Guide Electronics
Guide Electronics
◆ A small-signal amplifier uses only a small portion of its load line under signal conditions. ◆ The ac
load line differs from the dc load line because the effective ac collector resistance is less than the dc
collector resistance.
Section 6–2
◆ r parameters are easily identifiable and applicable with a transistor’s circuit operation.
Section 6–3
◆ A common-emitter amplifier has high voltage, current, and power gains, but a relatively low input
resistance.
Section 6–4
◆ A common-collector amplifier has high input resistance and high current gain, but its voltage gain is
approximately 1.
Section 6–5
◆ The common-base amplifier has a high voltage gain, but it has a very low input resistance and its
current gain is approximately 1.
◆ Single-stage amplifiers can be connected in sequence with capacitively-coupling and direct coupling
methods to form multistage amplifiers.
Section 6–7
◆ A differential input voltage appears between the inverting and noninverting inputs of a differential
amplifier.
◆ In the differential mode, a diff-amp can be operated with single-ended or double-ended inputs.
◆ In single-ended operation, there is a signal on one input and the other input is grounded.
◆ In double-ended operation, two signals that are 180° out of phase are on the inputs.
◆ Common-mode occurs when equal in-phase voltages are applied to both input terminals.
CMRR (common-mode rejection ratio) A measure of a differential amplifier’s ability to reject common-
mode signals.
Common-base (CB) A BJT amplifier configuration in which the base is the common terminal to an ac
signal or ground.
Common-collector (CC) A BJT amplifier configuration in which the collector is the common terminal to
an ac signal or ground.
Common-emitter (CE) A BJT amplifier configuration in which the emitter is the common terminal to an
ac signal or ground.
Common mode A condition where two signals applied to differential inputs are of the same phase,
frequency, and amplitude.
Decibel A logarithmic measure of the ratio of one voltage to another or one power to another.
Differential amplifier An amplifier in which the output is a function of the difference between two input
voltages.
Input resistance The resistance seen by an ac source connected to the input of an amplifier.
r parameter One of a set of BJT characteristic parameters that include ∝𝑎𝑐 , 𝐵𝑎𝑐 , 𝑟′e, 𝑟′b, and 𝑟′c,
TRUE/FALSE QUIZ
TRUE 1. In an amplifier, a coupling capacitor should appear ideally as a short to the signal.
TRUE 7. The load is the amount of current between a load and the output of an amplifier
TRUE 13. The overall voltage gain of a multistage amplifier is the product of the gains of each stage.
TRUE 14. A differential amplifier amplifies the difference of two input signals.
SELF TEST
A 1. A small-signal amplifier
(c) goes into saturation once on each input cycle (d) is always a common-emitter amplifier
C 3. If the dc emitter current in a certain transistor amplifier is 3 mA, the approximate value of r’e is
A 5. For a common-emitter amplifier, Rc = 1.0 kO, RE = 390 N, r'e = 15 0, and Bac = 75. Assuming that
RE is completely bypassed at the operating frequency, the voltage gain is
B 6. In the circuit of Question 5, if the frequency is reduced to the point where XC (bypass)= RE, the
voltage gain
B 7. In a common-emitter amplifier with voltage-divider bias, RIN(BASE)=68kΩ, R1= 33kΩ, and R2=
15kΩ. The total ac input resistance is
33(15) 10.3125(68)
= 10.3125 = 8.95 kohm
33+15 10.3125+68
D 9. For a common-collector amplifier, RE= 100Ω, r’e =10Ω, and = 150. The ac input
resistance at the base is
D 10. If a 10 mV signal is applied to the base of the emitter-follower circuit in Question 9, the
output signal is approximately
C 12. In a Darlington pair configuration, each transistor has an ac beta of 125. If RE is 560 ohms, the
input resistance is
(a) very low (b) very high (c) the same as a CE (d) the same as a CC
C 14. Each stage of a four-stage amplifier has a voltage gain of 15. The overall voltage gain is
A 5. If C2 in Figure 6–27 is shorted, the average value of the output voltage will
C 10. If the value of R4 in Figure 6–34 is reduced, the overall voltage gain will