BJT HF Experiments

The High Frequency Equivalent Circuit of a
Bipolar Junction Transistor

I. INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
The experiments described herein elucidate the switching and frequency characteristics of a typical
bipolar junction transistor (BJT) and link the measurements to the principles of device operation. The
purpose of the present experiment is essentially two fold. Firstly, it familiarizes the student with the
basic measurements required to characterize the dynamic properties of a BJT, i.e. switching speed,
current gain, voltage gain, input impedance, and f
and f
T
cut-off frequencies. Secondly, these
measurements can be used fruitfully to determine not only the basic elements in the Giacoletto model
but also to evaluate the minority carrier lifetime and diffusion lengths in the base, the effective base
width and the transit time across the base. The actual experiment involves using the BJT in the common
emitter (CE) configuration and carrying out the following four basic electronic measurements:
A. The switching speed and hence the base lifetime.
B. Small signal AC current gain vs. frequency (DC current gain
dc
at the operating collector current
is also measured).
C. Input impedance, z
ie
vs. frequency.
D. Small signal AC voltage gain, A
V
vs frequency.
In the present experiments, a Ge npn bipolar transistor type 2N1306 (or its pnp equivalent 2N1307) is
chosen for the measurements simply because its frequency response falls into the frequency range of the
oscillators and oscilloscopes available in the laboratory (for many groups to simultaneously do the
experiments). The highest frequency which had to be accessed was ~500 kHz.
v
CE
V
CE
v
ce
Time
Output voltage
0
I
B
+ i
b
B
C V
CC
R
C
I
C
+ i
c
Input
Output
An npn transistor in the common emitter amplifier configuration.
v
CE
i
B
I
B
i
b
Time
Base current
0
E
v
BE
v
BE
V
BE
v
be
Time
Base emitter voltage
0
E
Figure 1
Equivalent Circuit of a BJT ( S.O. Kasap, 1986-2002: v.1.1) 2
Figure 1 shows the basic definitions for voltages and currents in a common base (CE) npn BJT biased to
operate as an amplifier. For example, the base-emitter terminals have an instantaneous voltage of v
BE
, a
dc voltage of V
BE
and a small signal represented by v
be
. Thus,
v
BE
(t) = V
BE
+ v
be
(t).
Typical HF equivalent circuit of a BJT is shown in Figure 2. The origin of various elements in this
circuit is discussed in Appendix I. The results of the present laboratory will allow you to determine the
values of the elements in this equivalent circuit for the particular Ge BJT that you would be examining.
i
b
R
C
E
C
v
ce r
ce
i
c
= g
m
v
b'e
v
be
r
b'e
B
E
v
s
R
s
S
S
v
in
B

Figure 2
II. THE EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
A. Switching Experiments
1 /
()
6
0
0.1
10
100
5
1
2
Figure 3
Figure 3 shows the circuit used for the switching experiment which allows the measurement of the
minority carrier life time in the base,
B
. The transistor is switched repetitively by applying pulses of
width ~6 s ( >
B
) at a repetition frequency of say ~10 kHz ( << 1/
B
). It is important not to overdrive
the transistor during these measurements, since doing so will speed up the turn-on time and prolong the
turn-off time. By properly selecting a C
B
, R
B
combination, the output waveform can be made to be an
almost ideal rectangle; the rise time of v
CE
(t) nearly zero. The base minority carrier lifetime is then given
by
B
= R
B
C
B
.
1. Set-up the experiment shown in Figure 3 for the Ge npn (or pnp) transistor 2N1306. Use a circuit
board. Use the short small-current wires with spades at ends for connecting the components to each
other. Keep all your circuit connections as short as possible. Choose a pulse generator (Wavetek or
other) that is capable of providing short positive pulses with respect to ground; do not apply a square
wave. Use a probe to display the waveform v
CE
(t) between the collector C and emitter E on the
oscilloscope; otherwise the switching time measurement will be impaired by ringing. (Why?)
Adjust the magnitude of the input signal (pulse height) until the amplitude of output changes from 5 V to
about 1 V. You may have to vary the amplitude and the repetition rate of the input pulses to get the
required output change. Do not overdrive the transistor into full saturation, i.e. when v
CE
(t) switches
from 5V to 0.2V. (You want to switch from 5V to 1V.) Adjust the repetition rate ( > 100 kHz) and the
pulse width so that the output exhibits an exponential looking rise and fall behavior. Sketch the output
waveform showing quite clearly the time scale and the voltage levels involved. Assuming that the rise
and fall of the output transient is exponential, using the initial tangent method, or otherwise, determine
the time constant
B
. Obtain
B
from the rising and falling exponential transient and then average the
values. Note that an exponential decay to a value 37%, or rise to a value 63%, occurs over a time
B
.
2. Connect a variable capacitor box across the resistor R
B
as shown in Figure 4. Adjust C
B
from zero
(no capacitance) upwards until the output waveform is almost an ideal square pulse; the rise time of
v
CE
(t) is nearly zero. The time constant R
B
C
B
is now equal to the base minority carrier recombination
time
B
. Hence, calculate
B
. Sketch the observed changes in the output waveform as C
is varied.
Investigate what happens to the output waveform as C
B
is increased further, say 10 times.
v
CE
(t)
Time
Output voltage
5 V
Input
Output
The measurement of base minority carrier recombination time (lifetime)
~6
0
0.1
= 10
5
1
= 100
< 200
200
> 200
1 /
Figure 4
B. Current Gain Experiments
The small signal current gain is measured by using the circuit shown in Figure 5. The large resistor R
B
( > 100 k ) ensures that a constant current, i
in
= v
s
(t)/R
B
, is fed into the base terminal since the
magnitude of the input impedance, |z
ie
| at any frequency is much smaller than R
B
and the sum of biasing
resistors, R
1
and R
2
. Thus, i
b
= i
in
. The transistor is biased by adjusting R
1
to have its DC collector current
I
C
= 25 mA which in the circuit of Figure 5 correspond to V
CE
=
1
/
2
V
CC
= 2.5 V. The measurement of I
B
then gives
dc
at I
C
= 25 mA. The ac current gain, maintaining small signals, is simply given by
= (R
B
/R
C
)(v
ce
/v
s
)
which can be measured as a function of frequency, f .
Connect the amplifier circuit in Figure 5 to measure the frequency dependence of the small signal
current gain . Adjust R
1
so that the dc level of V
CE
is 2.5 V or more and I
C
is about 25 mA. (Maximum
allowed power dissipation is about 150 mW). Use a waveform generator to apply a sine wave of ~5 kHz
to the input and display both the input and the output waveforms on the oscilloscope. Adjust the
amplitude of the input signal so that the maximum swing in the output current i
c
(t) is about 0.1I
C
(Why?). Measure the small signal current gain using
= (R
B
/R
C
)(v
ce
/v
s
)
and obtain at various frequencies f up to the highest frequency available (a few MHz). You must use
oscilloscope probes to measure the signals v
ce
and v
s
. The best method is to measure peak-to-peak
values.
Obtain a Bode plot of (in dB) vs. frequency (use a semilogarithmic graph paper or a suitable graphing
software). From the 3 dB cut-off frequency obtain f
, the cut-off frequency of the current gain.

Compare the time constant [2f
]
-1
with
B
and comment. How close are the values?
Measure the dc voltages across R
2
and R
C
and hence find the dc current gain
dc
or h
FE
.
5 V
Input
Output
Measurement of the frequency dependence of the current gain i
c
/i
b
. (Output waveform is
obviously not to scale.)
C
E
R
C
= 100
1
= 25
2
= 10
= 0.1
= 100
= 100
47 + 0.1
()
0
2.5
< 0.25
1 /
= 25

Figure 5
C. Input Impedance Experiments
The magnitude of the input impedance, |z
be
(f )|, is measured by connecting a variable resistor R
sh
(~500
), in series with a large capacitor, to shunt the input of the bipolar transistor as shown in Figure 5
where the shunting is achieved by closing the switch S. (The switch S is the spaded end of a connecting
wire that is manually connected and disconnected from a suitable terminal.) R
sh
then diverts some of the
input current away from the base of the transistor so that when R
sh
= |z
be
|, the magnitude of the output
voltage v
ce
(t) is halved with respect to the case when the switch S was open. The capacitor C
sh
is
necessary so as not to disturb the bias, and must be sufficiently large not to add to the impedance of R
sh
.
The input impedance in this case is measured by the "shunting of a constant current method". By simply
using the switch S, |z
be
| can be measured as a function of frequency.
Insert into the circuit of Figure 5, a ~500 variable resistor (a potentiometer) R
sh
in series with a large
capacitor which consists of a 47 F (or larger) in parallel with a HF ceramic capacior (0.1 F). (Why do
you need a HF small ceramic capacitor in parallel with a large electrolytic capacitor?). Set the input
frequency to about 5 kHz. Vary R
sh
until the output waveform, peak-topeak, is halved with respect to R
sh
= (open circuit). Then take R
sh
out of the circuit and measure the R
sh
using a suitable ohmmeter.
Calculate the small signal input resistance r
be
using
r

25
( )
.
Compare r
be
with |z
be
| and comment. The difference between the two is the base spread resistance r
bb
, as
well as the feedback effect from the output.
Insert R
sh
back into the circuit and obtain another point for |z
be
| at a different frequency and so on until
you can plot |z
be
| vs frequency f. From the 0.707 point find the roll-off (cut-off) frequency f
z
.
D. Voltage Gain Experiments
The voltage gain A
V
(f ) may be measured by using the circuit of Figure 6 in which the signal generator
source voltage v
s
(t) is potential divided through R
3
and R
4
to give an input signal
v
in
= v
s
[R
4
/(R
3
+ R
4
)]
which has a source resistance of R
4
//(R
3
+ 50 ) R
4
= 3.3 instead of 50 . This allows the voltage
across BE to remain constant within experimental errors. The voltage gain A
V
is then
A
V
= (v
ce
/v
s
)[(R
3
+ R
4
)/R
4
]
which can be determined as a function of frequency. The coupling capacitor C
C
serves a dual purpose.
Firstly, it ensures the connection of the signal generator does not upset the bias conditions. Secondly, it
provides an additional means of checking on the value of (r
bb
+ r
be
) since its presence results in a low
cut-off frequency in the voltage gain given by
f
VL
= 1/[2C
C
(r
bb
+ r
be
)].
Construct the amplifier circuit shown in Figure 6. Measure A
V
vs. frequency f from around 100 Hz to
around a few MHz. Measure v
ce
and v
s
(kept constant) and hence obtain a Bode plot of A
V
(f) vs. f and
determine the low and high cut-off frequencies f
VL
and f
VH
. From f
VL
calculate the magnitude of the input
resistance at low frequencies i.e. |z
be
| at low frequencies. How does this compare with |z
be
| from the shunt
method. What is the reason for the resistive attenuator R
3
and R
4
network at the input?
5 V
Input
Output
Measurement of the frequency dependence of the voltage gain A
V
. (Output waveform is
obviously not to scale.)
C
E
R
C
= 100
1
= 25
2
= 10
= 0.1
= 25
4
= 3.3
3
= 330
= 50
Figure 6
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
From the results of your experiments, you should be able to put together a table of values for all the
transistor parameters as in Table I. The latter table contains values determined by the author. You should
use your own data for this table.
Table I
Parameters of the 2N1306 npn Ge transistor as measured by the author
Parameter Name Value Method and Comment
B
Base minority carrier
recombination time,
lifetime
2.10 s Switching. Best RB and CB to get rectangular output voltage.
B
2.15 s rbeCbe. From rbe and Cbe determinations.
o
Low-frequency small
signal current gain: ic/ib
237 Low frequency ac current gain from vs. f
dc
DC Current gain 233 DC current gain from IC/IB
r
be
Dynamic (small signal
ac) resistance between
B and E: vbe/ib
233 25dc/[IC(mA)]
r
be
256 fz and fVH, with (rbe + rbb
) from low frquency end of |zbe| vs. f
r
bb
Base spread resistance 187 fz and f VH, with (rbe + rbb
) from low frquency end of |zbe| vs. f
C
be
Effective base-emitter
dynamic capacitance
between B and E
8.41 nF From rbe and f
g
m
Mutual
transconductance: ic/vbe
0.93
-1
o/rbe
g
m
1.00
-1
IC(mA)/25
W
B
Neutral base width 13.2 m Cbe CbeDIFF and using DB 95.83 cm
2
/s for electrons.
L
B
Diffusion length of
minority carriers in the
base: (DBB)
1/2
143.5 m LB
2
= DBB
t
Base transit time.
Transit time of minority
carriers across the base:
WB
2
/(2DB)
9.08 ns WB
2
/(2DB)
f
T
Common-base
bandwidth. Gain
bandwidth product.
17.5 MHz of

An example from a previous group of students (your data and explanations should be better;
students got a B
-
)
1. Switching experiments for the base lifetime
From R
B
C
B
experiments
B
= 2.0 s.
2. Current gain experiments for vs. f
Table II
Current gain vs. frequency data
f (kHz) 5 20 50 100 150 200 500 1000 2000
197 192 171 123 92 76 42 26 22
(dB) 45.9 45.7 44.6 41.7 39.3 37.6 32.5 28.3 26.9
The current gain cut-off frequency f
= 80 kHz.
Low frequency current gain
o
= 197
Calculate base lifetime from f
B
= 1/(2f
) = 1/[2(8010
3
Hz)] = 1.99 s, very close to
B
in Part 1.
BE dynamic resistance is
r
be
= 25
o
/I
C
(mA) = 25(197)/(30 mA) = 164
The base-emitter capacitance is
C
be
=
B
/r
be
= (1.9910
-6
)/(164) = 1.210
-8
F or 12 nF
3. Input impedance experiments for |z
be
| vs. f
At low-frequencies |z
be
| = 270 .
But, r
be
= 25
o
/I
C
(mA) = 25(197)/(30 mA) = 164

. 0.707
= 80 .

20
25
30
35
40
45
50
1 10 100 1000 10000
()
()
3

80
where the students have used 30 mA, instead of the recommended 25 mA.
The base spread resistance can now be found from
r
bb
= |z
be
| r
be
= 270 164 = 106 .
Table III
Input impedance vs. frequency data
f (kHz) 5 20 50 100 200 500 1000
|zbe| () 270 270 230 175 110 55 40
4. Voltage gain experiments for A
V
vs. f
Table IV
Input impedance vs. frequency data
f (kHz) 0.2 1 2 5 10 20 50 100 200 500 1000 2000
AV (dB) 17 28 34 38 38 38 38 38 37 33 29 24
The midfrequency voltage gain corresponds to A
VO
and is given by

.BOY O+ <BO4Y <O++B++ +A + ++ XX OO<BY <A Y t
B B
B
B
B
B
B
~
~
~
~
7
~ ~ ~ ~
BO4Y <O++B++ ++
+O+O4+B+l +t
XX B<B+
~X
* t
OB<B+ +<Y
A
VO
=
g
m
R
C
r
b e
r
b b
+r
b e
A
VO
=
g
m
R
C
r
b e
r
b b
+r
b e
where A
VO
= 79.4 (38 dB); g
m
= I
C
(mA)/25 = 30/25 = 1.2 A/V; R
C
= 100 ; r
be
=
o
25/I
C
(mA) = 164
so that the base spread resistance is
r
bb
= 84 , close to the value 106 found above.
From the plot of A
V
vs f, students find f
VL
= 3 kHz and f
VH
= 300 kHz.
Using f
VL
, we can find
|z
be
| = 1/(2f
VL
C
C
) = 1/[2(310
3
Hz)(0.1410
-6
F)] = 379 .
This is substantially higher than the value of |z
be
| found by the shunt method. Difference was not
explained by the students. Perhaps the value of C
C
is wrong.
Consider

f
VH
f
=
r
b e
r
b b
//r
b e
=
r
b b
+r
b e
r
b b

f
VH
f
=
r
b e
r
b b
//r
b e
=
r
b b
+r
b e
r
b b
Thus,
f
VH
f
=
300
80
=3.75=
r
b b
+r
b e
r
b b
=
r
b b
+164
r
b b
gives r
bb
= 60
which is smaller than the value determined from A
VO
or the input impedance measurements.
5. Device Characteristics
For the npn Ge transistors, electrons diffuse in a p-type base. Thus, taking
e
= 5000 cm
2
V
-1
s
-1
, we can
find the base minority carrier diffusion coefficient D
B
using the Einstein relation,
D
B
= D
e
=
e
(kT/e) = 129 cm
2
s
-1
.
Diffusion length L
B
in the base is
L
B
= (D
B
B
)
1/2
= 0.0160 cm = 160 m.
The DC current gain is given by
o
= (Base minority carrier lifetime)/(Transit time across the base) =
B
/
t

so that
t
=
B
/
o
(2 s)/(197) = 0.010 s = 10 ns.
From
t
= W
B
2
/(2D
B
)
we can find the base widthW
B
,
W
B
= (2D
b
t
)
1/2
= [2(129 cm
2
s
-1
)(10 ns)]
1/2
= 16 m.

.BOY O+ +OBY++ +<B +++
*
+A +
B
B
B
B B B B B
B
B
B
B
~
~
~
~
7
7
v
~ ~ ~ ~ ~~
*OBY++ <<B +++
+O+O4+B+l +t
7 t
7 t
APPENDIX I
SIMPLIFIED HIGH FREQUENCY BIPOLAR TRANSISTOR MODEL
The high frequency (HF) small signal hybrid- model of a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) in the CE
configuration with a collector load resistance of R
C
is shown in Figure 7 (a). The elements of this
equivalent circuit are defined as follows
r
bb
is the base spread resistance.
r
be
is the input small signal dynamic (ac) resistance, given by
r
be
= [i
C
/v
BE
] = 25/[I
C
(mA)]. (1)
where is the current gain.
C
beDIFF
is the base-emitter diffusion capacitance.
C
beDEP
is the base-emitter depletion layer dynamic capacitance.
C
bc
is the base-collector depletion layer capacitance.
g
m
is the mutual transconductance relating the output signal current to the input signal voltage
between B and E, defined by
g
m
= i
C
/v
BE
= i
c
/v
be
= 25/[I
C
(mA)]. (2)
r
ce
is the dynamic output resistance between the collector and the emitter. Since r
ce
>> R
C
, r
ce
can be
neglected.
i
b
R
C
E
C
v
ce
C
b
= g
m
v
b'e
v
be
r
b'e
B
E
v
s
R
s
S
S
v
in
B
r
bb'
v
b'e
a High frequency small-signal model of a common emitter BJT
C
beDEP
C
beDIFF
i
b
R
C
E
C
v
ce
i
c
= g
m
v
b'e
v
be
r
b'e
B
E
v
s
R
s
S
S
v
in
B
r
bb'
v
b'e
b Simplified high frequency small-signal model of a common emitter BJT
C
be
Figure 7
We can simply the equivalent circuit further as follows. By applying Millers Theorem, we can remove
C
bc
between B and C and insert two capacitors: one capaciotr of value (1 + g
m
R
C
)C
bc
between B and E
and another of value C
bc
between C and E. Since C
bc
is small ( in the pF range), the capacitor between C
and E has a negligible effect on the overall frequency response. On the other hand (1 + g
m
R
C
)C
bc
>> C
bc
,
that is, it cannot be simply ignored. Since it appears between B and E we can combine it with C
beDIFF
.
We can insert a single capacitance between B and E, called the effective base-emitter dynamic
capacitance C
be
, to represent the three contributions to the apparent capacitance between B and E
C
be
= C
beDIFF
+ C
beDEP
+ (1 + g
m
R
C
)C
bc
(3)
The simplified HF equivalent circuit is shown in Figure 7 (b). Typically C
beDEP
can be neglected.
Sometimes the most significant contribution comes from C
beDIFF
and one can take C
be
C
beDIFF
. The
diffusion capacitance between B and E can be found from
C
beDIFF
= g
m
t
= g
m
W
B
2
/(2D
B
) (4)
or r
be
C
beDIFF
=
=
dc
t
= L
B
2
/D
B
2
(5)
where
W
B
is the effective base width
D
B
is the diffusion coefficient of the minority carriers in the base
L
B
is the diffusion length of the minority carriers in the base
B
is the minority carrier lifetime in the base, L
B
2
/D
B
, where L
B
is the diffusion length
t
is the transit time of minority carriers across the base,
t
= W
B
2
/(2D
B
).
It is not difficult to calculate the current gain of the BJT using Figure 7 (b) (left as an exercise),
(f ) = i
c
/i
b
=
o
/[1 + jf /f
] (6)
where
o
= low frequency current gain = g
m
r
be
and f
= current gain cut-off frequency = 1/(2C

be
r
be
) (7)
The voltage gain A
V
(f ) is
A
V
(f ) = v
ce
/v
be
= A
VO
/[1 + jf /f
VH
] (8)
where A
VO
= low frequency voltage gain = g
m
R
C
r
be
/[r
bb
+ r
be
] (9)
and f
VH
= voltage gain HF cut-off frequency = 1/[2C
be
(r
be
//r
bb
)] (10)
where (r
be
//r
bb
) is the parallel combination of r
be
and r
bb
.
An immediately noticeable feature in Equations (6) and (9) is that the current gain and the voltage gain
have different high frequency cut-off frequencies with f
VH
> f
. The latter allows the r

be
to r
bb
ratio to be
determined.
The CE input impedance z
be
(f ) in Figure 7 (b), for small-signal sinusoidal signals, is
z
be
(f ) = (r
be
+ r
bb
)[1 + jf /f
z1
]/[1 + jf /f
z2
] (11)
where f
z1
= 1/(2 C
be
r
be
) (12)
and f
z2
= 1/[2 C
be
(r
be
//r
bb
)] (13)
so that |z
be
| vs. frequency has two critical frequencies f
z1
and f
z2
which are idential to the cut-off frequency
of the current gain, and that of the voltage gain respectively.
It can be seen that the measurement of the small signal current gain , the voltage gain A
V
and the
magnitude of the input impedance z
be
as a function of frequency should, in principle, allow everything
about the bipolar equivalent circuit in to be determined.

BJT HF Experiments

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BJT HF Experiments

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

The High Frequency Equivalent Circuit of a

Bipolar Junction Transistor

, the cut-off frequency of the current gain.

Equivalent Circuit of a BJT ( S.O. Kasap, 1986-2002: v.1.1) 7

= current gain cut-off frequency = 1/(2C

. The latter allows the r

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