IVTRANSISTORBIASINGANDSTABILIZATION

4.1NEEDFORTRANSISTORBIASING:
Iftheo/psignalmustbeafaithfulreproductionofthei/psignal,thetransistormustbe
operatedinactiveregion.Thatmeansanoperatingpointhastobeestablishedinthisregion.
To establish an operating point (proper values of collector current Ic and collector to emitter
voltageVCE)appropriatesupplyvoltagesandresistancesmustbesuitablychosenintheckt.This
processofselectingpropersupplyvoltagesandresistanceforobtainingdesiredoperatingpoint
orQpointiscalledasbiasingandthecktusedfortransistorbiasingiscalledasbiasingckt.
Therearefourconditionstobemetbyatransistorsothatitactsasafaithfulampr:
1) Emitterbasejunctionmustbeforwardbiased(VBE=0.7VforSi,0.2VforGe)andcollector
basejunctionmustbereversebiasedforalllevelsofi/psignal.
2) VcevoltageshouldnotfallbelowVCE (sat)(0.3VforSi,0.1VforGe)foranypartofthei/p
signal.ForVCElessthanVCE(sat)thecollectorbasejunctionisnotprobablyreversebiased.
3) ThevalueofthesignalIcwhennosignalisappliedshouldbeatleastequaltothemax.
collectorcurrenttduetosignalalone.
4) Max.ratingofthetransistorIc(max),VCE (max)andPD(max)shouldnotbeexceededatanyvalue
ofi/psignal.
Considerthefigshowninfig1.IfoperatingpointisselectedatA,Arepresentsacondition
when no bias is applied to the transistor i.e, Ic=0, VCE =0. It does not satisfy the above said
conditionsnecessaryforfaithfulamplification.
PointCistooclosetoPD(max)curveofthetransistor.Thereforetheo/pvoltageswinginthe
positivedirectionislimited.
PointBislocatedinthemiddleofactiveregion.Itwillallowbothpositiveandnegativehalf
cyclesintheo/psignal.Italsoprovideslineargainandlargerpossibleo/pvoltagesandcurrents
Hence operating point for a transistor amplifier is selected to be in the middle of active
region.

IC(max)
PD(max)

PD(max)
PD(max)

Vce(sat)
PD(max)

fig1

4.2DCLOADLINE:
Referringtothebiasingcircuitoffig4.2a,thevaluesofVCCandRCarefixedandIcandVCEare
dependentonRB.
ApplyingKirchhoffsvoltagelawtothecollectorcircuitinfig.4.2a,weget

ThestraightlinerepresentedbyABinfig4.2biscalledthedcloadline.Thecoordinatesof
the end point A are obtained by substituting VCE =0 in the above equation. Then
ThereforeThecoordinatesofAareVCE=0and

ThecoordinatesofBareobtainedbysubstitutingIc=0intheaboveequation.ThenVce=
Vcc.ThereforethecoordinatesofBareVCE=VccandIc=0.ThusthedcloadlineABcanbedrawn
ifthevaluesofRcandVccareknown.
As shown in the fig4.2b, the optimum POINT IS LOCATED AT THE MID POINT OF THE
MIDWAY BETWEEN a AND b. In order to get faithful amplification, the Q point must be well
withintheactiveregionofthetransistor.
EventhoughtheQpointisfixedproperly,itisveryimportanttoensurethattheoperating
pointremainsstablewhereitisoriginallyfixed.IftheQpointshiftsnearertoeitherAorB,the
outputvoltageandcurrentgetclipped,therebyo/psignalisdistorted.
In practice, the Qpoint tends to shift its position due to any or all of the following three
mainfactors.
1) Reversesaturationcurrent,Ico,whichdoublesforevery10oCraiseintemperature
2) BaseemitterVoltage,VBE,whichdecreasesby2.5mVperoC
3) Transistorcurrentgain,hFEorwhichincreaseswithtemperature.
IfbasecurrentIBiskeptconstantsinceIBisapproximatelyequaltoVcc/RB.Ifthetransistor
is replaced by another one of the same type, one cannot ensure that the new transistor will
haveidenticalparametersasthatofthefirstone.Parameterssuchasvaryoverarange.This
resultsinthevariationofcollectorcurrentIcforagivenIB.Hence,intheo/pcharacteristics,
thespacingbetweenthecurvesmightincreaseordecreasewhichleadstotheshiftingoftheQ
pointtoalocationwhichmightbecompletelyunsatisfactory.

4.3ACLOADLINE:
Afterdrawingthedcloadline,theoperatingpointQisproperlylocatedatthecenterof
thedcloadline.Thisoperatingpointischosenunderzeroinputsignalconditionofthecircuit.
HencetheacloadlineshouldalsopasthroughtheoperatingpointQ.Theeffectiveacload
resistanceRac,isacombinationofRCparalleltoRLi.e.

||

.Sotheslopeoftheacload

lineCQDwillbe
.Todrawtheacloadline,twoendpoints,I.e.VCE(max)andIC(max)whenthe
signalisappliedarerequired.
,whichlocatespointDontheVceaxis.
,whichlocatesthepointContheICaxis.

ByjoiningpointscandD,acloadlineCDisconstructed.AsRC>Rac,Thedcloadlineislesssteep
thanacloadline.

4.4STABILITYFACTOR(S):
The rise of temperature results in increase in the value of transistor gain and the
leakagecurrentIco.So,ICalsoincreaseswhichresultsinashiftinoperatingpoint.Therefore,
Thebiasingnetworkshouldbeprovidedwiththermalstability.Maintenanceoftheoperating
pointisspecifiedbyS,whichindicatesthedegreeofchangeinoperatingpointduetochangein
temperature.
TheextenttowhichICisstabilizedwithvaryingICismeasuredbyastabilityfactorS

ForCEconfiguration
Differentiatetheaboveequationw.r.tIC,Weget

Sshouldbesmalltohavebetterthermalstability.
StabilityfactorSandS:
SisdefinedastherateofchangeofICwithVBE,keepingICandVBEconstant.

SisdefinedastherateofchangeofICwith,keepingICOandVBEconstant.

4.5METHODSOFTRANSISTORBIASING:
1)Fixedbias(basebias)

Thisformofbiasingisalsocalledbasebias.Inthefig4.3shown,thesinglepowersource(for
example,abattery)isusedforbothcollectorandbaseofatransistor,althoughseparatebatteriescanalsobe
used.
Inthegivencircuit,
Vcc=IBRB+Vbe

Therefore,IB=(VccVbe)/RB
SincetheequationisindependentofcurrentICR,dIB//dICR=0andthestabilityfactorisgivenbythe
equation..reducesto
S=1+
Sinceisalargequantity,thisisverypoorbiasingcircuit.Thereforeinpracticethecircuitisnot
usedforbiasing.

Foragiventransistor,Vbedoesnotvarysignificantlyduringuse.AsVccisoffixedvalue,onselection
ofRB,thebasecurrentIBisfixed.Thereforethistypeiscalledfixedbiastypeofcircuit.
Alsoforgivencircuit,Vcc=ICRC+Vce
Therefore,Vce=VccICRC
Merits:
Itissimpletoshifttheoperatingpointanywhereintheactiveregionbymerely

changingthebaseresistor(RB).
Averysmallnumberofcomponentsarerequired.

Demerits:

Thecollectorcurrentdoesnotremainconstantwithvariationintemperatureor
powersupplyvoltage.Thereforetheoperatingpointisunstable.
ChangesinVbewillchangeIBandthuscauseREtochange.Thisinturnwillalter

thegainofthestage.
Whenthetransistorisreplacedwithanotherone,considerablechangeinthe

valueofcanbeexpected.Duetothischangetheoperatingpointwillshift.

2)EMITTERFEEDBACKBIAS:
Theemitterfeedbackbiascircuitisshowninthefig4.4.Thefixedbiascircuitismodified
byattachinganexternalresistortotheemitter.Thisresistorintroducesnegativefeedbackthat
stabilizestheQpoint.FromKirchhoff'svoltagelaw,thevoltageacrossthebaseresistoris
VRb=VCCIeReVbe.

FromOhm'slaw,thebasecurrentis
Ib=VRb/Rb.
Thewayfeedbackcontrolsthebiaspointisasfollows.IfVbeisheldconstantand
temperatureincreases,emittercurrentincreases.However,alargerIeincreasestheemitter
voltageVe=IeRe,whichinturnreducesthevoltageVRbacrossthebaseresistor.Alowerbase
resistorvoltagedropreducesthebasecurrent,whichresultsinlesscollectorcurrentbecauseIc
=IB.CollectorcurrentandemittercurrentarerelatedbyIc=Iewith1,soincreasein
emittercurrentwithtemperatureisopposed,andoperatingpointiskeptstable.
Similarly,ifthetransistorisreplacedbyanother,theremaybeachangeinIC
(correspondingtochangeinvalue,forexample).Bysimilarprocessasabove,thechangeis
negatedandoperatingpointkeptstable.
Forthegivencircuit,
IB=(VCCVbe)/(RB+(+1)RE).
Merits:
Thecircuithasthetendencytostabilizeoperatingpointagainstchangesintemperature
andvalue.
Demerits:

Inthiscircuit,tokeepICindependentofthefollowingconditionmustbemet:

whichisapproximatelythecaseif(+1)RE>>RB.
Asvalueisfixedforagiventransistor,thisrelationcanbesatisfiedeitherby

keepingREverylarge,ormakingRBverylow.

IfREisoflargevalue,highVCCisnecessary.Thisincreasescostaswellas
precautionsnecessarywhilehandling.
IfRBislow,aseparatelowvoltagesupplyshouldbeusedinthebasecircuit.

Usingtwosuppliesofdifferentvoltagesisimpractical.

Inadditiontotheabove,REcausesacfeedbackwhichreducesthevoltagegainof

theamplifier.

3)

COLLECTORTOBASEBIASORCOLLECTORFEEDBACKBIAS:

Thisconfigurationshowninfig4.5employsnegativefeedbacktopreventthermal
runawayandstabilizetheoperatingpoint.Inthisformofbiasing,thebaseresistorRBis
connectedtothecollectorinsteadofconnectingittotheDCsourceVcc.Soanythermal
runawaywillinduceavoltagedropacrosstheRCresistorthatwillthrottlethetransistor'sbase
current.
FromKirchhoff'svoltagelaw,thevoltage

acrossthebaseresistorRbis

BytheEbersMollmodel,Ic=Ib,andso

FromOhm'slaw,thebasecurrent

,andso

Hence,thebasecurrentIbis

IfVbeisheldconstantandtemperatureincreases,thenthecollectorcurrentIcincreases.
However,alargerIccausesthevoltagedropacrossresistorRctoincrease,whichinturnreduces
thevoltage
acrossthebaseresistorRb.Alowerbaseresistorvoltagedropreducesthebase
currentIb,whichresultsinlesscollectorcurrentIc.Becauseanincreaseincollectorcurrentwith
temperatureisopposed,theoperatingpointiskeptstable.
Merits:

Circuitstabilizestheoperatingpointagainstvariationsintemperatureand(i.e.
replacementoftransistor)
Demerits:

Inthiscircuit,tokeepIcindependentof,thefollowingconditionmustbemet:

whichisthecasewhen

As value is fixed (and generally unknown) for a given transistor, this relation
canbesatisfiedeitherbykeepingRcfairlylargeormakingRbverylow.

IfRcislarge,ahighVccisnecessary,whichincreasescostaswellasprecautions
necessarywhilehandling.

IfRbislow,thereversebiasofthecollectorbaseregionissmall,whichlimitsthe
rangeofcollectorvoltageswingthatleavesthetransistorinactivemode.

TheresistorRbcausesanACfeedback,reducingthevoltagegainoftheamplifier.
ThisundesirableeffectisatradeoffforgreaterQpointstability.
Usage:Thefeedbackalsodecreasestheinputimpedanceoftheamplifierasseenfrom
the base, which can be advantageous. Due to the gain reduction from feedback, this biasing
formisusedonlywhenthetradeoffforstabilityiswarranted.

4) COLLECTOREMITTERFEEDBACKBIAS:

Theabovefig4.6showsthecollectoremitterfeedbackbiascircuitthatcanbeobtained
by applying both the collector feedback and emitter feedback. Here the collector feedback is
providedbyconnectingaresistanceRBfromthecollectortothebaseandemitterfeedbackis
provided by connecting an emitter Re from emitter to ground. Both feed backs are used to
controlcollectorcurrentandbasecurrentIBintheoppositedirectiontoincreasethestability
ascomparedtothepreviousbiasingcircuits.

5) VOLTAGEDIVIDERBIASORSELFBIASOREMITTERBIAS:

Thevoltagedividerasshowninthefig4.7isformedusingexternalresistorsR1andR2.
The voltage across R2 forward biases the emitter junction. By proper selection of resistors R1
andR2,theoperatingpointofthetransistorcanbemadeindependentof.Inthiscircuit,the
voltagedividerholdsthebasevoltagefixedindependentofbasecurrentprovidedthedivider
current is large compared to the base current. However, even with a fixed base voltage,
collector current varies with temperature (for example) so an emitter resistor is added to
stabilizetheQpoint,similartotheabovecircuitswithemitterresistor.

Inthiscircuitthebasevoltageisgivenby:

voltageacross

provided

Also
Forthegivencircuit,

LetthecurrentinresistorR1isI1andthisisdividedintotwopartscurrentthrough
base and resistor R2. Since the base current is very small so for all practical purpose it is
assumedthatI1alsoflowsthroughR2,sowehave

ApplyingKVLinthecircuit,wehave

Itisapparentfromaboveexpressionthatthecollectorcurrentisindependentof?thus
thestabilityisexcellent.InallpracticalcasesthevalueofVBEisquitesmallincomparisonto
the V2, so it can be ignored in the above expression so the collector current is almost
independentofthetransistorparametersthusthisarrangementprovidesexcellentstability.
AgainapplyingKVLincollectorcircuit,wehave

TheresistorREprovidesstabilitytothecircuit.Ifthecurrentthroughthecollectorrises,
thevoltageacrosstheresistorREalsorises.ThiswillcauseVCEtoincreaseasthevoltageV2is
independent of collector current. This decreases the base current, thus collector current
increasestoitsformervalue.
Stabilityfactorforsuchcircuitarrangementisgivenby

IfReq/REisverysmallcomparedto1,itcanbeignoredintheaboveexpressionthuswe
have

Which is excellent since it is the smallest possible value for the stability. In actual
practice the value of stability factor is around 810, since Req/RE cannot be ignored as
comparedto1.
Merits:

Unlikeabovecircuits,onlyonedcsupplyisnecessary.
Operatingpointisalmostindependentofvariation.
Operatingpointstabilizedagainstshiftintemperature.

Demerits:

Inthiscircuit,tokeepICindependentofthefollowingconditionmustbemet:

whichisapproximatelythecaseif
whereR1||R2denotestheequivalentresistanceofR1andR2connectedinparallel.
Asvalueisfixedforagiventransistor,thisrelationcanbesatisfiedeitherby

keepingREfairlylarge,ormakingR1||R2verylow.
If RE is of large value, high VCC is necessary. This increases cost as well as

precautionsnecessarywhilehandling.
IfR1||R2islow,eitherR1islow,orR2islow,orbotharelow.AlowR1raisesVB

closertoVC,reducingtheavailableswingincollectorvoltage,andlimitinghowlargeRCcanbe
made without driving the transistor out of active mode. A low R2 lowers Vbe, reducing the
allowed collector current. Lowering both resistor values draws more current from the power
supplyandlowerstheinputresistanceoftheamplifierasseenfromthebase.
ACaswellasDCfeedbackiscausedbyRE,whichreducestheACvoltagegainof

theamplifier.AmethodtoavoidACfeedbackwhileretainingDCfeedbackisdiscussedbelow.
Usage:Thecircuit'sstabilityandmeritsasabovemakeitwidelyusedforlinearcircuits.

4.6BIASCOMPENSATIONUSINGDIODEANDTRANSISTOR:

Thevariousbiasingcircuitsconsideredusesometypeofnegativefeedbacktostabilize
the operation point. Also, diodes, thermistors and sensistors can be used to compensate for
variationsincurrent.

DIODECOMPENSATION:

The following fig4.8 shows a transistor amplifier with a diode D connected across the
baseemitterjunctionforcompensationofchangeincollectorsaturationcurrentICO.Thediode
isofthesamematerialasthetransistoranditisreversebiasedbyetheemitterbasejunction
voltageVBE,allowingthediodereversesaturationcurrentIOtoflowthroughdiodeD.Thebase
currentIB=IIO.
Aslongastemperatureisconstant,diodeDoperatesasaresistor.Asthetemperature
increases, ICO of the transistor increases. Hence, to compensate for this, the base current IB
shouldbedecreased.
TheincreaseintemperaturewillalsocausetheleakagecurrentIOthroughDtoincrease
andtherebydecreasethebasecurrentIB.ThisistherequiredactiontokeepIcconstant.
ThistypeofbiascompensationdoesnotneedachangeinIctoeffectthechangeinIC,as
bothIOandICOcantrackalmostequallyaccordingtothechangeintemperature.
THERMISTORCOMPENSATION:

The following fig4.9 a thermistor RT, having a negative temperature coefficient is

SENSISTORCOMPENSATION:
In the following fig4.10 shown asensistorRshavingapositivetemperaturecoefficientis

connected across R1 or RE. Rs increases with temperature. As the temperature increases, the
equivalent resistance of the parallel combination of R1 and Rs also increases and hence VBE
decreases, reducing IB and Ic. This reduced Ic compensates for increased Ic caused by the
increaseinVBE,ICOandduetotemperature.

4.7THERMALRUNAWAYANDTHERMALSTABILITY:
THERMALRUNAWAY:
The collector current for the CE circuit is given by
variables in the equation, , , and

The three

increases with rise in temperature. In particular, the

reversesaturationcurrentorleakagecurrent

changesgreatlywithtemperature.Specifically

itdoublesforevery10oCriseintemperature.Thecollectorcurrent causesthecollectorbase
junctiontemperaturetorisewhichinturn,increase ,asaresult willincreasestillfurther,
whichwillfurtherrisethetemperatureatthecollectorbasejunction.Thisprocesswillbecome
cumulativeleadingatthecollectorbasejunction.Thisprocesswillbecomecumulativeleading
to thermal runaway. Consequently, the ratings of the transistor are exceeded which may
destroythetransistoritself.
Thecollectorismadelargerinsizethantheemitterinordertohelptheheatdeveloped
at the collector junction. However if the circuit is designed such that the base current
made to decrease automatically with rise in temperature, then the decrease in
compensateforincreaseinthe

THERMALRESISTANCE

,keeping almostconstant.

is
will

Considertransistorusedinacircuitwheretheambienttemperatureoftheairaround
thetransistorisTAoCandthetemperatureofthecollectorbasejunctionofthetransistorisTJoC.
DuetoheatingwithinthetransistorTJishigherthanTA.AsthetemperaturedifferenceTJTAis
greater,thepowerdissipatedinthetransistor,PDwillbegreater,i.e,TJTA PD
TheequationcanbewrittenasTJTA PD. ,where istheconstantofproportionality
andiscalledtheThermalresistance.Rearrangingtheaboveequation =TJTA/PD.Hence is
measuredin oC/Wwhichmaybeassmallas0.2 oC/Wforahighpowertransistorthathasan
efficient heat sink or up to 1000oC/W for small signal, low power transistor which have no
coolingprovision.
As represents total thermal resistance from a transistor junction to the ambient
temperature, it is referred to as JA. However, for power transistors, thermal resistance is
givenformjunctiontocase,JC.
Theamountresistancefromjunctiontoambienceisconsideredtoconsistof2parts.
JA=JCCA.
Which indicates the heat dissipated in the junction must make its way to the surrounding air
through two series paths from junction to case and from case to air. Hence the power
dissipated.
PD=(TJTA
=(TJTA

JA

JC+CA)

JCisdeterminedbythetypeofmanufactureofthetransistorandhowitislocatedIthecase,
butCAisdeterminedbythesurfaceareaofthecaseorflangeanditscontactwithair.Ifthe
effectivesurfaceareaofthetransistorcasecouldbeincreased,theresistancetoheatflows,or
couldbeincreasedCA,couldbedecreased.Thiscanbeachievedbytheuseofaheatsink.
Theheatsinkisarelativelylarge,finned,usuallyblackmetallicheatconductingdevicein
closecontactwithtransistorcaseorflange.Manyversionsofheatsinkexistdependingupon
theshapeandsizeofthetransistor.LargertheheatsinksmalleristhethermalresistanceHSA.
ThisthermalresistanceisnotaddedtoCAinseries,butisinsteadinparallelwithitandif
HSA is much less than CA, then CA will be reduced significantly, thereby improving the
dissipationcapabilityofthetransistor.Thus
JA =JC+CA||HSA.

4.8CONDITIONFORTHERMALSTABILITY:
Forpreventingthermalrunaway,therequiredconditionItherateatwhichtheheatisreleased
atthecollectorjunctionshouldnotexceedtherateatwhichtheheatcanbedissipatedundersteady
statecondition.Hencetheconditiontobesatisfiedtoavoidthermalrunawayisgivenby

Ifthecircuitisproperlydesigned,thenthetransistorcannotrunawaybelowaspecifiedambient
temperatureorevenunderanyconditions.
Intheselfbiasedcircuitthetransistorisbiasedintheactiveregion.Thepowergeneratedatthe
junctionwithoutanysignalis

Letusassumethatthequiescentcollectorandtheemittercurrentsareequal.Then
.(1)
Theconditiontopreventthermalrunawaycanbewrittenas

Asand

arepositive,

shouldbenegativeinordertosatisfytheabovecondition.

Differentiatingequation(1)w.r.t weget

Hencetoavoidthermalrunawayitisnecessarythat

SinceVCE=VCCIC(RE+RC) then eq(4) implies that VCE<VCC/2. IF the inequality of eq(4) is not
satisfiedandVCE<VCC/2,thenfromeq(3), ispositive.,andthecorrespondingeq(2)should
besatisfied.Otherwisethermalrunawaywilloccur.