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Transistor Common
Emitter Amplifier
The common emitter amplifier
configuration is possibly the
most widely used form of
transistor circuit providing
voltage gain.

Transistor Circuit Design Tutorial

Includes:
Transistor circuit design Circuit
configurations Common emitter
Common emitter circuit design Emitter
follower Common base

See also: Transistor circuit types

The common emitter transistor amplifier

circuit is one of the mainstay circuits for
use within electronic design.

The common emitter circuit configuration

is used as a basic switch for logic circuits,
as an analogue amplifier and in many
other applications.

The common emitter circuit configuration

provides voltage gain combined with a
moderate current gain, as well as a
medium input and a medium output
impedance. As such the common emitter
configuration is a good all round circuit for
use in many applications.

Common emitter
transistor amplifier
basics
The common emitter amplifier has the
signal applied to the base and the output
is then taken from the collector circuit. As
the name implies the emitter circuit is
common to both input and output.
 Output
Input
NPN

Output
Input

PNP

Transistor common
emitter circuit
configuration

The common emitter configuration is

equally applicable to both NPN and PNP
transistor variants. That said the NPN
variety is more commonly used because of
the more widespread us of NPN
transistors.

Common emitter
transistor amplifier
characteristics
summary
The table below gives a summary of the
major characteristics of the common
emitter transistor configuration.

COMMON EMITTER TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER

CHARACTERISTICS

PARAMETER CHARACTERISTICS
Voltage gain Medium
Current gain Medium
Power gain High
Input / output 180°
phase
relationship
Input resistance Medium
Output Medium
resistance

Common emitter
amplifier impedance
levels
The input impedance is typically around
1kΩ, although this can vary considerably
according to the circuit values and
conditions. The low input impedance
results from the fact that the input is
applied across the base and emitter where
there is a forward-biased junction,

Also the output impedance can be

relatively high. Again this varies
considerably upon the circuit values
chosen and current levels permitted. This
may be as high as 10kΩ or possibly more.
However if current drain allows higher
current levels to be drawn, the output
impedance can be reduced considerably.
The level of resistance or impedance
comes from the fact that the output is
taken from the collector where there is a
reverse-biased junction.

Common emitter
transistor amplifier
gain
Another important factor is the gain level
that can be achieved. There are two forms
of gain that can be determined: current
gain and voltage gain.

The current gain for the common emitter

amplifier circuit is denoted by the Greek
symbol β. This is the ratio of collector
current to base current. This may be
thought of as the ratio of output current to
input current. To gain an accurate figure of
the gain for a signal, the current gain for
small input changes in current is often
used. Using this the current gain, β, and
the changes in input and output current
are related in the following way:

ΔIc
ΔIb
β=

Where
β = current gain
ΔIc = change in collector current
ΔIb = change in base current

In order to look at the voltage gain of the

common emitter amplifier circuit, it is
necessary to look at the resistances or
impedances for the input and output.

ΔVc
Rc

ΔIc ΔVb

ΔIb Rb
β= =

ΔVc
ΔVb
Av =

Therefore:
 Rc
Rb
Av = β

Where
Av = voltage gain
Rc = collector circuit output resistance
Rb = base circuit input resistance

Common emitter
input output phase
relationship
The common emitter transistor amplifier is
the only configuration that gives an
inversion, 180°, between the input and
output signals.

The reason for this can be seen from the

fact that as the input voltage rises, so the
current increases through the base circuit.
In turn this increases the current thought
the collector circuit, i.e. it tends to turn the
transistor on. This results in the voltage
between the collector and emitter
terminals falling.

In this way an increase in voltage between

the base and emitter has resulted in a fall
in voltage between the collector and
emitter terminals, in other words the
phase of the two signals has been
inverted.

Practical common
emitter amplifier
circuit
While the basic theoretical circuits shown
above are able to describe the basic
operation of the common emitter
amplifier in concept.

However, for the circuit to be able to

operate in a real system, other elements
such as bias, decoupling and the like need
to be added. As a result, the overall circuit
for a common emitter amplifier utilises
several components to ensure that it is
able to operate in the fashion required.

R1 R3
C2

C1
TR1
Output
Input

R2
R4 C3
 Circuit of a basic
common emitter
transistor amplifier

Within the circuit there are a number of

components that provide different
functions to enable the overall circuit to
operate in the fashion required:

R1, R2 These resistors provide the bias for

the base of the transistor.

R3 This is the collector load resistor

within the common emitter amplifier.

R4 This resistor in the common emitter

amplifier provides a measure of DC
feedback to ensure that the DC
conditions within the circuit are
maintained.

C1, C2 These capacitors provide AC coupling

between stages. They need to be
chosen to provide negligible
reactance at the frequencies of
operation.

C3 This is a bypass capacitor. The effect

of R4 is to reduce the gain of the
circuit. Bypassing the resistor
enables greater levels of AC gain to
be achieved.

The circuit shown above is that if a basic

AC coupled common emitter amplifier.

The common emitter circuit can be used in

a variety of forms. - sometimes as a
transistor logic output, a directly coupled
amplifier and in many areas. It is widely
used, providing a good compromise
between voltage and current gain along
with input and output impedance.

P R E V I O U S N E X T P A G E
P A G E

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