Input Impedance, 

ZIN or Input Resistance as it is often called, is an important

parameter in the design of a transistor amplifier and as such allows amplifiers
to be characterized according to their effective input and output impedances
as well as their power and current ratings.
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An amplifiers impedance value is particularly important for analysis especially
when cascading individual amplifier stages together one after another to
minimise distortion of the signal.
The input impedance of an amplifier is the input impedance “seen” by the
source driving the input of the amplifier. If it is too low, it can have an adverse
loading effect on the previous stage and possibly affecting the frequency
response and output signal level of that stage. But in most applications,
common emitter and common collector amplifier circuits generally have high
input impedances.
Some types of amplifier designs, such as the common collector amplifier
circuit automatically have high input impedance and low output impedance by
the very nature of their design. Amplifiers can have high input impedance, low
output impedance, and virtually any arbitrary gain, but were an amplifiers input
impedance is lower than desired, the output impedance of the previous stage
can be adjusted to compensate or if this is not possible then buffer amplifier
stages may be needed.
In addition to voltage amplification ( Av ), an amplifier circuit must also have
current amplification ( Ai ). Power amplification ( Ap ) can also be expected
from an amplifier circuit. But as well as having these three important
characteristics, an amplifier circuit must also have other characteristics like
high input impedance ( ZIN ), low output impedance ( ZOUT ) and some degree of
bandwidth, ( Bw ). Either way, the “perfect” amplifier will have infinite input
impedance and zero output impedance.

Input and Output Impedance

In many ways, an amplifier can be thought of as a type of “black box” which

has two input terminals and two output terminals as shown. This idea provides
a simple h-parameter model of the transistor that we can use to find the DC
set point and operating parameters of an amplifier. In reality one of the
terminals is common between the input and output representing ground or
zero volts.
When looking from the outside in, these terminals have an input
impedance, ZIN and an output impedance, ZOUT. The input and output
impedance of an amplifier is the ratio of voltage to current flowing in or out of
these terminals. The input impedance may depend upon the source supply
feeding the amplifier while the output impedance may also vary according to
the load impedance, RL across the output terminals.
The input signals being amplified are usually alternating currents (AC) with the
amplifier circuit representing a load, Z to the source. The input impedance of
an amplifier can be tens of ohms, (Ohms Ω) to a few thousand ohms, (kilo-
ohms kΩ) for bipolar based transistor circuits up to millions of ohms, (Mega-
ohms MΩ) for FET based transistor circuits.
When a signal source and load are connected to an amplifier, the
corresponding electrical properties of the amplifier circuit can be modelled as
shown.

Output and Input Impedance Model

Where, VS is the signal voltage, RS is the internal resistance of the signal

source, and RL is the load resistance connected across the output. We can
expand this idea further by looking at how the amplifier is connected to the
source and load.
When an amplifier is connected to a signal source, the source “sees” the input
impedance, Zin of the amplifier as a load. Likewise, the input voltage, Vin is
what the amplifier sees across the input impedance, Zin. Then the amplifiers
input can be modelled as a simple voltage divider circuit as shown.

Amplifier Input Circuit Model

The same idea applies for the output impedance of the amplifier. When a load
resistance, RL is connected to the output of the amplifier, the amplifier
becomes the source feeding the load. Therefore, the output voltage and
impedance automatically becomes the source voltage and source impedance
for the load as shown.

Amplifier Output Circuit Model

Then we can see that the input and output characteristics of an amplifier can
both be modelled as a simple voltage divider network. The amplifier itself can
be connected in Common Emitter (emitter grounded), Common
Collector (emitter follower) or in Common Base configurations. In this tutorial
we will look at the bipolar transistor connected in a common emitter
configuration seen previously.

Common Emitter Amplifier

The so called classic common emitter configuration uses a potential divider
network to bias the transistors Base. Power supply Vcc and the biasing
resistors set the transistor operating point to conduct in the forward active
mode. With no signal current flow into the Base, no Collector current flows,
(transistor in cut-off) and the voltage on the Collector is the same as the
supply voltage, Vcc. A signal current into the Base causes a current to flow in
the Collector resistor, Rc generating a voltage drop across it which causes the
Collector voltage to drop.
Then the direction of change of the Collector voltage is opposite to the
direction of change on the Base, in other words, the polarity is reversed. Thus
the common emitter configuration produces a large voltage amplification and
a well defined DC voltage level by taking the output voltage from across the
collector as shown with resistor RL representing the load across the output.

Single Stage Common Emitter Amplifier

Hopefully by now we are able to calculate the values of the resistors required
for the transistor to operate in the middle of its linear active region, called the
quiescent point or Q point, but a quick refresher will help us understand better
how the amplifiers values were obtained so that we can use the above circuit
to find the input impedance of the amplifier.
Firstly lets start by making a few simple assumptions about the single stage
common emitter amplifier circuit above to define the operating point of the
transistor. The voltage drop across the the Emitter resistor, VRE = 1.5V, the
quiescent current, IQ = 1mA, the current gain (Beta) of the NPN transistor is
100 ( β = 100 ), and the corner or breakpoint frequency of the amplifier is
given as: ƒ-3dB = 40Hz.
As the quiescent current with no input signal flows through the Collector and
Emitter of the transistor, then we can say that: IC = IE = IQ = 1mA. So by using
Ohms Law:
With the transistor switched fully-ON (saturation), the voltage drop across the
Collector resistor, Rc will be half of Vcc – VRE to allow for maximum output
signal swing from peak-to-peak around the center point without clipping of the
output signal.

Note that the DC no signal voltage gain of the amplifier can be found from –
RC/RE. Also notice that the voltage gain is negative in value due to the fact that
the output signal has been inverted with respect to the original input signal.
As the NPN transistor is forward biased, the Base-Emitter junction acts like a
forward biased diode so the Base will be 0.7 volts more positive than the
Emitter voltage ( Ve + 0.7V ), therefore the voltage across the Base
resistor R2 will be:

If the two biasing resistors are already given, we can also use the following
standard voltage divider formula to find the Base voltage Vb across R2.

The information given stated that the quiescent current is 1mA. Thus the
transistor is biased with a Collector current of 1mA across the 12 volt
supply, Vcc. This Collector current is proportional to the Base current
as Ic = β*Ib. The DC current gain, Beta ( β ) of the transistor was given as
100, then the Base current flowing into the transistor will be:

The DC bias circuit formed by the voltage divider network of R1 and R2 sets

the DC operating point. The Base voltage was previously calculated at 2.2
volts then we need to establish the proper ratio of R1 to R2 to produce this
voltage value across the 12 volt supply, Vcc.
Generally, for a standard voltage divider DC biasing network of a common
emitter amplifier circuit, the current flowing through the lower resistor, R2 is
ten times greater than the DC current flowing into the Base. Then the value of
resistor, R2 can be calculated as:

The voltage dropped across resistor R1 will be the supply voltage minus the
Base bias voltage. Also if resistor R2 carries 10 times the Base current, upper
resistor R1 of the series chain must pass the current of R2 plus the transistors
actual Base current, Ib. In other words, 11 times the Base current as shown.

For a common emitter amplifier, the reactance Xc of the Emitter bypass

capacitor is usually one tenth (1/10th) the value of the Emitter resistor, RE at
the cut-off frequency point. The amplifiers specifications gave a -3dB corner
frequency of 40Hz, then the value of capacitor CE is calculated as:

Now we have the values established for our common emitter amplifier circuit
above, we can now look at calculating its input and output impedance of
amplifier as well as the values of the coupling capacitors C1 and C2.

Basic Emitter Amplifier Model

The generalised formula for the input impedance of any circuit is ZIN = VIN/IIN.
The DC bias circuit sets the DC operating “Q” point of the transistor and as
the input capacitor, C1 acts as an open circuit and blocks any DC voltage, at
DC (0Hz) the input impedance (ZIN) of the circuit will be extremely high.
However when an AC signal is applied to the input, the characteristics of the
circuit changes as capacitors act as short circuits at high frequencies and
pass AC signals.
The generalised formula for the AC input impedance of an amplifier looking
into the Base is given as ZIN = REQ||β(RE+ re). Where REQ is the equivalent
resistance to ground (0v) of the biasing network across the Base, and re is the
internal signal resistance of the forward biased Emitter layer. Then if we short
out the 12 volt power supply, Vcc to ground because Vcc appears as a short
to AC signals, we can redraw the common emitter circuit above as follows:

Amplifier Circuit Model

Then we can see that with the supply voltage shorted, there are a number of
resistors connected in parallel across the transistor. By taking the input side of
the transistor amplifier only and treating capacitor C1 as a short circuit to AC
signals, we can redraw the above circuit to define the input impedance of the
amplifier as:

Input Impedance of Amplifier

We said in the previous Common Emitter Amplifier tutorial that the internal
signal resistance of the Emitter layer was equal to the product
of 25mV ÷ Ie with this 25mV value being the internal volt drop and IE = IQ. Then
for our amplifier circuit above the equivalent AC resistance value re of the
Emitter diode is given as:

Emitter Leg Signal Resistance

Where re represents a small internal resistor in series with the Emitter.

Since Ic/Ib = β, then the value of the transistors Base impedance will be equal
to β*re. Note that if bypass capacitor CE is not included within the amplifiers
design, then the value becomes: β(RE+ re) significantly increasing the input
impedance of the amplifier.
In our example bypass capacitor, CE is included, therefore the input
impedance, ZIN of the common Emitter amplifier is the input impedance “seen”
by the AC source driving the amplifier and is calculated as:

Input Impedance Equation

This 2.2kΩ is the input impedance looking into the input terminal of the
amplifier. If the impedance value of the source signal is known, and in our
simple example above it is given as 1kΩ, then this value can be added or
summed with ZIN if required.
But lets assume for one minute that our circuit has no bypass
capacitor, CE connected. What would be the input impedance of the amplifier
without it. The equation would still be the same except for the addition of RE in
the β(RE+ re) part of the equation as the resistor will no longer be shorted at
high frequencies. Then the unbypassed input impedance of our amplifier
circuit without CE will be:

Input Impedance without Bypass Capacitor

Then we can see that the inclusion of the Emitter leg bypass capacitor makes
a huge difference to the input impedance of the circuit as the impedance goes
down from 15.8kΩ without it to 2.2kΩ with it in our example circuit. We will see
later that the addition of this bypass capacitor, CE also increases the amplifiers
gain.
In our calculations to find the input impedance of the amplifier, we have
assumed that the capacitors in the circuit have zero impedance (Xc = 0) for
AC signal currents, as well as infinite impedance (Xc = ∞) for DC biasing
currents. Now that we know the bypassed input impedance of the amplifier
circuit, we can use this value of 2.2kΩ to find the value of the input coupling
capacitor, C1 required at the specified cut-off frequency point which was given
previously as 40Hz. Therefore:

Input Coupling Capacitor Equation

Now that we have a value for the input impedance of our single stage
common Emitter amplifier circuit above, we can also obtain an expression for
the output impedance of the amplifier in a similar fashion.

Output Impedance of an Amplifier

The Output Impedance of an amplifier can be thought of as being the
impedance (or resistance) that the load sees “looking back” into the amplifier
when the input is zero. Working on the same principle as we did for the input
impedance, the generalised formula for the output impedance can be given
as: ZOUT = VCE/IC.
But the signal current flowing in the Collector resistor, RC also flows in the load
resistor, RL as the two are connected in series across Vcc. Then again, by
taking the output side of the transistor amplifier only and treating the output
coupling capacitor C2 as a short circuit to AC signals, we can redraw the
above circuit to define the output impedance of the amplifier as:

Output Impedance of Amplifier

Then we can see that the amplifiers output impedancee is equal to RC in
parallel with RL giving us an output resistance of:

Output Impedance Equation

Note that this value of 833Ω results from the fact that the load resistance is
connected across the transistor. If RL is omitted, then the output impedance of
the amplifier would be equal to the Collector resistor, RC only.
Now that we have a value for the output impedance of our amplifier circuit
above, we can calculate the value of the output coupling capacitor, C2 as
before at the 40Hz cut-off frequency point.

Output Coupling Capacitor Equation

Again the value of coupling capacitor C2 can be calculated either with or
without the inclusion of load resistor RL.

Common Emitter Voltage Gain

The voltage gain of a common emitter circuit is given
as Av = ROUT/REMITTER where ROUT represents the output impedance as seen in the
Collector leg and REMITTER is equal the the equivalent resistance in the Emitter
leg either with or without the bypass capacitor connected.
Without the bypass capacitor CE connected, (RE+ re).

and with the bypass capacitor CE connected, (re) only.

Then we can see that the inclusion of the bypass capacitor within the amplifier
design makes a dramatic change to the voltage gain, Av of our common
emitter circuit from 0.5 to 33. It also shows that the common emitter gain does
not go to infinity when the external emitter resistor is shorted by the bypass
capacitor at high frequencies but instead the gain goes to the finite value
of ROUT/re.
We have also seen that as the gain goes up the input impedance goes down
from 15.8kΩ without it to 2.2kΩ with it. The increase in voltage gain can be
considered an advantage in most amplifier circuits at the expense of a lower
input impedance.

Input Impedance Summary

In this tutorial we have seen that the input impedance of a common emitter
amplifier can be found by shorting out the supply voltage and treating the
voltage divider biasing circuit as resistors in parallel. The impedance “seen”
looking into the divider network (R1||R2) is generally much less that the
impedance looking directly into the transistors Base, β(RE+ re) as the AC input
signal changes the bias on the Base of the transistor controlling the current
flow through the transistor.
There are many ways to bias the transistor. Thus, there are many practical
single transistor amplifier circuits each with their own input impedance
equations and values. If you require the input impedance of the whole stage
plus source impedance, then you will need to consider Rs in series with the
base bias resistors as well, (Rs + R1||R2).
The output impedance of a common emitter stage is just equal to the collector
resistor in parallel with the load resistor (RC||RL) if connected otherwise its
just RC. The voltage gain, Av of the amplifier is dependant upon RC/RE.
The emitter bypass capacitor, CE can provide an AC path to ground for the
Emitter by shorting out the emitter resistor, RE at high frequencies and thus
leaving only the signal Emitter resistance, re in the Emitter leg circuit. The
effect of this results in an increase in the voltage gain of the amplifier (from 0.5
to 33) as the signal frequency increases. However, this also has the effect of
decreasing the amplifiers input impedance value, down from 18.5kΩ to 2.2kΩ
as shown.
With this bypass capacitor removed, the amplifiers voltage gain, Av decreases
and ZIN increases. One way to maintain a fixed amount of gain and input
impedance is to include an additional resistor in series with CE to create what
is called a “split-emitter” amplifier circuit that is a trade-off between an
unbypassed and a fully bypassed amplifier circuit. Note that the addition or
removal of this bypass capacitor has no effect on the amplifiers output
impedance.
Then we can see that the input and output impedances of an amplifier can
play an important role in defining the transfer characteristics of an amplifier
with regards to the relationship between the output current, Ic and the input
current, Ib. Knowing an amplifiers input impedance can help to graphically
construct a set of output characteristics curves for the amplifier.