Buffer Amplifiers

The term 'buffer amplifier' generally refers to an amplifier whose main function is to provide isolation, rather than amplification. The most common buffer amplifier application is between an oscillator and the power amplifier stages in a transmitter. The oscillating frequency of most oscillators depends in part on the load impedances they drive. The load impedances imposed by power amplifiers tend to change as they are tuned and also as power to them is modulated, if it is modulated. Buffer amplifiers isolate oscillators from those changes and substantially reduce their effects on oscillator frequency. Although that is the most common application, buffer amplifiers are used more generally in any signal processing application where it is important to isolate the effects of changes in one circuit from another. ©2005 Tigertek, Inc. All rights reserved.

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