Class C Power Amplifier
The class C power amplifier is one kind of amplifier where the
transistor conduct for less than 180° (one-half cycle of the input signal)
and its typical value is 80° to 120°. The reduced conduction angle
progresses the efficiency to a great expand, but roots a lot of distortion.
The maximum theoretical efficiency of a Class-C amplifier is around 90%.
This type of amplifier is not used in audio amplifiers because of the large
amounts of distortion. The applications of the class c amplifier mainly
involve in radio frequency circuits like RF amplifier, RF oscillator, etc.Where
there are extra tuned circuits for regaining the original i/p signal from the
pulsed o/p of the amplifier. So the distortion which is caused by the class c
amplifier has little effect on the final o/p.
Class C Power Amplifier Circuit
The circuit diagram of the class c power amplifier circuit is shown below. In
the circuit, the biasing resistor’ Rb’ is used to pull the base terminal of the
Q1 transistor further downwards. The ‘Q’ point will be fixed to below the
cutoff point in the DC load line. As a result, the Q1 transistor will start
conducting only after the i/p signal amplitude has increased above the
base-emitter (BE) voltage plus the downward bias voltage caused by a
biasing resistor. This is the reason why the main portion of the i/p signal is
not present in the o/p signal.
In the above circuit, a tank circuit can be formed by using a capacitor ‘C1’
and an Inductor ‘L1’ which help in the removal of the necessary signal from
the pulsed o/p of the transistor. Here, the main function of the
transistor is to generate a current pulse in series according to the i/p and
make it flow through the resonant circuit. The values of the capacitor and
inductor are selected so that the resonant circuit oscillates at the
frequency of the i/p signal.
Since the resonant circuit oscillates in the carrier frequency, then all other
frequencies are attenuated & the values of L1 and C1 are so selected that
the resonant circuit oscillates in the frequency of the input signal. Since
the resonant circuit oscillates in one frequency (generally the carrier
frequency) all the necessary frequency can be pushed out using a duly
tuned load. Harmonics in the o/p signal can be removed using an extra
filter. A coupling transformer is used to transfer the power to the load.
The high frequency signal that has to be amplified is applied at
the input of the amplifier. The resonant frequency of the parallel
tuned circuit is made equal to the frequency of the signal applied
by altering the capacitance value of the capacitor C, in the tuned
circuit.
At this stage, the tuned circuit offers high impedance to the signal
frequency, which helps to offer high output across the tuned
circuit. As high impedance is offered only for the tuned frequency,
all the other frequencies which get lower impedance are rejected
by the tuned circuit. Hence the tuned amplifier selects and
amplifies the desired frequency signal.
Frequency Response
The parallel resonance occurs at resonant frequency f r when the
circuit has a high Q. the resonant frequency f r is given by
The following graph shows the frequency response of a single
tuned amplifier circuit.
At resonant frequency fr the the reactance is zero and impedance
of parallel tuned circuit is very high and is purely resistive. The
voltage across RL is therefore maximum, when the circuit is tuned
to resonant frequency. Hence the voltage gain is maximum at
resonant frequency and drops off above and below it. The higher
the Q, the narrower will be the curve.
Class C power amplifier Output Characteristics:
The i/p and o/p waveforms of a typical class-c power amplifier is shown in
the below figure. By observing the following waveforms, we can conclude
that half of the i/p signal is missing in the o/p waveform that is shown
below.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Class C Amplifier
The advantages of class c amplifier include
Efficiency is high
Used in RF applications
Physical size is low for a given power o/p
The disadvantages of class c amplifier include
Linearity is low
Not fit in audio applications.
It creates a lot of RF interference.
It is difficult to obtain coupling transformers and ideal inductors.
Tuned Amplifiers
Tuned amplifiers are the amplifiers that are employed for the
purpose of tuning. Tuning means selecting. Among a set of
frequencies available, if there occurs a need to select a particular
frequency, while rejecting all other frequencies, such a process is
called Selection. This selection is done by using a circuit called
as Tuned circuit.
When an amplifier circuit has its load replaced by a tuned circuit,
such an amplifier can be called as a Tuned amplifier circuit.
The basic tuned amplifier circuit looks as shown below.
The tuner circuit is nothing but a LC circuit which is also called
as resonant or tank circuit. It selects the frequency. A tuned
circuit is capable of amplifying a signal over a narrow band of
frequencies that are centered at resonant frequency.
When the reactance of the inductor balances the reactance of the
capacitor, in the tuned circuit at some frequency, such a
frequency can be called as resonant frequency. It is denoted
by fr.
Types of Tuned Circuits
A tuned circuit can be Series tuned circuit (Series resonant circuit)
or Parallel tuned circuit (parallel resonant circuit) according to the
type of its connection to the main circuit.
Series Tuned Circuit
The inductor and capacitor connected in series make a series
tuned circuit, as shown in the following circuit diagram.
At resonant frequency, a series resonant circuit offers low
impedance which allows high current through it. A series resonant
circuit offers increasingly high impedance to the frequencies far
from the resonant frequency.
Parallel Tuned Circuit
The inductor and capacitor connected in parallel make a parallel
tuned circuit, as shown in the below figure.
At resonant frequency, a parallel resonant circuit offers high
impedance which does not allow high current through it. A
parallel resonant circuit offers increasingly low impedance to the
frequencies far from the resonant frequency.
