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Lab 4 - Transistor Amplifiers

This document outlines an experiment with different types of transistor amplifiers using voltage-divider bias. It provides instructions on building common-emitter, emitter-follower, push-pull output, and optional Darlington pair amplifier circuits. It includes calculating component values, measuring voltages, currents, gains, and impedances. The goal is to understand the behavior and performance of these basic transistor amplifier designs.

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William Chruchill
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
23 views

Lab 4 - Transistor Amplifiers

This document outlines an experiment with different types of transistor amplifiers using voltage-divider bias. It provides instructions on building common-emitter, emitter-follower, push-pull output, and optional Darlington pair amplifier circuits. It includes calculating component values, measuring voltages, currents, gains, and impedances. The goal is to understand the behavior and performance of these basic transistor amplifier designs.

Uploaded by

William Chruchill
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Physics 326

1
Transistor amplifiers

Reading
• Malvino: Ch. 8-10.
• Hayes and Horowitz: Class 4, Lab 4, and worked examples, pp. 90ff and 115ff.

In this lab we experiment with different types of transistor amplifiers using the voltage-divider
bias.

1 Common-emitter amplifier
a) Design: Starting from a voltage-divider biased transistor, add an input coupling capacitor and
a bypass capacitor on the emitter resistor to make a common-emitter amplifier. Calculate
the values of the capacitors so that the low-frequency 3 dB point of the amplifier will be
between 100 and 200 Hz. Calculate the DC voltages and currents you expect, and calculate
the amplifier gain [so that i) you know what to expect on the output, and ii) you know what
size input signals are appropriate].

b) Measure the small-signal gain as a function of frequency. Make a Bode plot of the gain. What
are the cutoff frequencies, and how do the measured values compare with your calculations?
How does the phase shift between the input and output vary with frequency?
Note: before you collect a lot of data, make sure you are not saturating your output. You
may need to add an extra input resistor to decrease the input signal enough to be in the
“small-signal” regime (see the next item).

c) Next, investigate the input and output impedances. Determine the input impedance by putting
a resistor in series with the signal source and noting the decrease of the output signal. (For
example, if inserting a 4.7 kΩ resistor between the function generator and the capacitor reduces
the output by one half, then the input impedance is 4.7 kΩ.)
Determine the output impedance from the decrease of the output signal produced by placing
a lower load resistance on the output. One thing you need to watch for is the signal clipping
because of the decreased MPP (maximum peak to peak) of a lower output impedance.
How do these impedances compare with your calculated values?
1
Last revised October 7, 2021, by JMM. Physics
c Dept., Simon Fraser University. All rights reserved.

1
PHYS 326 Electronics Laboratory Transistor amplifiers

d) You should have noticed the “barn roof” distortion of the design of part a) if the input
amplitude is too large. Find a method to reduce the distortion without changing the bias.
Measure the effectiveness of your improvement. How is the amplification affected?

2 Emitter-follower amplifier
a) Construct the emitter-follower circuit shown below in Fig. 1.

Figure 1: Emitter-follower amplifier.

b) Calculate the base voltage VB , the emitter voltage VE , VCE , and the emitter current IE .
Measure these quantities and compare.

c) Repeat the analysis you did for the common-emitter amplifier: small-signal gain, Bode plot,
cutoff frequencies, input and output impedances, and roughly note the phase shift as a function
of frequency. Additionally, calculate the power gain.

3 Push-pull output stage


a) Build the push-pull emitter follower shown in Fig. 2. Try to match the NPN/PNP transistor
pairs.

b) Explore crossover distortion by driving it with a signal of at least a few volts amplitude.

c) Try to eliminate crossover distortion by inserting diodes or resistors in the bias circuit.

4 Darlington pair (optional)


a) Design and build an emitter-follower using the Darlington pair connection of Fig. 3.

b) Measure current gain and input and output impedance.

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PHYS 326 Electronics Laboratory Transistor amplifiers

Figure 2: Push-pull amplifier.

Figure 3: Darlington pair.

c) Can you explain the function of the 1 kΩ resistor? (Hint: See Horowitz and Hill.)
If the emitter-follower is driving an external load, what load impedance yields maximum power
transfer to the load? Calculate the ratio of the maximum power transferred to the load to the
input power. This is the power gain.

d) Suggest how to make the input impedance as high as practicable. Calculate current gain,
input impedance, and output impedance.

Hint 1: The critical frequency is


√ the frequency at which the effect of the capacitor is to reduce the
voltage by a factor of 2. If you choose the two capacitors so that this frequency is the
same (e.g. 150 Hz) for both the input stage and the bypass, the output at this frequency
√ 2
will be reduced by a factor of 2 = 2.

Hint 2: For the bypass capacitor it is not RE that you need to use. Draw the ac equivalent
circuit and derive a formula for νE /νB . Without the capacitor this ratio will be ∼ 1 at all
frequencies. Choose the capacitor so that the ratio is at the critical frequency.

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