STATE BOARD OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

AND TRAINING
ANDHRA PRADESH
Name of the faculty : T.Madhavi Kumari
Designation : Lecturer
Branch : Electronics & Communication
Engg.
Institute : Govt. Polytechnic ,Vijayawada
Semester : III Semester
Subject : Electronics –I
Subject Code : EE-305
Topic : Introduction to Amplifiers
Duration : 50 Minutes
Sub Topic : Transistor as an amplifier
Teaching aids : PPT, visuals
EE-305.56 1
 Recap

• Already we know about the

• Transistor configurations.

• Common base configuration.

• Common emitter configuration.

EE-305.56 2
 OBJECTIVES

Upon the completion of this period the student will be

able to know the

• Need for amplification

• Application of amplifiers

• Transistor as an amplifier

EE-305.56 3
 What is meant by Amplification ?

• The process of raising the strength of a weak signal .

• Without any change in Frequency.

• Without any change in the shape of the signal

EE-305.56 4
What is an Amplifier ?

• An Electronic circuit which increases the

– Current
or
– Voltage
or
– Power of the weak signal

• Without any change in Frequency.

EE-305.56 5
Need for Amplification

Could the voice of a singer

reach every body in the
audience if PA (Public
addressing) system fails ?

EE-305.56 6
Need for Amplification

Can we enjoy the cricket commentary on our radio/TV

with low voice ?

EE-305.56 7
Applications of Amplifiers

• Radio receivers

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Applications of amplifiers

• TV receivers

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• Telephone receivers

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Stereo systems

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Active devices used for amplification

• Vacuum tubes
– Triode
– Pentode

• Semi conductor devices

– Transistor
– FET ( Field Effect
Transistor )

EE-305.56 12
Transistor junctions
• A transistor has two junctions.
– Emitter base junction
– Collector base junction

• There are four possible ways of biasing these two

junctions.

• Transistor operates in four different regions

EE-305.56 13
Regions of operation of a Transistor

Emitter base Collector base Region of Application

junction junction operation
Amplifier
Forward-bias Reverse-bias Active
(linear)
Closed
Forward-bias Forward-bias Saturation
switch
Reverse-bias Reverse-bias Open
Cut-off
switch

Reverse-bias Forward-bias Inverted Over load

EE-305.56 14
Basic configurations of BJT amplifiers

• CB configuration

• CE configuration

• CC configuration

• Is CB the only configuration in which a transistor can

work as an amplifier ?

– No

EE-305.56 15
Why CE configuration is widely used in amplifier
circuits ?
• It has high input impedance.

• Low output impedance.

• High voltage gain.

• Very high power gain.

• High current gain suitable for cascading of amplifier

stages.

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Basic condition required for faithful amplification
is :

• Regardless of the polarity of the input signal.

– Emitter base junction must be forward biased.

– Collector base junction must be reverse biased.

EE-305.56 17
 IEEE Standard notation for different
voltages and currents :
• Capital Letters are used to indicate
– D.C values or
– R.M.S values of A.C
Ex : I for Current etc.

• Small letters are used to indicate

– Instantaneous values
Ex: i for current
v for voltage

EE-305.56 18
• Small letters with Capital subscripts

– Average values and instantaneous Total values

Ex: Base current – iB

• Magnitude of the D.C supply

– Double subscripts of the proper electrode symbol

Ex: VBB -- D.C supply in the base circuit

VCC -- D.C supply in the collector circuit

EE-305.56 19
CE amplifier circuit:

EE-305.56 20
 Circuit details of the CE amplifier

• The weak signal is applied between Emitter - Base

junction.

• Output is taken across the load RC, which is connected in

the Collector circuit.

• VBB is applied in the input circuit in addition to the signal

to keep the Emitter-Base junction forward biased
regardless of the polarity of the input signal.

• VCC is applied to reverse bias the Collector-Base junction

• The transistor is biased to operate in the active region.

EE-305.56 21
Operating Principle of the Amplifier :

• When the input signal is applied base-emitter voltage vBE

varies with time.

• Base current iB varies with time.

• A similar variation occurs in the collector current.

• This varying current passes through the RC and a varying

voltage is developed across RC .

• The output voltage is many times greater than the input

voltage. EE-305.56 22
Ex: Understanding a BJT circuit

EE-305.56 23
 Operation of the amplifier:

• During the positive half cycle of the input signal

-Effective forward bias across the EB junction is increased.

-Increase in collector current.

-Greater voltage drop across the collector load RC.

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• During the negative half cycle of the input signal

-Effective forward bias across the EB junction is

decreased.
- Decrease in collector current
-Decrease in the output voltage

EE-305.56 25
Graph of the total collector current:

Total collector currents has two parts :

• IC – zero signal collector current

• ic – a.c collector current
Total collector current, iC = ic + IC

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EE-305.56 27
CB Amplifier:

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EE-305.56 29
Summary

We have discussed about

• Need for amplification.

• Applications of amplifiers.

• Operation of transistor as an amplifier.

EE-305.56 30
 QUIZ

• 1) In a transistor, signal is transferred from

a) High resistance to Low resistance

c) Low resistance to High resistance

e) High resistance to High resistance

g) Low resistance to Low resistance

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• 2) In which region the transistor acts as an amplifier

a) Cut-off region

c) Saturation region

e) Active region

g) All the above

EE-305.56 32
Frequently asked questions in Examinations

1. What is an amplifier ?

4. Draw the circuit and explain the operation of transistor

as an amplifier ?

EE-305.56 33