If some percentage of an amplifier’s output signal is connected to
the input, so that the amplifier amplifies part of its own output
signal, we have what is known as feedback. Feedback comes in two varieties: positive (also called regenerative), and negative (also called degenerative).
Positive feedback reinforces the direction of an amplifier’s output
voltage change, while negative feedback does just the opposite.
A familiar example of feedback happens in public-address (“PA”)
systems where someone holds the microphone too close to a speaker: a
high-pitched “whine” or “howl” ensues, because the audio amplifier
system is detecting and amplifying its own noise. Specifically, this is
an example of positive or regenerative feedback, as
any sound detected by the microphone is amplified and turned into a
louder sound by the speaker, which is then detected by the microphone
again, and so on . . . the result being a noise of steadily increasing
volume until the system becomes “saturated” and cannot produce any more
volume.
One might wonder what possible benefit feedback is to an amplifier
circuit, given such an annoying example as PA system “howl.” If we
introduce positive, or regenerative, feedback into an amplifier circuit,
it has the tendency of creating and sustaining oscillations, the
frequency of which determined by the values of components handling the
feedback signal from output to input. This is one way to make an oscillator
circuit to produce AC from a DC power supply. Oscillators are very
useful circuits, and so feedback has a definite, practical application
for us. See “Phase shift oscillator” , Ch 9 for a practical application
of positive feedback.
Negative feedback, on the other hand, has a “dampening” effect on an
amplifier: if the output signal happens to increase in magnitude, the
feedback signal introduces a decreasing influence into the input of the
amplifier, thus opposing the change in output signal. While positive
feedback drives an amplifier circuit toward a point of instability
(oscillations), negative feedback drives it the opposite direction:
toward a point of stability.
An amplifier circuit equipped with some amount of negative feedback
is not only more stable, but it distorts the input waveform less and is
generally capable of amplifying a wider range of frequencies. The
tradeoff for these advantages (there just has to be a
disadvantage to negative feedback, right?) is decreased gain. If a
portion of an amplifier’s output signal is “fed back” to the input to
oppose any changes in the output, it will require a greater input signal
amplitude to drive the amplifier’s output to the same amplitude as
before. This constitutes a decreased gain. However, the advantages of
stability, lower distortion, and greater bandwidth are worth the
tradeoff in reduced gain for many applications.
Let’s examine a simple amplifier circuit and see how we might introduce negative feedback into it, starting with Figure below.

Common-emitter amplifier without feedback.