Unit 3: General amplifiers, feedback amplifiers & power amplifiers [14hrs]

General amplifiers Darlington connections ,Feedback Amplifiers: - Characteristics of feedback,

feedback topologies, Ideal Analysis of feedback amplifiers. Power amplifiers: - classification and
application, series fed class A amplifier, Transformer coupled Class A amplifiers, Class B
Push-Pull amplifiers:- Complementary Push-Pull and Transformercoupled load Push-Pull,
Amplifier distortions.

Table of contents

General amplifiers
Multistage amplifier (Cascade amplifier)
Darlington Connections
Feedback Amplifiers
What is -ve feedback?
General characteristics of -ve feedback
Derivation of Voltage gain
Desensitivity factor
Types of amplifier
Feedback topologies
Comparison of topologies
Gain:
Input and Output impedance
Power Amplifier
Class A:
SERIES-FED CLASS A AMPLIFIER:
TRANSFORMER-COUPLED CLASS A AMPLIFIER
Transformer Action:
Impedance Transformation :
Operation of Amplifier Stage:
Signal Swing and Output AC Power:
Efficiency
Class B:
Complementary Push-Pull
Transformer-Coupled PushPull Circuits
NUMERICALS

Note: In this unit we will be talking of amplifiers in general and hence the following theory is applicable to
all kinds of amplifiers(BJT, MOSFET, OP-AMPs etc)

1
General amplifiers

The purpose of any amplifier is to produce an output which follows the input signal but is
sufficiently large enough to supply the needs of the load connected to it.

Multistage amplifier (Cascade amplifier)

The output from a single stage amplifier is usually insufficient to drive an output device. In other
words, the gain of a single amplifier is inadequate for practical purposes. Consequently, additional
amplification over two or three stages is necessary. To achieve this, the output of each amplifier
stage is coupled(connected) in some way to the input of the next stage. The resulting system is
referred to as multistage amplifier or cascade amplifier. The term cascaded means connected in
series.

It may be emphasised here that a practical amplifier is always a multistage amplifier.

Multi Stage audio amplifier

When an amplifier contains multiple stages the total gain is the product of the individual stage
gains: Gain G = G1 x G2 x G3 etc.
After voltage being amplified, the final stage is a power amplifier. Power amplifier output will
be given to the speaker because loudspeaker requires a high power to drive it.

Coupling in cascaded amplifier :

In a multistage amplifier, a number of single amplifiers are connected in *cascade
arrangement through a suitable coupling device. The purpose of coupling device (e.g. a capacitor,
transformer etc.) is

2
 (i) to transfer a.c. output of one stage to the input of the next stage
(ii) to isolate the d.c. conditions of one stage from the next stage. Otherwise, the
biasing of the next stage will be disturbed

The three couplings generally used are.

1. RC coupling
2. Transformer coupling
3. direct coupling

In RC coupling, a capacitor is used as the coupling device. The capacitor connects the
output of one stage to the input of the next stage in order to pass the a.c. signal on while blocking
the d.c. bias voltages.

In transformer coupling, transformer is used as the coupling device. The transformer

coupling provides the same two functions (viz. to pass the ac signal on and blocking d.c.) but
permits in addition impedance matching.

In direct coupling or d.c. coupling, the individual amplifier stage bias conditions are so
designed that the two stages may be directly connected without the necessity for d.c. isolation.

Impedance of amplifier stages (Loading effect)

A well-designed amplifier should have more characteristics than just high gain. Apart from gain,
the input and output impedance requirements in particular are the ones important in
multi-stage amplifier design. For example, very high input impedance, low output impedance,
low distortion and low power consumption are a few characteristics that are likely to be important
in most applications.

When connecting voltage amplifiers in cascade, the input signal to the second stage should ideally
be 100% of the output voltage of stage 1, i.e. have as high a voltage amplitude as possible. This
will occur if the output impedance of the first amplifier is a much lower value than the input
impedance of the second amplifier. This allows most of the voltage available at the output
terminal (point A) to be developed across the input impedance of the second amplifier (and
therefore across its input terminals) rather than across the first amplifier's output impedance.Ideal
voltage amplifier should have high input impedance, and low output impedance.

3
 [Refer numerical ]

Darlington Connections

A very popular connection of two bipolar junction transistors for operation as one super-
beta transistor is the Darlington connection shown in Fig. below . The main feature of the
Darlington connection is that the composite transistor acts as a single unit with a current
gain that is the product of the current gains of the individual transistors. If the connection is
made using two separate transistors having current gains of 1 and 2 , the Darlington connection
provides a current gain of D =1 * 2

4
The advantage of using an arrangement is that the transistor is much more sensitive as only a
tiny base current is required to drive a much larger load current as the typical gain of a
Darlington configuration can be over 1,000 whereas normally a single transistor stage
produces a gain of about 50 to 200.

Then we can see that a darlington pair with a gain of 1,0000, could switch an output current of
1 ampere in the collector-emitter circuit with an input base current of just 1mA. This then
makes darlington transistors ideal for interfacing with relays, lamps and motors to low
power microcontroller, computer or logic controllers.

Derivation of gain

5
 Where 1 and 2 are the gains of the individual transistors

Generally the value of 12 is much greater than that of 1+ 2, in which case it can be ignored
to simplify the maths a little. Then the final equation for two identical transistors configured
as a Darlington pair can be written as:D =1 * 2
[Refer numerical 1]

Feedback Amplifiers
Motivation: Why NFB (Negative feedback) is needed in amplifiers
What is -ve feedback?
General characteristics of -ve feedback
Feedback topologies
Comparison of topologies

6
 Motivation: Why NFB is needed in amplifiers?

Transistors cannot be manufactured to have a closely controlled value of current gain therefore it
is not possible to build a number of examples of the same amplifier circuit, all having the same
gain. In addition the gain of a transistor varies with temperature, and even has different gain at
different frequencies. All of these factors would make transistor amplifiers totally unreliable and
impossible to make in large numbers.

The main reason that this situation does not exist, and transistor amplifiers have become the
mainstay of the electronics industry , is the usage of negative feedback in amplifier circuits.

What is -ve feedback?

Negative feedback is an effective method to desensitize the gain ie,make the gain constant
independent of parameter variations due to manufacturing or environment.
The principle of negative feedback is that a portion of the output signal is fed back to the input and
combined with the input signal in such a way as to reduce it. This reduces the overall gain of the
amplifier but also introduces a number of benefits, such as reducing distortion(keeps gain
constant), reduces noise, and widening the amplifiers bandwidth.

(Figure 1)

7
An idealized negative feedback amplifier is a system of three elements (see Figure 1):

1. An amplifier with gain AOL (OL stands for Open loop)

2. A feedback network , which senses the output signal and possibly transforms it in
some way (for example by attenuating it).

Note: The feedback factor is usually denoted by and not to be confused with
current gain of transistor (also denoted by )

3. A subtractor (the circle in the figure), which combines the input and the transformed
output

General characteristics of -ve feedback

Although negative feedback results in reduced overall voltage gain, a number of improvements are
obtained, among them being:
1. Better stabilized voltage gain.
2. Higher input impedance(for voltage amplifiers).
3. Lower output impedance(for voltage amplifiers).
4. Improved frequency response.
5. Reduced noise.
6. More linear operation.

Derivation of Voltage gain

8
 where AOL = open-loop gain, AFB = closed-loop gain (the gain with negative feedback present)
and = feedback factor.

Points to note:

Gain reduction : With feedback, gain is reduced by the factor (1+ AOL) .
Constant gain : Usually AOL >> 1, then AFB 1 / .

ie, Closed loop gain depends only on feedback network(which is usually a potential
divider). Any variations in AOL does not affect the overall gain as long as AOL is high.

[Note: (attenuation factor) is less than 1. Hence (1 / ) >1]

Reduction in Frequency Distortion: For a negative-feedback amplifier having AOL

>> 1, the gain with feedback is AFB 1 / . It follows from this that if the feedback
network is purely resistive, the gain with feedback is not dependent on frequency even
though the basic amplifier gain is frequency dependent. This corresponds to an
increase in bandwidth and better frequency response.
Desensitivity factor

Desensitivity factor is defined as the factor with which the feedback desensitizes the gain.

Desensitivity factor = (d Afb/Afb)/(dA/A) = 1/(1+A*)

Where Afb is gain with feedback
A is gain without feedback
is feedback factor.

9
[Refer numerical ]

Types of amplifier

Before getting into various feedback topologies, let us understand first the various types of
amplifier.

In general, depending on the input signal (voltage or current) to be amplified and form of the
output (voltage or current), amplifiers can be classified into four categories.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Av=Open circuit Voltage gain

(Rs= source resistance of (non ideal )signal source)
(Ri= input impedance of amplifier)

10
 (Ro=output impedance of amplifier)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Ai=Short circuit Current gain)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Gm= Transconductance)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

11
 (Rm= Transresistance)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feedback topologies

Depending on the amplifier category, one of four types of feedback structures should be
used(Refer Figure 2 below).

a) Voltage series feedback ( Af = Vo/Vs) Voltage amplifier

b) Voltage shunt feedback ( Af = Vo/Is) Trans-resistance amplifier
c) Current series feedback ( Af = Io/Vs) - Trans-conductance amplifier
d) Current shunt feedback ( Af = Io/Is) - Current amplifier

12
 (Fig 2)
* Please note in the following analysis we are assuming ideal signal source and hence Rs is
not shown in any of the circuits.

In the list above, voltage refers to connecting the output voltage as input to the feed-
back network; current refers to tapping off some output current through the feedback
network. Series refers to connecting the feedback signal in series with the input signal
voltage; shunt refers to connecting the feedback signal in shunt (parallel) with an input
current source.

Comparison of topologies

Gain:

Gain has to be defined appropriately for each topology as shown in table below.

13
For all feedback topologies, gain decreases with feedback and is given as

Input and Output impedance

Input impedance of any topology is defined as the impedance seen at its input terminals.
Output impedance of any topology is defined as the output impedance seen at its output
terminals.

14
 Here the big red square shows the feedback amplifier and the green line shows its input and
output terminals. The corresponding input and output impedance(Zif and Zof) of feedback
amplifier are defined wrt these terminals.

The blue shaded portion indicates the basic open loop amplifier model. The input and output
impedance of basic amplifier(Zi and Zo) are defined wrt its own input terminals.

Derivation of impedance in voltage series feedback network

(feedback for voltage amplifier)

Zif = input impedance with feedback

Zi = input impedance without feedback
Zof = output impedance with feedback
Zi =output impedance without feedback
A= open loop gain of amplifier
Beta= Feedback factor

Input impedance

The input impedance can be determined as follows:

15
 (Ii=Is)

Output impedance

The output impedance is determined by applying a voltage V, resulting in a current I , with Vs

shorted out (Vs = 0). The voltage V is then

16
 Derivation of impedance in Voltage-Shunt feedback network
(feedback for transresistance amplifier)

Input impedance

Note: Vs=Vi in above circuit

Output impedance
The output impedance is determined by applying a voltage V, resulting in a current I , with Is
opened out (Is = 0).

17
V(1+A) = I *Zo
V Zo
Zof = I = (1+A)

Derivation for impedance in current series feedback network

18
(feedback for transconductance amplifier)

Input Impedance
Vs
Zif = Is (definition)
Vi V sV f
Zi= Ii = Is -----------(1) (Ii=Is)

Vf =
Io = (AVi)=
A(Vs-
Vf)

Vf (1+ A) = A*Vs

Therefore from(1)

Hence Vs/Is =Zif = Zi(1+A)

19
Output impedance

Steps to compute output impedance

1. Deactivate the input signal source by shorting it(Vs=0).

2. Connect a voltage source(fictitious) at the output terminal(V).
3. Find the current (I) f lowing out of voltage source.
Note: Usually, when the load is connected, the output current (Io) is defined out of
amplifier terminals. Hence Io = -I
4. Output impedance is defined as V/I.

20
Derivation for impedance in current shunt feedback network

(feedback for current amplifier)

21
Input Impedance

Output impedance

22
The impedance for all feedback topologies are summarised in table below:

Series feedback connections tend to increase the input resistance, whereas shunt
feedback connections tend to decrease the input resistance. Voltage feedback tends to
decrease the output impedance, whereas current feedback tends to increase the output
impedance.
[Refer numerical ]

23
 POWER AMPLIFIER
A practical amplifier always consists of a number of stages that amplify a weak signal until
sufficient power is available to operate a loudspeaker or other output device. The first few stages in
this multistage amplifier have the function of only voltage amplification. However, the last stage
is designed to provide maximum power. This final stage is known as power stage.

A Power amplifier is large signal amplifier and this is generally a last stage of a multistage
amplifier. In general, where amount of power involved is 1W or more, the amplifier is termed as
power amplifier

In small signal amplifiers, the main factors are usually amplification linearity and magnitude of
gain. Since signal voltage and current are small in a small-signal amplifier, the amount of
power-handling capacity and power efficiency are of little concern. Large-signal or power
amplifiers, on the other hand, primarily provide sufficient power to an output load to drive a
speaker or other power device, typically a few watts to tens of watts.

The main features of a large-signal amplifier or power amplifier are the circuits power
efficiency, the maximum amount of power that the circuit is capable of handling and the
impedance matching to the output device.

A transistor that is suitable for power amplification is generally called a power transistor. It
differs from other transistors mostly in size ; it is considerably larger to provide for handling the
great amount of power.

CLASSIFICATION & APPLICATION

One method used to categorize power amplifiers is by class. Basically, amplifier classes
represent the amount the output signal varies over one cycle of operation for a full cycle of
input signal.
OR
Quiescent DC operating point (Q-point) of an amplifier determines the amplifier
classification

24
Class A operation of an amplifier means that the transistor operates in the active region at all
times. This implies that collector current flows for 360 of the ac cycle, as shown in Fig. below.
With a class A amplifier, the designer usually tries to locate the Q point somewhere near the
middle of the load line. This way, the signal can swing over the maximum possible range without
saturating or cutting off the transistor, which would distort the signal.

Class B operation is different. It means that collector current flows for only half the cycle
(180), as shown in Fig. To have this kind of operation, a designer locates the Q point at cutoff.
This reduces the wasted heat in power transistors. But,only the positive half of ac base voltage
can produce collector current.

25
Class AB: An amplifier may be biased at a dc level above the zero-base-current level
of class B and above one-half the supply voltage level of class A; this bias condition is
class AB. For class AB operation, the output signal swing occurs between 180 and 360 .

Class C :The output of a class C amplifier is biased for operation at less than 180 of the cycle
and will operate only with a tuned (resonant) circuit, which provides a full cycle of operation
for the tuned or resonant frequency. This operating class is therefore used in special areas of
tuned circuits, such as radio or communications.

26
.

Amplifier Efficiency: The power efficiency of an amplifier, defined as the ratio of power output
to power input, improves (gets higher) going from class A to class D.

The power output of an amplifier is the product of the voltage and current, (P = VxI) applied to the
load, while the power input is the product of the DC voltage and current taken from the power
supply

27
Class A:
The output signal varies for full 360 of the cycle. Figure below shows that this requires the
Q-point to be biased at a level such that the +ve signal swing can cause the output to touch at max
the supply voltage level or -ve signal swing can cause the output to touch the lower supply level,
or 0 V.

In general terms, we see that a class A amplifier, with dc bias at one-half the supply voltage
level, uses a good amount of power to maintain bias, even with no input signal applied*. This
results in very poor efficiency.

SERIES-FED CLASS A AMPLIFIER:

This simple fixed-bias circuit connection shown in Fig. can be used to discuss the main features of
a class A series-fed amplifier. The only differences between this circuit and the small-signal
version considered previously is that the signals handled by the large-signal circuit are in the
range of volts and the transistor used is a power transistor that is capable of operating in the range
of a few to tens of watts.

*For an audio amplifier, this is equivalent to a lot of power being dissipated in the transistor even when the amplifier
has no music playing.

28
DC Bias Operation : Same as discussed in prev unit

The Q-point is set near the middle of the load line (to achieve maximum positive
and negative swing of voltage).
The intersection of the dc bias value of IB with the dc load line
determines the operating point ( Q -point) for the circuit.

29
(Eq 12.3) corresponds to load line equation.

AC Operation: Same as discussed in prev unit

(Fig :AC operation: for 2 different input voltage swing)

As the input signal is made larger, the output will vary further around the established dc bias point
until either the current or the voltage reaches a limiting condition. For the current this limiting
condition is either zero current at the low end or VCC/RC at
the high end of its swing. For the
collector-emitter voltage, the limit is either 0 V or the supply voltage, VCC

30
 Input Power

The power to do amplification is provided by the supply.

Average DC power input = Product of dc power supply voltage and DC current drawn from
supply
With no input signal, the dc current drawn is the collector bias current, ICQ. The power then drawn
from the supply is Pi(dc) = Vcc *ICQ

(Fig 5.5)

Since the dc bias current ICQ is set to one-half the maximum value:

ICQ= VCC/2RC

Note: In class A amplifier, the average input dc power (average power supplied by dc power
supply) is constant whether there is an input signal or not.

OUTPUT POWER:

The ac power consumed by load is considered as the useful output power.

31
The output voltage and current varying around the bias point provide ac power to the load. The ac
signal, Vi, causes the base current to vary around the dc bias current and the collector current
around its quiescent level, ICQ. The larger the input signal, the larger the output swing, up to the
maximum set by the circuit. The ac power delivered to the load ( RC ) can be expressed using
rms signals: The ac power delivered to the load (Rc) may be expressed using:

IMPORTANT POINTS TO BE NOTED

Efficiency: = Po(ac)/ Pi(dc) * 100

32
efficiency equals the useful output power (ac) divided by the dc input power
[Refer numerical ]

Maximum Efficiency of a series-fed class A amplifier

Maximum efficiency occurs when maximum signal swing occurs at the output whereby maximum
ac power output is delivered.

Hence this circuit is not the best to use as a large-signal amplifier because of its poor efficiency.
[Refer numerical ]

33
TRANSFORMER-COUPLED CLASS A AMPLIFIER

One reason that the class A series fed amplifier is so wasteful in power is that dc power
is dissipated in load. The output collector current not only consists of the ac component, but
also along with this component, a dc quiescent current is delivered to the load resistance.
This component is unwanted and it is inadvisable to pass this dc current into the output
device, for example, voice coil of a loudspeaker. A transformer is used to couple the output
collector of the transistor to the load. This transformer couples only the ac power while dc
is not allowed to pass into the load of the amplifier. The circuit configuration of such an
arrangement is as shown in Fig.

(Fig : 2)
This configuration of power amplifier is referred to as transformer-coupled power amplifier.
This type of amplifier is used at audio frequencies and this is the final stage in the public
address systems.

Transformer Action:
A transformer can increase or decrease voltage or current levels according to the turns ratio.
In addition, the impedance connected to one side of a transformer can be made to
appear either larger or smaller (step up or step down) at the other side of the
transformer, depending on the square of the transformer winding turns ratio. The
following discussion assumes ideal (100%) power transfer from primary to secondary, that is,
no power losses are considered.

34
Impedance Transformation :
Since the voltage and current can be changed by a transformer, impedance seen from either
side (primary or secondary) can also is changed. As shown in Fig, impedance RL (=V2/I2) is
connected across the transformer secondary. The equivalent/effective impedance appearing at
the primary side is V1/I1 which is denoted by RL .

[Refer numerical ]

Operation of Amplifier Stage:

The basic amplifier operation is same as series fed amplifier except that the transformer
behaves differently under DC conditions and AC conditions. Under DC conditions it acts like
a short circuit. Under AC conditions the reflected resistance(RL) will appear as load to the
amplifier.Correspondingly 2 different load lines are discussed below.

35
DC LOAD LINE :
The dc conditions of are quite different from series fed class A amplifier. The transformer
(dc) winding resistance determines the dc load line for the circuit shown in Fig: .Typically,
this dc resistance is small (ideally 0 ) and, as shown in Fig 5.16, a 0- dc load line is a
straight vertical line(VCEQ=VCC). This is how the dc circuit of transformer coupled amplifier
differs from series fed amplifier.(Rc~=0).

AC LOAD LINE :

For obtaining maximum voltage swing operating point should be chosen exactly at the
midpoint of ac load line. ie,VCEQ = Vce(max)/2
Vce(max) = 2*VCEQ =2VCC

36
 Slope= -1/RL = > ICQ=VCC /RL

Similarly Ic(max)
= 2*ICQ =2
VCC/RL

Notice that the ac load line shows that the output signal swing can exceed the value of V cc.

Input Power

= VCC2 /R
L

Output Power

Power dissipated in transistor

(since no dc power is dissipated in load)

Maximum Efficiency/ Maximum Signal Swing / Maximum Output AC

Power:

37
 [Refer numerical ]

Class B:

In class-B amplifiers, as already mentioned, the device is operated at cut-off. Hence the output
current flows only for one half of the input signal ie, it has a conduction angle of 180o .

The class B amplifier has the big advantage over class A amplifier in that no current
flows through the transistor when they are in their quiescent state(ie, with no input
signal). Therefore no power is dissipated in the transistors when there is no signal
present unlike class A amplifier stages which requires significant base bias, thereby
dissipating lots of heat-even with no signal present. So the overall efficiency () of the
amplifier is greater than that of the equivalent class A with efficiencies reaching upto 80%.
Hence nearly all modern types of power amplifiers are operated in Class B mode.

38
In class B operation, a push-pull connection is obtained using either a transformer coupling
or by using complementary (or quasi-complementary) operation with npn and pnp

39
transistors to provide operation on opposite polarity cycles. While transformer operation can
provide opposite cycle signals, the transformer itself is quite large in many application. A
transformer less circuit using complementary transistors provides the same operation in a much
smaller package.

There are 2 kinds of class B push-pull circuits

1)Transformer coupled Push-pull
2)Complimentary symmetry Push-pull.

Complementary Push-Pull

40
OPERATION

we can get a complete amplified waveform of the input signal.

Input (DC) Power

The power supplied to the load by an amplifier is drawn from the power supply (or power
supplies ) that provides the input or dc power. The amount of this input power can be
calculated using Pi(dc) = VCCIdc
where Idc is the average or dc current drawn from the power supplies.

In class B operation, the current drawn from each power supply has the form of a half-wave
rectified signal. The current drawn from both supplies together can be considered as a
full-wave rectified signal. The value of the average current drawn from power
supply(overall) can be expressed as Idc
=2Im/
where Im is the peak value of the output current waveform

41
Output (AC) Power

where VL(p-p) is peak to peak output voltage

and VL(p) is peak output voltage[= VL(p-p)/2)]

Efficiency/Max efficiency

Power Dissipated by Output Transistors

42
[Refer numerical ]

Transformer-Coupled PushPull Circuits

In this type of circuits we use 2 identical transistors so that one of them would conduct during
positive half cycle and the other during negative half cycle.

If the input base signal can be split into the form of two opposite-polarity signals, two similar
transistors could be used, each operating on the alternate cycle because of the input signal.
The process of generating 2 base signals of equal and opposite polarity is called
phase-splitting or phase inversion . One means of obtaining polarity or phase inversion is
using a transformer.

43
 If the transformer is exactly center-tapped, the two signals are exactly opposite in
phase and of the same magnitude.

OPERATION

44
AC & DC LOAD LINE

(Fig 5.21)

45
Power consideration

46
AMPLIFIER DISTORTION

A pure sinusoidal signal has a single frequency at which the voltage varies positive and
negative by equal amounts. An ideal amplifier is capable of amplifying a pure sinusoidal
signal to provide a larger version, the resulting waveform being a pure single-frequency
sinusoidal signal. When distortion occurs the output will not be an exact duplicate (except
for magnitude) of the input signal.

47
Distortion can occur because the device characteristic is not linear, in which case
nonlinear or amplitude distortion occurs. This can occur with all classes of amplifier
operation. Distortion can also occur because the circuit elements and devices respond to
the input signal differently at various frequencies, this being frequency distortion.

One technique for describing distorted but period waveforms uses Fourier analysis, a
method that describes any periodic waveform in terms of its fundamental frequency
component and frequency components at integer multiples-these components are called
harmonic components or harmonics. For example, a signal that is originally 1000 Hz could
result, after distortion, in a frequency component at 1000Hz (1 kHz) and harmonic
components at 2 kHz (2 X 1 kHz), 3 kHz (3 X 1 kHz), 4 kHz (4 X 1 kHz), and so on. The
original frequency of 1 kHz is called the fundamental frequency; those at integer multiples are
the harmonics. The 2-kHz component is therefore called a second harmonic that at 3 kHz is
the third harmonic, and so on. The fundamental frequency is not considered a harmonic.

Harmonic Distortion
A signal is considered to have harmonic distortion when there are harmonic frequency
components (not just the fundamental component). If the fundamental frequency has an
amplitude A1 and the n th frequency component has an amplitude An, a harmonic distortion
can be defined as

[Refer numerical ]

Total Harmonic Distortion

[Refer numerical ]

48
Crossover Distortion in Amplifiers [Optional]

Crossover distortion is a type of distortion which is caused by switching between devices

driving a load, most often when the devices (such as a transistor) are matched. It is most
commonly seen in complementary, or "push-pull", Class-B amplifier stages, although it is
occasionally seen in other types of circuits as well.The term crossover signifies the "crossing
over" of the signal between devices, in this case, from the upper transistor to the lower and
vice versa.

Under no signal conditions, the output is exactly midway between the supplies (i.e., at 0 V).
When this is the case, the base-emitter bias of both the transistors is zero, so they are in the
cut-off region where the transistors are not conducting.

Consider a positive-going swing: As long as the input is less than the required forward VBE
drop ( 0.65 V) of the upper NPN transistor, it will remain off or conduct very little and the
output voltage does not follow the input (the lower PNP transistor is still off because its
base-emitter diode is being reverse biased by the positive-going input). The same applies for
the lower transistor for a negative-going input. Thus, between about 0.65 V of input, the
output voltage is not a true replica or amplified version of the input,

49
References

1. Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory 11th Edition Robert L. Boylestad

2. http://www.nptel.ac.in/courses/117107095/lecturers/lecture_23/lecture23_page2.htm
3. Principles Of Electronics 11th Edition Author V K Mehta Rohit Mehta
4. http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/amplifier/amp_4.html
5. http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/systems/negative-feedback.html
6. http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/technical-articles/negative-feedback-part-4-introduction-to-stabilit
y/
7. http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jgtz040e/11.1.4.html

8. http://www.iitg.ac.in/apvajpeyi/ph218/Lec-13.pdf

NUMERICALS
1. Two NPN transistors are connected together in the form of a Darlington Pair to switch
a 12V 75W halogen lamp. If the forward current gain of the first transistor is 25 and
the forward current gain of the second transistor is 80. Ignoring any voltage drops
across the two transistors, calculate the base current required to switch the lamp
fully-ON.

50
 2. If an amplifier with gain of 1000 and feedback factor of = 0.1 has a gain increase of
20% due to temperature, calculate the change in gain of the feedback amplifier.
ANS:
Initial Open loop gain=1000
Initial Closed loop gain =AOL / (1+ AOL) = 1000/(1+(0.1*1000)) = 9.9
Open loop gain after temperature variation = 1000(1+20/100)=1200
Closed loop gain after temperature variation = 1200/(1+1200*0.1) = 9.917

Hence it can be shown that closed loop gain varies very little wrt temperature
variations.

3. A signal source with an open circuit voltage of Vs=2mV rms and an internal resistance
of 50k is connected to the input terminals of an amplifier having open circuit voltage
gain of 100, an input resistance of 100k and an output resistance of 4. A 4 load is
connceted to output terminals.Find the voltage gain
a. Avs = Vo/Vs
b. Av= Vo/Vi
Comment about the effect of input and output resistance on amplifier performance.

4.

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7.

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8.
EXAMPLE 12.6 Calculate the efficiency of a transformer-coupled class A amplifier for a
supply of 12 V and outputs of:
a. V(p) = 12 V.
b. V(p) = 6 V.
c. V(p) = 2 V.

Solution
a) % =50%
b) % =12.5%
c) % =1.39%

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10.

11.

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5.

The required parameters of voltage amplifier(open circuit volatge gain, input and out impedance)
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6.

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