Dr.

Nasim Zafar
Electronics 1 - EEE 231
Fall Semester 2012
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology
Virtual campus
Islamabad

BJT as an Amplifier.
Small-Signal Operation and Equivalent Circuits:

Lecture No. 21
Contents:
Common-Emitter Characteristics.
BJT as an Amplifier.
Small Signal Operation.
BJT Amplifiers using Coupling and Bypass Capacitors.
BJT Amplifiers-DC Equivalent Circuits.




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References:
Microelectronic Circuits:
Adel S. Sedra and Kenneth C. Smith.

I ntegrated Electronics :
Jacob Millman and Christos Halkias (McGraw-Hill).

I ntroductory Electronic Devices and Circuits
Robert T. Paynter

Electronic Devices :
Thomas L. Floyd ( Prentice Hall ).

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Lecture No. 21
Reference:


Microelectronic Circuits:
Adel S. Sedra and Kenneth C. Smith.
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Introduction
Common-Emitter Characteristics-I:
We had discussed Common Emitter Current-Voltage
characteristic curves extensively to understand:

How the transistor operates as a linear signal amplifier
for the ac signals.

The basis for the amplifier application is the fact that when
the BJT is operated in the active-mode, it acts as the voltage-
controlled-current source: Changes in the base-emitter voltage
VBE give rise to changes in the collector current I c.

Thus, in the active-mode, the BJT can be used to implement a
transconductance amplifier.

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Introduction
Common-Emitter Characteristics-II:
Once these basics are understood we will understand:

How we can replace the transistor by a small ac-signal
equivalent circuit.

How to derive a simple ac equivalent circuit from the
characteristic curves.

Some of the limitations of our simple equivalent circuit.

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The Common-Emitter Amplifier Circuit:
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Common-Emitter Amplifier Circuit:
The common-emitter amplifier exhibits high voltage and
current gain.
The output signal is 180 out of phase with the input.
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Point A corresponds to the positive peak.
Point B corresponds to the negative peak.
Active Region:
Q-point, and current gain.
Characteristic Curves with DC Load Line:
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Summary
Common Emitter Amplifiers:
In Cut-off:
All currents are zero and V
CE
= V
CC
In Saturation:
I
B
big enough to produce I
C(sat)
~ |I
B

Using Kirchhoffs Voltage Law through the ground
loop:
V
CC
= V
CE(sat)
+ I
C(sat)
R
C
but V
CE(sat)
is very small (few tenths), so
I
C(sat)
~V
CC
/R
C
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Small Signal Operation:

The Amplifier Circuits are Biased Such That:

Transistor amplifier is biased at its Q-Point.

and a small voltage signal vi is superimposed on the dc bias
voltage VBE.

The resulting output signal vo appears superimposed on the dc
collector voltage VCE .

The amplitude of the output signal vo is larger than that of
the input signal vi by the voltage gain Av .
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Small Signal Operation:

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The signal source vbe removed
for dc-bias-analysis.

Small Signal Operation:

The amplifier output voltage vo (bias + signal) and output
current iC is given by:
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=

Small Signal Operation:

Thus the total output voltage vo is given by:
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Small Signal Operation:
The Signal Source, vbe, removed for DC Bias Conditions
C C CC CE
C B
C E
V V
S C
R I V V
I I
I I
e I I
T BE
=
| =
o =
=
/
/
/
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Amplifier Gain:

If changes in the operating currents and voltages are small,
then I
C
and V
CE
waveforms are undistorted replicas of the
input signal.

A small voltage change at the base causes a large voltage
change at the collector. The voltage gain is given by:

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) ( ) ( t Av t v
i o
=
A is the amplifier gain.
Voltage Amplifiers:
Voltage amplification can be obtained simply by passing the collector
current I
C
through a resistance RC.
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Common Base PNP - with an ac Signal
The biasing of the junctions are:
BE is forward biased by V
BB
- thus a small resistance


BC is reverse biased by V
CC
and a large resistance
Since I
B
is small, I
C
~ I
E

Voltage Amplifiers:
Common Base PNP - with an ac Signal

gain voltage = =
V
in
out
A
V
V
r
E
= internal ac emitter
resistance
I
E
= V
in
/r
E
(Ohms Law)
V
Out
= I
C
R
C
~ I
E
R
C

E
C
E E
C E
V
r
R
r I
R I
A = =
Recall the name transfer resistor.
, Since I
B
is small, I
C
~ I
E

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Operating Limits:
There will be a limit on the dissipated power:
P
D(max)
= V
CE
I
C
V
CE
and I
C
were the parameters plotted on the
characteristic curve.
If there is a voltage limit (V
CE(max)
), then we can
compute the I
C
that results
If there is a current limit (I
C(max)
), then we can compute
the V
CE
that results
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Operating Limits-Example:
Assume P
D(max)
= 0.5 W
V
CE(max)
= 20 V
I
C(max)
= 50 mA
P
D(max)
V
CE
I
C
0.5 W 5 V 100 mA
10 50
15 33
20 25
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The Collector Current and Transconductance:

Transconductance, for a bipolar device, is defined as the ratio
of the change in collector current to the change in base
voltage over a defined, arbitrarily small interval, on the
collector current-versus-base voltage curve.

The symbol for transconductance is g
m
. The unit is thesiemens,
the same unit that is used for direct-current (DC) conductance.

The transconductance (g
m
) of a transistor is a measure of how
well it converts a voltage signal into a current signal.




Transconductance, g
m

It will be shown later that g
m
is one of the most important
parameters in integrated circuit design.

If dI represents a change in collector current caused by a
small change in base voltage dE, then the transconductance
is approximately:

g
m
= dI / dE
BJT Transconductance Curve:
NPN Transistor
V
BE
I
C
2 mA
4 mA
6 mA
8 mA
0.7 V
Collector Current:
I
C
= o I
ES
e
V
BE
/qV
T


Transconductance:
(slope of the curve)
g
m
= I
C
/ V
BE

I
ES
= The reverse saturation current
of the B-E Junction.

V
T
= kT/q = 26 mV (@ T=300
o
K)

q = the emission coefficient and is
usually ~1

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I
C
and g
m
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ ~
<<
T
be
C C
T be
V
v
I i
V v
1 : Then
: realistic) is (which For
T be
T be T BE
T be BE
T BE
V v
C
V v V V
S
V v V
S
V v
S C
be BE BE
e I
e e I
e I
e I i
v V v
/
/ /
/ ) (
/
: Then
: Since
=
=
=
=
+ =
+
Observe: We arrive at this
by expressing e
x
as a Taylor
Series and truncating it after
the 2
nd
term.
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Transconductance, g
m
T
C
m
T
BE
S
T
m
T
BE
S
BE BE
C
m
V
I
g
V
V
I
V
g
V
V
I
dV
d
dV
dI
g
=
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
~
exp
1
exp









BJT Amplifiers using Coupling and Bypass
Capacitors
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BJT Amplifiers using Coupling and Bypass
Capacitors:
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AC coupling through capacitors is used to inject an ac input
signal and extract the ac output signal without disturbing the DC
Q-point

Capacitors provide negligible impedance at frequencies of
interest and provide open circuits at dc.
BJT Amplifiers using Coupling Capacitors:
In this type of Circuit, only the ac component reaches the load
because of the capacitive coupling.
and that the output is 180 out of phase with input.
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BJT Amplifiers using Coupling Capacitors:
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A complete Amplifier Circuit using the Generic Transistor.
A BJT Amplifier using Coupling and Bypass Capacitors:
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In a practical amplifier design, C
1
and C
3
are large coupling capacitors or
dc blocking capacitors.
Their reactance (X
C
=|Z
C
| =1/wC), at signal frequency is negligible.
They are effective open circuits for the circuit when DC bias is considered.
A Practical BJT Amplifier using Coupling and Bypass
Capacitors (cont):
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C
2
is a bypass capacitor. It provides a low impedance path for ac current
from emitter to ground. It effectively removes R
E
(required for good Q-point
stability) from the circuit when ac signals are considered.









BJT Amplifiers-DC Equivalent Circuits:
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D C Equivalent for the BJT Amplifier (Step1)

All capacitors in the original amplifier circuit are replaced by
open circuits, disconnecting v
I
, R
I
, and R
3
from the circuit.

and leaving R
E
intact.

The transistor Q will be replaced by its DC model.

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BJT Amplifiers using Coupling Capacitors:
Now let us use our dc and ac analysis methods to view this type of
transistor circuit:
Voltage-Divider Bias
Capacitive coupling: i/p, o/p &
bypass
180
0
phase-Shift
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D C Equivalent for the BJT Amplifier (Step1)

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DC Equivalent Circuit
A C Equivalent for the BJT Amplifier :(Step 2)
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Coupling capacitor C
C
and Emitter bypass capacitor C
E

are replaced by short circuits.
DC voltage supply is replaced with short circuits, which in this
case is connected to ground.
R
1
IIR
2
=R
B R
o
R
in
A C Equivalent for the BJT Amplifier (continued)
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All externally connected capacitors are assumed as short
circuited elements for ac signal.
100k 4.3k
3
R
C
R R
30k 10k
2
R
1
R
B
R
= =
= =
By combining parallel resistors into equivalent R
B
and R, the equivalent
AC circuit above is constructed.
Here, the transistor will be replaced by its equivalent small-signal AC
model (to be developed).
A C Analysis of CE Amplifier:
1) Determine DC operating point and
calculate small signal parameters.
2) Draw the AC equivalent circuit of Amp.
DC Voltage sources are shorted to ground
DC Current sources are open circuited
Large capacitors are short circuits
Large inductors are open circuits

3) Use a Thevenin circuit (sometimes a
Norton) where necessary. Ideally the
base should be a single resistor + a single
source. Do not confuse this with the DC
Thevenin we did in step 1.

4) Replace transistor with small signal model.

5) Simplify the circuit as much as necessary.
Steps to Analyze a Transistor Amplifier
6) Calculate the small signal parameters and
gain etc.
Step 1
Step
2
Step
3
Step
4
Step
5
-model
used
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Summary:
1- Small-Signal Operation:
The ac base voltage has a dc component and an ac component.
These set up dc and ac components of emitter current. One way to
avoid excessive distortion is to use small-signal operation. This
means keeping the peak-to-peak ac emitter current less than one-
tenth of the dc emitter current.

2- AC Beta:
The ac beta of a transistor is defined as the ac collector current
divided by the ac base current. The values of the ac beta usually
differ only slightly from the values of the dc beta. When
troubleshooting, you can use the same value for either beta. On data
sheets, h
FE
is equivalent to
dc
, and h
fe
is equivalent to .



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Summary:
3- AC Resistance of the Emitter Diode:
The base-emitter voltage of a transistor has a dc component V
BEQ
and an ac
component v
be
. The ac base-emitter voltage sets up an ac emitter current of
i
e
. The ac resistance of the emitter diode is defined as vbe divided by ie.
With mathematics, we can prove that the ac resistance of the emitter diode
equals 25 mV divided by dc emitter current.

4-Two Transistor Models:
As far as ac signals are concerned, a transistor can be replaced by either of
two equivalent circuits: the model or the T model. The model indicates
that the input impedance of the base is r'
e
.


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Summary:
5-Analyzing an Amplifier:
The simplest way to analyze an amplifier is to split the analysis into two
parts: a dc analysis and an ac analysis. In the dc analysis, the capacitors are
open. In the ac analysis, the capacitors are shorted and the dc supply points
are ac grounds.

6-AC Quantities on the data Sheet:
The h parameters are used on data sheets because they are easier to
measure than r' parameters. The r. parameters are easier to use in analysis
because we can use Ohms law and other basic ideas. The most important
quantities are the data sheet are h
fe
and h
ie
. They can be easily converted
into > and r'e.
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