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In electronics, a common collector amplifier (also known as an emitter follower) is one of three basic single-stage bipolar junction transistor (BJT) amplifier topologies, typically used as a voltage buffer.
In this circuit the base terminal of the transistor serves as the input, the emitter is the output, and the collector is common to both (for example, it may be tied to ground reference or a power supply rail), hence its name. The analogous field-effect transistor circuit is the common drain amplifier and the analogous tube circuit is the cathode follower.
The circuit can be explained by viewing the transistor as being under the control of negative feedback. From this viewpoint, a common-collector stage (Fig. 1) is an amplifier with full series negative feedback. In this configuration (Fig. 2 with β = 1), the entire output voltage Vout is placed contrary and in series with the input voltage Vin. Thus the two voltages are subtracted according to Kirchhoff's voltage law (KVL) (the subtractor from the function block diagram is implemented just by the input loop), and their difference Vdiff = Vin − Vout is applied to the base–emitter junction. The transistor continuously monitors Vdiff and adjusts its emitter voltage to equal Vin minus the mostly constant VBE by passing the collector current through the emitter resistor RE. As a result, the output voltage follows the input voltage variations from VBE up to V+; hence the name "emitter follower".
Intuitively, this behavior can be also understood by realizing that VBE is very insensitive to bias changes, so any change in base voltage is transmitted (to good approximation) directly to the emitter. It depends slightly on various disturbances (transistor tolerances, temperature variations, load resistance, a collector resistor if it is added, etc.), since the transistor reacts to these disturbances and restores the equilibrium. It never saturates even if the input voltage reaches the positive rail.
The common-collector circuit can be shown mathematically to have a voltage gain of almost unity:
A small voltage change on the input terminal will be replicated at the output (depending slightly on the transistor's gain and the value of the load resistance; see gain formula below). This circuit is useful because it has a large input impedance
so it will not load down the previous circuit, and a small output impedance
so it can drive low-resistance loads.
Typically, the emitter resistor is significantly larger and can be removed from the equation:
The low output impedance allows a source with a large output impedance to drive a small load impedance; it functions as a voltage buffer. In other words, the circuit has current gain (which depends largely on the hFE of the transistor) instead of voltage gain, because of its characteristics it is preferred in many electronic devices. A small change to the input current results in much larger change in the output current supplied to the output load.
One aspect of buffer action is transformation of impedances. For example, the Thévenin resistance of a combination of a voltage follower driven by a voltage source with high Thévenin resistance is reduced to only the output resistance of the voltage follower (a small resistance). That resistance reduction makes the combination a more ideal voltage source. Conversely, a voltage follower inserted between a small load resistance and a driving stage presents a large load to the driving stage—an advantage in coupling a voltage signal to a small load.
This configuration is commonly used in the output stages of class-B and class-AB amplifiers. The base circuit is modified to operate the transistor in class-B or AB mode. In class-A mode, sometimes an active current source is used instead of RE (Fig. 4) to improve linearity and/or efficiency. [1]
At low frequencies and using a simplified hybrid-pi model, the following small-signal characteristics can be derived. (Parameter and the parallel lines indicate components in parallel.)
Definition | Expression | Approximate expression | Conditions | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Current gain | ||||
Voltage gain | ||||
Input resistance | ||||
Output resistance |
Where is the Thévenin equivalent source resistance.
Figure 5 shows a low-frequency hybrid-pi model for the circuit of Figure 3. Using Ohm's law, various currents have been determined, and these results are shown on the diagram. Applying Kirchhoff's current law at the emitter one finds:
Define the following resistance values:
Then collecting terms the voltage gain is found:
From this result, the gain approaches unity (as expected for a buffer amplifier) if the resistance ratio in the denominator is small. This ratio decreases with larger values of current gain β and with larger values of . The input resistance is found as
The transistor output resistance ordinarily is large compared to the load , and therefore dominates . From this result, the input resistance of the amplifier is much larger than the output load resistance for large current gain . That is, placing the amplifier between the load and the source presents a larger (high-resistive) load to the source than direct coupling to , which results in less signal attenuation in the source impedance as a consequence of voltage division.
Figure 6 shows the small-signal circuit of Figure 5 with the input short-circuited and a test current placed at its output. The output resistance is found using this circuit as
Using Ohm's law, various currents have been found, as indicated on the diagram. Collecting the terms for the base current, the base current is found as
where is defined above. Using this value for base current, Ohm's law provides
Substituting for the base current, and collecting terms,
where || denotes a parallel connection, and is defined above. Because generally is a small resistance when the current gain is large, dominates the output impedance, which therefore also is small. A small output impedance means that the series combination of the original voltage source and the voltage follower presents a Thévenin voltage source with a lower Thévenin resistance at its output node; that is, the combination of voltage source with voltage follower makes a more ideal voltage source than the original one.
An operational amplifier is a DC-coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with a differential input and, usually, a single-ended output. In this configuration, an op amp produces an output potential that is typically 100,000 times larger than the potential difference between its input terminals. The operational amplifier traces its origin and name to analog computers, where they were used to perform mathematical operations in linear, non-linear, and frequency-dependent circuits.
A negative-feedback amplifier is an electronic amplifier that subtracts a fraction of its output from its input, so that negative feedback opposes the original signal. The applied negative feedback can improve its performance and reduces sensitivity to parameter variations due to manufacturing or environment. Because of these advantages, many amplifiers and control systems use negative feedback.
In electronics, a common-base amplifier is one of three basic single-stage bipolar junction transistor (BJT) amplifier topologies, typically used as a current buffer or voltage amplifier.
A differential amplifier is a type of electronic amplifier that amplifies the difference between two input voltages but suppresses any voltage common to the two inputs. It is an analog circuit with two inputs and and one output , in which the output is ideally proportional to the difference between the two voltages:
A buffer amplifier is one that provides electrical impedance transformation from one circuit to another, with the aim of preventing the signal source from being affected by whatever currents that the load may impose. The signal is 'buffered from' load currents. In other words, a buffer turns a non-ideal voltage or current source into a "more ideal" one, that is, one with a lower internal impedance. Two main types of buffer exist: voltage buffer and current buffer.
In electronics, a common-emitter amplifier is one of three basic single-stage bipolar-junction-transistor (BJT) amplifier topologies, typically used as a voltage amplifier. It offers high current gain, medium input resistance and a high output resistance. The output of a common emitter amplifier is inverted; i.e. for a sine wave input signal, the output signal is 180 degrees out of phase with respect to the input.
A current mirror is a circuit designed to copy a current through one active device by controlling the current in another active device of a circuit, keeping the output current constant regardless of loading. The current being "copied" can be, and sometimes is, a varying signal current. Conceptually, an ideal current mirror is simply an ideal inverting current amplifier that reverses the current direction as well, or it could consist of a current-controlled current source (CCCS). The current mirror is used to provide bias currents and active loads to circuits. It can also be used to model a more realistic current source.
A current source is an electronic circuit that delivers or absorbs an electric current which is independent of the voltage across it.
The asymptotic gain model is a representation of the gain of negative feedback amplifiers given by the asymptotic gain relation:
In electronics, a common-gate amplifier is one of three basic single-stage field-effect transistor (FET) amplifier topologies, typically used as a current buffer or voltage amplifier. In this circuit, the source terminal of the transistor serves as the input, the drain is the output, and the gate is connected to some DC biasing voltage, or "common," hence its name. The analogous bipolar junction transistor circuit is the common-base amplifier.
In electronics, a common-source amplifier is one of three basic single-stage field-effect transistor (FET) amplifier topologies, typically used as a voltage or transconductance amplifier. The easiest way to tell if a FET is common source, common drain, or common gate is to examine where the signal enters and leaves. The remaining terminal is what is known as "common". In this example, the signal enters the gate, and exits the drain. The only terminal remaining is the source. This is a common-source FET circuit. The analogous bipolar junction transistor circuit may be viewed as a transconductance amplifier or as a voltage amplifier.. As a transconductance amplifier, the input voltage is seen as modulating the current going to the load. As a voltage amplifier, input voltage modulates the current flowing through the FET, changing the voltage across the output resistance according to Ohm's law. However, the FET device's output resistance typically is not high enough for a reasonable transconductance amplifier, nor low enough for a decent voltage amplifier. As seen below in the formula, the voltage gain depends on the load resistance, so it cannot be applied to drive low-resistance devices, such as a speaker. Another major drawback is the amplifier's limited high-frequency response. Therefore, in practice the output often is routed through either a voltage follower, or a current follower, to obtain more favorable output and frequency characteristics. The CS–CG combination is called a cascode amplifier.
In electronics, a common-drain amplifier, also known as a source follower, is one of three basic single-stage field-effect transistor (FET) amplifier topologies, typically used as a voltage buffer. In this circuit (NMOS) the gate terminal of the transistor serves as the signal input, the source is the output, and the drain is common to both, hence its name. Because of its low dependence on the load resistor on the voltage gain, it can be used to drive low resistance loads, such as a speaker. The analogous bipolar junction transistor circuit is the common-collector amplifier. This circuit is also commonly called a "stabilizer".
A Widlar current source is a modification of the basic two-transistor current mirror that incorporates an emitter degeneration resistor for only the output transistor, enabling the current source to generate low currents using only moderate resistor values.
The cascode is a two-stage amplifier that consists of a common-emitter stage feeding into a common-base stage.
In electronics, a current divider is a simple linear circuit that produces an output current (IX) that is a fraction of its input current (IT). Current division refers to the splitting of current between the branches of the divider. The currents in the various branches of such a circuit will always divide in such a way as to minimize the total energy expended.
In electronics, the Miller effect accounts for the increase in the equivalent input capacitance of an inverting voltage amplifier due to amplification of the effect of capacitance between the input and output terminals. The virtually increased input capacitance due to the Miller effect is given by
A Wilson current mirror is a three-terminal circuit that accepts an input current at the input terminal and provides a "mirrored" current source or sink output at the output terminal. The mirrored current is a precise copy of the input current. It may be used as a Wilson current source by applying a constant bias current to the input branch as in Fig. 2. The circuit is named after George R. Wilson, an integrated circuit design engineer who worked for Tektronix. Wilson devised this configuration in 1967 when he and Barrie Gilbert challenged each other to find an improved current mirror overnight that would use only three transistors. Wilson won the challenge.
Bipolar transistors must be properly biased to operate correctly. In circuits made with individual devices, biasing networks consisting of resistors are commonly employed. Much more elaborate biasing arrangements are used in integrated circuits, for example, bandgap voltage references and current mirrors. The voltage divider configuration achieves the correct voltages by the use of resistors in certain patterns. By selecting the proper resistor values, stable current levels can be achieved that vary only little over temperature and with transistor properties such as β.
The Miller theorem refers to the process of creating equivalent circuits. It asserts that a floating impedance element, supplied by two voltage sources connected in series, may be split into two grounded elements with corresponding impedances. There is also a dual Miller theorem with regards to impedance supplied by two current sources connected in parallel. The two versions are based on the two Kirchhoff's circuit laws.
In electronics, a transimpedance amplifier (TIA) is a current to voltage converter, almost exclusively implemented with one or more operational amplifiers. The TIA can be used to amplify the current output of Geiger–Müller tubes, photo multiplier tubes, accelerometers, photo detectors and other types of sensors to a usable voltage. Current to voltage converters are used with sensors that have a current response that is more linear than the voltage response. This is the case with photodiodes where it is not uncommon for the current response to have better than 1% nonlinearity over a wide range of light input. The transimpedance amplifier presents a low impedance to the photodiode and isolates it from the output voltage of the operational amplifier. In its simplest form a transimpedance amplifier has just a large valued feedback resistor, Rf. The gain of the amplifier is set by this resistor and because the amplifier is in an inverting configuration, has a value of -Rf. There are several different configurations of transimpedance amplifiers, each suited to a particular application. The one factor they all have in common is the requirement to convert the low-level current of a sensor to a voltage. The gain, bandwidth, as well as current and voltage offsets change with different types of sensors, requiring different configurations of transimpedance amplifiers.