Power Amplifiers

Power Amplifiers
Power Amplifiers
A ‘Power Amplifier (PA)’ or a ‘Large-Signal Amplifier’ is an amplifier that is designed

to deliver a ‘large’ amount of power to a load.
‘Large’  generally > 500mW (typically, a few watts – tens/hundreds of watts)
Less than 500mW  Small-Signal Amplifier (SSA) (Some books  the boundary is 1W)
Power handling capacity and efficiency are of little concern for SSA
- Opposites are true for PA
Applications
In the last stage of an amplifier system where the electronics need to drive a large
mechanical load, e.g.,
(1) Audio Systems : to drive large speakers,

(2) Radio Transmitters: to broadcast over the airwaves,
(3) Microwave Heating: to provide sufficient heating,
(4) Robotics: to drive a mechanical system.
Almost all Electronic – Mechanical interfaces require power amplifiers.

Performance Parameters
Compared to a small-signal amplifier, a PA needs special consideration with respect to the

following matters:
1. Conversion efficiency: A figure-of-merit for a PA.
average ac power delivered to the load 𝑷𝒐 (𝒂𝒄)

𝜂= =
average dc power drawn by the circuite 𝑷𝒊 (𝒅𝒄)
For a PA, a high 𝜂 is required, otherwise high power will be absorbed by the PA circuit
which may cause heat dissipation problem.
2. Power dissipation capability: The ability of a PA to dissipate heat effectively.
Since it handles high power, it may absorb significantly large power which must be
dissipated quickly in the environment. Otherwise the transistors involved may burn out.
 Large in size.
 Manufacturing methods could be different: materials, process etc.
 Heat sink may be required, etc.
 May require fan to take away heat
3. Distortion: The change in the output waveshape from its input waveshape
 A large voltage/current swing may make a PA more vulnerable to distortion.

 Measured by THD (Third-Harmonic-Distortion) content
Classification of PA
Classes of Operation: Depending on the duration for which the transistors remain in the
‘ON’ state with respect to the input signal cycle
1. Class A
2. Class B
3. Class AB
4. Class C
Classification of PA
Conduction angle < 180°
Conduction angle 360°
Conduction angle > 180°

Class A Operation

Class B Operation
Conduction angle for each

transistor 180°
Class B Operation
Cross-Over Distortion
Class AB Operation
Conduction angle slightly

more than 180°
Class C Operation
Conduction angle less than

180°
DC and AC Load Lines of Amplifiers
Example: Common-Emitter Amplifier
C  Coupling Capacitors  Open circuits to DC, short circuits to AC for amplifier operating frequencies
𝑅𝑑𝑐 ≡ Total resistance around the collector-emitter loop under DC conditions

𝑅𝑎𝑐 ≡ Total resistance around the collector-emitter loop under DC conditions
𝑅𝑑𝑐 = 𝑅𝐶 + 𝑅𝐸
and, 𝑅𝑎𝑐 = 𝑅𝐶 ||𝑅𝐿 + 𝑅𝐸
So, 𝑅𝑎𝑐 < 𝑅𝑑𝑐

Equation of DC Load Line:
𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐸 = 0
−𝑉𝐶𝐸 𝑉𝐶𝐶
∴ 𝐼𝐶 = +
𝑅𝐶 +𝑅𝐸 𝑅𝐶 +𝑅𝐸
−𝑉𝐶𝐸 𝑉𝐶𝐶
∴ 𝐼𝐶 = + (𝑦 = 𝑚𝑥 + 𝐶)
𝑅𝑑𝑐 𝑅𝑑𝑐
−1
Slope of DC load line =
𝑅𝑑𝑐
−1
Slope of the AC load line must be
𝑅𝑎𝑐
or, 𝑅𝑎𝑐 < 𝑅𝑑𝑐
Equation of AC Load Line:
Choice of Load Lines for Maximum Output Swing:
At Q-point, we can write:
−𝑉 𝑉 −𝑉 𝑉 𝑉
𝐼𝐶𝑄 = 𝐶𝐸𝑄 + 𝐶𝐶 = 𝐶𝐸𝑄 + 𝐶𝐸𝑄 + 𝐶𝐸𝑄
𝑅𝑑𝑐 𝑅𝑑𝑐 𝑅𝑎𝑐 𝑅𝑎𝑐 𝑅𝑎𝑐
𝑉𝐶𝐶 𝑅𝑎𝑐 = 𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 𝑅𝑎𝑐 + 𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 𝑅𝑑𝑐
𝑉𝐶𝐶 𝑅𝑎𝑐 𝑉𝐶𝐶 𝑉𝐶𝐶

𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 =  𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 = 𝑅 and 𝐼𝐶𝑄 =
𝑅𝑑𝐶 + 𝑅𝑑𝐶 1+ 𝑅𝑑𝐶 𝑅𝑑𝐶 + 𝑅𝑎𝐶
𝑎𝐶
Power Amplifier Circuits: Class A
Inductively-Coupled Amplifier:
𝑉𝐶𝐶 𝑉𝐶𝐶
𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 = 𝑅 and 𝐼𝐶𝑄 =
1+ 𝑑𝐶 𝑅𝑑𝐶 + 𝑅𝑎𝐶
𝑅𝑎𝐶
Assuming 𝑅𝐿 ≫ 𝑅𝐸 ,
𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 ≈ 𝑉𝐶𝐶 , and
The AC load line intersects the 𝑣𝐶𝐸 axis at approximately 2𝑉𝐶𝐶 .

Transformer-Coupled Amplifier:
Design Example
𝐼𝑜 𝑅
We can derive: 𝐴𝑖 = = 𝑅𝐵 𝐵
𝐼𝑖 +𝑅𝐸
𝛽
𝑅𝐵 = 𝑅1 ||𝑅2
𝐼𝑜 = (1 + ℎ𝑓𝑒 )𝐼𝑏
𝐼𝑜 (1+ℎ𝑓𝑒 )𝐼𝑏
𝑉𝑖 = ℎ𝑖𝑒 𝐼𝑏 + 𝑅𝐸 (1 + ℎ𝑓𝑒 )𝐼𝑏 𝐴𝐼 = =ℎ
𝐼𝑖 𝑖𝑒 +𝑅𝐸 1+ℎ𝑓𝑒 +𝑅𝐵
𝐼𝑏
𝑅𝐵
𝑅𝐵
𝑉𝑖 ℎ𝑖𝑒 + 𝑅𝐸 (1 + ℎ𝑓𝑒 ) = 𝑅𝐵 ℎ𝑖𝑒 (since, 1 + ℎ𝑓𝑒 = 𝛽)
𝐼𝐵 = = 𝐼𝑏 𝛽
+ 𝛽
+𝑅𝐸
𝑅𝐵 𝑅𝐵 𝛽𝑅𝐵
≈ 𝑅𝐵 +𝛽𝑅𝐸
𝐼𝑖 = 𝐼𝐵 + 𝐼𝑏
ℎ𝑖𝑒 +𝑅𝐸 1+ℎ𝑓𝑒 +𝑅𝐵

= 𝐼𝑏
𝑅𝐵
Sometimes, problem statements may require you to find 𝑅𝑖𝑛 .
It can be shown that:

𝑉 𝑅𝐸 𝑅𝐵
𝑅𝑖𝑛 = 𝑖 = 𝑅
𝐼𝑖 𝑅𝐸 + 𝛽𝐵
𝛽𝑅𝐸 𝑅𝐵
=
𝛽𝑅𝐸 +𝑅𝐵
= 𝛽𝑅𝐸 || 𝑅𝐵
𝑅
Anyway, we derived: 𝐴𝑖 = 𝑅𝐵 𝐵
𝛽
+𝑅𝐸
We have, 𝐴𝑖 = 10
𝑅𝐸 =
Plugging these values in the equation of 𝐴𝑖 :

Power Amplifiers - 1

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Power Amplifiers - 1

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A ‘Power Amplifier (PA)’ or a ‘Large-Signal Amplifier’ is an amplifier that is designed

‘Large’  generally > 500mW (typically, a few watts – tens/hundreds of watts)

(1) Audio Systems : to drive large speakers,

Almost all Electronic – Mechanical interfaces require power amplifiers.

Compared to a small-signal amplifier, a PA needs special consideration with respect to the

1. Conversion efficiency: A figure-of-merit for a PA.

average ac power delivered to the load 𝑷𝒐 (𝒂𝒄)

 A large voltage/current swing may make a PA more vulnerable to distortion.

Conduction angle 360°

Conduction angle 180°

Conduction angle > 180°

Conduction angle 360°

Conduction angle for each

Conduction angle slightly

Conduction angle less than

Example: Common-Emitter Amplifier

𝑅𝑑𝑐 ≡ Total resistance around the collector-emitter loop under DC conditions

So, 𝑅𝑎𝑐 < 𝑅𝑑𝑐

𝑉𝐶𝐶 𝑅𝑎𝑐 = 𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 𝑅𝑎𝑐 + 𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 𝑅𝑑𝑐

𝑉𝐶𝐶 𝑅𝑎𝑐 𝑉𝐶𝐶 𝑉𝐶𝐶

𝑉𝐶𝐸𝑄 ≈ 𝑉𝐶𝐶 , and

The AC load line intersects the 𝑣𝐶𝐸 axis at approximately 2𝑉𝐶𝐶 .

ℎ𝑖𝑒 +𝑅𝐸 1+ℎ𝑓𝑒 +𝑅𝐵

It can be shown that:

Plugging these values in the equation of 𝐴𝑖 :

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