SEC1205 - ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS - I

UNIT 2 - TRANSISTOR BIASING CIRCUITS ANS SMALL SIGNAL ANALYSIS OF BJT AMPLIFIERS.

Biasing- Types of biasing- DC equivalent circuit of BJT- Load Line-DC and AC Load Line
Analysis – Hybrid Model of BJT- Hybrid Model Analysis of CE, CB, CC - Calculation of Input
Impedance, Output Impedance, Voltage Gain, Current Gain using hybrid model- Approximate
Model of BJT- CE, CB and CC Analysis- Small signal equivalent circuit of BJT- Small Signal
Analysis of CE, CB and CC.
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2.1 Introduction

The process of forcing the transistor into the active region is called biasing.

2.1.1 Q point and maximum undistorted output

It has been observed that under certain input signal conditions, the location of Q point
on the load line may cause some portion of the output signal to be clipped and shown in
figure 1.1(a), 1.1 (b) and undistorted output is shown in figure 1.1 (c).

2.1.2 Factors affecting stability of Q point

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 Fig. 1.1 Q point and maximum undistorted output

2.2 Need for biasing

 To fix the operating point at the middle of active region.
 Stabilize the collector current against temperature variations.
 Operating point independent of transistor parameters

2.2.1 Conditions for Proper Biasing of a Transistor

 Proper dc value of the collector current.

 Proper value of VBE (0.7 V for silicon and 0.3 V for germanium) at any instant.
 Proper value of VCE (1 V for silicon and 0.5 V for germanium) at any instant.

The conditions 1 and 2 make sure that base-emitter junction of a transistor shall remain
forward biased, during all parts of the signal. The condition 3 makes sure that collector-base
junction of input a transistor shall remain reverse biased at all instants.

2.3 Stability Factor

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2.3.1 Additional stability factors

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2.4 Methods of Transistor Biasing
Following are the most commonly used methods for biasing the transistors.

1. Base bias (also called fixed bias).

2. Base bias with emitter feedback (also called emitter feedback bias).
3. Base bias with collector feedback (also called collector feedback bias).
4. Voltage divider bias (also called self bias).
5. Emitter bias.

2.4.1 Base Bias

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2.4.1.1 Stability Factor of Base-Bias Circuit

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2.4.2 Base Bias with Emitter Feedback

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2.4.2.1 Stability Factor of Base Bias with Emitter Feedback

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2.4.3 Base Bias with Collector Feedback

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2.4.3.1 Stability factor of Base Bias with Collector Feedback

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2.4.4 Voltage Divider Bias

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2.4.4.1 Stability of Voltage Divider Bias

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2.4.4.2 Stability factor of Voltage Divider Bias

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2.5 D.C. And A.C. Equivalent Circuits
In a transistor amplifier, both dc and ac conditions prevail. The dc sources set up dc
currents and voltages whereas the ac source (i.e. signal) produces fluctuations in the
transistor currents and voltages. Therefore, a simple way to analyze the action of a transistor
is to split the analysis into two parts viz. a dc analysis and an a.c. analysis. In the dc analysis,
we consider all the dc sources at the same time and work out the dc currents and voltages in
the circuit. On the other hand, for ac analysis, we consider all the ac sources at the same
time and work out the ac currents and voltages. By adding the dc and ac currents and
voltages, we get the total currents and voltages in the circuit. For example, consider the

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amplifier circuit shown in Fig. 1.7. This circuit can be easily analyzed by splitting it into dc
equivalent circuit and ac equivalent circuit.

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2.6 Load Line analysis
The output characteristics are determined experimentally and indicate the relation between
VCE and IC. However, the same information can be obtained in a much simpler way by
representing the mathematical relation between IC and VCE graphically. As discussed before,
the relationship between VCE and IC is linear so that it can be represented by a straight line on
the output characteristics. This is known as a load line. The points lying on the load line give
the possible values of VCE and IC in the output circuit. As in a transistor circuit both dc and ac
conditions exist, therefore, there are two types of load lines, namely; dc load line and ac load
line. The former determines the locus of IC and VCE in the zero signal conditions and the latter
shows these values when the signal is applied.

(i) d.c. load line. It is the line on the output characteristics of a transistor circuit which gives
the values of IC and VCE corresponding to zero signal or dc conditions.

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2.7 Hybrid Parameters
The hybrid parameters are commonly known as h-parameters. These are generally
used to determine amplifier characteristic parameters such as voltage gain, input and output
resistances. The hybrid parameters give very accurate results in transistor amplifier circuit
analysis.

2.7.1 The h-parameters of a Linear Circuit

Figure 1.13 (a) shows a model of any linear device or a circuit. This device or a circuit
is represented by a box and has four terminals i.e., two-terminals 1- 1' for input and two-
terminals 2-2' for output. The behavior of this circuit is specified by two voltages and two
currents.

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2.7.2 Determination and Meaning of h-parameters

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2.7.3 Another Representation for h-parameters

2.7.4 The h-parameter Notations for Transistors

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2.7.5 h-parameters of a Transistor

2.7.6 Hybrid Equivalent Circuit of a Transistor

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2.7.7 Hybrid Equivalent Circuit for Common Emitter Transistor

2.7.8 Hybrid Equivalent Circuit for Common Base Transistor

2.7.9 Hybrid Equivalent Circuit for Common Collector Transistor

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2.8 Amplifier Expressions

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2.8.1 Effect of Source Resistance on Voltage and Current Gains

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2.8.2 Hybrid Formulas for Common Emitter Amplifier

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2.8.3 Hybrid Formulas for Common Base Amplifier

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2.8.4 Hybrid Formulas for Common Collector Amplifier

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2.9 Introduction to amplifiers

The process of increasing the power of an ac signal is called amplification. The circuits
used to perform this function are called amplifiers.
2.9.1 Classification of Amplifiers

The linear amplifiers may be classified according to their mode of operation i.e., the
way they operate on the predetermined set of values. Their descriptions are based on the
following factors:
1. As based on the input
(a) Small-signal amplifier
2. As based on the output
(a) Voltage amplifier
3. As based on transistor configuration
(a) Common-emitter (CE) amplifier (b) Common-base (CB) amplifier
(c) Common-collector (CC) amplifier
4. As based on biasing conditions
(a) Class-A (b) Class-B
5. As based on nature of load resistance
(a) Untuned amplifiers (Wide-band amplifier)
(b) Tuned amplifier (Narrow-band amplifier)
6. As based on frequency response
(a) Direct coupled (DC) amplifier (b) Audio frequency (RF) amplifier
(c) Radio frequency (RF) amplifier
(d) Ultra high frequency (UHF) and microwave frequency amplifier
7. As based on number of stages
(a) Single-stage amplifier (b) Multistage amplifier
8. As based on the method of coupling between the stages
(a) DC (direct coupled) amplifier (b) R-C coupled amplifier
(c) Transformer coupled amplifier

2.9.1.1 Small signal models of BJT

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2.9.2 Analysis of Common Emitter Amplifier

2.9.2.1 Common Emitter Amplifier Parameters

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2.9.2.2 Characteristics and uses of Common Emitter Amplifier

2.9.3 Analysis of a Common Base Amplifier

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2.9.3.1 Common Base Amplifier Parameters

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2.9.3.2 Characteristics and Uses of Common Base Amplifier

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2.9.4 Analysis of Common Collector Amplifier

2.9.4.1 Common Collector Amplifier Parameters

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2.9.4.2 Characteristics and Uses of Common Collector Amplifier

2.9.5 Comparison of Three Amplifier Configurations

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