The common collector amplifier, often called an emitter follower since its output is taken from the emitter resistor, is useful as an impedance matching device since its input impedance is much higher than its output impedance. It is also termed a "buffer" for this reason and is used in digital circuits with basic gates.

The common collector junction transistor amplifier is commonly called an emitter follower. The voltage gain of an emitter follower is just a little less than one since the emitter voltage is constrained at the diode drop of about 0.6 volts below the base . Its function is not voltage gain but current or power gain and impedance matching. It's input impedance is much higher than its output impedance so that a signal source does not have to work so hard. This can be seen from the fact that the base current in on the order of 100 times less that the emitter current. The low output impedance of the emitter follower matches a low impedance load and buffers the signal source from that low impedance.