Lecture 2

Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

(cont.)
 Common Base (CB) Amplifier
• The base terminal is biased at a fixed voltage; the input
signal is applied to the emitter, and the output signal
sensed at the collector.
 Small-Signal Analysis of CB Core
• The voltage gain of a CB stage is gmRC, which is identical to that of a CE stage
in magnitude and opposite in phase.

Av = g m RC
Tradeoff between Gain and Headroom
• To ensure that the BJT operates in active mode, the
voltage drop across RC cannot exceed VCC-VBE.

IC VCC − VBE
Av = RC 
VT VT
 Simple CB Stage Example
VCC = 1.8V
IC = 0.2mA
IS = 5x10-17 A
b = 100
 Input Impedance of a CB Stage
• The input impedance of a CB stage is much smaller
than that of a CE stage.

1
Rin = if VA = 
gm
 CB Stage with Source Resistance
• With the inclusion of a source resistance, the input
signal is attenuated before it reaches the emitter of
the amplifier; therefore, the voltage gain is lowered.
– This effect is similar to CE stage emitter degeneration.

RC
Av =
1
+ RS
gm
 Practical Example of a CB Stage
• An antenna usually has low output impedance; therefore, a
correspondingly low input impedance is required for the following
stage.
Output Impedance: CE vs. CB Stages
• The output impedances of emitter-degenerated CE and
CB stages are the same. This is because the circuits for
small-signal analysis are the same when the input port
is grounded.
Av of CB Stage with Base Resistance
(VA = ∞)
• With base resistance, the voltage gain degrades.
vout
vout = − g m v RC  v = −
g m RC

vP = − (r + RB ) = (r + RB )
v vout
r r g m RC

vP =
vout
(r + RB )
bRC
vout
(r + RB ) − vin
v v −v  1   v  bR
KCL at node P :  + g m v = P in   + g m  − out  = C
r RE  r  g m RC  RE

vout bRC RC
= 
vin r + (b + 1)RE + RB 1
+ RE +
RB
gm b +1
 Voltage Gain: CE vs. CB Stages
• The magnitude of the voltage gain of a CB stage with
source and base resistances is the same as that of a CE
stage with base resistance and emitter degeneration.
Rin of CB Stage with Base Resistance
(VA = ∞)
• The input impedance of a CB stage with base
resistance is equal to 1/gm plus RB divided by (b+1).
This is in contrast to a degenerated CE stage, in which
the resistance in series with the emitter is multiplied
by (b+1) when seen from the base.
v
KCL  + g m v = −ix
r
1  r 
 + g m  − vx  = −ix
 r  r + RB 
vx r + RB 1 RB
v = −
r
vx Rin  =  +
r + RB ix b +1 gm b +1
Input Impedance Seen at Emitter vs. Base

Common Base Stage Common Emitter Stage

 Biasing of CB Stage
• A resistive voltage divider lowers the gain.
• To remedy this problem, a capacitor is inserted
between the base and ground to short out the
resistive voltage divider at the frequency of interest.
 Example of CB Stage with Bias
VCC = 2.5V
Design a CB stage for Av = 10 and Rin = 50W. IS = 5x10-16 A
• Rin = 50W ≈ 1/gm if RE >> 1/gm b = 100
VA = ∞
→ Choose RE = 500W

• Av = gmRC = 10 → RC = 500W
• IC = gm·VT = 0.52mA
• VBE=VTln(IC/IS)=0.72V

• Vb = IERE + VBE = 0.98V

• Choose R1 and R2 to provide Vb
and I1 >> IB, e.g. I1 = 52mA
• CB is chosen so that (1/(b+1))(1/wCB) is small compared to
1/gm at the frequency of interest.
 Emitter Follower
(Common Collector Amplifier)
 Emitter Follower Core
• When the input voltage (Vin) is increased by Vin, the
collector current (and hence the emitter current)
increases, so that the output voltage (Vout) is increased.
• Note that Vin and Vout differ by VBE.
 Unity-Gain Emitter Follower
• In integrated circuits, the follower is typically realized as shown below.
– The voltage gain is 1 because a constant collector current (= I1) results in a
constant VBE; hence Vout = Vin .

VA = 

Av = 1
 Small-Signal Model of Emitter Follower
• The voltage gain is less than 1 and positive.
VA =  v = vin − vout
v vout
KCL at emitter : + g m v =
r RE
vin − vout
+ g m (vin − vout ) =
vout
r RE
vout 1 RE
= 
r
vin 1 +   1 1
RE +
b + 1 RE gm
Emitter Follower as a Voltage Divider

VA = 
Emitter Follower with Source Resistance

VA = 

vout RE
=
vin R + 1 + RS
gm b +1
E
Input Impedance of Emitter Follower
• The input impedance of an emitter follower is the
same as that of a CE stage with emitter degeneration
(whose input impedance does not depend on the
resistance between the collector and VCC).
VA = 

vx
Rin  = r + (1 + b ) RE
ix
 Effect of BJT Current Gain
• There is a current gain of (b+1) from base to emitter.
• Effectively, the load resistance seen from the base is multiplied by (b+1).
 Emitter Follower as a Buffer
• The emitter follower is suited for use as a buffer
between a CE stage and a small load resistance, to
alleviate the problem of gain degradation.

(
Av = g m RC Rspeaker ) Rin1 = r 2 + (1 + b 2 ) Rspeaker
Av = g m (RC Rin1 )
Output Impedance of Emitter Follower
• An emitter follower effectively lowers the source
impedance by a factor of b+1, for improved driving
capability.
• The follower is a good “voltage buffer” because it has
high input impedance and low output impedance.

 1 Rs 
Rout =  +  || RE
 gm b + 1 
 Emitter Follower with Early Effect
• Since rO is in parallel with RE, its effect can be easily
incorporated into the equations for the voltage gain
and the input and output impedances.

RE || rO
Av =
RS 1
RE || rO + +
b +1 gm
Rin = r + (b + 1)( RE || rO )
 Rs 1 
Rout =  +  || RE || rO
 b +1 gm 
 Emitter Follower with Biasing
• A biasing technique similar to that used for the CE stage can be used for
the emitter follower.
• Note that VB can be biased to be close to VCC because the collector is
biased at VCC.
 Supply-Independent Biasing
• By putting an independent current source at the
emitter, the bias point (IC, VBE) is fixed, regardless of
the supply voltage value.
 Summary of Amplifier Topologies
• The three amplifier topologies studied thus far have
different properties and are used on different occasions.
• CE and CB stages have voltage gain with magnitude
greater than one; the emitter follower’s voltage gain is
at most one.
 Amplifier Example #1
• The keys to solving this problem are recognizing the
AC ground between R1 and R2, and using a Thevenin
transformation of the input network.
CE stage Small-signal Simplified small-signal
equivalent circuit equivalent circuit

vout R2 || RC R1
=− 
+ RE R1 + RS
vin R || R 1
1 S
+
b +1 gm
 Amplifier Example #2
• AC grounding/shorting and Thevenin transformation
are needed to transform this complex circuit into a
simple CE stage with emitter degeneration.

vout RC R1
=− 
+ R2 R1 + RS
vin RS || R1 1
+
b +1 gm
 Amplifier Example #3
• First, identify Req, which is the impedance seen at the
emitter of Q2 in parallel with the infinite output
impedance of an ideal current source.
• Second, use the equations for a degenerated CE
stage with RE replaced by Req.

Rin  r 1 + r 2 + R1
− RC
Av =
1 1 R1
+ +
1 R1 g m1 g m 2 b + 1
Req = +
gm2 b + 1
 Amplifier Example #4
• Note that CB shorts out R2 and provides a ground for
R1, at the frequency of interest.
→ R1 appears in parallel with RC; the circuit simplifies to
a simple CB stage with source resistance.

RC || R1
Av =
1
+ RS
gm
 Amplifier Example #5
• Note that the equivalent base resistance of Q1 is the
parallel connection of RE and the impedance seen at
the emitter of Q2.

1 1  1 RB  
Rin = +  +  || RE 
g m1 b + 1  g m 2 b + 1  