Scribd
Upload
37 views

RC Coupling Amplifier

Uploaded by

12943ecs2023
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
37 views

RC Coupling Amplifier

Uploaded by

12943ecs2023
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

RC Coupling Amplifier

The resistance-capacitance coupling is, in short termed as RC coupling. This is the mostly used
coupling technique in amplifiers.

Construction of a Two-stage RC Coupled Amplifier


The constructional details of a two-stage RC coupled transistor amplifier circuit are as follows.
The two stage amplifier circuit has two transistors, connected in CE configuration and a common
power supply VCC is used. The potential divider network R1 and R2 and the resistor Re form the
biasing and stabilization network. The emitter by-pass capacitor Ce offers a low reactance path
to the signal.

The resistor RL is used as a load impedance. The input capacitor Cin present at the initial stage
of the amplifier couples AC signal to the base of the transistor. The capacitor CC is the coupling
capacitor that connects two stages and prevents DC interference between the stages and
controls the shift of operating point. The figure below shows the circuit diagram of RC coupled
amplifier.

Operation of RC Coupled Amplifier


When an AC input signal is applied to the base of first transistor, it gets amplified and appears at
the collector load RL which is then passed through the coupling capacitor CC to the next stage.
This becomes the input of the next stage, whose amplified output again appears across its
collector load. Thus the signal is amplified in stage by stage action.
The important point that has to be noted here is that the total gain is less than the product of the
gains of individual stages. This is because when a second stage is made to follow the first stage,
the effective load resistance of the first stage is reduced due to the shunting effect of the input
resistance of the second stage. Hence, in a multistage amplifier, only the gain of the last stage
remains unchanged.

As we consider a two stage amplifier here, the output phase is same as input. Because the phase
reversal is done two times by the two stage CE configured amplifier circuit.

Frequency Response of RC Coupled Amplifier


Frequency response curve is a graph that indicates the relationship between voltage gain and
function of frequency. The frequency response of a RC coupled amplifier is as shown in the
following graph.

From the above graph, it is understood that the frequency rolls off or decreases for the
frequencies below 50Hz and for the frequencies above 20 KHz. whereas the voltage gain for the
range of frequencies between 50Hz and 20 KHz is constant.

We know that,

1
XC =
2πfc
It means that the capacitive reactance is inversely proportional to the frequency.

At Low frequencies (i.e. below 50 Hz)

The capacitive reactance is inversely proportional to the frequency. At low frequencies, the
reactance is quite high. The reactance of input capacitor Cin and the coupling capacitor CC are
so high that only small part of the input signal is allowed. The reactance of the emitter by pass
capacitor CE is also very high during low frequencies. Hence it cannot shunt the emitter
resistance effectively. With all these factors, the voltage gain rolls off at low frequencies.

At High frequencies (i.e. above 20 KHz)

Again considering the same point, we know that the capacitive reactance is low at high
frequencies. So, a capacitor behaves as a short circuit, at high frequencies. As a result of this, the
loading effect of the next stage increases, which reduces the voltage gain. Along with this, as the
capacitance of emitter diode decreases, it increases the base current of the transistor due to
which the current gain (β) reduces. Hence the voltage gain rolls off at high frequencies.

At Mid-frequencies (i.e. 50 Hz to 20 KHz)

The voltage gain of the capacitors is maintained constant in this range of frequencies, as shown
in figure. If the frequency increases, the reactance of the capacitor CC decreases which tends to
increase the gain. But this lower capacitance reactive increases the loading effect of the next
stage by which there is a reduction in gain.

Due to these two factors, the gain is maintained constant.

Advantages of RC Coupled Amplifier


The following are the advantages of RC coupled amplifier.

The frequency response of RC amplifier provides constant gain over a wide frequency
range, hence most suitable for audio applications.
The circuit is simple and has lower cost because it employs resistors and capacitors
which are cheap.

It becomes more compact with the upgrading technology.

Disadvantages of RC Coupled Amplifier


The following are the disadvantages of RC coupled amplifier.

The voltage and power gain are low because of the effective load resistance.
They become noisy with age.
Due to poor impedance matching, power transfer will be low.
Applications of RC Coupled Amplifier
The following are the applications of RC coupled amplifier.

They have excellent audio fidelity over a wide range of frequency.


Widely used as Voltage amplifiers
Due to poor impedance matching, RC coupling is rarely used in the final stages.

You might also like