Electronics- I

Lab 12: Common Collector Amplifier (Open-ended)

Problem Statement:
Design and implement a small-signal Common Collector amplifier and investigate what
influences its voltage gain by applying -20V to bias the BJT and 4VPP Sine wave at the Base
at 1KHz.
Objectives
This is an open-ended lab where students will use their previous knowledge, which they learned
in theory/ lab, to design and implement the small-signal common collector amplifier and
investigate what influences its voltage gain.

Equipment
Breadboard
Function Generator: 4VPP
DC Power Supply: -20VDC
Oscilloscope
Digital Multimeter
Resistor: 1x2KΩ, 1x470Ω, 1x242KΩ
Capacitor: 2x10µF
Diode: 2N2222

Introduction
The common collector amplifier, often referred to as emitter-follower, is characterized by
application of the amplifier input signal to the base lead while its output is taken from the
emitter. The output signal is never larger than the input but is always in-phase with the input.
Consequently, the output follows the input. The main advantage is that the input impedance of
the common-collector amplifier is generally much higher than for other bipolar transistor circuits.

Common Collector Amplifier Characteristics

The load resistor in the common collector amplifier being placed in series with the emitter circuit
receives both the base current and collector currents. Since the emitter of a transistor is the sum
of the base and collector currents, therefore the base and collector currents always add together
to form the emitter current, it would be reasonable to assume that this amplifier will have a very
large current gain. The common collector amplifier has quite a large current gain, larger than any
other transistor amplifier configuration.

Parameter Characteristics
AV Α
AI High
AP Medium
Input/Output phase relationship 0°
ZI High
ZO Low
Pre-Lab
1: The student is required to study about transistor working as an amplifier and perform
comprehensive literature survey on selection of appropriate bipolar junction transistor
for any particular application.
2: Implement and analyze your designed common collector amplifier circuit on any
electronic simulator.

In Prelab task we simulated the circuit in LTSpice to examine the behavior of Common Collector
Amplifier.

Transient Analysis: Input and Output Waveforms

DC Operating Point Analysis

The Transient Analysis verifies that the Output Voltage is α times the Input Voltage. While the DC
analysis shows IB of 29mA and IC of 6.1mA which gives us β of 210.34.

In-Lab Task
Design an emitter follower circuit with the configuration, choosing appropriate value of biasing
voltages from transistor data sheets available in the lab.
1: Implement your designed circuit on hardware.
2: Find out the operating point of emitter follower circuit as well gain of an amplifier.
3: Analyze the results of both software simulation and hardware implementation.
Furthermore, explain the possible source of error and questionable results.

Input Parameters:
Frequency Wave Type VPP Offset VDC Biasing Volage
1 KHz Sine 4 0 -20VDC

DC Analysis
Measured 2N2222 Calculated
Parameters
IC 6.2mA 6.104mA
IE 6.5mA -6.133mA
IB 28µA 29.06µA
BDC 221.42 210.3
VB -7.161V -7.03V
VC 0 0
VE -7.75V -7.73V
VCE -7.65V -7.73V
VBE -0.679 -0.7V
 𝑉𝑉𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 − 𝑉𝑉𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 −20 − 0.7
𝐼𝐼𝐵𝐵 = = = 29.06𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇
𝑅𝑅𝐵𝐵 + (𝛽𝛽 + 1)𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸 242𝐾𝐾 + (210.34 + 1)2𝐾𝐾

𝑉𝑉𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 = 𝑉𝑉𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 − (𝛽𝛽 + 1)𝐼𝐼𝐵𝐵𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸 = −20 − ((210.34 + 1)29.06𝜇𝜇 × 2𝐾𝐾 = −7.73𝑉𝑉

𝐼𝐼𝐸𝐸 = (𝛽𝛽 + 1)𝐼𝐼𝐵𝐵 = (210.34 + 1)29.06𝜇𝜇 = 6.33𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

The Measured and Calculated data are similar with a minimal difference, However, point to note
is that Beta is deemed as a highly variable quantity as such the datasheet mentions a value from
30-500 which is highly imprecise. As such the value of β (210.34) which was obtained from the
simulated data was used for calculations.

Gain Parameters
Parameter Input Output Gain A
VPP 4.2V 4V 0.9523
IPP 56µA 8.1mA 144.64

Saturation Region
VEE 0 IC Sat 9mA

Cutoff Region
IB 0 VCE Cut Off -20.5V

The Amplifier has a current gain (Ai) of 144.64 and Voltage gain (AV) of 0.9523 which is the α of
the amplifier. The amplifier has a cutoff Voltage of -20.5V which is the same as VEE. At the
saturation region the Current flow is 9mA which is the current at which BJT enters saturation
region.

Impedance
The input and output impedances can be calculated by shorting the Base AC source VI.
26𝑚𝑚 26𝑚𝑚
𝑟𝑟 = = = 4.09Ω
𝑒𝑒 𝐼𝐼𝐸𝐸 6.5𝑚𝑚

𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 = 𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸||𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒 = 2.2𝐾𝐾||4.09 = 4.09Ω

𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑅𝑅𝐵𝐵||𝛽𝛽(𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒 + 𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸) = 242𝐾𝐾 ||221.4(2.2𝐾𝐾) = 161𝐾𝐾Ω

Post Lab
Design a common collector configuration for the following requirements
1: Gain should be less then unity
2: Output current should be at least 10x of base current.

Voltage Gain
Current Gain

DC Operating Point Analysis

𝑉𝑉𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 − 𝑉𝑉𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 −20 − 0.72

𝐼𝐼𝐵𝐵 = = = 58.947𝜇𝜇𝜇𝜇
𝑅𝑅𝐵𝐵 + (𝛽𝛽 + 1)𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸 50𝐾𝐾 + (200 + 1)1.5𝐾𝐾

𝑉𝑉𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶 = 𝑉𝑉𝐸𝐸𝐸𝐸 − (𝛽𝛽 + 1)𝐼𝐼𝐵𝐵𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸 = −20 − (200 + 1)58.947𝜇𝜇 × 1.5𝐾𝐾 = −3.227𝑉𝑉

𝐼𝐼𝐸𝐸 = (𝛽𝛽 + 1)𝐼𝐼𝐵𝐵 = (200 + 1)58.947𝜇𝜇 = 11.8𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚

DC Analysis
Parameters Calculated
IC 10.9mA
IE -11mA
IB 55.2µA
BDC 199.27
VB -2.76V
VC 0
VE -3.48V
VCE -3.48V
VBE -0.72V

Gain Parameters
Parameter Input Output Gain A
VPP 1.998V 1.960V 0.98087
IPP 117.2µA 3.92mA 33.447

Saturation Region
VEE 0 IC Sat 13.33mA

Cutoff Region
IB 0 VCE Cut Off -20V

Impedance
The input and output impedances can be calculated by shorting the Base AC source VI.
26𝑚𝑚 26𝑚𝑚
𝑟𝑟 = = = 2.36Ω
𝑒𝑒 𝐼𝐼𝐸𝐸 11𝑚𝑚

𝑍𝑍𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 = 𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸||𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒 = 1.5𝐾𝐾||2.36 = 2.36Ω

𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 𝑅𝑅𝐵𝐵||𝛽𝛽(𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒 + 𝑅𝑅𝐸𝐸) = 50𝐾𝐾 ||200(1.5𝐾𝐾) = 42.857𝐾𝐾Ω

The Amplifier has a current gain (Ai) of 33.447 and Voltage gain (AV) of 0.98087 which is the α of
the amplifier. The amplifier has a cutoff Voltage of -20V which is the same as VEE. At the saturation
region the Current flow is 13.33mA which is the current at which BJT enters saturation region.
Critical Analysis:
1: The emitter follower configuration is a common collector configuration which is
primarily used for current amplification, they are also known as power amplifiers.
2: In the lab we observed that Common Collector configuration has high Current gain of
144 and Voltage gain of 0.95.
3: The configuration has high input impedance which provides stability and removes noise
from the signal.
4: The configuration has low output impedance which is essential for connected low
impedance loads such as speakers, which is one of the reasons why emitter follower
configuration is used in audio circuits.
5: Emitter follower is used for impedance matching as well as Common Emitter circuits
typically have high output impedance, the emitter follower is used as a buffer for
impedance matching purposes.
5: It has high current amplification while keeping the voltage constant which translates to
high power gain as such these circuits are used to amplify the power of a signal weaker
signal. For the task done in lab, the input impedance was measured at 161kΩ and the
output impedance is measured to be 4.09Ω.