ELEC 252

Introduction to Electronics

LECTURE 24

• MOSFETs as Amplifiers
• Small Signal Models
• Amplifier Gain Example
MOSFETs as Amplifiers DC Part:
Bias Voltage for Drain
- MOSFETs will work as linear (transconductance) Terminal
amplifiers when biased in the saturation mode.
- This is possible since a small change in vGS(t)
produces a large change in iD(t) .
- Just like diodes, analyze in two steps:
1. DC biasing conditions (DC Part)
iD t 

vDS t 

iD t   I D  id t 
vGS t   VGS  vgs t 
DC Part: vGS t  vDS t   VDS  vds t 
Bias Voltage at Gate

DC Part
MOSFETs as Amplifiers
- MOSFETs will work as linear (transconductance)
amplifiers when biased in the saturation mode.
- This is possible since a small change in vGS(t)
produces a large change in iD(t) .
AC Part:
- Just like diodes, analyze in two steps:
1. DC biasing conditions (DC Part) - Small Signal
iD t 
2. Small Signal Solution (AC Part) Output

AC Part: vDS t 
Small Signal Input, or the
iD t   I D  id t 
Input Time Varying Signal

vGS t   VGS  vgs t 

vGS t  vDS t   VDS  vds t 

AC Part
DC Biasing & Small Signal Analysis
- Assuming no channel length modulation, DC current is :

- This gives the output DC voltage to be:

VDS
iD
- The total drain current becomes
vDS

with
vGS
DC Biasing & Small Signal Analysis
- Assuming no channel length modulation, DC current is :

- This gives the output DC voltage to be:

VDS
iD
- The total drain current becomes DC Part
vDS

with
vGS
DC Part Non-Linear
Term
AC Part
DC Biasing & Small Signal Analysis
- Assuming no channel length modulation, DC current is :

Transconductance Term:
- This gives the output DC voltage to be: output small-signal
current is proportional to
VDS input small-small voltage
and biasing condition. iD
- The total drain current becomes
vDS

vGS
DC Biasing & Small Signal Analysis
- Assuming no channel length modulation, DC current is :

- This gives the output DC voltage to be:

VDS
iD
- The total drain current becomes
vDS

Non-Linear Term:
Need to keep distortion small, so we want the high- vGS
frequency non-linear term much less than the DC term.
This is possible if the following conditions are satisfied.
DC Biasing & Small Signal Analysis
- Assuming no channel length modulation, DC current is :

If this condition is met

then we can ignore the
- This gives the output DC voltage to be:
non-linear term, and so.
VDS
- The total drain current becomes
0

Non-Linear Term:
Need to keep distortion small, so we want the high-
frequency non-linear term much less than the DC term.
This is possible if the following conditions are satisfied.
Biasing, Small Signal Analysis, and the Transconductance
Small signal drain
current (AC part) is a
function of vgs
Biasing, Small Signal Analysis, and the Transconductance
Define Small Signal Transconductance Near

Output Current
Small signal drain Operating Point Q
current (AC part) is a
function of vgs

Input Voltage
Biasing, Small Signal Analysis, and the Transconductance

Output Current
Small signal drain
AC Part
current (AC part) is a
function of vgs

Operating
Point

DC Part

Input Voltage

AC Part
The Small Signal Models for any MOSFET
Transconductance Term

Output Resistance Due to

Channel Length Modulation

Note:
-All current and voltages are
small signal (AC Part)
- Transconductance Term
dictated by DC Biasing
The Small Signal Models for any MOSFET
Transconductance Term

Output Resistance Due to

Channel Length Modulation

- Similar to diodes, first solve

DC part and then make use of
Note: the small signal model.
-All current and voltages are - In the small signal model, all
small signal (AC Part) DC sources eliminated.
- Transconductance Term - Like diodes, analysis follows
dictated by DC Biasing superposition.
Small Signal Models :
π Model :

T Model :
Small Signal Models : Basic MOSFET Amp Configurations:
π Model :
Common
Source (CS)

Common
T Model : Gate (CG)

Common
Drain (CD)
Example: For the Common Source Amplifier shown below, use the
small signal model to determine the output, open-circuit voltage gain.

iD

vDS

vGS