Transistor Circuits 2

1. H-parameters
Small-signal amplifiers are assumed to operate over the linear range of the active
device (transistor) and therefore the AC operation may be deduced by representing the
transistor by an equivalent circuit consisting of linear signal generators and circuit
elements as shown in figure 1.

V
o
I
o
V
i
I
i


Figure 1.

In deducing this equivalent circuit, the transistor is first regarded as an active two-port
black box i.e, it has two input terminals and two output terminals There are four
external variables, the input voltage and current V
i
and I
i
and output voltage and current
V
o
and I
o
. Since operation takes place over the linear range of transistor characteristics,
V
i
, I
i
, V
o
, and I
o
can be related to each other by constant parameters. Thus V
i
and I
o
can
be related to V
o
and I
i
by four constants, called h-parameters giving:
o r i i i
V h I h V + = (1)
o o i f o
V h I h I + = (2)
which can be represented as shown in fig.2:

V
i
I
i
h
i
h
r
V
o
h
f
I
i 1/h
o
I
o
V
o
Eqn1 Eqn2

Figure 2.
[It must be emphasised that there are two other ways of relating the four variables
thereby leading to other set of parameters, e.g. y-parameters.] Thus, assuming small
signal conditions,

0 =
=
o i
i
i
V I
V
h input impedance with short circuit output

0 =
=
o i
o
f
V I
I
h forward short-circuit current-transfer constant

0 =
=
i o
i
r
I V
V
h reverse voltage transfer constant

0 =
=
i o
o
o
I V
I
h output admittance with input open-circuited.

2. Analysis of a C.E. Circuit using H-parameters
In this section we use the h parameters to analyse the common emitter equivalent
circuit as shown in Fig. 3. In doing so, an e subscript is added to the h parameters to
indicate common emitter application. Also, the bias components are omitted for
simplicity. For this circuit, I
b
= I
i
I
c
= I
o
V
be
= V
i
V
ie
= V
o


R
L
V
i
I
i
h
ie
h
re
V
o
h
fe
I
i
1/h
oe
I
o
V
o
Eqn1 Eqn2
C
E
B
R
L
I
L

Figure 3.
Under normal operating conditions and considering alternating currents and voltages
only, h
re
is so small (typically 5 x 10
-4
) that the generator h
re
V
o
can be omitted from the
input circuit and replaced by a short circuit. Therefore the equations for the equivalent
circuit become
V
i
= h
ie
I
i

I
o
= h
fe
I
i
+ h
oe
V
o
A further simplification of the equivalent circuit is possible since 1/h
oe
is usually much
greater that R
L
(1/h
oe
typically 100k). This then gives
V
i
= h
ie
I
i

I
o
= h
fe
I
i
The equivalent circuit now becomes that shown in Fig. 4.
V
i
I
i
h
ie
h
fe
I
i
1/h
oe
I
o
V
o
Eqn1 Eqn2
R
L
I
L

Figure 4
For this simplified circuit, the current gain is
| = = =
fe
i
o
i
h
I
I
A
The voltage gain is given by
ie
L fe
ie i
L o
i
o
v
h
R h
h I
R I
V
V
A

=

= =
(Hence
ie
fe
m
h
h
g = )
The input impedance

m
fe
ie
i
i
in
g
h
h
I
V
Z = = =
The output impedance of an amplifier is the internal impedance as seen by any load
placed upon it. It may be defined as the ratio of output voltage to output current when the
AC signal source is applied to the output terminals and the input is represented by the
internal impedance of any input source. For the CE amplifier, the output impedance Z
out

is seen by the load R is
oe out
h Z / 1 = .
The circuit in Fig. 5 shows an H-biased common emitter amplifier. The equivalent
circuit is shown in Fig. 6.
+V
CC
R
1
R
2
R
L
R
E
C
1
C
2
C
3

Figure 5
V
i
I
b
h
ie
h
fe
I
b
1/h
oe
I
o
V
o
R
L
I
L
R
2
R
1

Figure 6
Note that the capacitors do not appear in the equivalent circuit as they are short circuits
for signals. This results in RE being short-circuited. The same holds for the power
supply. R1 and R2 appear in the equivalent circuit but do not affect the voltage gain.

3. Amplifier with Partially Decoupled Emitter Resistor
The common emitter amplifier may be modified by decoupling only part of the
emitter resistor as shown in figure 7. The equivalent circuit is shown in figure 8.
+V
CC
R
1
R
2
R
L
R
E
C
1
C
2
C
3
R
e

Figure 7

V
i
I
b
h
ie
h
fe
I
b
1/h
oe
I
o
V
o
R
L
I
L
R
2
R
1
Z'
in
Z
in
R
e

Figure 8

At the input,
) ) 1 ( ( ) (
e fe ie b e b fe b ie b i
R h h I R I h I h I V + + = + + =
At the output,
L fe b L o o
R h I R I V = =
Therefore
( ) | | ( )
e fe ie
L fe
e fe ie b
L fe b
in
o
v
R h h
R h
R h h i
R h i
V
V
A
+ +

=
+ +

= =
1 1


If Re is large such that ) ) 1 (
e fe ie
R h h + << , then
( )
e
L
e fe
L fe
v
R
R
R h
R h
A ~
+

~
1


e fe ie
b
in
in
R h h
I
V
Z ) 1 (
'
+ + = =
and
in in
Z R R Z ' = // //
2 1

Note that the presence of R
e
reduces but stabilizes voltage gain and increases the circuit
input impedance.

4. Common Collector Amplifier

+V
CC
R
B
R
E
C
1
C
2
V
i
V
o

+V
CC
R
E
C
1
C
2
R
1
R
2
V
i
V
o

Fixed Biasing H-type Biasing
Figure 9

As shown in Fig. 9, the common collector amplifier can be biased using either the fixed
biasing scheme or H-type bias. The Q point instability normally associated with the fixed
biasing scheme is here reduced because of the presence of R
E
.
V
i
I
i
h
ic
h
rc
V
o
h
fc
I
i
1/h
oc
I
o
V
o
B E
C
C
R
E

Figure 10
Figure 11 shows the basic equivalent circuit for the common collector amplifier.
However, h-parameters for the common collector circuit are not usually available and it is
more useful to do the analysis in terms of C.E. parameters. The common collector
equivalent circuit using common emitter h parameters is shown in Figure 11:
V
i
I
b
h
ie
h
re
V
ce
h
fe
I
b 1/h
oe
V
o
R
E
B C
E

Figure 11
If
ce re
V h is neglected we get the equivalent circuit shown in figure 12.
V
i
I
b
h
ie
h
fe
I
b
I
o
V
o
B E
C
R
E

Figure 12

For this circuit,
E b fe o
R I h V ) 1 ( + =
E b fe ie b i
R I h h I V ) 1 ( + + =
where resistor R
E
includes 1/h
oe
. Therefore
( )
E e
E
fe
ie
E
E
i
o
v
R r
R
h
h
R
R
V
V
A
+
=
(
(

+
+
= =
1
'

where
fe
ie
e
h
h
r
+

1
. If R
E
>> r
e
, A
v
1. The current gain is given by
( )
fe
b
b fe
b
o
I
h
i
i h
I
I
A + =
+
= = 1
1

The input impedance of the circuit is given by
E fe ie
b
i
in
R h h
I
V
Z ) 1 ( + + = =
To find the output impedance the voltage source at the input is short-circuited and a
signal V applied at the circuit output as shown in Fig. 13. R
E
is omitted for the moment.


I
b
h
ie
h
fe
I
b
I
V
B E
C

Figure 13

For this circuit,
ie b
h I V =
b fe
I h I ) 1 ( + =
Hence,
fe
ie
out
h
h
I
V
Z
+
= =
1
'

The actual output impedance includes resistor RE in parallel with Zout i.e.

E out out
R Z Z // ' =
Finally, an emitter follower capacitively coupled to a resistive load R
L
can go into cut-off
duration one half of the signal cycle. If this is to be avoided,
L E
pk
eq
R R
V
I
//
> where V
pk
is
the desired output voltage across R
L
.

5. Common Base Amplifier

+V
CC
R
E
C
1
C
2
R
1
R
2
V
i
V
o
C
3
R
L

+V
CC
R
B
R
E
C
1
C
2
V
i
V
o
C
3

H-type Biasing Fixed Biasing
Figure 14
The common base amplifier can be biased using fixed bias or H-type bias as shown in
figure 14. The capacitance C
1
effectively short-circuits the amplifier base to ground.

V
i
I
i
h
ib
h
rb
V
o
h
fb
I
i
1/h
ob
I
o
V
o
E C
B B
R
L

Figure 15. Basic Equivalent Circuit

Input resistance
ib
h
Output resistance
ob
h / 1
Current Gain
L ob
fb
i
L
i
R h
h
I
I
A
+

= =
1

Voltage Gain
ib
L
L ob
fb
ob L fb
i
o
v
h
R
R h
h
h R h
V
V
A .
1
/ 1 //
+

= = =
It can be shown that (h
fb
-ve)
fe
ie
ib
fe
oe
ob
fe
fe
fb
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
h
+

=
+

=
+

=
1 1 1

As in the case of the common collector amplifier, the h parameters for the common
emitter configuration are used. Thus the equivalent circuit becomes that shown in figure
16. Here the voltage source component of the circuit is omitted. This can be re-drawn as
V
i
I
b
h
ie
h
fe
I
b
1/h
oe
I
o
V
o
R
L
I
L
R
E
E
B
C

Figure 16
shown in figure 17.
V
i
I
b
h
ie
I
o
V
o
E C
B
R
L
h
fe
I
b
R
E
I
L

Figure 17
From this, the input and output voltages are given by
e
L
ob
L fb
i
o
v ie b L b fe
r
R
h
R h
V
V
A h i v R i h V =
+

= = = =
1
0

The output impedance of the CB amplifier is obtained by dividing the O.C. output
voltage by the short circuit output current giving

L
b fe
L b fe
sc
os
out
R
i h
R i h
I
V
Z =

= =
Example: Given an npn Si transistor, hfe = 60, design a CB amplifier with an input
impedance of 52 and A
v
= 130, V
cc
= 9V.

Solution: (a) To obtain R
in
= 52, use I
E
= 0.5mA since R
in
=r
e
= 0.026/0.5 x 10
-3
=
52.
(b) To obtain the voltage gain of 130, we solve for R
L
using A
v
= R
L
/r
e
.
Therefore R
L
= 130 x 52 = 6k8
(c) Bias the transistor with V
cc
= 9V, R
L
=6k8, I
E
=5mA.
Note: Base bias resistors can be lowered to improve bias stability.

6. Multistage Amplifiers
When the gain required from an amplifier exceeds two or more transistors can be
connected in cascade. This means that the output of the first stage is used as the input to
the second stage and so on. These circuits fall into essentially 3 categories based on the
method of coupling.
(a) Transformer coupling
(b) TC Coupling
(c) Direct Coupling

RC Coupled Amplifiers
A typical RC coupled two-stage amplifier is shown in figure xx.
R
1
R
2
R
4
R
3
C
1
C
2
C
3
+V
CC
R
5
R
6
R
8
R
7
C
5
C
4
T
r1
T
r2
R
S
V
S

Figure 18
The presence of the coupling capacitors C
1
, C
2
, and C
5
, limits the low frequency response
of the circuit.
Transformer Coupled Amplifiers

A transformer may be used to couple the output of an amplifier to its load. An example of
such a circuit is shown. RC coupling is generally used instead of transformer coupling
since (a) transformers tend to be bulky items, (b) for good high frequency response they
tend to be costly, (c) they are generally no off-the-shelf items.

Direct Coupled Amplifiers
The need frequently arises for an amplifier which will faithfully reproduce slowly
varying signals. The very low cut-off frequency required for such an amplifier may
eliminate capacitive or transformer coupling with direct coupling as the only feasible
solution. The main disadvantage of direct coupling is that thermal currents generated in
the amplifier are amplified along with the signal currents thereby increasing thermal
instability.
A useful topology for a medium gain two-stage voltage amplifier is shown in
figure xx. It utilizes the C.E. amplifier in the first stage, and a direct coupled emitter
follower in the second stage.
R
1
R
2
R
4
R
3
C
1
C
2
+V
CC
R
5
C
3
T
r1
T
r2
R
S
V
S
V
o

Figure 19
The circuit can be improved by only partially decoupling the emitter resistor of the first
stage. This stabilizes the voltage gain and increases the input impedance. The emitter
follower provides a low impedance output. In designing such an amplifier, the procedure
follows that giving previously for the CE h-biased amplifier. The value of R
E
calculated
is then split into R
E
and R
e
using:
) 1 /(
4
fe ie e
v
h h R
R
A
+ +
=
R
4
is then calculated by first choosing I
cq2
to be an appropriate value (emitter follower
capacitively coupled to load). Then

2
2
5
cq
be bq
I
V V
R

=

7. Special Circuits

Differential Amplifier
+V
-V
I
R
L
R
L
V
i1
V
i2
T
r1
T
r2
R
B
R
B
V
o1
V
o2

Figure 20

The differential amplifier (figure 20), sometimes referred to as the long-tailed
pair, consists of two transistors coupled at the emitters at which point is attached a
constant current source. The collectors of the transistors are supplied via the resistors R
L
.
A bipolar supply is used. Because of the constant current source I, when the collector
current in one transistor increases that in the other must decrease. The overall effect is
that V
o1
and V
o2
are in antiphase and the circuit responds only to the difference V
in1

V
in2
. It can be shown that:

2 2 1 1
) (
2
o i i
e
L
o
V V V
r
R
V = =
where
C
e
I
r
40
1
=
This circuit is used extensively at the intput of operational amplifiers. The current source
may be replaced by a resistor R
E
but in such a circumstance, the circuit does not function
as well. (Current sources will be discussed shortly). The two resistors R
B
provide base
bias current for the transistors and must be used. The value must not be too small so as to
load down the input signal nor must it be too large in which case a large offset [base-gd
voltage] can result. A value in the range 10k to 100k is suitable.

Darlington Pair

T
r2
T
r1
B
C
E

Figure 21

The Darlington connection shown in figure 21 is an example of direct coupling that is of
great importance. In this arrangement the emitter current of T
r1
is the base current of Tr
2
.
The main advantage of the Darlington Pair is its high current gain which is approximately
the product of the individual transistor current gains i.e. Current Gain h
fe1
x h
fe2


Compound Darlington

T
r1
T
r2
B
E
C

Figure 22

The compound Darlington shown in figure 23 also has a current gain of approximately
h
fe
, h
fe2
but uses one npn and one pnp transistor.

Constant Current Source 1
The circuit shown in figure 23 provides a constant current through resistor R in the
collector of the transistor. The zener diode fixes the voltage at the base of the transistor
such that the current I
E
through resisror R
E
is given by
E
Z
E
be bq
E
R
V
R
V V
I
7 . 0
=

=
R
E
V
Z
R
Z
T
r1
R
+V
CC
I

Figure 23

Hence since V
Z
is fixed, then so is I
E
. Since the collector current is approximately equal
to the emitter current, it follows that the current I through the load is constant and given
by

E
Z
R
V
I
7 . 0
=
This is a single-transistor current source. While the fixed base voltage is usually provided
by a zener diode, it can also be supplied by a battery or other DC source. If V
Z
=3.9volts
and R
E
=1k, then mA
k
I 2 . 3
1
7 . 0 9 . 3
=

= . R
Z
is chosen such that the zener has sufficient
current for proper operation say 5mA giving R
Z
= (10-3.9)/2mA = 3.05k.

Constant Source 2
R
1
R
2
R
T
r1
T
r2
+V
CC
I
2
I
1

Figure 24

Another constant current source is that shown in figure 24. This uses two transistors and
no zener diode. R
2
is chosen such that sufficient current I2 flows into Tr
2
. Its value is
given by
2
2
2
I
V V
R
be cc

=
The constant current I1 is given by
1 1
/ 7 . 0 R I =

Current Mirror

+V
CC
T
r1 T
r2
I
B
I
B
I
2
I
I
1
R
R
1

Figure 25

The current mirror circuit is shown in figure 25. In this circuit, assuming matched
transistors since the base-emitter voltage is the same, then
2
I I =
But
B B
I I I I I 2 2
2 1
+ = + =
Since IB is small, then

2 1
I I ~
Thus, I
1
and I
2
are approximately the same. The controllable current is I
1
with a value
given by

1 1
/ ) 7 . 0 ( R V I
CC
=
I
2
is then automatically set with a value that is independent of R.