Chapter 4

DC Biasing–BJTs
 Biasing
Biasing: The DC voltages applied to a transistor in
order to turn it on so that it can amplify the AC signal.

Recall the following basic relationships for a transistor:

V BE  0.7 V
I E  (   1)I 
IC   I 

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 2 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Operating Point

The DC input
establishes an
operating or
quiescent point
called the Q-point.

Various operating points within the

limits of operation of a transistor.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 3 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 The Three States of Operation

• Active or Linear Region Operation

Base–Emitter junction is forward biased
Base–Collector junction is reverse biased

• Cutoff Region Operation

Base–Emitter junction is reverse biased

• Saturation Region Operation

Base–Emitter junction is forward biased
Base–Collector junction is forward biased

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 4 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 DC Biasing Circuits

• Fixed-bias circuit
• Emitter-stabilized bias circuit
• Collector-emitter loop
• Voltage divider bias circuit
• DC bias with voltage feedback

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 5 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Fixed Bias configuration

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 6 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Fixed Bias configuration

Fixed bias circuit DC equivalent

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 7 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 The Base-Emitter Loop

From Kirchhoff’s voltage

law:

+VCC – IBRB – VBE = 0

Solving for base current:

VCC  VBE
IB 
RB

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 8 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Collector-Emitter Loop

Collector current:
I C  I B

From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:

VCE  VCC  I C R C

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 9 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Example 4.1
Find IBQ , ICQ , VCEQ , VB
, VC , VBC.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 10 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Load Line Analysis

V CE V CC  I C RC

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 11 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Load Line Analysis

V CE V CC  I C RC

V CE V CC I C  0 mA

V CC
IC 
RC V CE  0V

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 12 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Load Line Analysis

Movement of the Q-point with increasing level of IB.

(The level of IB is changed by varying the value of RB)

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 13 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Load Line Analysis

Effect of an increasing level of RC on the load line and the Q-point.

(VCC fixed)
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 14 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Load Line Analysis

Effect of lower values of VCC on the load line and the Q-point.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 15 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Example 4.3
Find VCC , RC , RB for
the fixed biasing
configuration

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 16 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Emitter-Stabilized Bias Circuit

Adding a resistor
(RE) to the emitter
circuit stabilizes the
bias circuit.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 17 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Base-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
 VCC - I E R E - VBE - I E R E  0

Since IE = ( + 1)IB:

VCC - I B R B - (  1)I B R E  0

Solving for IB:

VCC - VBE
IB 
R B  (  1)R E

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 18 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Collector-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
I R V I R V 0
E E CE C C CC
Since IE  IC:
VCE  VCC – I C (R C  R E )

Also:
VE  I E R E
VC  VCE  VE  VCC - I C R C
VB  VCC – I R R B  VBE  VE

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 19 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Example 4.4
Find IB , IC , VCE , VC , VE , VB , VBC .

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 20 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Improved Biased Stability

Stability refers to a circuit condition in which the

currents and voltages will remain fairly constant over
a wide range of temperatures and transistor Beta ()
values.

Adding RE to the emitter improves the stability of a transistor.

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 21 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Improved Biased Stability

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 22 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
 Load Line Analysis
V CE V CC  I C (RC  R E )

V CE V CC I C  0 mA

V CC
IC 
RC  R E V CE  0V

Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky 23 Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.