ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS

LESSON 11 CONCEPT OF TEMPERATURE STABILITY IN TRANSISTOR BIASING

Objective
I will be explain you the concept of temperature stability in transistor biasing This is similar to the self bias circuit with one difference: the base resistor Rb is returned to the transistor collector instead of the supply voltage. The reason for this is simple; if the transistor used had a high current gain, then the collector voltage would fall. As Rb is connected to the collector then the base current would be reduced to counter the effect. If the transistor had a low value of beta, then the collector voltage would rise. This in turn provides more base current for the transistor to conduct harder and stabilize the q-point. The equations to calculate Rc and Rb follow:Rc Rb Rb = Vc / Ic = Vc - Vbe / Ib = (Vc -Vbe) * h FE / Ic

Lesson
Temperature Stability

The simple biasing circuit discussed in the previous lesson is not good for the following reasons. It relies heavily on a transistor with a current gain very close to 195. Other samples will give different results. Variations in the supply voltage produce changes in the quiescent values, and also a change in temperature will alter the current gain of the transistor and hence quiescent point. For use as an amplifier this could mean distortion of the output signal above a certain temperature. The graph below displays the collector voltage and current for the simple bias circuit over a temperature range of -50 to +50 degrees Celsius.

as Ib = Ic / h FE then
An Example

A bias circuit is required to bias a transistor to half the supply voltage. A BC107A transistor with hfe of 200 is used and supply voltage, Vcc is 20 volts. The collector current is to be 1mA. The resistor values are: Rc = Vc / Ic = 10 / 1mA = 10K Rb = (Vc-Vbe)*hFE / Ic = (10-0.6)*200 /1mA = 1880k a 1.8M resistor is fine here.
Temperature Stability

This method of biasing is more resilient to changes of temperature as shown in the graph below. It is unlikely that anything you make will be tested under this extreme range of temperatures, but the results can be compared to the simple bias circuit above. As can be seen both Vq and Iq will vary over a wide range. This is the reason that this circuit is seldom used. It is clear that a different circuit arrangement is needed which leads to :
Self Stabilizing Bias

Coupling capacitors omitted for clarity, the output is the transistor collector

Potential Divider Bias

This is the most widely used biasing scheme in general electronics. For a single stage amplifier this circuit offers the best resilience against changes in temperature and device characteristics. The disadvantage is that a couple of extra resistors are required, but this is outweighed by the advantage of excellent stability. The circuits below
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Here R1 and R2 form a potential divider, which will fix the base potential of the transistor. The current through this bias chain is usually set at 10 times greater than the base current required by the transistor. The base emitter voltage drop of the transistor is approximated as 0.6 volt. There will also be a voltage drop across the emitter resistor, Re, this is generally set to about 10% of the supply voltage. The inclusion of this resistor also helps to stabilize the bias: If the temperature increases, then extra collector current will flow. If Ic increases, then so will Ie as Ie= Ib + Ic. The extra current flow through Re increases the voltage drop across this resistor reducing the effective base emitter voltage and therefore stabilizing the collector current. The equations follow: Rc = Vc / Ic Ie = Ib + Ic as Ic >> Ib then Ie ~ Ic Ve = 10% * Vcc Re = Ve / Ie Vb = Ve + 0.6 R2 = Vb / 10 * Ib R1 = Vcc-Vb / 10 * Ib
An Example

As shown above, this bias circuit gives the best stability against variations in Vc and Ic over a very wide temperature range. As the resistor values were approximated the quiescent voltage point is slightly different from the intended value. Using a load line gives a slightly more accurate design.
Conclusion

We studied the effect of temperature on the biasing of the transistor circuit. The simple biasing circuit which we discussed in the previous lesson doesnt have temperature stability as discussed in this lesson. Hence we discussed self stabilizing type of biasing the transistor and then potential divider biasing circuit.

Notes

Using the values of the previous examples a direct comparison of stability can be demonstrated. The values are: Vcc=20V, Vc=10V, Ic = 1mA, transistor is BC107A with hFE=195 Rc = Vc /Ic = 10 / 1m = 10k Ve = 10% * 20 = 2V Re = Ve / Ie= 2 / 1= 2k Vb = 2+ 0.6 = 2.6V Ib = Ic / h FE = 1 / 195 =0.005128mA R2 = Vb / 10* Ib = 2.6 / 0.05128 = 50.7k (use 47K) R1 = Vcc-Vb / 10 * Ib = (20-2.6) / 0.05128 = 339.3k (use 330K) Using these values and plotting the change in quiescent conditions for Vc and Ic over a temperature range of -50 to +50 celcius is displayed below:

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