ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Module-4

Power Amplifier

Structure:
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Analysis of Power Amplifier
4.3 Class A amplifier
4.4 Class B amplifier
4.5 Class C amplifier
4.6 Oscillator
4.7 Phase shift oscillator
4.8 FET Phase shift oscillator
4.9 Weinbridge oscillator
4.10 Crystal oscillator

Objectives:
 Develop skills to design the basic electronic circuits like amplifiers and oscillators.

4.1 Introduction:
The amplifiers in multistage amplifier near the load end in almost all-electronic system
employ large signal amplifiers (Power amplifiers) and the purpose of these amplifiers is to obtain
power again.

Consider the case of radio receiver, the purpose of a radio receiver is to produce the
transmitted programs with sufficient loudness. Since the radio signal received at the receiver
output is of very low power, therefore, power amplifiers are used to put sufficient power into the
signal. But these amplifier need large voltage input. Therefore, it is necessary to amplify the
magnitude of input signal by means of small amplifiers to a level that is sufficient to drive the
power amplifier stages. In multistage amplifier, the emphasis is on power gain in amplifier near
the load. In these amplifies, the collector currents are much larger because the load resistances
are small (i.e., impedance of loud speaker is 3.2 ohm). A power amplifier draw a large amount of
dc power form dc source and convert it into signal power. Thus, a power amplifier does not truly
amplify the signal power but converts the dc power into signal power.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 1

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

4.2 Analysis and Design of Power Amplifier

DC and AC load lines:

Fig 1

The dc equivalent circuit shown in fig.1 gives the dc load line as shown in fig. 2.

Fig 2

Q is the operative point. ICQ and VCEQ are quiescent current and voltage. The ac
equivalent circuit is shown in fig. 3.

Fig 3

This circuit produces ac load line. When no signal is present, the transistor operates at the
Q point shown in fig. 4.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 2

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig 4

When a signal is present, operating point swings along the ac load line rather than dc load line.
The saturation and cut off points on the ac load line are different from those on the dc load line.

During the positive half cycle of ac source, voltage, the collector voltage swing from the
Q-point towards saturation. On the negative cycle, the collector voltage swings from Q-point
towards cutoff. For a large signal clipping can occur on either side or both sides. The maximum
positive swing from the Q-point is VCEQ + ICQ RC VCEQ = ICQ RC. The maximum negative swing
from the Q-point is 0. VCEQ = - VCEQ. The ac output compliance (maximum peak to peak
unclipped voltage) is given by the smaller of these two approximate values:

PP = 2 I CQ RC or PP = 2 VCEQ.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 3

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

4.3 Class-A amplifier:

In a class-A operation transistor operates in active region at all times. This implies that
collector current flows for 360° of the ac cycle.
Voltage gain of loaded amplifier,

Current gain

Ac input power to the base Pin = Vin ib

Ac output power point = - V out * i C. (Negative sign is due to phase inversion.)

The variation of PL with VPP is shown in fig. 5. Maximum ac load power is obtained
when the output unclipped voltage equals ac output compliance PP.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 4

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig 5
When no signal drives the amplifier, the power dissipation of the transistor equals the
product of d. voltage and current P DQ = V CEQ * I CQ
When there is no input signal, PD is maximum as shown in fig. 6.

Fig 6

It decreases when the peak to peak load voltage increases. The power dissipation must be less
than the rating of transistor, otherwise temperature increases and transistor may damage. To
reduce the temperature, heat sinks are used that dissipates the heat produced. When Q-point is at
the center of ac load line then peak swing above and below Q-point is equal.

Class A current drain:

In a class-A amplifier shown in fig.1, the dc source VCC must supply direct current to the
voltage divider and the collector circuit.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 5

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig 1
Assuming a stiff voltage divider circuit, the dc current drain of the voltage divider circuit
is I 1 = V CC / (R 1 +R 2 ) In the collector circuit, the dc current drain is I 2 = I CQ
In a class A amplifier, the sinusoidal variations in collector current averages to zero.
Therefore, whether the ac signal is present or not, the dc source must supply an average current
of I S = I 1 + I 2. This is the total dc current drain. The dc source voltage multiplied by the dc
current drain gives the ac power supplied to an amplifier. P S = VCC IS Therefore, efficiency of
the amplifier is (PL (max) / PS) * 100 % Where,, PL (max) = maximum ac load line power. In
class A amplifier, there is a wastage of power in resistor RC and RE i.e. ICQ 2 * (RC + RE).
To reduce this wastage of power R C and R E should be made zero. R E cannot be made
zero because this will give rise to bias stability problem. R C can also not be made zero because
effective load resistance gets shorted. This result in more current and no power transfer to the
load R L. The R C resistance can, however, be replaced by an inductance whose dc resistance is
zero and there is no dc voltage drop across the choke as shown in fig. 1.
Since in most application the load is loudspeaker, therefore power amplifier drives the
loudspeaker, and the maximum power transfer takes place only when load impedance is equal to
the source impedance. If it is not, the loud speaker gets less power. The impedance matching is
done with the help of transformer, as shown in fig. 2.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 6

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig.2

The ratio of number of turns is so selected that the impedence referred to primary side can be
matched with the output impedence of the amplifier.

4.4 Class B Amplifier:

The efficiency ( ) of class A amplifier is poor. The reason is that these circuits draw
considerable current from the supply even in the absence of input signals. In class B operation the
transistor collector current flows for only 180° of the ac cycle. This implies that the Q-point is
located approximately at cutoff on both dc and ac load lines. The advantages of class B operation are
Lower transistor power dissipation and reduced current drain.
Efficiency is given by,

Value is around 70%

Push-Pull circuit:
When a transistor operates in class B, it clips off a half cycle. To avoid the resulting
distortion, two transistors are used in push pull arrangement. This means that one transistor conducts
during positive half cycle and other transistor conducts during negative half cycle. The distortion is

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 7

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

low, load power is large and efficiency is more. Fig.3 shows how an npn and pnp transistor emitter
followers are connected in push pull arrangement.
The dc & ac equivalent circuit are shown in fig. 4 & fig. 5. The biasing resistors are selected
so that Q-point is set at cutoff. This biases the emitter diode of each transistor between 0.6V and
0.7V i.e. I CQ = 0. Because the biasing resistors are equal each emitter diode is biased with the same
voltage. As a result half the supply voltage is dropped across each transistor. V CEQ = VCC /2.

Fig 3 Fig 4 Fig 5

Since there is no dc resistance in the collector or emitter circuits, the dc saturation current
is infinite. The dc load line is vertical as shown in fig. 6. The most difficult thing is setting up a
stable Q-point at cut off. Any significant increase in V BE with temperature can move the Q-
point up the dc load line to dangerously high currents. Ac load line is given by
IC(sat) = ICQ + (VCEQ / rE )
VCE (cut off) = VCEQ + ICQ rE ICQ = 0;
VCEQ = VCC /2 i.e. IC(sat) = VCC / 2RL ( i.e. rE = RL ) VCE (cut off) = VCC /2.

Fig 6
DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 8
ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

When one of the transistor is conducting, that transistor's operating point swings along
the ac load line and the operating point of the other transistor remains at cut off. The voltage
swing of the conducting transistor can go from cut off to saturation. In the next half cycle, the
other transistor does the same thing. Therefore, PP = VCC Voltage gain of loaded amplifier: AV=
R L / (R L + r'e ) Z e ) Z out = r'e P =AV * Ai Without signal
the capacitor charges up to VCC/2 relative to ground.
In the positive half cycle of input voltage, the upper transistor conducts and the lower one
cut off. The upper transistor acts like an ordinary emitter follower, so that the output voltage
approximately equals the input voltage. The current flow through RL is such as direct as to make
output positive. In the negative half cycle of input voltage, the upper transistor cuts off and the
lower transistor conducts. The lower transistor acts like an ordinary emitter follower and
produces a load voltage approximately equal to the input voltage (i.e. negative output. Since Q,
is off, no current can flow from VCC through Q, but capacitor acts like a battery source and
discharges). During either half cycle, the source sees a high input impedance looking into either
base or the load sees a low output impedance.

Cross over distortion:

Fig. 1 shows the ac equivalent circuit of a class B push pull amplifier. Suppose that no
bias is applied to the emitter diodes. Then the incoming voltage has to rise to about 0.7 V to
overcome the barrier potential. Because of this no current flows through Q, when the signal is
less than 0.7 V. The action is similar on the other half cycle no current flows in Q2 until ac
voltage is more negative the 0.7 V. If no bias is applied the output of class B amplifier looks like
as shown in fig. 1.

Fig 1
The signal output is distorted. Because of clipping action between half cycles, it no
longer is a sine wave. Since the clipping occurs between the times, one transistor cuts off and at
that time the other comes on, it is called cross over distortion. To eliminate cross over distortion,
the slight forward bias must be applied to each emitter diode. This means locating the Q-point
slightly above cut off as shown in fig. 2. In fact, this is class AB operation. This means that
collector current flows for more than 180 degrees but less than 360°.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 9

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig 2

Class A amplifier introduces non-linear distortion in input wave means elongates one half
cycle and compresses one half cycle. This can be reduced by swamping. In this case it can be
further reduced because both half cycles are identical in shape, is given by non-linear distortion
is much less than class A. Load power is given by

Since the ac output compliance equals the peak-to-peak voltage, the maximum load
power is

Where, I1 = current through biasing resistance. When no signal is present I2 = ICQ and
the current drain is small. But when a signal is present, the current drain increases because the
upper collector current becomes large.
If the entire ac load line is used, then the upper transistor has a half sine wave of current
through it with a peak value of IC(sat) = VCEQ / RL The average value of half sine wave is
given by

The dc power is supplied to the circuit is PS = VCC is under no signal conditions, the dc power is
small because the current drain is minimum. But when a signal uses the entire ac load line, the dc
power supplied to the circuit reaches a maximum.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 10

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Biasing a class B amplifier:

In class B amplifier, two complement any transistors are required. Because of the series
connection, each transistor drops half the supply voltage. To avoid cross over distortion, the Q-
point slightly above cut off, with the correct VBE somewhere between 0.6 and 0.7. If there is an
increase in VBE by few mV it produces 10 times as much emitter current. Because of this it is
difficult to find standard resistors that can produce the correct VBE and it needs an adjustable
resistor. The biasing does not solve thermal instability problem. Because, for a given collector
current the VBE requirement decreases by 2mV per degree rise in temperature. The voltage
divider produces a stiff drive for each diode. Therefore as the temperature increases, the fixed
voltage on each emitter diode forces the collector current to increase and this gives rise to
thermal run away. When the temperature increases collector current also increases and this is
equivalent to Q-point moving up along the vertical dc load line. As the Q-point moves toward
higher collector currents, the temperature of the transistor increases further reducing the required
VBE.

Fig 3
One way to avoid thermal run away is to use diode bias. It is based on the concept of
current mirror as shown in fig.3, the base current is much smaller than the current through the
resistor and diode. For this reason, I1 and I2 are approximately equal. The diode curve is
identical to the VBE curve of the transistor (VBE, IE). The diode current equals the emitter and
also collector current. Therefore I1 is nearly equal to IC. I1 = IC. The collector current is set by
controlling the resistor current. This is called a current mirror. Similarly, pnp transistor can be
used as a current mirror. If the VBE curve of the transistor matches the diode curve, the collector
equals the resistor current.
Diode bias of class B push pull emitter follower relies on two current mirrors as shown in
fig. 4.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 11

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18E
34E

Fig 4
The upper half is an npn current mirror, and the lower half is a pnp current mirror as
shown in fig. 4. For diode bias to be immune to changes in temperature, the diode curve must
match the VBE curves of the transistor over a wide temperature range. This is easily done in ICs.

Power Calculations for Class B Push-Pull Amplifier

The power delivered by the ac source is split between the transistor and the resistors in
the bias circuitry. The ac signal source adds an insignificant additional amount of power since
base currents are small relative to collector currents. Part of the power to the transistor goes to
load, and the other part is dissipated by the transistor itself. The following equations specify the
various power relationships in the circuit. The average power supplied by the dc source is

The maximum values of collector current and power delivered to the transistor are

The ac output power, assuming a sinusoidal input, is

The maximum ac output power is found by substituting ICmax for IC1max to get

If we subtract the power to the load from the power supplied to the transistors, we find
the power being dissipated in the transistors the power dissipated by a single transistor is one half

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 12

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

of this value. Thus, we are assuming that the base current is negligible. The efficiency of the Class B
push-pull amplifier is the ratio of the output power to the power delivered to the transistor. Thus we
neglect the power dissipated by the bias circuitry.

This amplifier is more efficient than a Class A amplifier. It is often used in output circuits
where efficiency important design requirement. Therefore, In choosing a transistor, it is
important that the power rating is equal to or exceeds the maximum power Pmax.

4.5 Class C amplifier:

A class C amplifier can produce more power than a class B amplifier. Consider the case
of a radio transmitter in which the audio signals are raised in their frequency to the medium or
short wave band to that they can be easily transmitted. The high frequency introduced is in radio
frequency range and it serves as the carrier of the audio signal. The process of raising the audio
signal to radio frequency called modulation.
The modulated wave has a relatively narrow band of frequencies centered the carrier
frequencies. At any instant, there are several transmitter transmitting programs simultaneously.
The radio receiver selects the signals of desired frequencies to which it is tuned, amplifies it and
converts it back to audio range. Therefore, tuned voltage amplifiers are used. In short, the tuned
voltage amplifiers selects the desired radio frequency signal out of a number of RF signals
present at that instant and then amplifies the selected RF signal to the desired level as shown in
fig. 1.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 13

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig 1
Class C operation means that the collector current flows for less than 180° of the ac cycle. This
implies that the collector current of a class C amplifier is highly non-sinusoidal because current
flows in pulses. To avoid distortion, class C amplifier makes use of a resonant tank circuit. This
results in a sinusoidal output voltage. The resonant tank circuit is tuned to the frequency of the
input signal. When the circuit has a high quality factor (Q) parallel resonance occurs at
approximately

At the resonance frequency, the impedance of the parallel resonant circuit is very high as shown
in fig. 2 and is purely resistive. When the circuit is tuned to the resonant frequency, the voltage
across RL is maximum and sinusoidal. The higher the Q of the circuit, the faster the gain drops
off on either side of resonance

Fig 2

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 14

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig 3 Fig 4

The dc equivalent circuit is shown fig. 3. No bias is applied to the transistor. Therefore, its Q-
point is at cut off on the dc load line VBE= 0.7V. Therefore no IL current flows until input is
more than 0.7 V. Also dc resistance is RS (the resistance of inductor) which is very small and
therefore dc load line is almost vertical. There is no danger of thermal runway because there is
no current other than from leakage. The IC(sat) current is given by

The voltage VCE(sate) is given by

when ICQ = 0, VCEQ = VCC

When the Q of a resonant circuit is greater than 10, one can use the approximate ac
equivalent circuit. The series resistance of the inductor is lumped into the collector resistance. At
resonance, the peak-to-peak load voltage reaches a maximum. The bandwidth of a resonant
circuit is given by Band width (BW) = f2 - f1, f1 = Lower cut off frequency. f2 = Upper cut off
frequency. The bandwidth is related to the resonant frequency and the circuit Q as below: BW =
f r / Q. This means a large Q produces small BW equivalent to sharp tuning. These amplifiers
have Q greater than 10. This means that the BW is less than 10% of the resonant frequencies.
These amplifiers are also called narrow band amplifier.
When the tank circuit is resonant the ac load impedance seen by the collector current
source is purely resistive and the collector current is minimum. Above and below resonance the
ac load impedance decreases and the collector current decreases. Any coil or inductor has some
series resistance RS as shown in fig. 4. The Q of all coils is given by. QL = XL / RL.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 15

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

The series resistance can be replaced by parallel resistance RP. This equivalent resistance
is given by RP = QL RL. Now all the losses in the coil are now being represented by the parallel
resistance RP and series resistance RS no longer exists XC cancels XL at resonance. Leaving R P
in parallel with RL. Therefore, RC = RP || RL Q of the overall circuit = RC / XL. At the resonance
frequency, the impedance of the parallel resonant circuit is very high as shown in fig. 2 and is
purely resistive. When the circuit is tuned to the resonant frequency, the voltage across RL is
maximum and sinusoidal. The higher the Q of the circuit, the faster the gain drops off on either
side of resonance.

A simple current source

The simple two transistor current source shown in fig. 1 is commonly used in ICs.

Fig 1
A reference current is the input to a transistor connected as a diode. The voltage across
this transistor drives the second transistor, where RE = 0. Since the circuit has only one resistor,
it can be easily fabricated on an IC chip. The disadvantage of this circuit is that the reference
current is approximately equal to the current source. In this circuit, Q2 is in linear mode, since
the collector voltage (output) is higher than the base voltage. The transistor Q1 and Q2 are
identical devices fabricated on the same IC chip. The emitter currents are equal since the
transistors are matched and emitters and bases are in parallel. If we sum the currents of Q2, we
obtain.
IB + IC =IE

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 16

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

So,

Summing currents at the collector of Q1 we obtain

If β is large, the current gain is approximately unity and the current mirror has reproduced the
input current. One disadvantage of this current source is that its Thevenin resistance (RTH) is
limited by the r o (1 / hoe) of the transistor. That is

Widlar Current Source:

Large resistors are often required to maintain small currents of the order of few A and these large
resistors occupy correspondingly large areas on the IC chip. It is therefore, desirable to replace
these large resistors with current sources. One such device is the Widlar current source as shown
in fig. 2.
The two transistors are assumed perfectly matched. For the base circuit

For a forward biased base-emitter junction diode, the emitter current is given by

Fig 2
For a forward biased base-emitter junction diode, the emitter current is given by

Since iE ≈ iC = IC and n = 1

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 17

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Substituting VBE1 and VBE2 from (E-5) to (E-4), we get

We have assumed that both the transistors are matched so that ICO, β and VT are the
same for both the transistors. Thus

For design purposes, IC1 is usually known since it is used as the reference for all current
sources on the entire chip and IC2 is t he desired output current. The Widlar circuit can also be
used to simulate a high resistance.

Another current source transistor configuration that provides a very large parallel
resistance is the Wilson current source which uses three transistors and provides this capability
an the output is almost independent of the internal transistor characteristics. The Wilson current
source as shown in fig. 3, uses the negative feedback provided by Q3 to raise the output
impedance

Fig 3
The difference between the reference current and IC1 is the base current of Q2. IE2 = (β + 1)
IB2 = IC3 (E-9), since the base of Q1 is connected to the base of Q3, the currents in Q1 are
approximately independent of the voltage of the collector of Q 2. As such, the collector current of Q2
remains almost constant providing high output impedance. Let us now see that IC2 is approximately

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 18

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

equal to IREF. Applying Kirchhoff's current law at the emitter of Q2 yields IE2 = IC3 + IB3 + IB1 (E-10)
Using the relationship between collector and base currents.

Since all three transistors are matched, VBE1= VBE2 = VBE3 and β1 = β2 = β3 With identical
transistors, current in the feedback path splits equally between the bases of Q1 and Q3 leading so
that IB1 = IB3 and therefore IC1 = IC3. Thus, the emitter current of Q2 becomes

The collector current of Q2 is

Solving for IC3 yields

Summing currents at the base of Q2,

Since IC1 = IC3, we substitute IC3 to obtain

And solving for IC2

Equation (E-10) shows that β has little effect upon IC2 since, for reasonable values of β.

Therefore, IC2 = IREF

Multiple Current sources Using Current Mirrors

A number of current sources can be obtained from a single reference voltage. If the
current is approximately the same as the reference voltage, the simple current source can be used
as shown in fig. 4 for Q2 and Q3.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 19

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig 4
Notice that Q4 has an emitter resistance, which makes the current source a Widlar current
source. Thus the amount of current delivered by this source can be determined by the size of the
emitter resistor. This type of circuit is useful in integrated circuit chips as the one reference
circuit can be used to develop current sources throughout the chip. When using the Widlar
circuit, the currents can be different from the reference current. The errors in base current,
however, do accumulate when multiple outputs are used and the current gain tends to deviate
from unity. In these types of circuits, lateral transistors can be used since it is not important that b
be large. Lateral transistors usually have a β of approximately 20 which is more than adequate
for current sources.

Impedance Coupling:
At higher frequency impedance coupling is used. The collector resistance is replaced by
an inductor as shown in fig. 5. As the frequency increases, XL approaches infinity and each
inductor appears open. In other words, inductors pass dc but block ac. When used in this way,
the inductors are called RF chokes.

Fig 5

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 20

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

The advantage is that no signal power is wasted in collector resistors. These RF chokes
are relatively expensive and their impedance drops off at lower frequencies. It is suitable at radio
frequency above 20 KHz.

Transformer Coupling:
In this case a transformer is used to transfer the ac output voltage of the first stage to the input of the
second stage. Fig. 6, the resistors RC is replaced by the primary winding of the transformer. The
secondary winding is used to give input to next stage. There is no coupling capacitor. The dc
isolation between the two stages is provided by the transformer itself. There is no power loss in
primary winding because of low resistance.

Fig 6
At low frequency the size and cost of the transformer increases. Transformer coupling is
still used in RF amplifiers. In AM radio receivers, RF signal have frequencies 550 to 1600 KHz.
In TV receivers, the frequencies are 54 to 216 MHz. At these frequency the size and cost of the
transformer reduces. CS capacitor is used to make other point of transformer grounded, so that ac
signal is applied between base and ground.

Tuned Transformer Coupling:

In this case a capacitor is shunted across primary winding to get resonance as shown in fig. 7.
At this frequency the gain are maximum and at other frequencies the gain reduces very much. This
allows us to filter out all frequencies except the resonant frequency and those near it. This is the
principle behind tuning in a radio station or TV channel.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 21

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Fig 7

4.6 Oscillators

Objectives: – To understand the basic operation of an Oscillator • the working of low frequency
oscillators – RC phase shift oscillator – Wien bridge Oscillator • the working of tuned oscillator
– Colpitt’s Oscillator, Hartley Oscillator – Crystal Oscillator • the working of UJT Oscillator

Basic operation of an Oscillator

An amplifier with positive feedback results in oscillations if the following
Following conditions are satisfied: –
The loop gain (product of the gain of the amplifier and the gain of the feedback network) is unity
– The total phase shift in the loop is 0 degree • If the output signal is sinusoidal, such a circuit is
referred to as sinusoidal oscillator. When the switch at the amplifier input is open, there are no
oscillations. Imagine that a voltage Vi is fed to the circuit and the switch is closed.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 22

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

When the switch at the amplifier input is open, there are no oscillations. Imagine that a voltage
Vi is fed to the circuit and the switch is closed. This results in and is
fed back to the circuit. If we make Vf = V then even if we remove the input voltage to the circuit,
the output continues to exist.

Then from the above equation, it is clear that,

Loop gain. Positive feedback refers to the fact that the fed back
signal is in phas
while traveling in the loop. The above condition along with the unity loop gain needs to be
satisfied to get the sustained oscillations. These conditions are referred to as Barkhausen
criterion. Another way of seeing how the feedback circuit provides operation as an oscillator is
obtained by noting the denominator in the basic equation Af = A / (1+ A). When A = -1 or
magnitude 1 at a phase angle of 180 , the denominator becomes 0 and the gain with feedback Af
becomes infinite. Thus, an infinitesimal signal ( noise voltage) can provide a measurable output
voltage, and the circuit acts as an oscillator even without an input signal.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 23

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

4.7 Phase shift oscillator

The phase shift oscillator utilizes three RC circuits to provide 180º phase shift that when
coupled with the 180º of the op-amp itself provides the necessary feedback to sustain
oscillations. • The gain must be at least 29 to maintain the oscillations. The frequency of
resonance for this type is similar to any RC circuit oscillator:

4.8 FET Phase Shift oscillator

The amplifier stage is self biased with a capacitor bypassed source resistor Rs and a drain bias
resistor Rd . The FET device parameters of interest are gm and rd. •

At the operating frequency, we can assume that the input impedance of the amplifier is
infinite. • This is a valid approximation provided the oscillator operating frequency is low
enough so that FET capacitive impedances can be neglected. • The output impedance of the
amplifier stage given by R should also be small compared to the impedance seen looking into the
feedback network so that no attenuation due to loading occurs.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 24

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

If a transistor is used as the active element of the amplifier stage, the output of the
feedback network is loaded appreciably by the relatively low input resistance ( h ie) of the
transistor. • An emitter – follower input stage followed by a common emitter amplifier stage
could be used. If a single transistor stage is desired, the use of voltage – shunt feedback is more
suitable. Here, the feedback signal is coupled through the feedback resistor R‟ in series with the
amplifier stage input resistance (Ri)

4.9 Wien bridge oscillator

A Wien bridge oscillator is a type of electronic oscillator that generates sine waves. It can
generate a large range of frequencies. The circuit is based on an electrical network originally
developed by Max Wien in 1891. The bridge comprises four resistors and two capacitors. It can
also be viewed as a positive feedback system combined with a band pass filter. Wien did not
have a means of developing electronic gain so a workable oscillator could not be realized.
The modern circuit is derived from William Hewlett's 1939 Stanford University master's
degree thesis. Hewlett, along with David Packard co-founded Hewlett-Packard. Their first
product was the HP 200A, a precision sine wave oscillator based on the Wien bridge. The 200A
was one of the first instruments to produce such low distortion. The frequency of oscillation is
given by:

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 25

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

Analysis

Input admittance analysis If a voltage source is applied directly to the input of an ideal amplifier
with feedback, the input current will be

Where vin is the input voltage, vout is the output voltage, and Zf is the feedback impedance. If
the voltage gain of the amplifier is defined as:

And the input admittance is defined as:

Input admittance can be rewritten as:

For the Wienbridge, Zf is given by:

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 26

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

If Av is greater than 1, the input admittance is a negative resistance in parallel with an

inductance. The inductance is:

If a capacitor with the same value of C is placed in parallel with the input, the circuit has a
natural resonance at:

Substituting and solving for inductance yields:

If Av is chosen to be 3:
Lin = R2C
Substituting this value yields:

Or

Similarly, the input resistance at the frequency above is:

For Av = 3
Rin = − R

If a resistor is placed in parallel with the amplifier input, it will cancel some of the
negative resistance. If the net resistance is negative, amplitude will grow until clipping occurs.
Similarly, if the net resistance is positive, oscillation amplitude will decay. If a resistance is
added in parallel with exactly the value of R, the net resistance will be infinite and the circuit can
sustain stable oscillation at any amplitude allowed by the amplifier.
Notice that increasing the gain makes the net resistance more negative, which increases
amplitude. If gain is reduced to exactly 3 when the suitable amplitude is reached, stable, low
distortion oscillations will result. Amplitude stabilization circuits typically increase gain until the
suitable output amplitude is reached. As long as R, C, and the amplifier are linear, distortion will
be minimal.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 27

ANALOG ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS 18EE34

4.10 Crystal oscillator

A crystal oscillator is an electronic circuit that uses the mechanical resonance of a
vibrating crystal of piezoelectric material to create an electrical signal with a very precise
frequency. This frequency is commonly used to keep track of time (as in quartz wristwatches), to
provide a stable clock signal for digital integrated circuits, and to stabilize frequencies for radio
transmitters and receivers. The most common type of piezoelectric resonator used is the quartz
crystal, so oscillator circuits designed around them were called "crystal oscillators".
Quartz crystals are manufactured for frequencies from a few tens of kilohertz to tens of
megahertz. More than two billion (2×109) crystals are manufactured annually. Most are small
devices for consumer devices such as wristwatches, clocks, radios, computers, and cellphones.
Quartz crystals are also found inside test and measurement equipment, such as counters, signal
generators, and oscilloscopes
A quartz crystal can be modeled as an electrical network with a low impedance (series)
and a high impedance (parallel) resonance point spaced closely together. Mathematically (using
the Laplace transform) the impedance of this network can be written as:

Or

Where s is the complex frequency (s = jω), ωs is the series resonant frequency in radians per second
and ωp is the parallel resonant frequency in radians per second.

Outcomes
At the end of the Unit, student will be able to

 Design, analyze and test transistor circuitry as amplifiers and oscillator.

DEPT OF EEE, ATMECE, MYSURU Page 28