A p p l i c at i o n N o t e

AN3009
Phototransistor Switching Time Analysis
Authors: Van N. Tran Staff Application Engineer, CEL Opto Semiconductors
Robert Stuart, CEL Product Marketing Manager
Hardik Bhavsar, San Jose State University

Introduction
A standard optocoupler provides signal transfer between
an isolated input and output via an infrared Emitting Diode
(IRED) and a silicon phototransistor. Optical isolation sends
a beam of infrared energy to an optical receiver in a single
package with a light-conducting medium between the
emitter and detector. This mechanism provides complete
electrical isolation of electronic circuits from input to output
while transmitting information from one side to the other,
and from one voltage potential to another.
use with digital circuits, and other situations where data or
pulse-edge events communicate between units.
Parameter Definition
Rise time is the interval of time it takes a waveform, here the
output voltage (Vout) to increase from 10 percent to its 90
percent of its peak value, as shown in figure A.
Fall time is the time interval required for a waveform,
here the output voltage (Vout) to decrease from 90%
to 10 percent of its peak value, as shown in figure A.

This application note addresses the rise and fall time char-
acteristics of a phototransistor used in common circuits,
compared to an improved circuit. Most common optocou-
plers have a limited switching speed when used in general- 90%
purpose applications. Here we explain the basic operating Output
behavior and outline a method to increase the operating Waveforms
speed behavior of the optocoupler. This modified circuit 10%
may provide an alternative in some cases where faster
switching edge times are required. tf
tr

Some 6-pin optocouplers provide an electrical access pin to

the base of the phototransistor, allowing a bias voltage to
the base, to improve response time. The drawback to a base
pin is that it provides an access point for noise into the pho-
totransistor. Any external bias configuration must consider
noise limitation, as well as not loading capacitance onto the
base pin, which will affect device performance.
The circuit described here is one method for switching time
improvement with a 4-pin package optocoupler without a
base-bias pin. The optocoupler output transistor retains ba-
sic bipolar characteristics that may be leveraged for better
circuit performance.
This discussion is around NEC phototransistor optocoupler
PS2501-1-A in DIP 4 package and general-purpose PNP
transistor 2N4402 arbitrarily chosen; a load resistor of 4.7
k-Ohms, the IRED is pulsed at 1.0 kHz with 50% duty cycle
for the measurements at nominal room temperature.
The circuit is at 5 Volts, a common operating voltage for
Signal Levels
Figure A. Signal levels
Current Transfer Ratio (CTR) is the gain of the optocoupler. It
is the ratio of the phototransistor collector current compared
to the IRED forward current.
CTR = (IC / IF) * 100
and is expressed as a percentage.
The CTR depends on the current gain (hfe) of the transistor,
the voltage between its collector and emitter, the forward
current through the IRED and operating temperature.
When starting a new design, check the operating conditions
and verify your assumptions and calculations by checking a
few component samples to ensure the results are similar.

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 AN3009

Summary table of rise and fall time in

different configurations

Tr Tf CTR

Common Collector (Fig 1) 4.6 µs 87.1 µs 331%

Common Emitter (Fig 2) 89.5 µs 4.7 µs 335%

Cascode Configuration
5.4 µs 37.7 µs 309%
with Rb = 1KΩ (Fig 3)
Cascode Configuration
30.7 µs 5.8 µs 305%
with rb = 1KΩ (Fig 4)

The data in the table were measured at Ta = 25˚C, Vcc = 5.0

V, If = 5.0 mA at RL = 100Ω for CTR measurement and 4.7kΩ Figure 1A: CTR, Tr and Tf vs. IF (mA) for Common Collector Configuration
for tr/tf measurement.

The Common Emitter Configuration

The Common - Collector Configuration (Fig. 1.0)
The collector is the common point of this transistor circuit,
and the output taken at the emitter. The output transitions
from a low state to a high state when the optocoupler input
transitions high.
IF
VCC
In contrast to the common-collector amplifier circuit, the
common emitter amplifier circuit (Fig.2.0) has the output
taken from the collector. This circuit output transitions from
a high state to a low state when the input transitions high.
The output resistor is between the voltage supply and the
collector pin of the transistor, and the output voltage goes
low when the phototransistor is on. The graph of CTR, rise
time (tr) and fall time (tf ) as a function of forward current (If )
at Vcc = 5 V @Ta = 25°C is shown in Fig. 2A.

VCC

VOUT RL

100 Ω RL If

VOUT

D1 Q1

Common Collector Amplifier

100 Ω
Figure 1.0: Common Collector Amplifier

The output voltage is at the load resistor between the emit-

ter pin and ground.
Figure 2.0: Common Emitter Amplifier
The graph of CTR, rise time (tr) and fall time (tf ) as a func-
tion of forward current (IF) at Vcc = 5 V @Ta = 25°C is shown
in Fig. 1A

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Figure 2A: CTR, Tr and Tf vs. IF (mA) for Common Emitter Configuration
Rise and Fall Time considerations
In the common collector configura- Miller C
tion, the rise time performance is
much better due to the absence of
the Miller capacitance-multiplication
effect.
In the common emitter configuration,
the transistor collector-base capacitance Ccb is the feedback
capacitance. The Miller capacitance characteristic amplifies
the capacitance seen by the input, and the result becomes
much larger:
C’1 = Ccb(1 + gm *RL) >> Ccb
where gm is the transconductance of the phototransistor. As
a result, C’1 becomes very large due to the gain characteris-
tic of the transistor and limits the higher cutoff frequency of
the signal. Circuit test data shows this effect. For the Com-
mon Emitter circuit, the output-signal rise time will be slow
and the fall time will be faster.
For the Common Collector, the Miller capacitance is absent.
As a result, its bandwidth is greater. Here, the rise time is
fast and the fall time is slow. The next step is to find a circuit
that will improve the rise and fall time to meet overall speed
requirements.
AN3009
Improved Circuit with
Figure 4.0: Optocouplers used toCascode
drive discreteTopology
components forfor
motor
active high (Fig. 3.0)drive application.
The typical Cascode circuit topology overcomes the effects
of Miller capacitance amplification. The Cascode topology
is effective by implementing an additional PNP transistor,
Q2, and a resistive divider network to bias the base of Q2.
However, in the example, a bias resistor, Rb, enables the
bias point on Q2 to demonstrate relative rise and fall time
improvement. If the bias point needs to be pinned at a fixed
voltage point, other bias methods such as including a Zener
diode should be considered.
1. Placing VB of Q2 transistor at ground creates a grounded-
base amplifier. Grounding either end of the Miller Capaci-
tance helps eliminate its influence. However, the output
signal will only go as high as ~0.7V.
2. Placing Rb to connect the base of Q2 to ground (another
bias method would be a resistive divider network to the base
of Q2) as a demonstration, it provides a bias where the out-
put can swing to
Vcc – Vbe( saturation of Q1) –Vbe (saturation of Q2)
This is a self-bias configuration and the bias point on Q2 will
change as base current changes. The Cascode configuration
(Fig. 3) used in this design provides active high logic similar
to the common collector configuration. The design used here
incorporates a general-purpose PNP transistor Q2, 2N4402,
placed as a common base amplifier, with the load connected
to the collector of the 2N4402.
If VCC
Q1
D1
Vb
Q2
VOUT
100 Ω
RL Rb
Figure 3: Additonal Transistor with Common Base Configuration
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 AN3009

This configuration leads to overall improvement in rise and
fall times of the signals under the same drive condition: Load
resistor 4.7 kΩ, pulsed at 1.0 kHz with 50% duty cycle at room
temperature TA=25°C, and Vcc = +5V.
In this topology, the phototransistor does not see the load
resistor RL, only the input resistance of the common base
transistor Q2,
This configuration is duality of the cascode topology in figure
3.0. An NPN transistor, 2N4400, is used and a resistor divider
network may be used to bias the 2N4400. Following our previ-
ous example, for the purpose of measuring rise time (tr) and
fall time (tf ), rb as shown in figure 4.0 is used.
VCC

re = 25 mV / Ic (in mA.) rb RL

The switching time is strongly dependent on the photocurrent Ic. VOUT

Q1
For example, at VB= 0V or grounded, IF = 5 mA, the photocur- If

rent Ic = 5.16 mA (CTR = 103%), the phototransistor would

see a load of re = 4.84 Ω instead of the actual load resistance
RL= 4.7 kΩ. As a result, the rise time is faster and fall time is
about the same in comparison to the common collector con-
figuration data as shown in figure 1A.
100 Ω
Figure 3 below shows the CTR, rise time (tr) and fall time (tf)
as a function of forward current under Vcc = 5 V, RL = 4.7KΩ,
pulsed at 1.0KHz with 50% duty cycle, Rb = 1KΩ @Ta = 25C.

Figure 4: Additonal Transistor with Common Base Configuration

Either Cascode configuration leads to an overall improve-

ment in rise and fall times of the signals under the same drive
condition: Load resistor 4.7 kΩ, pulsed at 1.0 kHz with 50%
duty cycle at TA=25°C, Rb = 1K Ω and Vcc = +5V.

Figure 4A below shows the CTR, rise time (tr) and fall time (tf )
as a function of forward current under Vcc = 5 V @Ta = 25C

Figure 3: Current Transfere Ratio (CTR), T and Tf VS. Forward Current (IF) for
cascode configuration using PNP transistor for active high

Improved Circuit with Cascode

Topology for active low (Fig. 4.0)

For certain applications where the designer would like to

improve the switching time with similar common emitter to-
Figure 4A: Current Transfere Ratio (CTR), Tr and Tf VS. Forward Current
pology that provides active low output, the Cascode topology (IF) for cascode configuration using NPN transistor for active low
using an additional NPN transistor is shown here.

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Additional info of the Rise Time, Fall Time and
CTR vs. Forward Current, If (mA) from different
Topologies
Following are the graphs for reference based on different
topologies with the same load RL=4.7KΩ to measure rise
time (tr), fall time (tf ), and RL= 100 to measure CTR, Vcc =
5V, Rb = 1KΩ for cascode topology and the measurement
was made at Ta = 25C:
1. Active low using common emitter and cascode:
2. Active high using common collector and cascode:
AN3009
Performance comparisons for Common Collector, Common
Emitter and our Cascode circuits at various base resistor val-
ues are shown in data tables in the Appendix. As well, we
have included data for the traditional Cascode circuit for
comparison. In some cases, it may serve better, depending
on circuit topology.
The alternating behavior of the Common Collector and Com-
mon Emitter circuit with regard to rise and fall times is clearly
seen in the data. The modified Cascode at Vb=0V has the
best performance, though with the lowest output signal. The
rise time of the modified Cascode at Vb=1 kΩ is similar to the
Common Collector circuit, and significantly faster than the
Common Emitter. Performance is adjusted at the bias volt-
age, with a tradeoff in collector and base currents through
the transistors.
The fall time of the modified Cascode is faster than the stan-
dard Common Collector stage, though not as fast as the Com-
mon Emitter on its own. Pick the active high or active low
requirement to fit your application. The traditional Cascode
topology has corollary performance for rise and fall times, as
seen in the data in the Appendix.
Note that all of the above is dependent on the optocoupler,
the transistor chosen and the operating voltage of the circuit.
This topology offers some improvements over a single Com-
mon Collector or Common Emitter stage, with the addition of
two inexpensive components.
Our intent is to show different configurations for a standard
optocoupler to provide circuit improvements without adding
significant cost.
Conclusion:
Besides the general circuit configurations, such as Common
Emitter or Common Collector, the Cascode configuration
can improve the switching time and behavior of the circuit
by adding either a NPN or PNP transistor as in the examples
shown. In short, remember that the optocoupler has a tran-
sistor output that may be leveraged similar to any other tran-
sistor to overcome inherent device behavior. This paper pro-
vides a general design idea that can be used as a reference
to meet design needs.
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 AN3009

Appendix
These tables show data collected from the Cascode with PNP transistor (2N4402) circuit at: Load resistor is 4.7 kΩ, pulsed at 1.0
kHz with 50% duty cycle at room temperature (TA=25 degrees) and Vcc = +5V. CTR measurements were taken with RL = 110 Ω, to
create a similar comparison environment. Rise and fall time measurements were with the RL = 4.7 kΩ.

CTR Rb Rb Rb Rb
If (mA) 100 'W 470 ‘W 1000 ‘W 10,000 ‘W
1 215 211 222 222
2 280 284 287 284
3 255 291 303 310
4 241 295 309 327
5 225 294 309 327
6 215 285 303 318
7 205 270 283 294
8 189 245 257 268
9 174 223 236 246
10 160 207 222 225

Ic (mA) Rb Rb Rb Rb
If (mA) 100 ‘W 470 ‘W 1000 ‘W 10,000 ‘W
1 2.15 2.11 2.22 2.218
2 5.60 5.67 5.75 5.673
3 7.64 8.73 9.09 9.309
4 9.64 11.82 12.36 13.091
5 11.27 14.68 15.45 16.364
6 12.91 17.09 18.18 19.091
7 14.36 18.91 19.80 20.545
8 15.09 19.64 20.55 21.455
9 15.64 20.09 21.27 22.182
10 16.00 20.73 22.18 22.545

Trise (us) Rb Rb Rb Rb
If (mA) 100 ‘W 470 ‘W 1000 ‘W 10,000 ‘W
1 6.1 10.5 16.0 28.3
2 5.6 10.3 13.7 8.8
3 5.6 8.8 7.9 6.1
4 5.6 6.7 6.2 5.3
5 5.4 6.1 5.4 4.7
6 5.4 5.6 5.2 4.4
7 5.0 5.1 4.6 4.4
8 5.1 5.3 4.6 4.1
9 4.6 5.5 4.3 4.1
10 4.5 6.1 4.3 4.1

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 AN3009

Appendix (Continued)

Tfall (us) Rb Rb Rb Rb
If (mA) 100 ‘W 470 ‘W 1000 ‘W 10,000 ‘W
1 50.3 42.0 41.0 70.0
2 43.6 34.6 36.0 69.0
3 38.5 32.3 36.0 69.5
4 34.5 31.5 36.0 68.0
5 33.0 30.1 37.7 69.5
6 32.5 31.0 36.7 69.4
7 32.0 31.0 36.8 69.2
8 31.4 31.5 36.0 69.1
9 31.1 33.9 36.0 69.1
10 31.1 35.2 36.2 69.1

These tables show data collected from a standard Cascode circuit using an NPN transistor 2N4400 at: Load resistor is 4.7 kΩ,
pulsed at 1.0 kHz with 50% duty cycle at room temperature (TA=25 degrees) and Vcc = +5V. CTR measurements were taken with
RL = 110 Ω, to create a similar comparison environment. Rise and fall time measurements were with the RL = 4.7 kΩ.

CTR Rb Rb Rb Rb
If (mA) 100 ‘W 470 ‘W 1000 ‘W 10,000 ‘W
1 227 227 218 227
2 255 255 255 292
3 242 269 291 314
4 237 291 309 327
5 219 291 305 320
6 213 279 303 314
7 197 260 281 281
8 191 240 255 260
9 170 219 234 242
10 160 204 218 218

Ic (mA) Rb Rb Rb Rb
If (mA) 100 ‘W 470 ‘W 1000 ‘W 10,000 ‘W
1 2.273 2.273 2.182 2.273
2 5.091 5.091 5.091 5.845
3 7.273 8.073 8.727 9.427
4 9.473 11.636 12.364 13.091
5 10.927 14.545 15.273 16.000
6 12.773 16.727 18.182 18.864
7 13.818 18.182 19.636 19.655
8 15.273 19.164 20.364 20.782
9 15.273 19.709 21.091 21.782
10 16.000 20.364 21.773 21.818

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 AN3009

Appendix (Continued)

Trise (us) Rb Rb Rb Rb
If (mA) 100 ‘W 470 ‘W 1000 ‘W 10,000 ‘W

1 42.0 45.6 43.0 71.2

2 42.0 32.0 31.7 71.6
3 34.6 24.0 32.1 71.4
4 34.4 24.0 32.4 71.7
5 32.7 24.1 30.7 71.5
6 27.0 25.1 31.1 71.7
7 26.6 25.3 30.9 71.8
8 27.6 26.7 30.6 71.6
9 26.6 29.8 31.6 71.5
10 27.5 28.2 31.6 71.4

Tfall (us) Rb Rb Rb Rb
If (mA) 100 ‘W 470 ‘W 1000 ‘W 10,000 ‘W
1 6.5 11.5 16.0 31.2
2 6.0 10.3 13.7 8.9
3 6.0 9.1 7.9 6.2
4 6.1 6.7 6.5 5.2
5 5.9 5.7 5.8 4.7
6 5.3 6.1 5.2 4.5
7 5.1 5.7 4.6 4.2
8 5.1 6.2 4.3 4.3
9 4.8 6.3 4.6 3.8
10 4.9 6.2 4.4 3.9

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