DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER

ENGR. EMMERSON A. CANUEL

 OUTLINE

• Amplifier Circuit
• Introduction of Differential Amplifier
• Configuration of Differential Amplifier
• Parameters of Differential Amplifier
• Analysis of Differential Amplifier
• Common Mode Rejection Ratio
• Examples
• Chapter Test
 AMPLIFIER CIRCUIT
• Amplifier is the generic term used to describe a circuit which produces and
increased version of its input signal.
• In “Electronics”, small signal amplifiers are commonly used devices as they
have the ability to amplify a relatively small input signal, for example from
a Sensor such as a photo-device, into a much larger output signal to drive a
relay, lamp or loudspeaker for example.
• There are many forms of electronic circuits classed as amplifiers, from
Operational Amplifiers and Small Signal Amplifiers up to Large Signal and
Power Amplifiers. The classification of an amplifier depends upon the size of
the signal, large or small, its physical configuration and how it processes the
input signal, that is the relationship between input signal and current flowing in
the load.
• Amplifiers can be thought of as a simple box or block containing the
amplifying device, such as a Bipolar Transistor, Field Effect Transistor or
Operational Amplifier, which has two input terminals and two output terminals
(ground being common) with the output signal being much greater than that
of the input signal as it has been “Amplified”.
 IDEAL AMPLIFIER MODEL
• An ideal signal amplifier will have three main properties: Input Resistance or
(RIN), Output Resistance or (ROUT) and of course amplification known
commonly as Gain or (A). No matter how complicated an amplifier circuit is,
a general amplifier model can still be used to show the relationship of these
three properties.
 IDEAL AMPLIFIER MODEL
• The amplified difference between the input and output signals is known as
the Gain of the amplifier. Gain is basically a measure of how much an
amplifier “amplifies” the input signal. For example, if we have an input signal
of 1 volt and an output of 50 volts, then the gain of the amplifier would be
“50”. In other words, the input signal has been increased by a factor of 50.
This increase is called Gain.
• Amplifier gain is simply the ratio of the output divided-by the input. Gain has
no units as its a ratio, but in Electronics it is commonly given the symbol “A”,
for Amplification. Then the gain of an amplifier is simply calculated as the
“output signal divided by the input signal”.
 AMPLIFIER GAIN
• There are three different kinds of amplifier gain which can be measured

• Voltage Gain ( Av ),

• Current Gain ( Ai ) and

• Power Gain ( Ap )
 AMPLIFIER GAIN
• The power gain (Ap) or power level of the amplifier can also be expressed in
Decibels, (dB). The Bel (B) is a logarithmic unit (base 10) of measurement that
has no units. Since the Bel is too large a unit of measure, it is prefixed with
deci making it Decibels instead with one decibel being one tenth (1/10th) of
a Bel. To calculate the gain of the amplifier in Decibels or dB, we can use the
following expressions.
• a positive value of dB represents a Gain and a negative value of dB
represents a Loss within the amplifier. For example, an amplifier gain of +3dB
indicates that the amplifiers output signal has “doubled”, (x2) while an
amplifier gain of -3dB indicates that the signal has “halved”, (x0.5) or in other
words a loss.
 AMPLIFIER GAIN
• If multiple amplifiers are staged, their respective gains form an overall gain
equal to the product (multiplication) of the individual gains. In the figure
below, if a 1 V signal were applied to the input of the gain of 3 amplifier, a 3
V signal out of the first amplifier would be further amplified by a gain of 5 at
the second stage yielding 15 V at the final output.
EXAMPLE
• Determine the Voltage, Current and Power Gain of an amplifier that has an
input signal of 1mA at 10mV and a corresponding output signal of 10mA at
1V. Also, express all three gains in decibels, (dB).
EXAMPLE
• The voltage into a 600 Ω audio line amplifier is 10 mV, the voltage across a
600 Ω load is 1 V. Find the power gain in dB.
• If in a two-amplifier system where the amplifiers are cascaded in series, the
first amplifier provides a gain of 10 dB while the second amplifier provides a
gain of 15 dB, what is the overall amplification of the signal at the output of
the second amplifier with respect to the input signal at the first amplifier?
• What is the reference voltage level if the voltage gain is 15 dB and the
output voltage is 16.87 mV? Repeat the same if the voltage gain is 20 dB.
 IDEAL AMPLIFIER
• We can know specify the characteristics for an ideal amplifier from our
discussion above with regards to its Gain, meaning voltage gain:
• The amplifiers gain, ( A ) should remain constant for varying values of input
signal.
• Gain is not be affected by frequency. Signals of all frequencies must be
amplified by exactly the same amount.
• The amplifiers gain must not add noise to the output signal. It should remove
any noise that is already exists in the input signal.
• The amplifiers gain should not be affected by changes in temperature giving
good temperature stability.
• The gain of the amplifier must remain stable over long periods of time.
INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
• A differential amplifier is a type of electronic amplifier that amplifies the
difference between two input voltages but suppresses any voltage common
to the two inputs.
• Differential amplifier are usually made using Op-amps and using transistors
(BJTs or FETs)
• A typical differential amplifier has a positive and a negative input terminal
and an output terminal.
INTRODUCTION TO DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
• Differential Amplifier Circuit
• There are two different types of
differential amplifier circuits:
• BJT Differential Amplifier – This is a
differential amplifier built using
transistors, either Bipolar Junction
Transistors (BJTs) or Field Effect
Transistors (FETs).

• Op-amp Differential amplifiers

built using Operational Amplifiers
CONFIGURATIONS OF DIFFERENTIAL
AMPLIFIER
• Single input unbalanced output
• Single input balanced output
• Dual input unbalanced output
• Dual input balanced output
 PARAMETERS OF AMPLIFIER

• Voltage Gain
• Differential Input Resistance - is the equivalent resistance measured
across either of input terminals and ground.
• Output Resistance - The effective resistance measured at output terminal
with respect to ground. So the output resistance is measured between the
collector and the ground, which is same as the collector resistance RC.
ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
• DC analysis provides the operating point values I CQ and VCEQ for the
transistors used in the circuit. The DC equivalent circuit obtained by reducing
all AC signals to zero as shown
ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
• We can find Voltage Gain Ad and Input Resistance Ri of the differential
amplifier by doing AC Analysis. The ac equivalent circuit is obtained by
reducing all DC voltage sources to zero and replacing transistor with its
equivalent
ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
• Differential Input Resistance - Differential input resistance is defined as the
equivalent resistance that would be measured at either input terminal with
the other terminal grounded. This means that the input resistance Ri1 seen
from the input signal source v1 is determined with the signal source v2 set at
zero. Similarly, the input signal v1 is set at zero to determine the input
resistance Ri2 seen from the input signal source v2. Resistance RS1 and RS2
are ignored because they are very small.
ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENTIAL AMPLIFIER
• Output Resistance - defined as the equivalent resistance that would be
measured at output terminal with respect to ground. Therefore, the output
resistance RO1 measured between collector C1 and ground is equal to that
of the collector resistance RC. Similarly the output resistance RO2 measured
at C2 with respect to ground is equal to that of the collector resistor RC.
• The current gain of the differential amplifier is undefined. Like CE amplifier
the differential amplifier is a small signal amplifier. It is generally used as a
voltage amplifier and not as current or power amplifier.
COMMON MODE REJECTION RATIO
• A differential amplifier is said to be in common mode when same signal is
applied to both inputs and the expected output will be zero, ie ideally
common mode gain is zero.
• Effectiveness of rejection depends on the matching of two common –
emitter stages used. The ability of a differential amplifier to reject common
mode signal is called Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR).
• CMRR is defined as the ratio of the differential voltage gain Ad to common
mode gain Ac and is expresses in dB.
EXAMPLE
• The following specifications are given for the dual input, balanced-output
differential amplifier of fig.1: RC = 2.2 kΩ, RB = 4.7 kΩ, Rin 1 = Rin 2 = 50 Ω ,
+VCC = 10V, -VEE = -10 V, βdc =100 and VBE = 0.715V. Determine the
operating points (ICQ and VCEQ) of the two transistors.
EXAMPLE
• The following specifications are given for the dual input, balanced-output
differential amplifier:
RC = 2.2 kΩ, RB = 4.7 kΩ, Rin 1 = Rin 2 = 50Ω, +VCC= 10V, -VEE = -10 V, βdc
=100 and VBE = 0.715V.

a. Determine the voltage gain.

b. Determine the input resistance
c. Determine the output resistance.
EXAMPLE
• A differential amplifier is shown below, has the following specifications
RC = 1.8 kΩ, RE = 4 kΩ, +VCC= 10V, -VEE = -10 V, βdc =100 and VBE = 0.7V.

a. Determine the emitter current IE

b. What is the output Vo if V1 = 30mV and V2 = 40mV?
c. Determine the voltage gain Ad.