EE3122: Analogue Circuit

Fundamentals
Single transistor Amplifiers
Department of Electrical Engineering
City University of Hong Kong
Prof. Arindam BASU
Amplifier

No distortion!
Microphone Loudspeaker

Increase the magnitude of the signal applied to its input.

What about Conservation of Energy??

Two-port Models of amplifiers (circuit level)

Voltage amplifier Current amplifier

Input: voltage Output: voltage Input: current Output: current

Transresistance amplifier Transconductance amplifier

Input: current Output: voltage Input: voltage Output: current
Single transistor amplifier – 3 types
BJT Common Common Common
Emitter (CE) Base (CB) Collector (CC)

Emitter connects to Base connects to DC Collector connects to

DC voltage (AC voltage (AC ground) DC voltage (AC
ground) ground)

Negative gain, i.e. Positive gain, i.e. A>1 Voltage follower, i.e.
A<-1 e.g. A = 10 A~1
e.g. A = -10

BJT MOSFET

Emitter (E) Source (S)

Base (B) Gate (G)
Collector (C) Drain (D)
Single transistor amplifier – 3 types
MOS Common Common Common
Source (CS) Gate (CG) Drain (CD)

Source connects to Gate connects to DC Drain connects to

DC voltage (AC voltage (AC ground) DC voltage (AC
ground) ground)

Negative gain, i.e. Positive gain, i.e. A>1 Voltage follower, i.e.
A<-1 e.g. A = 10 A~1
e.g. A = -10

BJT MOSFET

Emitter (E) Source (S)

Base (B) Gate (G)
Collector (C) Drain (D)
Notation for DC & AC signals

Total voltage = DC voltage + AC voltage

vBE = VBE + vbe
Total current = DC current + AC current
iBE = IBE + ibe

Other notation
DC voltage: VBB AC voltage: ui
Frequency Response
• Amplifiers and filters use resistors, inductors, or capacitor networks
(RLC) within their design.
• Internal capacitors in transistors.
Common-Emitter Configuration of BJT

Input: Base of BJT, Output: Collector of BJT

Common Emitter (C-E): Need for DC Biasing

Forward Active
operation region: Add
a DC component
 C-E configuration: DC Biasing

VBB – IbRb =VBE＞

Von

Rc：suitable VCE
Forward
Bias
C-E configuration
Exercise

Can these configurations

work properly?

A,B,D,F:
Yes!
(c) Current cannot flow from emitter to
collector and emitter to base.
(e) Capacitor blocks base current.
(g) Current cannot flow from emitter to
collector.
(h) No base current.
DC biasing: Quiescent point (Q-point)

Ui = 0

(Q)
Quiescent Point (Q Point)
IBQ, ICQ（IEQ )
VBE, VCE
Why Q-point is important?
uCE
VCC

UCEQ
{
𝑉!" O uCE
VCC
UCEQ
𝑉!"
Suitable Q Point: No (Less) distortion
Suitable IBQ, ICQ（IEQ ), VBE, VCE
O
{
Why Q-point is important?
• Amplification may not be taking place over the whole signal cycle due
to incorrect biasing levels.
• The input signal may be too large, causing the amplifiers transistors to
be limited by the supply voltage.
• The amplification may not be a linear signal over the entire
frequency range of inputs.
• Careful choice of the transistor and biasing components (Q Point)
can help minimize the effect of amplifier distortion!
C-E configuration

Output
Input
Q Q IBQ
ICQ
IBQ

𝑉!" 𝑉#"

𝑉BE = 𝑉BB − 𝑖! 𝑅" 𝑉CE = 𝑉CC − 𝑖# 𝑅$

How to provide DC & AC inputs?

How to find a voltage source which is equal to the exact biasing voltage across B-E?
How to provide DC & AC inputs?

DC： 𝑉C1 = 𝑉$" ，𝑉C2 = 𝑉!"

AC： uBE＝ui＋ 𝑉!"

Coupling capacitors (large

enough so that they become
short-circuit at signal
frequencies)
DC Analysis

𝑉BB －𝑉!"
𝐼BQ ＝
𝑅#
𝐼CQ = 𝛽 𝐼BQ
𝑉$" = 𝑉CC − 𝐼CQ 𝑅%

𝑉!" = 0.6/0.7V, ICQ＝βIBQ

DC Analysis

Assume that the BJT works in forward active region

𝑉!"
DC Analysis
What if 𝑅# = 5𝑘Ω?
DC and AC Analysis
DC equivalent circuit for BJT CE Amplifier
DC Analysis example: 4 resistor BJT biasing
circuit
DC Analysis example: 4 resistor BJT biasing
circuit
DC Analysis example: 4 resistor MOSFET
biasing circuit
DC and AC Analysis
AC analysis: Small signal model
• We are interested in AC signal.
AC analysis: Small signal BJT model
AC analysis: Small signal BJT model
AC analysis: Small signal MOS model
Small-signal analysis of C-S amplifier fully
bypassed Rs
C-S amplifier fully bypassed Rs: Voltage Gain
C-S amplifier fully bypassed Rs: Input
Resistance
C-S amplifier fully bypassed Rs: Output
Resistance
C-S amplifier fully bypassed Rs: Output
Resistance
C-S amplifier fully bypassed Rs: Example
C-S amplifier fully bypassed Rs: Example
C-D Amplifier (Voltage follower): Terminal
Voltage Gain
C-D Amplifier (Voltage follower): Input
Resistance
C-D Amplifier (Voltage follower): Overall
Voltage Gain
C-D Amplifier (Voltage follower): Output
Resistance
Role of feedback: Stabilizing Q point

𝑉$$
What if temperature increases?

𝑅# T（ ℃ ）→ β↑→ IC↑
Q’

Q Q’
Emitter degeneration: Feedback

𝑇 ↑ → β ↑ → 𝐼# ↑→ 𝐼" ↑
→ 𝑈"$ ↑→ 𝐼! ↓

Feedback
Emitter degeneration: 4 resistor circuit

I1>> IB，I1≈ I2

Rb1
U BQ » × VCC 𝑈!% is a constant
Rb1 + Rb2

U BQ - U BEQ
I EQ =
Re
Emitter degeneration: 4 resistor circuit

Rb1
VBB = × VCC
Rb1 + Rb2
Rb = Rb1 ∥ Rb2

𝑉BB = 𝐼BQ 𝑅( + 𝑉!" + 𝐼EQ 𝑅'

Rb1
U BQ » × VCC 𝑉#" = 𝑉CC − 𝐼CQ 𝑅& − 𝐼EQ 𝑅'
Rb1 + Rb2 I EQ
I BQ = ≈ 𝑉CC − 𝐼EQ (𝑅& + 𝑅' )
U BQ - U BEQ 1+ b
I EQ =
Re
4 resistor circuit: AC analysis with Re bypass

𝑪𝒆 : bypass capacitor
U b R '

Ri = Rb1 ∥ Rb2 ∥ rbe Ro = Rc Au = o = - L

U i rbe
Same as C-E amplifier
4 resistor circuit without bypass: Terminal
voltage gain
4 resistor circuit without bypass: Input
resistance
4 resistor circuit without bypass: Overall
voltage gain
4 resistor circuit without bypass: Output
resistance