Voltage Follower Circuit Schematic With Explanation
Two examples of the most common types of Voltage followers (buffers). You can find some theory behind them in our amplifier gain and buffer amplifier pages.Transistor voltage follower:
This first circuit is a very simple one transistor voltage follower. Consist of two biasing resistors, and one other resistor at the emitter to acquire the output voltage from.
How it works:
The first to resistors connected to the transistor's base are forming a voltage divider, in order to set a biasing point for the transistor to work in our desired range. Then the transistor, our gain component for the circuit which in this case is only used as a gateway to isolate two circuit stages.
The resistor in the emitter is used to create a voltage from the current passing from the transistor; Without it we can't get any voltage as our output would be effectively shorted to ground (0 volts).
The capacitors that are displayed in the schematic are optional, but very useful to prevent a wrong operation of the circuit, specially in audio or high frequency uses. they stop any DC voltage to move or otherwise disrupt the bias point of the transistor, thus causing undesired operation. If you build this circuit only with dc remove the capacitors, as they will prevent the circuit from functioning under those conditions.
Transistor voltage follower
Op Amp Voltage Follower:
This circuit's operation is far more predictable and stable than the transistor version, and also requires less external components.
How it works:
Works as described above, no external elements to explain. This circuit uses feedback to maintain the voltage output the same as the input. Note that this schematic does not display power, ground and other connections for the op amp, these vary widely among manufacturers and op amps so refer to your op amp's datasheet for pinouts and power connections.
Opamp voltage follower
