Introduction to Amplifiers

Amplifiers usually use electronic devices operating in the Active Region

A BJT is used as an amplifier when biased in the forward-active region
The FET can be used as amplifier if operated in the pinch-off or
saturation region
In these regions, transistors can provide high voltage, current and power
gains
Bias is provided to stabilize the operating point (the Q-Point) in the desired
region of operation
Q-point also determines
Small-signal parameters of transistor
Voltage gain, input resistance, output resistance
Maximum input and output signal amplitudes
Power consumption
1

Transistor Amplifiers
BJT Amplifier Concept

The BJT is biased in the active region by dc voltage source VBE. Q-point is
set at (IC, VCE) = (1.5 mA, 5 V) with IB = 15 mA (bF = 100)
Total base-emitter voltage is: vBE = VBE + vbe

Collector-emitter voltage is: vCE = 10 iCRC This is the load line equation.
2

Transistor Amplifiers
BJT Amplifier (cont.)
vCE = 10 iCRC =10- boiBRC
If changes in operating currents and
voltages are small enough, then iC and vCE
waveforms are undistorted replicas of the
input signal.
A small voltage change at the base causes
a large voltage change at collector.
Voltage gain is given by:

Vce 1.65180o
o
A
=
=
=
206180
= -206
v
o
8 mV peak change in vBE gives 5 mA change
Vbe 0.0080
in iB and 0.5 mA change in iC.

0.5 mA change in iC produces a 1.65 V

change in vCE .

Minus sign indicates 180o phase shift

between the input and output signals.
3

Transistor Amplifiers
MOSFET Amplifier Concept
Av =

Vds
Vgs

4180 o
Av =
10 o
Av = -4.00

MOSFET is biased in active region by dc voltage source VGS. Q-point is set at

(ID, VDS) = (1.56 mA, 4.8 V) with VGS = 3.5 V
Total gate-source voltage is: vGS = VGS + vgs

1 Vp-p change in vGS yields 1.25 mAp-p change in iD and a 4 Vp-p change in vDS
4

Transistor Amplifiers
Coupling and Bypass Capacitors
Capacitors are designed to provide
negligible impedance at frequencies of
interest and provide open circuits at dc.
C1 and C2 are low impedance coupling
capacitors or dc blocking capacitors
whose reactance at the signal frequency
is designed to be negligible.

ac coupling through capacitors is

used to inject ac input signal and
extract output signal without
disturbing Q-point

C3 is a bypass capacitor that provides a

low impedance path for ac current from
emitter to ground, thereby removing RE
(required for good Q-point stability)
from the circuit when ac signals are
considered.
5

Transistor Amplifiers
dc and ac Analysis Two Step Analysis
dc analysis:
Find dc equivalent circuit by replacing all capacitors by open circuits
and inductors by short circuits.
Find Q-point from dc equivalent circuit by using appropriate largesignal transistor model.
ac analysis:
Find ac equivalent circuit by replacing all capacitors by short circuits,
inductors by open circuits, dc voltage sources by ground connections
and dc current sources by open circuits.
Replace transistor by its small-signal model
Use small-signal ac equivalent to analyze ac characteristics of amplifier.
Combine end results of dc and ac analysis to yield total voltages and
currents in the network.
6

Transistor Amplifiers
dc Equivalent Circuit for BJT Amplifier

All capacitors in the original amplifier circuit are replaced

by open circuits, disconnecting vI , RI , and R3 from circuit.

Transistor Amplifiers
ac Equivalent Circuit for BJT Amplifier
Capacitors are replaced by short circuits

RB R1 R2 100k 300k
RL RC R3 22k 100k
8

Transistor Amplifiers
dc and ac Equivalents for a MOSFET Amplifier
Full circuit

ac equivalent

dc equivalent

Simplified ac equivalent

Small-Signal Operation
Diode Small-Signal Model
The slope of the diode characteristic at the
Q-point is called the diode conductance
and is given by:

Diode resistance is given by:

rd = 1
gd
10

Small-Signal Operation
Diode Small-Signal Model (cont.)
gd is small but non-zero for ID = 0
because slope of diode equation is
nonzero at the origin.
At the origin, the diode conductance
and resistance are given by:

IS
gd =
VT

VT
and rd =
IS

11

Small-Signal Operation
BJT Small-Signal Model (The Hybrid-Pi Model)

The bipolar transistor is assumed to be operating in the Forward-Active Region:

vBE vCE
iC @ I S exp 1+

VT VA
Using a two-port y-parameter network:

and

iB @

iC

bF

(VCE VBE )

ic = gm vbe + go vce
ib = gp vbe + gr vce

The port variables can represent either time-varying part of total voltages and
currents or small changes in them away from Q-point values.
12

Small-Signal Operation
BJT Small-Signal Model (The Hybrid-Pi Model)

ic = gm vbe + go vce
ib = gp vbe + gr vce
vBE vCE
iC @ I S exp
1+

VT VA
i
iB @ C

gm =
go =
gp =

bF

bo is called the small-signal commonemitter current gain of the BJT.

gr =

ic
vbe
ic
vce
ib
vbe
ib
vce

=
vce=0

=
vbe=0

=
vce=0

=
vbe=0

iC
vBE
iC
vCE
iB
vBE
iB
vCE

IC
VT

IC
VA + VT

IC
boVT

Q-point

Q-point

Q-point

=0
Q-point

13

Small-Signal Operation
BJT Hybrid-Pi Model - Summary
Transconductance:

gm = IC @ 40IC
VT
Input resistance:
The hybrid-pi small-signal model is the
intrinsic representation of the BJT.
Small-signal parameters are controlled
by the Q-point and are independent of
geometry of the BJT

rp = boVT = bo or bo = gmrp
IC gm
Output resistance:

ro = VA +VCE @ VA
IC
IC

14

BJT Small-Signal Operation

Equivalent Forms of Small-Signal Model

Voltage-controlled current source gmvbe can be transformed into current-controlled

current source,

vbe = ib rp
gm vbe = gmib rp = boib
ic = boib +

vce
@ boib
ro

Basic relationship ic = bib is useful in both dc and ac analysis when the BJT is in
the forward-active region.
15

BJT Small-Signal Operation

Small-Signal Definition

For linearity, ic should be proportional to vbe with vbe << 2VT or vbe 0.005 V.

vbe
v
iC @ IC 1+ = IC + IC be = IC + gm vbe
VT
VT

The change in ic that corresponds to small-signal operation is:

ic vbe 0.005V
=

= 0.200
IC VT 0.025V
16

Common-Emitter Amplifiers
Small-Signal Analysis - ac Equivalent Circuit

ac equivalent circuit is constructed by assuming that all capacitances

have zero impedance at signal frequency and dc voltage sources are ac
ground.
Assume that Q-point is already known.

Common-Emitter Amplifiers
Small-Signal Equivalent Circuit

Input voltage is applied to the base terminal

Output signal appears at collector terminal
Emitter is common to both input and output signals
Thus circuit is termed a Common-Emitter (C-E) Amplifier.
The terminal gain of the C-E amplifier is the gain from the base
terminal to the collector terminal

AvtCE =

vc
= -gm RL
vb

RL = ro RC R3

Common-Emitter Amplifiers
Input Resistance and Signal Source Gain
(bo +1)RE

RiB

Define RiB as the input resistance looking into

the base of the transistor:

Rin RI RB RiB RI RB r

The input resistance presented to vi is:

The signal source voltage gain is:

vb
r
ib

CE
v

RB r
vo vo vb
CE

Avt
vi vb vi
RI RB r

Small-Signal Operation
MOSFET Small-Signal Model
gp =
gr =

Using a two-port y-parameter network,

ig = gp vgs + gr vds
id = gm vgs + go vds
The port variables can represent either
time-varying part of total voltages and
currents or small changes in them away
from Q-point values.

gm =
go =

ig
vgs

=
vds =0

ig
vds
id
vgs
id
vds

=
vds =0

=
vds =0

=
vds =0

iG
vGS

Q-point

iG
vDS

Q-point

iD
vGS

Q-point

iD
vDS

Q-point

IG = 0
ID =

Kn
2
(VGS - VTN ) (1+ lVDS )
2

Small-Signal Operation
MOSFET Small-Signal Model (cont.)
IG = 0
ID =
gp =
gr =

ig = gp vgs + gr vds
id = gm vgs + go vds

gm =
go =

Kn
2
(VGS -VTN ) (1+ lVDS )
2

iG
vGS
iG
vDS
iD
vGS
iD
vDS

=0
Q-point

=0
Q-point

=
Q-point

Kn
2I D
(VGS -VTN ) (1+ lVDS ) =
2
VGS -VTN

=l
Q-point

Kn
2
lID
ID
=
(VGS -VTN ) =
2
1+ lVDS 1 +V
DS

Small-Signal Operation
MOSFET Small-Signal Model - Summary
Transconductance:

gm =

Since gate is insulated from

channel by gate-oxide input
resistance of transistor is infinite.
Small-signal parameters are
controlled by the Q-point.
For the same operating point,
MOSFET has lower
transconductance and an output
resistance that is similar to the BJT.

2I D = 2K I
n D
VGS -VTN

Output resistance:

ro = 1 = 1+lVDS @ 1
go
lID lID
Amplification factor for lVDS<<1:

m f = gmro = 1+lVDS @ 1
lID l

2Kn
ID

Common-Source Amplifiers
Small-Signal Analysis - ac Equivalent Circuit

ac equivalent circuit is constructed by assuming that all capacitances

have zero impedance at signal frequency and dc voltage sources are ac
ground.

Common-Source Amplifiers
Small-Signal Equivalent Circuit

Input voltage is applied to the gate terminal

Output signal appears at the drain terminal
Source is common to both input and output signals
Thus circuit is termed a Common-Source (C-S) Amplifier.
The terminal gain of the C-S amplifier is the gain from the gate
terminal to the drain terminal
CE
vt

vd
= = -gm RL
vg

RL = ro RD R3

Design example
VBE(on)=0.7 V
b= 100

10 V

Calculate corner frequency and maximum gain

51.2 k

2 k

Steps:
1) Perform DC analysis
- Quiescent currents and voltages

0.1 k

1 F

9.6 k

0.4 k

2) Perform small signal AC analysis

- calculate small signal parameters gm
and r
3) Determine the time constant of the
circuit and then the corner frequency

Design example
10 V

VBE(on)=0.7 V
b= 100

51.2 k

1) DC analysis:
The circuit is analyzed by forming a
Thevenin equivalent circuit
2 k

Equivalent Thevenin voltage is:

0.1 k

And the equivalent Thevenin resistance is:

1 F
9.6 k

Substituting,

0.4 k

Applying Kirchhoffs Law around B-E loop:

Base current will be:

And collector current will be:

Design example
2) Small signal AC analysis:
Calculate small signal hybrid- model
parameters : r and gm
Resistance r is the diffusion resistance or baseemitter input resistance, given by:

The transconductance parameter gm is calculated as:

Design example
3) Determining time constant:
From the hybrid- model, determine time
constant as a function of equivalent resistance
seen by the capacitor

Equivalent resistance seen by the capacitor:

RTH ( RSi Ri ) RSi ( RB // Rib ) RSi ( RB //[ r (1 b ) RE ])

Time constant:

Corner frequency:

S RTH C ( RSi Ri )CC

fl

1
2 S

Multistage ac-coupled Amplifiers

A 3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

MOSFET M1operating in the C-S configuration provides high input resistance and
moderate voltage gain.
BJT Q2 in a C-E configuration, the second stage, provides high gain.
BJT Q3, an emitter-follower gives low output resistance and buffers the high gain
stage from the relatively low value of load resistance.

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Description

Input and output of overall amplifier is ac-coupled through capacitors C1 and C6.
Bypass capacitors C2 and C4 are used to get maximum voltage gain from the two
inverting amplifiers.
Interstage coupling capacitors C3 and C5 transfer ac signals between amplifiers but
provide isolation at dc and prevent Q-points of the transistors from being affected.

In the ac equivalent circuit, bias resistors are replaced by RB2 = R1||R2 and
RB3 = R3||R4

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

dc Equivalent Circuit

At dc, the capacitors isolate each individual

transistor stage from the others. Thus, the bias
point for each transistor may be found using
the single transistor analysis methods.

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

ac and Small-Signal Equivalent Circuits

ac Equivalent

Small-signal
Equivalent

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Input Resistance and Voltage Gain

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Output Resistance
To find output resistance, a test
voltage is applied at amplifier
output.

Rout

Rout

vx
ix

ix ir ie

vx
v
x
3300 Rout 3

v
R
x 3300 Rout 3 3300
th 3
ix
gm3 bo3 1

To find Rth3, a test voltage is

applied to the output of Q2.

Rth 3

vx
CE
RI 2 Rout
RI 2 ro 2 4.31k 54.2k 3.99k
ix

3990
1
Rout 3300

62.4
81
79.6mS

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Current and Power Gain

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Input and Output Signal Range

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

SPICE Simulation Circuit

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

SPICE Simulation Results

Av = 1000

fL = 500 Hz

fH = 500 kHz

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

SPICE Simulation Results
vin = 100 mV

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

SPICE Simulation Results
vin = 750 mV

40

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Short-Circuit Time Constant Estimate for fL
An estimate for the lower cutoff frequency for an amplifier
with multiple coupling and bypass capacitors is given by the
sum of the reciprocals of the "short-circuit" time constants:
1 n 1
fL @

2p i=1 RiS Ci
where RiS is the resistance at the terminals of the ith capacitor
with all the other capacitors shorted.
41

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Short-Circuit Time Constant Estimate for fL
C1 : R1S = RI + RG = 1.01 MW
C2 : R2S = RS1 RiS1 = RS1

1
1
= 200W
= 66.7 W
gm1
0.01S

C3 : R3S = RD1 + RI1 RiB2 = RD1 + RI1 rp 2 = 620W +17.2kW 2.39kW = 2.72 kW
C4 : R4S = RE 2 RiE 2 = RE 2

2.39kW +17.2kW 0.620kW

rp 2 + Rth2
= 1.5kW
= 19.2 W
bo2 +1
151

C5 : R5S = RC + RI 2 RiB3 = RL + RI 2 rp 3 (1+ gm3 RL3 )

R5S = 4.7kW + 51.8kW 1.0kW1+ 0.0796S ( 232W) = 18.9 kW
C6 : R6S = RL + RE 3 RiE 3 = RL + RE 3
R6S = 250W + 3.3kW

rp 3 + Rth3
bo3 +1

1.0kW + 51.8kW 4.7kW

= 315 W
81
42

3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Short-Circuit Time Constant Estimate for fL
fL @

1
1
1
1
1
[
+
+
+
2p 1.01MW ( 22m F ) 66.7W ( 22m F ) 2.72kW ( 22m F ) 19.2W ( 22m F )
+

1
1
+
] = 511 Hz
18.9kW ( 22m F ) 315W ( 22m F )

fL

fH

43