A.

Class A Amplifiers

The circuit illustrated in Figure 21 and discussed in the previous section is an example of a Class A amplifier stage. Class A amplifiers have the general property that the output device(s) always carry a significant current level, and hence have a large Quiescent Current. The Quiescent Current is defined as the current level in the amplifier when it is producing an output of zero. Class A amplifiers vary the large Quiescent Current in order to generate a varying current in the load, hence they are always inefficient in power terms. In fact, the example shown in Figure 21 is particularly inefficient as it is Single Ended. If you look at Figure 21 again you will see that the amplifier only has direct control over the current between one of the two power rails and the load. The other rail is connected to the output load through a plain resistor, so its current isnt really under control. We can make a more efficient amplifier by employing a Double Ended or Push-Pull arrangement. Figure 23 is an example of one type of output stage that works like this. You can see that this new arrangement employs a pair of transistors. One is an NPN bipolar transistor, the other is a PNP bipolar transistor. Ideally, these two transistors have equivalent properties e.g. the same current gains, etc except for the difference in the signs of their voltages and currents. (In effect, a PNP transistor is a sort of electronic mirror image of an NPN one.)

The circuit shown on the left now has two transistors which we can control using a pair of input voltages, and . We can therefore alter the two currents, and independently if we wish. In practice, the easiest way to use the circuit is to set the Quiescent Current, to half the maximum level we expect to require for the load. Then adjust the two transistor currents in opposition. It is the imbalance between the two transistor currents that will pass through the load so this means the transistors share the burden of driving the output load. When supplying a current, to the load this means that we will have In linear operation this limits us to a current range in each transistor, and load currents in the range . Hence this arrangement is limited in a similar way to before. However the important difference to before becomes clear when we take the same case as was used for the previous example, with power lines and a load.

Since we wish to apply up to 25 V to a load we require a peak output load current of 25 Amps. This means we can choose . As a result, each transistor now only has to dissipate 125 25 = 31 Watts i.e. the output stage dissipates 62 Watts in total when providing zero output. Although this still isnt very efficient, it is rather better than the value of well above 1 kW required for our earlier, single ended, circuit!

B. Class B amplifier

is biased at cutoff; in other words there is no bias. The amplifier relies on the input signal to bias the transistor. The first 0.7 volts of the signal in is lost Because the transistor does not turn on until the base voltage reaches 0.7V. Amplifier is very efficient but provides crossover distortion. Amplifier is used to amplify power in situations where waveform is not important (power supplies)

C. Class C Amplifier The principle of operation of Class C amplifiers is indicated in Fig. where the grid bias is set at approximately twice the cutoff value.

Fig. The principle of Class C amplifiers. Plate current flows only during part of one-half cycle The plate current flows only during a portion of the positive half-cycle of the input signal voltage. The input signal voltage must be sufficiently great to drive the grid positive up to

saturation. Then the plate efficiency will be high (70 to 75 per cent), the power output will be large, although the power amplification is low. In this type of amplifier, the plate current is proportional to the plate voltage and hence the output power is proportional to the square of the plate voltage. Class C amplifiers are very efficient because the plate current flows only during part of one half-cycle, but their distortion is very bad if they are used without tuned circuits in the amplification of audio signals. The amplifier is generally used in the amplification of a narrow band of frequencies, say the modulated carrier frequency of a transmitting station, in which case the anti-resonant plate load passes only the fundamental frequency and suppresses the harmonics which arise because of the tube distortion. Class C amplifiers require power in their grid circuit, the more so as the grid goes more positive. This represents a minor loss of energy. Because of their high efficiency, Class C amplifiers are used where a very large power output is the primary consideration, as in the last stages of a transmitter.
D. Voltage amplifiers

are distinguished from other categories of amplifiers whose ability to amplify voltages, or lack thereof, is of secondary importance. Amplifiers in other categories usually are designed to deliver power gain (power amplifiers, including push-pull amplifiers) or to isolate one part of a circuit from another (buffers and emitter followers). Power amplifiers may or may not have voltage gain, while buffers and emitter followers generally produce power gain without a corresponding voltage gain.

F.Resistance-Capacitance-Coupled Amplifier
If the amplifier circuit of Fig. 27-13 is to be used to excite the grid of a succeeding stage of amplification as indicated, a condenser C must be interposed to prevent flow of positive current to that grid from Ebb. To be certain that the grid of the succeeding stage remains negative, a grid leak resistor RI arid a negative bias voltage Ec must be added. The ratio of the grid voltage of the succeeding stage to the grid voltage on the tube shown in Fig. 27-13 is

The ratio Ka is the amplification factor of the tube and circuit and it obviously can never be quite so large as . It is important therefore that a tube having high be used in this type of circuit. This type of amplifier has the merit that the coupling is independent of frequency as long as the condenser reactance is not so high as to be comparable with R1. If it is comparably great, the remaining voltage across R1that is available to the following grid will be noticeably reduced below that across RL. At very high frequencies the grid-to-filament capacitance will provide a reactance that is small compared to R1 and the amplification factor will be reduced because the alternating-current plate circuit impedance is reduced. G. Direct-coupled amplifier A device for amplifying signals with direct-current components. There are many different situations where it is necessary to amplify signals having a frequency spectrum which extends to

zero. Some typical examples are amplifiers in electronic differential analyzers (analog computers), certain types of feedback control systems, medical instruments such as the electrocardiograph, and instrumentation amplifiers. Amplifiers which have capacitor coupling between stages are not usable in these cases, because the gain at zero frequency is zero. Therefore, a special form of amplifier, called a dc (direct-current) or direct-coupled amplifier, is necessary. These amplifiers will also amplify alternating-current (ac) signalsSome type of coupling circuit must be used between successive amplifier stages to prevent the relatively large supply voltage of one stage from appearing at the input of the following stage. These circuits must pass dc signals with the least possible amount of attenuation. Interstage direct-coupling in transistor dc amplifiers must be implemented with special care. The use of both npn and pnp transistors is a possible solution. However, the pnp transistors available in monolithic form have relatively poor current-gain and frequency-response characteristics. If a dc amplifier is formed by a cascade of npn stages, there is a positive dc level buildup toward the positive supply voltage. This voltage buildup limits the linearity and amplitude of the available output swing. The problem can be overcome by using a level-shift stage between each stage to shift the output dc level toward the negative supply with minimum attenuation of the amplified signal. Practical dc level-shift stages suitable for monolithic circuit applications can use Zener diodes, a series of diodes, or a VBE multiplier circuit.

H. Transformer-Coupled Amplifiers For audio-frequency amplification, a transformer is used as the coupling unit between two tubes only when power is to be transferred or when coupling is to be made to a pushpull stage. Usually, triodes, such as 6C5, 6J5, and similar tubes, with a of 20 or less, are used.

Fig. 25 G. A transformer-coupled amplifier driving a push-pull amplifier Figure 25 G shows a series-feed circuit whose gain per stage, in the absence of grid currents, is equal to the of the tube multiplied by the step-up ratio (usually 2 to 1) of the transformer.

Fig. 25 H. Transformercoupled a.f. amplifier with parallel plate feed The parallel-feed circuit of Fig. 25 H will have better low frequency response than that of Fig. 25 G for the same reason advanced in connection with the impedance-coupled amplifier. The gain per stage with the parallel feed is nearly equal to that of the equivalent resistance-coupled amplifier, multiplied by the secondary-to-primary turns-ratio of the transformer. I. Single Ended Single ended amplifiers require only one amplifying device (such as a tube, transistor, IC, etc), but can include multiple devices in parallel. They take a single input and produce a single output; single ended is the simplest and most basic amplifier setup. All single ended amplifiers are class A; only class A amplifiers can be single ended. One downside of single ended amplifiers is that they require a larger and more robust output transformer. Comparing two 10W class A amplifiers, one single ended and one push pull, the single ended one will be larger and heavier. The size and weight of the output transformer, along with the limited output power, make single ended tube power amps better suited for studio use than on the road. Preamps are generally single ended and thus must be class A. Typically they are voltage amplifiers requiring much less current than larger power amplifiers. Because their current draw is negligible compared to a power amp, running a preamp in any class other than A would have very little impact on the overall system efficiency but would severely degrade the sound quality and would require at least double the number of amplifying devices. For these reasons audio preamps are almost always class A. K. Complementary-symmetry push-pull An electronic circuit in which two transistors (or vacuum tubes) are used, one as a source of current and one as a sink, to amplify a signal. One device pushes current out into the load, while the other pulls current from it when necessary. A common example is the complementary-symmetry push-pull output stage widely used to drive loudspeakers (see illustration), where an npn transistor can source (push) current from a positive power supply into the load, or a pnp transistor can sink (pull) it into the negative power supply. The circuit functions as an amplifier in that the current levels at the output are larger than those at the input.

Complementary-symmetry push-pull output stage. Q1 is an npn transistor and Q2 is a pnp transistor; IB is a bias current; positive (+VCC) and negative (VCC) power supplies are shown. A so-called bias network in a complementary-symmetry push-pull output stage (see illustration) functions to maintain a constant voltage difference between the bases of the two transistors. It can be designed either by setting a bias current, and diode sizes or by replacing it with a different network for class B, class A, or the common compromise, class AB mode of operation. In class B operation, where the bases of the transistors might simply be shorted together, only one transistor is on at a time and each is on average on for only 50% of the time; when the output current is zero, no current at all flows in the circuit. In class A operation a large voltage is maintained between the bases so that both devices stay on at all times, although their currents vary so that the difference flows into the load; and even when the output is zero, a large quiescent current flows from the power supplies. Class B operation is much more efficient than class A, which wastes a large amount of power when the signal is small. However, class B suffers from zero-crossing distortion as the output current passes through zero, because there is generally a delay involved as the input swings far enough to turn one transistor entirely off and then turn the other on. In class AB operation, some intermediate quiescent current is chosen to compromise between power and distortion.