Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Technology, Dhule

Unit 1
Transistor as an amplifier
Course Instructor
Dr. Vishal Moyal

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Contents
• Unit 1: Transistor as an amplifier
• load line, Small signal low frequency analysis of single stage amplifier
in different configuration, High frequency equivalent circuit of
transistor (hybrid pi), Cascade amplifier, High input resistance circuits-
C coupled amplifier Frequency response, Definition of 3 db
bandwidth, Effect of cascading on gain & BW, Classification of
amplifiers

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Transistors

BJT (PNP) Electrical Diagram FET and BJT Transistor Different types and sizes

First Transistor Modern Electronics

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Transistors (Cont…)
• Purpose
• To amplify and switch electronic signals on or off (high or low)
• Modern Electronics

Microprocessor Cell Phones Motor Controllers

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Vacuum tubes
• Purpose
• Used as signal amplifiers and
switches
• Advantages
• High power and frequency
operation
• Operation at higher voltages
• Less vulnerable to
electromagnetic pulses
• Disadvantages
• Very large and fragile
• Energy inefficient
• Expensive

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Invention
• Evolution of electronics
• In need of a device that was small, robust, reliable, energy
efficient and cheap to manufacture
• 1947
• John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Schockly invented
transistor
• Transistor Effect
• “when electrical contacts
were applied to a crystal
of germanium, the output
power was larger than
the input.”
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General Applications

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Doping
• Process of introducing impure elements (dopants) into
semiconductor wafers to form regions of differing electrical
conductivity

Negatively charged Semiconductor Positively charged semiconductor

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Doping Effects
• P-type semiconductors
• Created positive charges, where electrons have been removed, in
lattice structure

• N-type semiconductors
• Added unbound electrons create negative charge in lattice structure

• Resulting material
• P-N junction
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P-N junction
Forward Biasing Reverse Biasing

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P-N junction (Cont…)

• P-N junction
• Controls current flow via external voltage
• Two P-N junctions (bipolar junction transistor, BJT)
• Controls current flow and amplifies the current flow

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Transistor Characteristics
• Maximum power rating
• Maximum operating frequency
• Application
• Physical packaging
• Amplification factor

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Types of Transistors
• Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

• Field Effect Transistors (FET)

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BJT Introduction
• Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT)
consists of three sandwiched
semiconductor layers.
• The three layers are connected to
collector (C), emitter (E), and base (B)
pins.
• Current supplied to the base controls the
amount of current that flows through the
collector and emitter
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BJT Schematic
NPN
• NPN
• BE forward bias
• BC reverse bias

PNP
• PNP
• BE reverse bias
• BC forward bias

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BJT Characteristic Curves

Transfer Characteristic
• Characteristic curves can be drawn to show other useful
parameters of the transistor
• The slope of ICE / IBE is called the Transfer Characteristic
(β)

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BJT Characteristic Curves (Cont…)

Input Characteristic
• The Input Characteristic is the base emitter current IBE against base emitter
voltage VBE .
• IBE/VBE shows the input Conductance of the transistor.
• The increase in slope of when the VBE is above 1 volt shows that the input
conductance is rising
• There is a large increase in current for a very small increase in VBE.

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BJT Characteristic Curves (Cont…)

Output Characteristic
• collector current (IC) is nearly independent of the collector-emitter
voltage (VCE), and instead depends on the base current (IB)
IB4

IB3

IB2

IB1

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In how many regions a transistor can be

operated?
• Cut off region: Emitter junction & Collector junction
are in Reverse Biased

• Active region: Emitter junction Forward Biased &

Collector junction Reverse Biased

• Saturation region: Emitter junction & Collector

Junction are in Forward Biased
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BJT Operating Regions

Operating Parameters Mode

Region
VBE < Vcut-in
Cut Off VCE > Vsupply Switch OFF
IB = IC = 0
VBE = Vcut-in
Linear Vsat < VCE < Vsupply Amplification
IC = β*IB
VBE = Vcut-in,
Saturated VCE < Vsat Switch ON
IB > IC,max, IC,max > 0

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What is an amplifier?
• Amplifier raises the level of a weak signal.
• No change in the wave shape.
• No change in the frequency of the input signal

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Why we need Amplification?

• Generally the o/p of a transducer like microphone,
thermocouple are very weak.
• It must be amplified before feeding to the loud speaker
etc.

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Block diagram of an Amplifier

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Different Configurations of Transistor

• Common Base Configuration
• Common Emitter Configuration
• Common Collector Configuration

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Common Base Amplifier

• A common base also known as grounded-base
amplifier is typically used as a voltage amplifier.
• In this circuit.
• The emitter terminal serves as the input
• The collector as the output
• The base is connected to ground, or "common”.

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CIRCUIT OF C.B. AMPLIFIER

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Output waveforms of C.B. amplifier

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Features of C.B. Amplifier

• Low input impedance.
• Moderate/High output impedance.
• High Voltage Gain
• Unity Current Gain.
• Non-inverting amplifier

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CIRCUIT OF C.E. AMPLIFIER

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Working of C.E. Amplifier

• Base emitter junction is forward biased by VBB.
• Collector base junction is reverse biased by VCC.
• During positive half cycle of signal forward bias is increased.
• Hence base current IB is increased.
• So IC increases and ICRC drop increases.
• The output VCE decreases, as VCE = VCC - ICRC
• There is a phase shift of 180O between input and output.

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Output waveforms of C.E. amplifier

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Features of C.E. Amplifier

• Moderately low input resistance(1 kΩ to 2 k Ω).
• Moderately high output resistance(50 k Ω).
• High current gain.
• Very high voltage gain.
• Very high power gain.
• Input and output signals are 180° out of phase.

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Common Collector Amplifier

• Common collector amplifier also known as an emitter
follower typically used as a voltage buffer.
• In this circuit
• The base terminal serves as the input,
• The emitter is the output
• The collector is common.

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CIRCUIT OF C.C. AMPLIFIER

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Features of C.C. Amplifier

• Moderate/high input impedance.
• Low output impedance.
• Low (unity) voltage gain.
• High Current Gain.

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Output waveforms of C.C. amplifier

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Comparison of Amplifier Configurations

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WHICH CONFIGURATION IS BEST SUITED AS AN

AMPLIFIER ?
• C.E. CONFIGURATION

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Why C.E. Configuration Is Commonly Used?

• Its input and output impedances are suitable in many
applications.

• It offers current gain, voltage gain, power gain.

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Concept of DC Load Line

• The operating conditions of a transistor are determined
by
• VCE collector to emitter voltage
• IC collector current
• The value of IC for a given VCE can be known
• From output characteristics of a transistor.
• From D.C. Load Line .

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What is a D.C. Load Line ?

• It is a graph drawn between collector current IC and
collector to emitter voltage VCE for a given VCC and
RC.

• To draw the D.C. Load Line of a transistor

• VCE is taken on X-axis
• IC is taken on Y-axis

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How we can draw the D.C. Load Line ?

• Only two points cut-off point and saturation point are
required.

• Line joining these two points is known as load line.

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Determination of cut-off point

• The output equation of a transistor in C.E. mode is
VCC = VCE + ICRC
When transistor is cut-off IC = 0
So, VCC = VCE
Hence cut-off point = (VCE, 0)

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Determination of Saturation point

• In Saturation VCE of a transistor is zero.
Hence
VCC = ICRC

IC = VCC / RC

Hence Saturation point = (0,VCC / RC)

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D.C. Load line represents all

possible DC operating points of a
transistor for a specified values of
Vcc & Rc

The lower end of the D.C. Load Line

is called cut-off point.

The upper end of D.C. Load Line is

saturation point.

The entire region between these two

points indicates active region.
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In a C.E. Configuration the Vcc = 12v, Rc =

3k. Draw D.C. Load Line ?
The output equation of a transistor is
VCC = VCE + ICRC
12 = VCE + 3 * IC

When IC = 0;
VCE = 12 V

The Coordinates of cut off point are (12 V , 0)

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The output equation of a transistor is

VCC = VCE + ICRC
12 = VCE + 3 * IC

When VCE = 0
IC = VCC / RC
= 12 v / 3 kΩ
= 4 mA
The Coordinates of saturation point are (0, 4 mA)
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A.C LOAD LINE

A.C Load Line gives
the values of IC and VCE
when an A.C signal is
applied.

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All capacitors in the circuit may be

considered as short circuits.
The collector resistance RC comes
parallel with load Resistor RL and forms
the A.C load resistance.
Effective Load for A.C signal is
Rac = Rc || RL
= RcRL / Rc+RL
When signal is applied “Q” point swings
along ac load line.

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Determination of Cut-off & Saturation points

Saturation point
In saturation VCE = 0
Hence ic(sat) = ICQ + VCEQ/Rac
ic(sat) = a.c saturation current
ICQ = d.c Collector current
VCEQ = DC collector - Emitter voltage .
Rac = a.c load resistance

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Cut-off point
When transistor is cut-off Ic equals to zero
ICQ +VCEQ / Rac - VCE(cutoff) / Rac = 0
VCE(cutoff) = VCEQ + ICQ x Rac.
Line joining these two points is called A.C Load Line
It represents all possible a.c operating points.
The maximum possible positive signal swing is ICQRac.
The maximum possible negative signal swing is VCEQ.

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Draw the dc & ac load line for the C.E circuit

shown in figure.

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D.C. OPERATING POINT

Vce(cutoff) = Vcc
= 20 v (Represents point B)

Ic(saturation) = VCC / RC+RE

= 20 / (3+2)K
=4 mA (Represents point A)

Line AB represents dc load line.

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CALCULATION OF AC LOAD LINE

ICQ = 4 mA / 2
= 2 mA

(Taking “Q”at the centre of dc load line)

VCEQ = VCC - ICQ(RC+RE)
= 20 – 2 x 10-3 (3 x 103 +2 x 103)
= 10 v
A.C Load resistance = RC || RL
= 3 x 103 || 12 x 103
= (3 x 103 * 12 x 103) / (3 x 103 + 12 x 103)
= 2.4 K
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IC(sat) = ICQ + VCEQ / Rac

= 2 x 10-3+ 10 / 2.4
= 6.17 mA
Hence, saturation point = ( 0 , 6.17mA)
VCE(cut off) = VCEQ + ICEQ * RE
= 10 + 2 x 10-3 * 2 x 103
= 14.8 v
Hence cut off point = ( 14.8 v , 0).
Line joining CD is ac load line. This line passes through
“Q” point.
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Small Signal Low

Frequency Transistor
Amplifier Models:

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Hybrid Parameter Model

Ii Io
Linear Two
Vi Vo
port Device

Ii Io
1 2
hi
Vi hrVo hfIi ho Vo

1' 2'

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h-Parameters

h11 = hi = Input Resistance

h12 = hr = Reverse Transfer Voltage Ratio

h21 = hf = Forward Transfer Current Ratio

h22 = ho = Output Admittance

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Simplified General h-Parameter Model

The model can be simplified based on these approximations:
hr  0 therefore hrVo = 0 and ho   (high resistance on the output)

Simplified

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Common Emitter hybrid equivalent circuit

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Common-Emitter re vs. h-Parameter Model

hie = re
hfe = 
hoe = 1/ro

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Common-Base re vs h-Parameter Model

hib  re
h fb    1
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EXPRESSIONS OF CURRENT GAIN, INPUT RESISTANCE,

VOLTAGE GAIN AND OUTPUT RESISTANCE
The h-parameter equivalent circuit of a transistor amplifier having a voltage
source Vg , with its input resistance Rg connected to the input terminals and a
load resistance RL connected to the output terminals.

h-Parameter equivalent circuit of a transistor

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EXPRESSIONS OF CURRENT GAIN, INPUT RESISTANCE,

VOLTAGE GAIN AND OUTPUT RESISTANCE

Current Gain (AI)

Input Resistance (RI)

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EXPRESSIONS OF CURRENT GAIN, INPUT RESISTANCE, VOLTAGE

GAIN AND OUTPUT RESISTANCE

Voltage Gain:- Voltage gain or voltage amplification is defined as the ratio of the
output voltage V2 to the input voltage V1.
Where,

Output Resistance (RO)

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Frequency Response
Frequency Response of an electric or electronics circuit allows us to
see exactly how the output gain (known as the magnitude response) and
the phase (known as the phase response) changes at a particular single
frequency, or over a whole range of different frequencies from 0Hz,
(d.c.) to many thousands of mega-hertz, (MHz) depending upon the
design characteristics of the circuit.

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Frequency Response
Graphical representations of frequency response curves are called Bode
Plots and as such Bode plots are generally said to be a semi-logarithmic
graphs because one scale (x-axis) is logarithmic and the other (y-axis) is
linear (log-lin plot) as shown.

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Then we can see that the frequency response of any given circuit is the
variation in its behavior with changes in the input signal frequency as it
shows the band of frequencies over which the output (and the gain)
remains fairly constant.

The range of frequencies either big or small between ƒL and ƒH is called

the circuits bandwidth. So from this we are able to determine at a
glance the voltage gain (in dB) for any sinusoidal input within a given
frequency range.

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As mentioned above, the Bode diagram is a logarithmic presentation of

the frequency response.

Most modern audio amplifiers have a flat frequency response as shown

above over the whole audio range of frequencies from 20 Hz to 20 kHz.

This range of frequencies, for an audio amplifier is called its

Bandwidth, (BW) and is primarily determined by the frequency
response of the circuit.

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Frequency points ƒL and ƒH relate to the lower corner or cut-off

frequency and the upper corner or cut-off frequency points respectively
were the circuits gain falls off at high and low frequencies.

These points on a frequency response curve are known commonly as

the -3dB (decibel) points. So the bandwidth is simply given as

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The decibel, (dB) which is 1/10th of a bel (B), is a common non-linear

unit for measuring gain and is defined as 20 log10(A) where A is the
decimal gain, being plotted on the y-axis. Zero decibels, (0dB)
corresponds to a magnitude function of unity giving the maximum
output.

In other words, 0dB occurs when Vout = Vin as there is no attenuation

at this frequency level and is given as:

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Frequency Response -3dB Point

The -3dB point is also known as the half-power points since the output
power at this corner frequencies will be half that of its maximum 0dB
value as shown.

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FREQUENCY RESPONSE FOR CE AMPLIFIER WITH AND WITHOUT

SOURCE IMPEDANCE
At different frequencies of the input signal, the performance of the device is different.
The analysis till now has been limited to the mid-frequency spectrum.
Frequency response of an amplifier refers to the variation of the magnitude and phase of the amplifier with
frequency.

a) Gain vs. frequency for a CE amplifier

b) Phase angle vs. frequency for a CE amplifier

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EMITTER FOLLOWER

The emitter follower transistor is a design which is basically a CC amplifier.

Current gain:

Input resistance:

Voltage gain:

Output resistance An emitter follower

configuration with biasing

The emitter follower is used for impedance matching.

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High frequency hybrid Pi or

Giacoletto model of BJT

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The low frequency small signal model of bipolar junction transistor

crudely holds for frequencies below 1 MHz.

For frequencies greater than 1 MHz the response of the transistor will
be limited by internal and parasitic capacitance’s of the bipolar junction
transistor.

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Hence at high frequencies the low frequency small signal model of

transistor has to be modified to include the effects of internal and
parasitic capacitance’s of bipolar junction transistor.

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These capacitance’s limit the usage of BJT at higher frequencies.

Thus in order to estimate the gain and switching on and off times of
BJT at higher frequencies the high frequency model of BJT has to be
used to get reasonably accurate estimates.

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The high frequency hybrid pi model is also called as Giacoletto

model named after L. J. Giacoletto who introduced it in 1969.

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High frequency effects on BJT

The gain decreases at high frequencies due to internal feedback
capacitance’s.

The highest frequency of operation of BJT will be limited by internal

capacitance’s of BJT.

The ON and OFF switching times of BJT will be high and speed will be
limited due to internal charge storage effects.

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High frequency model of BJT

The high frequency parameters of BJT may vary with operating point
but the variation is negligible for small signal variations around the
operating point.

Following is the high frequency model of a transistor.

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Where
B’ = internal node in base

Rbb’ = Base spreading resistance

Rb’e = Internal base node to emitter resistance

Rce = collector to emitter resistance

Ce = Diffusion capacitance of emitter base junction

Rb’c = Feedback resistance from internal base node

to collector node

gm = Transconductance

CC= transition or space charge capacitance of base

collector junction.

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Physical explanation of parameters of high

frequency model of BJT
Rbb’ is the base spreading resistance of BJT which represents the bulk resistance of
the material between the base terminal and the physical inaccessible internal node
of BJT.

Typically it is of the order of 100’s of ohms.

Rb’e is the Internal base node to emitter resistance. It accounts for the increase
recombination base current as emitter current increases.

It is in parallel with the collector circuit and hence reduces the collector current
value from emitter current.

This resistance will be high order of kilo ohms as the decrease in the collector
current due to base recombination currents will be very less.
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Rb’c is the Feedback resistance from internal base node to collector

node. It is included in the model to take in to account early effect.

As collector to base reverse bias is increased(action) the effective width

increases and collector current increases (feedback response).

This feedback effect (early effect) is accounted for by Rb’c.

Rce represents the bulk resistance of the material between collector to

emitter.
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Ce is the Diffusion capacitance of emitter base junction. Diffusion

capacitance of emitter base junction is directly proportional to emitter
bias current and forward base transit time.

Forward transit time is defined as the average time the minority carrier
spends in base.

The Diffusion capacitance of emitter base junction accounts for the

minority charge stored in base and is given as

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Ce = τF*IE/VT
where
IE is emitter bias current
VT is voltage equivalent of temperature
= k*T/e
=26 mV at 27 Deg C
τF is forward base transit time given as
= W2/(2*DB)
W is effective base width
DB is diffusion constant for minority carriers
in base holes in PNP transistor and electrons in NPN
transistor.

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Ce is a function of temperature as

DB = VT*μ (μ varies as T-m) is a function of temperature.

Ce can be found theoretically from unit gain frequency and

Transconductance as follows

Ce = gm/(2*pi*fT)

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Unity gain frequency is defined as frequency at which the current gain

of transistor reduces to unity. The 3 db higher cutoff frequency of BJT
is termed as beta frequency of BJT denoted by fβ. The beta frequency
and Unity gain frequency are related as

fT = hfe*fβ

where hfe is current gain of BJT in CE configuration.

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CC represents the transition or space charge capacitance of base collector

junction. The transition capacitance of base collector junction is given as
Cj = Co/(1+VCB/VBV)n
where
Co is the transition capacitance for zero
collector to base bias
VCB is collector to base bias
VBV is the built in voltage across base collector
junction
n is a constant called as grading coefficient varies
form o.25 to 0.5.

Department of Electrical Engineering

 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Technology, Dhule

The high frequency hybrid Pi or Giacoletto model of BJT is valid for

frequencies less than the unit gain frequency.

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High frequency model parameters of a BJT in

terms of low frequency hybrid parameters
The main advantage of high frequency model is that this model can be
simplified to obtain low frequency model of BJT.

This is done by eliminating capacitance’s from the high frequency

model so that the BJT responds without any significant
delay(instantaneously) to the input signal.

In practice there will be some delay between the input signal and output
signal of BJT which will be very small compared to signal
period(1/frequency of input signal) and hence can be neglected.
Department of Electrical Engineering
 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Technology, Dhule

High frequency model parameters of a BJT in

terms of low frequency hybrid parameters
The high frequency model of BJT is simplified at low frequencies and
redrawn as shown in the figure below along with the small signal low
frequency hybrid model of BJT

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The High frequency model parameters of a BJT in terms of low

frequency hybrid parameters is given below
Transconductance
gm = Ic/Vt

Internal Base node to emitter resistance

rb’e = hfe/ gm
= (hfe* Vt )/ Ic

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Internal Base node to collector resistance

rb’e = (hre* rb’c) / (1- hre) (assuming hre << 1)
rb’e = (hre* rb’c)

Base spreading resistance

rbb’ = hie – rb’e
= hie – (hfe* Vt )/ Ic

Collector to emitter resistance

rce = 1 / ( hoe – (1+ hfe)/rb’c)

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Cascade Amplifier:

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To increases the voltage gain of the amplifier, multiple amplifier are

connects in cascade.

The output of one amplifier is the input to another stage. In this way the
overall voltage gain can be increased, when number of amplifier stages
are used in succession it is called a multistage amplifier or cascade
amplifier.

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 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Technology, Dhule

A n-stage amplifier
A n-stage amplifier can be represented by the block diagram as
shown in fig.

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 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Technology, Dhule

To represent the gain of the cascade amplifier, the voltage gains are
represents in dB.

The two power levels of input and output of an amplifier are compared
on a logarithmic scale rather than linear scale.

The number of bels by which the output power P2exceeds the input
power P1 is defined as

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Department of Electrical Engineering

 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Technology, Dhule

Department of Electrical Engineering

 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Technology, Dhule

Coupling
In a multistage amplifier the output of one stage makes the input of the
next stage.

Normally a network is used between two stages so that a minimum loss

of voltage occurs when the signal passes through this network to the
next stage.

Also the dc voltage at the output of one stage should not be permitted to
go to the input of the next. Otherwise, the biasing of the next stage are
disturbed.
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Types of Coupling
The three couplings generally used are.
RC coupling
Impedance coupling
Transformer coupling.

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RC coupling
RC coupling the most commonly used method of coupling from one
stage to the next.

An ac source with a source resistance RS drives the input of an

amplifier.

The grounded emitter stage amplifies the signal, which is then coupled
to next CE stage the signal is further amplified to get larger output.

Department of Electrical Engineering

 Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal’s Institute of Technology, Dhule

Department of Electrical Engineering