UNIT-I PN JUNCTION DEVICES

Part-A
1. What is diffusion current? (Nov/Dec 2013)
In a semiconductor it is possible to have a non-uniform distribution of carriers. A
concentration gradient exists if the number of either holes and electrons is greater in
one region as compared to the rest of the region. The holes and electrons then tend to
move from a region of higher concentration to lower concentration region.
This process is known as diffusion and the electric current produced due this process is
known as diffusion current.
2. What is a PN junction diode? (Nov/Dec 2013)
A PN junction diode is a two terminal device consisting of a PN junction formed either
of Germanium or Silicon crystal. A PN junction is formed by diffusing P type material
to one half side and N type material to other half side.
3. Explain the terms knee voltage and breakdown voltage? (Nov 2010)
Knee voltage: The forward voltage at which the current through the PN junction starts
increasing rapidly is known as knee voltage. It is also called as cut-in voltage or
threshold voltage or Breakdown voltage: It is the reverse voltage of a PN junction
diode at which the junction breaks down with sudden rise in the reverse current.
4. Define and explain peak inverse voltage ( PIV) (Nov 2010)
Peak inverse voltage is the maximum reverse voltage that can be applied to the PN
junction without damage to the junction. If the reverse voltage across the junction exceeds
to its peak inverse voltage, the junction may be destroyed due to excessive heat.
5. Define the term diffusion capacitance or storage capacitance.
(Apr/May 2015)
The diffusion capacitance effect is found when the diode is forward biased and it is
defined as the rate of change of injected charge with voltage and given by
=
VT

I = diode current, VT = volt equivalent temperature. VT = T /11,600

= constant = 1 for Ge diodes 2 for silicon diodes =
mean life time
6. Define the term transition capacitance (Nov/Dec 2015)
When P-N junction is reverse biased the depletion region act as an insulator or as a
dielectric medium and the p-type an N-type region have low resistance and act as the
plates. Thus this P-N junction can be considered as a parallel plate capacitor. This
junction capacitance is called as space charge capacitance or transition capacitance and
is denoted as CT.
=

Where dQ is the increase in charge and dV is the change or increase in voltage. The
depletion region increases with the increase in reverse bias potential the resulting
transition capacitance decreases. The formula for transition capacitance is given as CT =
Aε/W, where A is the cross sectional area of the region, and W is the width.
 7. Define Static resistance and Dynamic resistance? (May 2013)
The resistance offered by the diode to DC operating conditions is called “Static
resistance” and the resistance offered by the diode to AC operating conditions is called
“Dynamic resistance”.
8. List the applications of PN junction diode (april/may 2012):
1. Used as rectifier in DC power supplies.
2. Used as signal diodes in communication circuits.
3. Used in clipper and clamper circuits.
9. What is a rectifier and list its types? (Apr/May2015, Nov/Dec 2014,
Nov/Dec 2013)
Rectifier is a circuit which converts a.c. to d.c. signal.
Half-wave rectifier: It is the simplest type of rectifier, which is made with just one
diode.
Full-wave rectifier: This rectifier is essentially made of two half-wave rectifiers, and
can be made with two diodes and an earthed centre tap on the transformer. The centre
tap allows the circuit to be completed because current cannot flow through the other
diode.
Bridge rectifier: A bridge rectifier makes use of four diodes in a bridge arrangement
to achieve full-wave rectification.
10. What is an LED? Draw its symbol. (May 2013)
LED is a Light emitting diode which emits light when it is forward biased.

11. State few applications of zener diode(Nov/Dec 2016)

 As voltage regulators
 As peak clippers or voltage limiters
 For wave shaping
 As fixed reference voltage for calibration purposes

12. Mention some of the applications of laser diode(May 2017)

Laser diodes find wide use in telecommunication as easily modulated and easily
coupled light sources for fiber optics communication. They are used in various
measuring instruments, such as rangefinders. High-power laser diodes are used in
industrial applications such as heat treating, cladding, seam welding and for pumping
other lasers
13. Differntiate between zener breakdown and avalanche breakdown (May 2017)
Zener breakdown Avalanche breakdown
Breakdown occurs due to heavily doped Breakdown occurs due to avalanche
junction and applied strong electric field multiplication between thermally
generated ions
Doping level is high Doping level is low
Breakdown occurs at lower voltage Breakdown occurs at higher voltage
compared to avalanche breakdown

Part – B

V-I Characteristic for Forward Bias

When a forward-bias voltage is applied across a diode, there is current. This current is
called the forward current and is designated IF. The resistor is used to limit the
forward current to a value that will not overheat the diode and cause damage. With 0 V
across the diode, there is no forward current. As you gradually increase the forward-
bias voltage, the forward current and the voltage across the diode gradually increase, a
portion of the forward-bias voltage is dropped across the limiting resistor. When the
forward-bias voltage is increased to a value where the voltage across the diode reaches
approximately 0.7 V (barrier potential), the forward current begins to increase rapidly,
As you continue to increase the forward-bias voltage, the current continues to increase
very rapidly, but the voltage across the diode increases only gradually above 0.7 V.
This small increase in the diode voltage above the barrier potential is due to the voltage
drop across the internal dynamic resistance of the semiconductive material.
Graphing the V-I CurveIf you plot the results of the type of measurements show you
get the V-I characteristic curve for a forward-biased diode, The diode forward voltage
(VF) increases to the right along the horizontal axis, and the forward current (IF)
increases upward along the vertical axis.
Dynamic ResistanceUnlike a linear resistance, the resistance of the forward-biased
diode is not constant over the entire curve. Because the resistance changes as you
move along the V-I curve, it is called dynamic or ac resistance. Internal resistances of
electronic devices are usually designated by lowercase italic r with a prime, instead of
the standard R. Below the knee of the curve the resistance is greatest because the
current increases very little for a given change in voltage The resistance begins to
decrease in the region of the knee of the curve and becomes smallest above the knee
where there is a large change in current for a given change in voltage.
V-I Characteristic for Reverse Bias

When a reverse-bias voltage is applied across a diode, there is only an extremely

small reverse current (IR) through the pn junction. With 0 V across the diode, there is
no reverse current. As you gradually increase the reverse-bias voltage, there is a very
small reverse current and the voltage across the diode increases. When the applied
bias voltage is increased to a value where the reverse voltage across the diode (VR)
reaches the breakdown value (VBR), the reverse current begins to increase rapidly.
As you continue to increase the bias voltage, the current continues to increase very
rapidly, but the voltage across the diode increases very little above VBR.
Breakdown, with exceptions, is not a normal mode of operation for most pn junction
devices.
Graphing the V-I CurveIf you plot the results of reverse-bias measurements on a
graph, you get the V-I characteristic curve for a reverse-biased diode. The diode
reverse voltage (VR) increases to the left along the horizontal axis, and the reverse
current (IR) increases downward along the vertical axis.
There is very little reverse current until the reverse voltage across diode reaches
approximately the breakdown value (VBR) at the knee of the curve. After this point, the
reverse voltage remains at approximately VBR, but IR increases very rapidly, resulting
in overheating and possible damage if current is not limited to a safe level. The
breakdown voltage for a diode depends on the doping level.
2. Explain the construction and working of Zener diode with a neat
sketch. ( Apr/May 2014)
The Zener diode is like a general-purpose signal diode consisting of a silicon PN
junction. When biased in the forward direction it behaves just like a normal signal
diode passing the rated current, but when a reverse voltage is applied to it the
reverse saturation current remains fairly constant over a wide range of voltages. The
reverse voltage increases until the diodes breakdown voltage VB is reached at which
point a process called Avalanche Breakdown occurs in the depletion layer and the
current flowing through the zener diode increases dramatically to the maximum
circuit value (which is usually limited by a series resistor). This breakdown voltage
point is called the "zener voltage" for zener diodes. The point at which current flows
can be very accurately controlled (to less than 1% tolerance) in the doping stage of
the diodes construction giving the diode a specific zener breakdown voltage, (Vz)
ranging from a few volts up to a few hundred volts.
Zener Diode I-V Characteristics
The Zener Diode is used in its "reverse bias" or reverse breakdown mode, i.e. the
diodes anode connects to the negative supply. From the I-V characteristics curve above,
we can
see that the zener diode has a region in its reverse bias characteristics of almost a
constant negative voltage regardless of the value of the current flowing through the
diode and remains nearly constant even with large changes in current as long as the
zener diodes current remains between the breakdown current I Z(min) and the maximum
current rating IZ(max). This ability to control itself can be used to great effect to
regulate or stabilize a voltage source against supply or load variations. The fact that the
voltage across the diode in the breakdown region is almost constant turns out to be an
important application of the zener diode as a voltage regulator. The function of a
regulator is to provide a constant output voltage to a load connected in parallel with it
in spite of the ripples in the supply voltage or the variation in the load current and the
zener diode will continue to regulate the voltage until the diodes current falls below the
minimum IZ(min) value in the reverse breakdown region.
3. Explain the working of centre tapped full wave rectifier(with and without
filter) with neat diagrams and derive the necessary equations. (Apr/May 2015
,Nov/Dec 2013)
Working of Centre-Tap Full Wave Rectifier
As shown in the figure, an ac input is applied to the primary coils of the transformer.
This input makes the secondary ends P1 and P2 become positive and negative
alternately. For the positive half of the ac signal, the secondary point D1 is positive,
GND point will have zero volt and P2 will be negative. At this instant diode D1 will be
forward biased and diode D2 will be reverse biased. As explained in the Theory
Behind P-N Junction and Characteristics of P-N Junction Diode, the diode D1 will
conduct and D2 will not conduct during during the positive half cycle. Thus the current
flow will be in the direction P1-D1-C-A-B-GND. Thus, the positive half cycle appears
across the load resistance RLOAD. During the negative half cycle, the secondary ends P1
becomes negative and P2 becomes positive. At this instant, the diode D1 will be
negative and D2 will be positive with the zero reference point being the ground, GND.
Thus, the diode D2 will be forward biased and D1 will be reverse biased. The diode
D2 will conduct and D1 will not conduct during the negative half cycle. The current
flow will be in the direction P2-D2-C-A-B-GND.

i) Peak Current
The instantaneous value of the voltage applied to the rectifier can be written as Vs =
Vsm Sinωt
Assuming that the diode has a forward resistance of RFWD ohms and a reverse
resistance equal to infinity, the current flowing through the load resistance RLOAD is
given as
Im = Vsm/ (RF + RLoad)

ii) Output Current

Since the current is the same through the load resistance RL in the two halves of the ac
cycle, magnitude od dc current Idc, which is equal to the average value of ac current,
can be obtained by integrating the current i1 between 0 and pi or current i2 between π
and 2π.
 4. Discuss about Zener shunt regulator and explain the principle and
operation of Laser diode with neat diagram.(May 2013, May 2017)
Zener Diodes can be used to produce a stabilized voltage output with low ripple under
varying load current conditions. By passing a small current through the diode from a
voltage source, via a suitable current limiting resistor (RS), the zener diode will conduct
sufficient current to maintain a voltage drop of V out. We remember from the previous
tutorials that the DC output voltage from the half or full-wave rectifiers contains ripple
superimposed onto the DC voltage and that as the load value changes so to does the
average output voltage. By connecting a simple zener stabilizer circuit as shown below
across the output of the rectifier, a more stable output voltage can be produced.

Where VBE=0.7 V
Therefore, VO= constant.

7
The emitter current is same as load current. The current IR is assumed to be constant
for a given supply voltage. Therefore, if IL increases, it needs more base currents, to
increase base current Iz decreases. The difference in this regulator with zener regulator
is that in later case the zener current decreases (increase) by same amount by which the
load current increases (decreases). Thus the current range is less, while in the shunt
regulators, if IL increases by ΔIL then IB should increase by ΔIL / β or IZ should decrease
by ΔIL / β. Therefore the current range control is more for the same rating zener.In a
power supply the power regulation is basically, because of its high internal impedance.
In the circuit discussed, the unregulated supply has resistance RS of the order of 100
ohm. The use of emitter follower is to reduce the output resistance and it becomes
approximately.
R h 0
R1 fe
z ie

Where RZ represents the dynamic zener resistance. The voltage stabilization ratio SV is
approximately
SV V0 Rz
Vi Rz Ri

SV can be improved by increasing R. This increases VCE and power dissipated in the
transistor. Other disadvantages of the circuit are.
1. No provision for varying the output voltage since it is almost equal to the zener
voltage.
2. Change in VBE and Vz due to temperature variations appear at the output since
the transistor is connected in series with load, it is called series regulator and
transistor is allow series pass transistor.
PN-junction Laser: A semiconductor laser is a specially fabricated pn junction device
(both the p and n regions are highly doped) which emits coherent light when it is
forward biased. It is made from Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) which operated at low
temperature and emits light in near IR region. Now the semiconductor lasers are also
made to emit light almost in the spectrum from UV to IR using different
semiconductor materials. They are of very small size (0.1 mm long), efficient, portable
andoperate at low power. These are widely used in Optical fibre communications, in
CD players, CD-ROM Drives, optical reading, laserprinting,etc.P and N regions are
made from same semiconductor material (GaAs). A p type region is formed on the n
type by doping zinc atoms. The diode chip is about 500 micrometer long and 100
micrometer wide and thick. The top and bottom face has metal contacts to pass the
current. the front and rare faces are polished to constitute the resonator .

When high doped p and n regions are joined at the atomic level to form pn-junction, the
equilibrium is attained only when the equalization of Fermi level takes place in this case
8
the Fermi level is pushed inside the conduction band in n type and the level pushed
inside the valence band in the p type.

When the junction is forward biased, at low voltage the electron and hole recombine and
cause spontaneous emission. But when the forward voltage reaches a threshold value the
carrier concentration rises to very high value. As a result the region "d" contains large
number of electrons in the conduction band and at the same time large number of holes in
the valence band. Thus the upper energy level has large number of electrons and the lower
energy level has large number of vacancy, thus population inversion is achieved. The
recombination of electron and hole leads to spontaneous emission and it stimulate the
others to emit radiation. Ga As produces laser light of 9000 Å in IR region.

9
5.Explain the working of bridge rectifier. Give the expressions for RMS current,
PIV, Ripple factor and efficiency. (Nov/Dec 2014, May 2017)

Full Wave Bridge Rectifier uses four individual rectifying diodes connected in a
closed loop “bridge” configuration to produce the desired output. The main advantage
of this bridge circuit is that it does not require a special centre tapped transformer,
thereby reducing its size and cost. The single secondary winding is connected to one
side of the diode bridge network and the load to the other side as shown below.

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but
diodes D1 and D2 switch “OFF” as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing
through the load is the same direction as before.
The Negative Half-cycle

10
As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed
across the load is also unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave
rectifier, therefore the average DC voltage across the load is 0.637Vmax.However in
reality, during each half cycle the current flows through two diodes instead of just one
so the amplitude of the output voltage is two voltage drops ( 2 x 0.7 = 1.4V ) less than
the input VMAX amplitude. The ripple frequency is now twice the supply frequency
(e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz supply or 120Hz for a 60Hz supply.)Although we can use four
individual power diodes to make a full wave bridge rectifier, pre-made bridge rectifier
components are available “off-the-shelf” in a range of different voltage and current
sizes that can be soldered directly into a PCB circuit board or be connected by spade
connectors.The image to the right shows a typical single phase bridge rectifier with
one corner cut off. This cut-off corner indicates that the terminal nearest to the corner
is the positive or +ve output terminal or lead with the opposite (diagonal) lead being
the negative or -ve output lead. The other two connecting leads are for the input
alternating voltage from a transformer secondary winding.
Ripple factor:
Ripple factor for bridge rectifier is 0.482
UNIT II- TRANSISTORS
Part-A
1. What is meant by biasing a transistor? (Nov/Dec 2014) Transistor biasing is the
process of maintaining proper flow of zero signal collector current and collector-
emitter voltage during the passage of signal. Biasing keeps emitter-base junction
forward biased and collector-base junction reverse biased during the passage of
signal.

2. Define Base width modulation (Early effect) (apr/May 2010)

In a CB configuration, an increase in collector voltage increases the width of the
depletion region at the output junction diode. This will decrease the effective width of
the base. This is known as early effect. Due to this effect recombination rate reduces at
the base region and charge gradient is increased within the base.
3. What is thermal runaway? (Nov/Dec 2011)
The reverse saturation current in a semiconductor doubles for every 100 C rise in
temperature I as temperature increases the leakage current increases I and the collector
current also increases. The increase in collector produces an increase in power

11
 dissipation at the collector - base junction. This I in turn further increase the
temperature of the collector-base junction causing the collector current to further
increase. This process may become cumulative and it is possible for the transistor to
burn out. This process is known as Thermal runaway.
4. What is intrinsic stand off ratio of a UJT?
The ratio of voltage between emitter and base 1 to VBB is called as intrinsic
stand of ratio.The value lies between 0.51 to 0.82.

5. Define alpha and beta of a transistor. (Nov 2013,May 2017)

Alpha (a) is the current gain of a common base transistor.
It can be defined as the ratio of change in collector current to the change in the emitter
current at constant collector-base voltage VCB ∆
= at constant VCB
∆

Beta ( ) is the current gain of a common emitter transistor. It can be defined as the

Parameters CB CE CC
Current gain (Ai) Low High High
Voltage gain (Vi) High High Low
Input resistance (Ri) Low Medium High
Output resistance (Ro) High Medium Low

Less noise Costlier Gain is less

Noise is more Cheaper
Voltage controlled device
Gain is more

Current controlled device

8. Mention the advantages of FET over BJT? (Nov/Dec 2013)

i) The noise level is very low in FET since there are no junctions.
ii) FET has very high power gain iii)Offers perfect isolation between input and
output since it has very high input impedence.
iv) FET is a negative temperature coefficient device hence avoids thermal runaway.
12
9. Define transconductance of JFET. (Nov/Dec 2014)
Transconductance (gm) is defined as the ratio of small change in drain current ( Id) to
the corresponding change to gate source ( Vgs) at constant drain to source voltage
(Vds).

10. Define Early effect(Nov/Dec 2016)

A variation of the base collector voltage results in a variation of the quasineutral
width in the base. The gradient of the minoritycarrier density in the base
therefore changes, yielding an increased collector current as the collectorbase
current is increased. This effect is referred to as the Early effect

Part - B
1. Explain the input and output characteristics of a CE transistor configuration. List
out the comparisons between CE, CB and CC configurations.(Nov/Dec 2013). Input
Characteristic: The curve between IB and VBE for different values of VCE are shown in
figure. Since the base emitter junction of a transistor is a diode, therefore the
characteristic is similar to diode one. With higher values of VCE collector gathers slightly
more electrons and therefore base current reduces. Normally this effect is neglected.
(Early effect). When collector is shorted with emitter then the input characteristic is the
characteristic of a forward biased diode when VBE is zero and IB is also zero.

Output Characteristic: The output characteristic is the curve between V CE and IC for
various values of IB. For fixed value of IB and is shown in figure. For fixed value of IB,
IC is not varying much dependent on VCE but slopes are greater than CE characteristic.
The output characteristics can again be divided into three parts.
 dc
dc
1dc
IC (1dc )I COdc I B
I I
C C 0
dcI I
BCO

If adc is truly constant then IC would be independent of VCE. But because of early effect,
αdc increases by 0.1% (0.001) e.g. from 0.995 to 0.996 as V CE increases from a few
volts to 10V. Then βdc increases from 0.995 / (1-0.995) = 200 to 0.996 / (1-0.996)
= 250 or about 25%. This shows that small change in a reflects large change in b.
Therefore the curves are subjected to large variations for the same type of transistors.
(2) Cut Off:
Cut off in a transistor is given by IB = 0, IC= ICO. A transistor is not at cut off if the base
current is simply reduced to zero (open circuited) under this condition,
IC = IE= ICO / ( 1-αdc) = ICEO
The actual collector current with base open is designated as I CEO. Since even in the
neighborhood of cut off, a dc may be as large as 0.9 for Ge, then IC=10
ICO(approximately), at zero base current. Accordingly in order to cut off transistor it is
not enough to reduce IB to zero, but it is necessary to reverse bias the emitter junction
slightly. It is found that reverse voltage of 0.1 V is sufficient for cut off a transistor. In
Si, the α dc is very nearly equal to zero, therefore, I C = ICO. Hence even with IB= 0, IC=
IE= ICO so that transistor is very close to cut off. In summary, cut off means I E = 0, IC =
ICO, IB = -IC = -ICO , and VBE is a reverse voltage whose magnitude is of the order of
0.1 V for Ge and 0 V for Si.
(3).Saturation Region:
In this region both the diodes are forward biased by at least cut in voltage. Since the
voltage VBE and VBC across a forward is approximately 0.7 V therefore, VCE = VCB+
VBE = - VBC + VBE is also few tenths of volts. Hence saturation region is very close to
zero voltage axis, where all the current rapidly reduces to zero. In this region the
transistor collector current is approximately given by VCC / R C and independent of
base current. Normal transistor action is last and it acts like a small ohmic resistance.
Comparison of CE, CB and CC configurations:
Parameters CB CE CC
Current gain (Ai) Low High High
Voltage gain (Vi) High High Low
Input resistance (Ri) Low Medium High
Output resistance (Ro) High Medium Low

Figure shows the construction of an N-channel E-MOSFET. The main difference

between the construction of DE-MOSFET and that of E-MOSFET, as we see from the
figures given below the E-MOSFET substrate extends all the way to the silicon
dioxide (SiO2) and no channels are doped between the source and the drain. Channels
are electrically induced in these MOSFETs, when a positive gate-source voltage VGS is
applied to it.

15
Operation of EMOSFET:

As its name indicates, this MOSFET operates only in the enhancement mode and has
no depletion mode. It operates with large positive gate voltage only. It does not
=
conduct when the gate-source voltage VGS 0. This is the reason that it is called
normally-off MOSFET. In these MOSFET’s drain current ID flows only when VGS
exceeds VGST [gate-to-source threshold voltage].
When drain is applied with positive voltage with respect to source and no potential is
applied to the gate two N-regions and one P-substrate from two P-N junctions connected
back to back with a resistance of the P-substrate. So a very small drain current that is,
reverses leakage current flows. If the P-type substrate is now connected to the source
-
terminal, there is zero voltage across the source substrate junction, and the drain-substrate
junction remains reverse biased. When the gate is made positive with respect to the source
and the substrate, negative (i.e. minority) charge carriers within the substrate are attracted
to the positive gate and accumulate close to the-surface of the substrate. As the gate
voltage is increased, more and more electrons accumulate under the gate. Since these
electrons cannot flow across the insulated layer of silicon dioxide to the gate, so they
accumulate at the surface of the substrate just below the gate. These accumulated minority
charge carriers N -type channel stretching from drain to source. When this occurs, a
channel is induced by forming what is termed an inversion layer (N-type). Now a drain
current starts flowing. The strength of the drain current depends upon the channel
resistance which, in turn, depends upon the number of charge carriers attracted to the
positive gate. Thus drain current is controlled by the gate potential. Since the conductivity
of the channel is enhanced by the positive bias on the gate so this device is also called the
enhancement MOSFET or E- MOSFET.The minimum value of gate-to-source voltage V GS
that is required to form the inversion layer
16
(N-type) is termed the gate-to-source threshold voltage VGST. For VGS below VGST, the
drain current ID = 0. But for VGS exceeding VGST an N-type inversion layer connects the
source to drain and the drain current ID is large. Depending upon the device being
used, VGST may vary from less than 1 V to more than 5 V.JFETs and DE-MOSFETs are
classified as the depletion-mode devices because their conductivity depends on the
action of depletion layers. E-MOSFET is classified as an enhancement-mode device
because its conductivity depends on the action of the inversion layer. Depletion-mode
devices are normally ON when the gate-source voltage V GS = 0, whereas the
enhancement-mode devices are normally OFF when VGS = 0.
Characteristics of EMOSFET:

Drain characteristics of an N-channel E-MOSFET are shown in figure. The lowest

curve is the VGST curve. When VGS is lesser than VGST, ID is approximately zero. When
VGS is greater than VGST, the device turns- on and the drain current ID is controlled by
the gate voltage. The characteristic curves have almost vertical and almost horizontal
parts. The almost vertical components of the curves correspond to the ohmic region,
and the horizontal components correspond to the constant current region. Thus E-
MOSFET can be operated in either of these regions i.e. it can be used as a variable-
voltage resistor (WR) or as a constant current source.

Figure shows a typical transconductance curve. The current IDSS at VGS <=0 is very
small, being of the order of a few nano-amperes. When the V GS is made positive, the drain
current ID increases slowly at first, and then much more rapidly with an increase in V GS.
The manufacturer sometimes indicates the gate-source threshold voltage V GST at which the
drain current ID attains some defined small value, say 10 u A. A current I D (0N,
corresponding approximately to the maximum value given on the drain characteristics and
the values of VGS required to give this current VGs QN are also usually given on the
manufacturers data sheet. The equation for the transfer characteristic does not obey
equation. However it does follow a similar “square law type” of relationship. The
equation for the transfer characteristic of E-MOSFETs is given as:
2
ID=K(VGS-VGST)

17
3. Explain the construction and operation of NPN transistor with neat sketch.
Also comment on the characteristics of NPN transistor.
(Nov/Dec 2014)
The NPN Transistor
In the previous tutorial we saw that the standard Bipolar Transistor or BJT, comes in two
basic forms. An NPN (Negative-Positive-Negative) type and a PNP (Positive-Negative-
Positive) type, with the most commonly used transistor type being the NPN Transistor. We
also learnt that the junctions of the bipolar transistor can be biased in one of three different
ways – Common Base, Common Emitter and Common Collector.
In this tutorial about bipolar transistors we will look more closely at the “Common
Emitter” configuration using the Bipolar NPN Transistor with an example of the
construction of a NPN transistor along with the transistors current flow characteristics
is given below.
A Bipolar NPN Transistor Configuration

(Note: Arrow defines the emitter and conventional current flow, “out” for a Bipolar
NPN Transistor.)

The construction and terminal voltages for a Bipolar NPN Transistor are shown above.
The voltage between the Base and Emitter ( VBE ), is positive at the Base and negative
at the Emitter because for an NPN transistor, the Base terminal is always positive with
respect to the Emitter. Also the Collector supply voltage is positive with respect to the
Emitter ( VCE ). So for a bipolar NPN transistor to conduct the Collector is always
more positive with respect to both the Base and the Emitter.

NPN Transistor Connection

Then the voltage sources are connected to an NPN transistor as shown. The Collector is
connected to the supply voltage VCC via the load resistor, RL which also acts to limit the

22
maximum current flowing through the device. The Base supply voltage V B is connected to
the Base resistor RB, which again is used to limit the maximum Base current.
So in a NPN Transistor it is the movement of negative current carriers (electrons)
through the Base region that constitutes transistor action, since these mobile electrons
provide the link between the Collector and Emitter circuits. This link between the
input and output circuits is the main feature of transistor action because the transistors
amplifying properties come from the consequent control which the Base exerts upon
the Collector to Emitter current.
Then we can see that the transistor is a current operated device (Beta model) and that a
large current ( Ic ) flows freely through the device between the collector and the emitter
terminals when the transistor is switched “fully-ON”. However, this only happens when a
small biasing current ( Ib ) is flowing into the base terminal of the transistor at the same
time thus allowing the Base to act as a sort of current control input.
The transistor current in a bipolar NPN transistor is the ratio of these two currents
( Ic/Ib ), called the DC Current Gain of the device and is given the symbol of hfe or
nowadays Beta, ( β ). The value of β can be large up to 200 for standard transistors,
and it is this large ratio between Ic and Ib that makes the bipolar NPN transistor a
useful amplifying device when used in its active region as Ibprovides the input and Ic
provides the output. Note that Beta has no units as it is a ratio.
Also, the current gain of the transistor from the Collector terminal to the Emitter terminal,
Ic/Ie, is called Alpha, ( α ), and is a function of the transistor itself (electrons diffusing
across the junction). As the emitter current Ie is the sum of a very small base current plus
a very large collector current, the value of alpha α, is very close to unity, and for a typical
low-power signal transistor this value ranges from about 0.950 to 0.999

UNIT – III AMPLIFIERS

Part– A
1. Draw the hybrid model of CE amplifier. (Apr/May 2015,Nov/Dec 2016)

+
+

==

2. What is meant by hybrid parameters? ( Nov/Dec 2014)

The parameters which has a combination of units are called hybrid parameters. The
hybrid parameters are input impedance, output impedance, current gain and voltage
gain.

23
 3. Draw the Eber moll model of a transistor. (Nov/Dec 2014)

4. Write short note on effects of coupling capacitor. (Nov/Dec 2010)

The coupling capacitor transmits a.c. signal but blocks d.c. This prevents d.c.
interference between various stages and the shifting of operating point. It prevents the
loading effect between adjacent stages.

5. Define upper and lower cut off frequencies of an amplifier. (Apr/May 2014)
The frequency at which the voltage gain of the amplifier is exactly 70.7% of the

10. State the reason for choosing 3 db point to determine the bandwidth. (Apr/May
2014)
The reason for choosing 3 db point to determine the bandwidth is that,
above this level, larger the frequency variation (i.e. output delivers the constant output
below this level even for lower frequency variation), the gain variation is large i.e. the
output is not constant. Thus 3 db point is selected as reference to find the bandwidth.

Part-B

1.Explain about CE amplifier and derive the expression for h parameters of the
same. Also derive the expression for gain, input impedance and output
impedance of CE amplifier. (Nov/Dec 2013), (Nov/Dec 2014), (Apr/May 2015) ,
(Nov/Dec 2016)
Analysis of CE amplifier:

24
In a transistor amplifier, the dc source sets up quiescent current and voltages. The ac
source then produces fluctuations in these current and voltages. The simplest way to
analyze this circuit is to split the analysis in two parts: dc analysis and ac analysis. One
can use superposition theorem for analysis.
CE Amplifier circuit diagram

AC & DC Equivalent Circuits:

For dc equivalent circuit, reduce all ac voltage sources to zero and open all ac current
sources and open all capacitors. With this reduced circuit dc current and voltages can
be calculated.

For ac equivalent circuits reduce dc voltage sources to zero and open current sources
and short all capacitors. This circuit is used to calculate ac currents and voltage.

The total current in any branch is the sum of dc and ac currents through that branch.
The total voltage across any branch is the sum of the dc voltage and ac voltage across
that branch.
Phase Inversion:
Because of the fluctuation is base current; collector current and collector voltage also
swings above and below the quiescent voltage. The ac output voltage is inverted with
o
respect to the ac input voltage, meaning it is 180 out of phase with input. During the
positive half cycle, increase in base current causing the collector current to increase.
This produces a large voltage drop across the collector resistor; therefore, the voltage
25
output decreases and negative half cycle of output voltage is obtained. Conversely, on
the negative half cycle of input voltage less collector current flows and the voltage
drop across the collector resistor decreases, and hence collector voltage increases we
get the positive half cycle of output voltage.

H-model of CE amplifier

Current gain:
For the transistor amplifier stage, Ai is defined as the ratio of output to input currents.

Input Impedance:
The impedance looking into the amplifier input terminals (1,1') is the input impedance Zi

Voltage gain:
The ratio of output voltage to input voltage gives the gain of the transistors.

26
Output Admittance:
It is defined as

In this case, overall current gain AIS is defined as

27
2.Explain about CB amplifier and derive the expression for h parameters of the
same. Also derive the expression for gain, input impedance and output impedance
of CB amplifier. (Nov/Dec 2013)
The figure shows the transistor connected in common emitter configuration and the
figure also shows the hybrid equivalent circuit of such a transistor.
In common emitter transistor configuration, the input signal is applied between the
base and emitter terminals of the transistor and output appears between the collector
and base terminals. The input voltage (Vbe) and the output current (ic) are given by the
following equations:
Vbe = hib.ib + hrb.Vc
ie = hfb.ib + hob.Vc

Hybrid expression
Expression can be obtained from the general hybrid formulas derived in this article
Hybrid Equivalent of Transistor by adding a second subscript letter ‘b’ (which stands
for commonbase) with the h-parameters and are as discussed below.
Current Gain
It is given by the relation,
Ai = -(hfb/(1 + hob.rL))
Where rL is the A.C load resistance. Its value is equal to the parallel combination of
resistance Rcand RL. Since hfb of a transistor is a positive number, therefore A i of a
common emitter amplifier is negative.
Input Resistance
The resistance looking into the amplifier input terminals (i.e. base of a transistor) is
given by the relation,
Ri = hib + hrb.Ai.rL = hib – ((hrb.hfb)/(hob + (1/rL)))
The input resistance of the amplifier stage (called stage input resistance R is) depends
upon the biasing arrangement. For a fixed bias circuit, the stage input resistance is, R is
= Ri
Voltage Gain
It is given by the relation,
Av = Ai.r1/Ri
Since the current gain (Ai) of a common base amplifier is positive, therefore the voltage
gain (Av) is also positive. It means that there is no phase difference between the input
and output signals of the common base amplifier. The voltage gain, in terms of h-
parameters, is given by the relation.
Av = hfb.rL/(hib + ∆h.rL)
Where
∆h = hib.hob – hrb.hfb

28
Output Resistance
The resistance looking into the amplifier output terminals is given by the relation,
Ro = (Rs + hib)/(Rs.hob + ∆h)
Where
Rs = Resistance of the source, and
∆h = hib.hob – hrb.hfb
The output resistance of the stage,
Ros = Ro // rL
Overall Voltage Gain
It is given by the relation,
Avs = (Av.Ris)/(Rs + Ris)
Overall Current Gain
It is given by relation,
Ais = Ai.Rs/(Rs + Ris)
3. Explain about CS amplifier(MOSFET) and derive the expression for gain,
input impedance and output impedance and also draw its small signal equivalent
circuit. (May 2013), (Nov 2014), (Apr 2015)
common-source is one of three basic single-stage (FET) amplifier topologies,
typically used as a . The easiest way to tell if a FET is common source, or common 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 common-source (CS) amplifier 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 amount of current flowing through the FET, changing the voltage across
the output resistance according to Ohm'slaw. However, the FET device's output
resistance typically is not high enough for a reasonable transconductance amplifier
(ideallyinfinite), nor low enough for a decent voltage amplifier. 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 cascade amplifier.
29
Gain without load
Note that the input voltage and the vgs voltage of the input transistor are equal. The
smallsignalcurrent of the input transistor Tin is therefore: i = gm x vgs = gm x vin. (1)

gm is the trans-conductance of Tin. (We assume here that Tin operates in saturation
and that its current depends only on its Vgs; the drain-source small-signal resistance is
infinite. Tinbehaves as a current source.) The small-signal output voltage is: Vout = - i
x R. (2)
(The “large signal” output voltage is Vout = VDD – RI.)
Note, that we here neglected the drain-source resistance of Tin. This is not a problem if
rds >>R. Note also, that we neglected all the parasitic capacitances. Combining of (1)
and (2), we obtain:

vout = - i x R = gmR x vin (3)

Gain A is defined as vout/vin:

A = - gmR. (4)
Discussion:
Voltage gain A is large if gm is large and R is large. However, if R is large, transistor
currentI should be small, otherwise DC voltage at transistor’s drain would be too low, so
that Tin isnot in saturation. Unfortunately, a small transistor-current leads to a small
gm. The use of acurrent-source instead normal resistor can solve the problem. This
will be explained later.
Output impedance
We have just calculated the gain without load of the amplifier; however, this is not
everything weneed to characterize the circuit. Knowing the gain of an amplifier is
similar to knowing theopen circuit (no load) voltage of a real voltage-source. The
information about the outputImpedance is missing. First, we will concentrate on output
resistance – Rout. We can thinkout a test circuit for the calculation of the Rout (shown
in T2). We connect a test voltage source Vtest to theoutput of the amplifier. We
“measure” the current flowing through Vtest, let us call it Itest.

The output small signal resistance is defined as:

Rout = Vtest/Itest(5)
30
It is important that we set the input signal to zero when we calculate rout. Therefore vin
= vgs= 0.In this case, the current source, assigned to Tin, does not generate current.
(Generally, Tin insaturation is modeled with a parallel connection of its current source
(icurrsc = gm x vgs) andits drain source resistance rds. Since icurrsc = 0, only the drain
source resistance remains) Test generator Vtest “sees” in this way resistance R
connected to VDD and rds of Tinconnected to GND. Because of that, for small signals
VDD = GND = 0, the two resistances areeffectively in parallel. They can by described
by an equivalent parallel resistance:

req = R||rds = R x rds / (R + rds) (6)

This is the output resistance of the amplifier. Therefore we have the following result:

Rout = R||rds = R x rds / (R + rds) (7)

Vload = -Agm x vin x (Rload / (Rload + R)) (8)

Clearly, for large R ~ 100kOhm and low-resistance load Rload~8Ohm, only a small
part of the original amplified voltage will be present at Rload. Such an amplifier
cannot be used to drive a low-resistance load in efficient way.
Output impedance
Test voltage source at the output sees not only resistances. We have a few capacitances in
the circuit as well. These capacitances are “hidden” inside the transistor Tin, they are
result of the fact that any change of the drain-bulk or drain-source voltage is followed (or
better caused) by charge flow necessary, for instance, to empty or fill certain silicon
depleted regions. These capacitances are called parasitic capacitances. The most important
parasitic capacitances of a transistor in saturation are Cgs, Cgb, Cgd, Cdb and Csb, see
T4. We assume that source and bulk of Tin are both connected to ground. (It is interesting
- but not so important - that Cgd is slightly different from Cdg. We assume their equality.)
The test voltage source sees all the drain related capacitances – Cgd and
31
Cdb connected in parallel. (Note that gate node is connected to ground in this test
circuit.)
We have now two possibilities :Either, we combine the output impedance (capacitances
Cgd and Cdb) with the output resistance into the mixed output impedance, or we treat the
output impedance as a part of load – we call it then the “intrinsic capacitive load”. We will
do the later. (Everything here is more or less approximate. Since we didn’t take the
capacitances into account when we derived the gain without load, we will not add them to
output impedance as well. However, we will take the intrinsic capacitances into account
when we calculate the input impedances.) Generally, the intrinsic capacitive load can be
neglected if 1/omega x C >> Rload, for the angular frequency of interest.
Input impedance
The input small-signal impedance can be calculated using a test generator connected to
amplifier’s input and by measuring the current that flows through this generator (T5). The
inputimpedance is then defined as the ratio between the test voltage and the current.

Let us compare this result with the result that we had if Cgd were connected between
Vtest(input node) and ground. If we changed Vtest (from 0 to Vtest), we would
measure charge:

Cgd x Vtest. (11)

If we compare last two equations, we see that, from the point of Vtest, capacitance
Cgd is effectively increased by factor (1+gmR) if we connect it between gate and
drain. This is called Miller effect. It is another disadvantage of the common source
amplifier. The input capacitance is large due to the Miller effect.
4. Explain about the high frequency response of FET and derive the
expression for lower cut off frequency and upper cut off frequency.
An amplifier is a circuit that increases/decrease the input signal value and in this
experiment the signal to be amplified is the voltage. In this experiment you are going
to investigate frequency response characteristic of a voltage amplifier circuit using the
N-channel JFET device.
Most amplifiers have relatively constant gain over a certain range of frequencies. This
range of frequencies is called the bandwidth of the amplifier. The bandwidth for a given
amplifier depends on the circuit component values, the type of active components and the
dc operating point of the active component. When an amplifier is operated within its
bandwidth, the current gain Ai , voltage gain Av , and power gain Ap values are
referred to as midband gain values. A simplified frequency-response curve that
represents the relationship between amplifier gain and operating frequency is shown in
Figure 1

As the frequency-response curve shows, the power gain of an amplifier remains

relatively constant across a band of frequencies. When the operating frequency starts
to go outside this frequency range, the gain begins to drop. Two frequencies of interest,
are the frequencies at which power gain decreases to approximately 50% of. The
frequencies labeled and are called the lower and upper cutoff frequencies of an
amplifier, respectively. These frequencies are considered to be the bandwidth limits for
the amplifier.

35
 .
Frequency response curves and specification sheets often list gain values that
are measured in decibels (dB). Positive and negative decibels of equal magnitude
represent reciprocal gains and losses. A +3dB gain caused power to double while a –
3dB gain caused power to be cut in half.
The voltage component of the equation is referred to as dB voltage gain. When the
amplifier input and out resistances are equal
Thus, when the voltage gain of an amplifier changes by –3dB, the power gain of the
amplifier also changes by –3dB.

UNIT – IV MULTISTAGE AMPLIFIERS AND DIFFERENTIAL

AMPLIFIERS
Part - A
1. What are the applications of differential amplifier? (Nov 2011)
1. In the medial electronics field
2. As a input stage in the measuring instruments
3. In analog computation
4. In linear integrated circuits
2. What is meant by CMRR of a Differential amplifier?( Nov/Dec 2014,
Nov/Dec 2016,May 2017)
The common mode rejection ratio (CMRR) serves as a figure of merit of a differential
amplifier and is defined as the ratio of the differential voltage gain (A d) to the common
mode voltage gain (Acm) . =

3. Write down the need of cascading the amplifiers. (Apr/May.Nov/Dec 2014)

Cascading means connecting the output of one amplifier to the input of another to
form a multistage amplifier. The overall gain of cascaded amplifiers depends on that
of each stage and the total number of stages. The purpose of cascading amplifiers is to
reach the desired signal power with a minimum amount of distortion, by providing
equal overall gain characteristics to all frequencies in the signal.
4. What are cascaded amplifiers? (Nov/dec 2011)
A multistage amplifier using two or more single stage common emitter amplifier is
called as cascaded amplifiers.

5. Draw the ideal tank circuit and write the expression for its resonant
frequency (Nov/dec 2011)
Fr=1/(2πRC)
6. What are the advantages of tuned amplifiers? (Apr/May 2010)
They amplify defined frequencies.
Signal to noise ratio at output is good
They are suited for radio transmitters and receivers

7. Explain why power amplifier is also known as large signal amplifier.

(Apr/May 2014)
Since the output obtained from the power amplifier is very large, it is known as large
signal amplifier.

36
8. What are the advantages of push pull amplifier? (Nov/Dec 2014)
The harmonic distortions are removed.
The efficiency is increased.
9. What is cross over distortion? How it can be eliminated? (Apr/May 2011)
There is a 0.7V delay in between every half cycle. Due to this the sine wave will not
be a continues wave. This is called cross over distortion. It can be eliminated by class
AB amplifier.
10. What is neutralization? (Apr/May 2010)
The effect of collector to base capacitance of the transistor is neutralized by
introducing a signal that cancels the signal coupled through collector base capacitance.
This process is called neutralization.
11. Define conversion efficiency of power amplifier (Nov/Dec 2016)
It is a measure of the ability of an active device to convert the dc power of the supply
into an ac power delivered to the load

The emitter-coupled differential pair is a very important circuit that is used many bipolar
analog integrate circuits.The circuit is shown in the figure and the two transistors are
assumed identical. The current source IEE is typically implemented as a current source
circuit (eg. Current mirror, wilson current source).The input voltages V i1 and Vi2 can be
considered to be composed of a differential signal Vid and a common mode signal Vicm
defined below: v v v
id i1 i 2

v
icm 1/ 2(vi1 vi 2 )
Differential output voltage is defined as
vod vo1 vo 2 ,

since v V R i ,v V Ri
o1 CC C C1 o 2 CC2
CC

so vod RC (iC 2 iC1 )

Derive the expression for differential gain, common mode gain, CMRR, input
impedance and output impedance.
37
First, consider the two input signal vi1 and vi2 are equal. Then the differential input
voltage Vid is 0 and we have a pure common-mode input signal.In this case, the current
IEE splits equally between the Q1 and Q2, therefore V od=0.In other words, the circuit
does not respond to the common-mode component of the input.

For a pure differential input (when Vicm=0), it can be shown the a non-zero differential
output voltage Vod is resulted, as a differential input signal steers IEEtowards one side or
the other.
In summary, the circuits rejects common-mode input and responds to the differential
input. In amplifiers, a small differential input signal is amplified to a differential output
signal.

From the half circuit, we can then compute the gain, input impedance and output
impedance.
v
R icm r (1)REF (1)R
id i EB
b1 ib 2 2
Note that we have defined the common-mode input impedance to be the voltage
divided by the total current the source must deliver to both terminals. The gain from a
single-ended load to common-mode input is:
v v
A O1 Ocm

RC
vcm
vicm vicm
r (1)(REF 2REB )
For output impedance, we have:
ROs RC
ROb 2RC

38
A measure of how well the amplifier rejects the common-mode signal relative to the
differential signal is the common-mode rejection ratio (CMRR). By definition, the CMRR
is ratio of the gain for the differential signal to the gain for common-mode signal.

2. Explain with a neat sketch the working of single tuned voltage amplifier
using FET.

The working of single tuned amplifier may be understood by considering

a radio frequency signal, to be amplified, applied at the input of the amplifier. The
resonant frequency, of the tuned circuit is made equal to the frequency of the input
signal by changing the value of the capacitance or inductance. When the frequency of
the tuned circuit becomes equal to the input signal, a large signal appears across the
output terminals. It may be noted that if the input signal is a complex wave in that case
the signal frequency equal to the resonant frequency will be amplified. And all other
frequencies will be rejected by the tuned circuit.
3. Derive the frequency response of single tuned voltage amplifier and also
give its limitations. Frequency response of single tuned voltage amplifier:
Voltage gain (Av) = β*rL/Ri
rL= Zp =L/CR.We also know that the value of quantity L/CR is very high at the
resonant frequency and it decreases as the frequency changes above or below the
resonant frequency. Therefore the voltage gain of the single tuned amplifier is very
high at resonant frequency and decreases as the frequency change above or below the
resonant frequency.
Limitations:
The tuned voltage amplifiers are used in wireless communication systems.
Generally, the communication transmitters do not transmit the audio signal directly;
instead the signal is raised to some high frequency level. The high frequency is in the RF
range and it serves as the carrier of the audio signal. The process of raising the audio
signal to the RF level is called modulation. The communication transmitters transmit the
modulated wave. The tuned amplifier, in communication receivers, is used to select the
desired carrier frequency and amplifying the complete band of frequencies around the
selected carrier frequency. In other words, tuned voltage amplifiers are required to be
39
highly selective. But the high selectivity requires high Q factor. It means that the voltage
tuned amplifier with reduced BW may not be able to amplify the equally the complete
band of transmitted signal. This will result in poor reproduction of audio signal.
4. Explain the different types of neutralization technique used in tuning
amplifier. (Apr/May 2015,Nov/Dec 2016)
Amplifier circuits tend to oscillate because of the feedback through the inter-electrode
of the tube itself, because of the electrostatic and electromagnetic feedback external to
the tube, and because of improper connections whereby currents of the input and
output circuits flow through a common wire or through a portion of the shields from
one grounded point to another. This is particularly true of radio frequency amplifiers
which have tuned-grid and tuned-plate circuits. The feedback through the tube itself is
largely alleviated by using tetrodes and pentodes, with condensers (C2 of Fig.1)
shunting RF currents directly to ground from the screen and suppressor grids.

Fig.1: R.F. amplifier circuits. C1 = 0.01μfd. C2 = 0.001 μfd. or more

Even so, certain of these tubes (6L6, 6V6, 6F6, and the like), designed for audio
frequency use, do not have sufficient screening for use as RFamplifiers unless
additional precautions are taken. Many of the tubes designed for handling large amounts
of power, as in the amplifier stages of transmitters, are merely triodes. For these, it is
imperative that"neutralization" circuits be used to prevent oscillation.Neutralization
consists of feeding some of the RFvoltages from the output or from the input of the
amplifier to the other side in such a manner as to cancel the RF voltage developed through
the grid-to-plate capacitance of the tube itself. There are three main methods,
called plate, grid, and inductive neutralization.

Fig.2: A plate-neutralized RF amplifiercircuit

40
In the plate-neutralized circuit of Fig.2, the RF voltages in the tank circuit LC induce
voltages in the closely coupled extension of L. These voltages are of opposite polarity
to those on the grid (which originally caused them). They are fed back to the grid
through the neutralizing condenser Cn, to balance that which reaches the grid through
the grid-plate capacitance of the tube. Neutralization is satisfactory only over a small
range of frequencies.

Fig.4: Inductive neutralization of a RF amplifier

Figure 4 shows an inductive-neutralization circuit, whereby " link coupling " is used
between the grid and plate circuits. This type of neutralization is also complete at only
one frequency.Two condensers (Cn, Cn) are needed to neutralize a push-pull circuit, as
in Fig.5, The capacitances of the two condensers are nearly equal to each other and to
the tube's grid-plate value. When the tubes are electrically identical and the circuits are
layed out symmetrically, neutralization can be complete and also be independent of
frequency. At the very high frequencies, push-pull circuits are the only type which can
be satisfactorily neutralized.
In order to neutralize an amplifier, the filament is heated and r.f. is applied to the input
terminals. The plate voltage is to be zero. A d.c. milliammeter is connected in series
with the C-bias circuit. The plate tank circuit is tuned back and forth through and Cn is

41
adjusted until the d.c. grid current no longer changes, or, at most, shows a small
gradual rise and fall, with a maximum at resonance. The circuit is then neutralized.

Fig.5: Neutralization of a push-pull amplifier

5. Discuss the effects of cascading of amplifiers. (Nov/Dec 2014)

A cascade amplifier is any diode constructed from a series of amplifiers, where each
amplifier sends its output to the input of the next amplifier in a .
A cascade is basically a with one input grounded and the side with. Since the input side
has no load there is no gain on that side and the does not come into play. In addition, Vds
or Vce stays fairly constant which reduces distortion. Its advantage over the cascade is
that it does not require as much voltage headroom. Its disadvantage is since it has two legs
it requires twice as much current as a cascade for similar performance.
The complication in calculating the gain of cascaded stages is the non-ideal coupling
between stages due to loading. Two cascaded common emitter stages are shown below.
Because the input resistance of the second stage forms a with the output resistance of the
first stage, the total gain is not the product of the individual (separated) stages.

Cascading means connecting the output of one amplifier to the input of another to
form a multistage amplifier. The overall gain of cascaded amplifiers depends on that of
each stage and the total number of stages. The purpose of cascading amplifiers is to
reach the desired signal power with a minimum amount of distortion, by providing
equal overall gain characteristics to all frequencies in the signal.
Gain

42
Gain tells the amount of power by which an amplifier increases a signal, and is usually
measured in decibels referenced to a milliwatt. Using dBm allows a small range of
numbers to represent a large increase in power. A gain of 3 dB roughly doubles the
power. A level of 0 dBm, which represents 0.001 watt or 1.0 milliwatt sent to a 50 dB
amplifier, would result in an output signal of +50 dBm or 100 watts. However, a wide-
band signal sent into such a large amplifier would come out with a poor frequency
response.
Frequency Response
An amplifier with high gain can only increase a certain range of frequencies. Higher
frequencies require different design characteristics. A 50 dB amplifier may amplify the
lower frequencies at the full capacity of the amplifier, but would only amplify the
midrange at 48.5 dB and the high range at 47 dB. That may only seem like a small
difference, but the higher frequencies would be only half the wattage of lower. This 50
dB amplifier would have a frequency response of 3 dB. Amplifiers can be designed for
lower gain, and to amplify certain portions of the signal differently.

2. What is the expression for the frequency of osciollaton of wien

bridge oscillator? (Nov/Dec 2014)
Fr=1/(2πRC)

3. Distinguish between series and shunt feedback.

S.No Series Feedback Shunt Feedback
(i) In series feedback amplifier, In shunt feedback amplifiers, the
the feedback signal is connected in feedback signal is connected in
series with the input signal. parallel with the input signal.

(ii) It increases the input resistance It decreases the input resistance.

4. State the Bharkausen’s criterion for oscillation.(Nov/Dec2014,2016,

May 2017)
The two important and necessary conditions are
43
The feedback must be positive.
Feedback factor must be unity i.e. A = 1
5. Which is most commonly used feedback arrangement in cascaded amplifier
and why?(Nov/Dec 2014)
Negative feedback is used because stability is good and less noise.
6. What is sustained oscillation?
The electrical oscillations in which amplitude does not change with time are called as
sustained oscillations. It is also called as undamped oscillation.
7. Give the condition of oscillation for Hartley oscillator
The condition of oscillation for Hartley oscillator is
ℎ = 1
= 1
+

2 2 +

8. Name two high frequency oscillators. (Nov 2010)

(i) Hartley oscillator (ii) Colpitts oscillator
9. What are the advantages of crystal oscillator? (Nov 2012)
Simple circuit since no tuned circuit is needed other than the crystal it self.Different
frequencies of oscillations can be obtained by simply replacing one crystal by
another. Hence it makes it easy for a radio transistor to work at differentfrequencies.
Since the frequency of oscillation is set by the crystal, changes in the supply and
transistor parameters does not affect the frequency of oscillation.
10. Define: Piezo electric effect. (May 2013)
When an ac voltage is applied across a quartz material crystal, it vibrates at the
frequency of the applied voltage. Also, if a mechanical force is applied to vibrate a
quartz crystal, it generates an ac voltage.
11.Differentiate oscillator and amplifier(Nov/Dec 2016)
Oscillator Amplifier
Positive feedback is used Negative feedback is used
No input signal is needed Input signal is needed
Generates output at derived frequency Generates output at derived amplitude
Gain will be high Gain will be low

Part-B
1. Draw and describe the four types of topology for feedback of an amplifier.
Derive the expression for gain with feedback. Mention the advantages of
negative feedback amplifier.(Nov/Dec 2014, Nov/Dec 2013, Nov/Dec 2016,May
2017)
There are four different types of feedback topologies based on type of output signal
and feedback signal (voltage or current signal). Voltage feedback is taken in series with
the load and current feedback is taken in shunt with the load. They are
The Four Basic Feedback Topologies
i) Voltage - Series
ii) Voltage - Shunt
iii) Current - Series
iv) Current - Shunt
Voltage Series Feedback:[Voltage Sample – Voltage Sum]
Assume that we have a voltage amplifier – voltage input with amplified voltage output.
Since the output quantity is a voltage, it follows that any feedback network should

44
sample the output voltage. It also follows that the feedback signal xf should be a
voltage that can be added to the source voltage in series.
This type of feedback topology – voltage sampling, series summing – is referred
to as the Voltage - Series configuration. The series part refers to the input and voltage
refers to the output. The feedback amplifier employing the Voltage -Series topology
can be represented by the diagram below:

AVf = Voltage gain with feedback = Vo / VS β

= The feedback network = Vf / Vo
Current feedback:[Current Sample – Current Sum]
Assume a current amplifier – current signal input with current signal output. In this case
we want to sample the output current and so we have current sampling. The feedback
signal needs to be a current and so it will be mixed in shunt with the input current, i.e., the
currents are summed – we have current summing. In this case we have a current
sample–current sum topology – this is referred to as a current - shunt configuration.
The current - shunt configuration is represented by the following diagram:

AIf = Voltage gain with feedback = Io / IS

β = The feedback network = If / Io

Current Series:[Current Sample – Voltage Sum]

Assume a transconductance amplifier – voltage signal as input, a current signal as
output. It follows that the appropriate feedback topology for this type of amplifier is

45
current sampling, voltage summing. This type of topology is also referred to as the
Series-Series configuration.

AGf= Io / Vs
β= Vf / Io
Voltage Shunt:[Voltage Sample – Current Sum]
Assume a Transresistance amplifier – current signal input, voltage signal output. It
follows that the appropriate topology for such an amplifier is a voltage sample,
current sum configuration. This is also referred to as the voltage – shunt
configuration.

ARf = Vo / Is
β = If / Vo
Feedback Voltage Current Current shunt Voltage
topology series series shunt
Input
Increases Increases Decreases Decreases
resistance
Rif Rif Rif =Ri/(1+A*β) Rif =
=Ri*(1+A*β) =Ri*(1+A*β) Ri/(1+A*β)

Output
Decreases Increases Increases Decreases
resistance
Rof = Rof Rof=Ro*(1+A*β) Rof =
Ro/(1+A*β) =Ro*(1+A*β) Ro/(1+A*β)

46

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Advantages of negative feedback amplifiers:
Increased stability
Increased
bandwidth
Less amplitude and harmonic distortion.
Decreased noise
Less frequency distortion
Less phase distortion
Input and output resistances can be modified as desired.
2. With a neat diagram explain about Colpitt oscillator & derive the
expression for frequency of oscillation and condition of oscillation. (Apr/May
2015)
The basic configuration of the Colpitts Oscillator resembles that of the Hartley
Oscillator but the difference this time is that the centre tapping of the tank sub-circuit
is now made at the junction of a “capacitive voltage divider” network instead of a
tapped autotransformer type inductor as in the Hartley oscillator.

Colpitts Oscillator
Tank Circuit
It uses a capacitor voltage divider as its feedback source. The two capacitors, C1 and
C2 are placed across a common inductor, L as shown so that C1, C2 and L forms the
tuned tank circuit the same as for the Hartley oscillator circuit.

The advantage of this type of tank circuit configuration is that with less self and
mutual inductance in the tank circuit, frequency stability is improved along with a
more simple design.
As with the Hartley oscillator, the Colpitts oscillator uses a single stage bipolar
transistor amplifier as the gain element which produces a sinusoidal output. Consider
the circuit below.

47
Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net
The transistor amplifiers emitter is connected to the junction of capacitors, C1 and C2
which are connected in series and act as a simple voltage divider. When the power
supply is firstly applied, capacitors C1 and C2 charge up and then discharge through
the coil L. The oscillations across the capacitors are applied to the base-emitter
junction and appear in the amplified at the collector output.
The amount of feedback depends on the values of C1 and C2 with the smaller the
values of C the greater will be the feedback.
The required external phase shift is obtained in a similar manner to that in the Hartley
oscillator circuit with the required positive feedback obtained for sustained un-damped
oscillations. The amount of feedback is determined by the ratio of C1 and C2. These
two capacitances are generally “ganged” together to provide a constant amount of
feedback so that as one is adjusted the other automatically follows.
The frequency of oscillations for a Colpitts oscillator is determined by the resonant
frequency of the LC tank circuit and is given as:

3. With a neat diagram explain about Hartley oscillator & derive the
expression for frequency of oscillation and condition of oscillation. (Nov/Dec
2014)

Hartley oscillator circuit.

In a Hartley oscillator the oscillation frequency is determined by a tank circuit
comprising of two inductors and one capacitor. The inductors are connected in series
and the capacitor is connected across them in parallel. Hartley oscillators are
commonly used in radio frequency (RF) oscillator applications and the recommended
frequency range is from 20 KHz to 30MHz. Hartley oscillators can be operated at
frequencies lower than 20 KHz, but for lower frequencies the inductor value need to be
high and it has a practical limit. The circuit diagram of a typical Hartley oscillator is
shown in the figure below.

48
In the circuit diagram resistors R1 and R2 give a potential divider bias for the
transistor Q1. Re is the emitter resistor, whose job is to provide thermal stability for
the transistor. Ce is the emitter by pass capacitors, which by-passes the amplified AC
signals. If the emitter by-pass capacitor not there, the amplified ac voltages will drop
across Re and it will get added on to the base-emitter voltage of Q1 and will disrupt
the biasing conditions. Cin is the input DC decoupling capacitor while C out is the output
DC decoupling capacitor. The task of a DC decoupling capacitor is to prevent DC
voltages from reaching the succeeding stage. Inductor L1, L2 and capacitor C1 forms
the tank circuit.
When the power supply is switched ON the transistor starts conducting and the
collector current increases. As a result the capacitor C1 starts charging and when the
capacitor C1 is fully charged it starts discharging through coil L1. This charging and
discharging creates a series of damped oscillations in the tank circuit and it is the key.
The oscillations produced in the tank circuit is coupled (fed back) to the base of Q1 and it
appears in the amplified form across the collector and emitter of the transistor. The output
voltage of the transistor (voltage across collector and emitter) will be in phase with the
voltage across inductor L1. Since the junction of two inductors is grounded, the voltage
across L2 will be 180° out of phase to that of the voltage across L1. The voltage across L2
is actually fed back to the base of Q1. From this we can see that, the feedback voltage is
180° out of phase with the transistor and also the transistor itself will create another 180°
phase difference. So the total phase difference between input and output is 360° and it is
very important condition for creating sustained oscillations.
Condition for oscillation:
Barkhausen Criterion: A linear system will produce sustained oscillations only at
frequencies for which the gain around the feedback loop is 1 and the phase shift
around the feedback loop is ZERO or an integral multiple of 2π.
Frequency of the Hartley oscillator:
Resonance Frequency:

49
The frequency “F” of a Hartley oscillator can be expressed using the equation;

C is the capacitance of the capacitor C1 in the tank circuit.

L = L1+L2, the effective series inductance of the inductors L1 and L2 in the tank
circuit. Here the coils L1 and L2 are assumed to be winded on different cores. If they
are winded on a single core then L=L1+L2+2M where M is the mutual inductance
between the two coils.
4. Explain the operation of crystal oscillator with neat diagram and write the
expression for its frequency of oscillation.(Apr/May 2012, Apr/May 2017)
In crystal oscillators, the usual electrical resonant circuit is replaced by a mechanically
vibrating crystal. The crystal (usually quartz) has a high degree of stability in holding
constant at whatever frequency the crystal is originally cut to operate. The crystal
oscillators are, therefore, used whenever great stability is needed, for example, in
communication transmitters, and receivers, digital clocks etc.
A quartz crystal exhibits a very important property known as piezo-electric effect.
When a mechanical pressure is applied across the faces of the crystal, a voltage
proportional to the applied mechanical pressure appears across the crystal. Conversely,
when a voltage is applied across the crystal surfaces, the crystal is distorted by an
amount proportional to the applied voltage. An alternating voltage applied to a crystal
causes it to vibrate at its natural frequency.
Besides quartz, the other substances that exhibit the piezo-electric effect are Rochelle
salt and tourmaline. Rochelle salt exhibits the greatest piezoelectric effect, but its
applications are limited to manufacture of microphones, headsets and loudspeakers. It
is because the Rochelle salt is mechanically the weakest and strongly affected by
moisture and heat. Tourmaline is most rugged but shows the least piezo-electric effect.
Quartz is a compromise between the piezoelectric effect of Rochelle salt and the
mechanical strength of tourmaline. It is inexpensive and readily available in nature. It
is mainly the quartz crystal that is used in radio-frequency (RF) oscillators.

50
for use in electronic oscillators, the crystal is suitably cut and then mounted between
two metal plates, as shown in fig (a). Although the crystal has electro-mechanical
resonance but the crystal action can be represented by an electrical resonance circuit,
as shown in fig. (b). The crystal actually behaves as a series R-L-C circuit in parallel
with CM where CM is the capacitance of the mounting electrodes. Because the crystal
losses, represented by R, are small the equivalent crystal Q is high-typically 20,000.
6
Values of Q upto 10 can be obtained by making use of crystals. Because of presence
of CM, the crystal has two resonant frequencies. One of these is the series resonant
frequency fs at which 2πfL = 1/2πfC and in this case the crystal impedance is very low.
The other is parallel resonance frequency fp which is due to parallel resonance of
capacitance CM and the reactance of the series circuit. In this case crystal impedance is
very high. The impedance versus frequency curve of the crystal is shown in figure. In
order to use the crystal properly it must be connected in a circuit so that its low
impedance in the series-resonant operating mode or high impedance in the anti-
resonant or parallel resonant operating mode is selected.
Two resonant frequencies are given by the expressions Series resonant frequency, fs =
1/2 π√LC Parallel resonant frequency, FP = 1/2π√[1 + C/CM] / LC It appears that fp is
higher than fs but the two frequencies are very close to each other. It is due to the fact
that the ratio C/CM is very small.To stabilize the frequency of an oscillator, a crystal
may be operated at either its series or parallel resonant frequency.

To excite a crystal for operation in the series-resonant mode it may be connected as a

series element in a feedback path, as shown in figure. In this mode of operation the crystal
impedance is the smallest and the amount of positive feedback is the largest. Resistor R1,
R2 and RE provide a voltage-divider stabilized dc bias circuit, the capacitor C E provides ac
bypass of the emitter resistor R^ and the radio-frequency coil (RFC) provides for dc bias
-while decoupling any ac signal on the power lines from affecting the output signal. The
voltage feedback signal from the collector to the base is maximum when the crystal
impedance is minimum (that is, the series-resonant mode). The
51
coupling capacitor Cc has negligible impedance at the circuit operating frequency but
blocks any dc between collector and base. The circuit shown in figure is generally
called the Pierce crystal. The resulting circuit frequency of oscillations is set by the
series resonant frequency of the crystal. Variations in supply voltage, transistor
parameters, etc. have no effect on the circuit operating frequency which is held
stabilized by the crystal. The circuit frequency stability is set by the crystal frequency
stability, which is good.
5. With neat circuit diagram explain the operation of an RC phase shift oscillator
and derive the condition for oscillation and resonant frequency with BJT.
(Nov/Dec 2014)
RC Phase shift oscillator:
RC phase shift oscillator or simply RC oscillator is a type of oscillator where a simple
RC network (resistor-capacitor) network is used for giving the required phase shift to
the feedback signal. The main feature of an RC phase shift oscillator is the excellent
frequency stability. The RC oscillator can output a pure sine wave on a wide range of
loads.
RC phase shift network :
RC phase shift network is a simple resistor capacitor network that can be used to give a
desired phase shift to a signal. The circuit diagram of a simple single stage RC
network is shown in the figure below.

Theoretically in a simple RC circuit , the output voltage will lead the input voltage by a
phase angle Φ =90°. Anyway in practical case the phase angle will be something below
90° just because it is impossible to get a purely ideal capacitor. Phase shift of a practical
RC network depends on the value of the capacitor, resistor and the operating frequency.
Let F be the operating frequency, R be the resistance and C be the capacitance. Then the
capacitive reactance Xc to the frequency F can be given by the equation Xc = 1 /
(2πFC)
The effective impedance of the circuit can be given by the equation Z = √( R² + Xc²)
-1
The phase angle of the RC network can be derived as Φ = tan (Xc/R)
Just by making an RC network with phase shift equal to 60° and cascading three of
them together the desired phase shift of 180° can be attained. This 180° phase shift by
the RC network plus the 180° phase shift made by the transistor gives a total phase
shift of 360° between the input and output which is the necessary condition for
maintaining sustained oscillations. The circuit diagram of a three stage RC network
producing a phase shift of 180° is shown in the figure below.

52
Connecting such a three stage RC phase shift network between the input and output of
a common emitter transistor amplifier will result in a transistor based RC phase shift
oscillator. The circuit diagram is shown below.

The basic RC Oscillator which is also known as a Phase-shift Oscillator, produces a

sine wave output signal using regenerative feedback obtained from the resistor-
capacitor combination. This regenerative feedback from the RC network is due to the
ability of the capacitor to store an electric charge, (similar to the LC tank circuit).
This resistor-capacitor feedback network can be connected as shown above to produce
a leading phase shift (phase advance network) or interchanged to produce a lagging
phase shift (phase retard network) the outcome is still the same as the sine wave
o
oscillations only occur at the frequency at which the overall phase-shift is 360 .
By varying one or more of the resistors or capacitors in the phase-shift network, the
frequency can be varied and generally this is done by keeping the resistors the same
and using a 3-ganged variable capacitor.
If all the resistors, R and the capacitors, C in the phase shift network are equal in
value, then the frequency of oscillations produced by the RC oscillator is given as:

Where:
ƒr is the Output Frequency in Hertz
R is the Resistance in Ohms
C is the Capacitance in Farads
N is the number of RC stages. (N = 3)

53
Since the resistor-capacitor combination in the RC Oscillator circuit also acts as an
attenuator producing an attenuation of -1/29th ( Vo/Vi = β ) per stage, the gain of the
amplifier must be sufficient to overcome the circuit losses. Therefore, in our three
stage RC network above the amplifier gain must be greater than 29.
The loading effect of the amplifier on the feedback network has an effect on the
frequency of oscillations and can cause the oscillator frequency to be up to 25% higher
than calculated. Then the feedback network should be driven from a high impedance
output source and fed into a low impedance load such as a common emitter transistor
amplifier but better still is to use an as it satisfies these conditions perfectly.

54
Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net
Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net

Downloaded From : www.EasyEngineering.net