af =
1 + Aβ

Hence, the overall gain with negative feedback applied will be less than the gain without feedback.
For A >>1:  G = Af = (1 / β). Hence the closed loop gain of the amplifier depends on the feedback factor β
The term Aβ is called loop gain and (1+Aβ) is called Amount of feedback.

Example : (a) An amplifier with negative feedback applied has an open-loop voltage gain of 50, and
(1/10) of its output is fed back to the input . Determine the overall voltage gain with negative feedback
applied. (b)If the amplifier’s open-loop voltage gain increases by 20%, determine the percentage increase
in overall voltage gain.
Solution – Given A = 50; β = 0.1
(a) With negative feedback applied the overall voltage gain will be given by:
A 50
Af = G = = = 8.33
1 + Aβ 1 + 50 1
10
(b) The new value of open loop voltage gain A1 = A + 0.2A = 1.2A = 1.2(50) = 60
A 60
The overall voltage gain with negative feedback Af = 1 = 1 = 8.57
1+A 1 β 1+60
10
8.57−8.33
The increase in overall voltage gain, expressed as percentage = × 100 = 2.88%
8.33

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Ravi Shankara.M.N. ECE Dept, SCE Bangalore
Associate Professor ravishankarmn@sapthagiri.edu.in

Multi-stage amplifiers
In order to provide sufficiently large values of gain, it is often necessary to use a number of interconnected
stages within an amplifier. Output of first stage is connected to the input of the second stage through a
suitable couplingdevice and so on.

The overall gain of an amplifier with several stages (i.e. a multi-stage amplifier) is simply the product of
the individual voltage gains.
AV = AV1 × AV2 × AV3 ….
If the individual gains are given in db’s, then the overall gain is given by
AV(dB) = AV1(dB) + AV2(dB) + AV3(dB) ….

Note- however, that the bandwidth of a multistage amplifier will be less than the bandwidth of each individual stage. In other words,
an increase in gain can only be achieved at the expense of a reduction in bandwidth.

Types of coupling (for information only)

Coupling devices transfer energy from one stage to the other.
(a) RC coupling – In RC coupling, Resistor (R) used as load impedance and capacitor (C) is used as the
coupling element. The capacitor (C) connects the output of one stage to the input of the next stage which allows
the AC signal while blocking the DC voltages. Since the DC resistance of R is high, the efficiency of the
amplifier is decreased.

(b) L–C coupling – In L-C coupling, Inductance (L) as load impedance and capacitance(C) used as coupling
elements. The capacitor connects the output of
one stage to the input of the next stage which
allows the AC signal while blocking the DC
voltages. The impedance of coupling coil (L)
depends on its inductance and signal frequency.
Since the DC resistance of the coil (L) is low, the
efficiency of the amplifier is increased.

Transformer coupling
In transformer coupling a transformer is used
as the coupling device. The transformer
coupling provides two functions: i) to pass AC
signal and blocking DC and ii) permits
impedance matching.

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Ravi Shankara.M.N. ECE Dept, SCE Bangalore
Associate Professor ravishankarmn@sapthagiri.edu.in

Direct coupling - This method is used where d.c. levels present on signals must be preserved.

Review Questions

1. What is an amplifier? Explain the types of amplifiers.

2. Explain the parameters (characteristics) of an amplifier.
3. Mention advantages of negative feedback in amplifiers circuits. With relevant equations and diagram
explain the concept of negative feedback.
4. Discuss briefly negative feedback amplifier with neat block diagram.
5. Explain multistage amplifiers

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