Standard Bias Circuit

(also called Voltage Divider Bias Network)

A linear active device, such as a transistor, normally controls the output in one quadrant only of
the possible output currents and voltages. Thus an npn bipolar transistor operates with a positive
collector emitter voltage (above saturation) and draws current from the positive collector supply
(above cutoff). In order to amplify inputs which may vary in either direction (which almost
always will if they are alternating) it is necessary to bias the device to a stable operating point
which allows for adequate swings (up and down in both voltage and current). The device draws
power from the supply in a way that can be controlled by the input. In this respect it is more like
a resistor than a capacitor or inductor because both of these can store energy and therefore supply
power for brief periods of time. In other words the transistor is dissipative like a resistor.
In order to bias a transistor there are a great many possible circuits and the one I will discuss in
detail is the 'standard' circuit which can be used as a guide to any other type. There is a set of
'design guidelines' that can be used to set rough values and which can be refined for more critical
applications. The circuit is relatively complicated because transistor characteristics for a given
part number can vary over quite a wide range. There are two sorts of variation, first with
temperature for a given device, and second for different parts with the same number. Always
consider both sources of variation in a design. The design works over a range of frequencies
which does not include zero. Bias circuits for amplifiers including zero frequency, commonly
called DC amplifiers, are more difficult to design.
To supply as much output voltage swing as possible both up and down, the collector voltage
should be about half the supply voltage (Vcc). The collector current should be large enough to
supply the required output current. This must be determined from the requirement. If it is very
high the transistor will dissipate a lot of power and will overheat. If it is very low the transistor
current gain () will be low, the high frequency performance will degrade, and leakage currents
may become important (this is seldom a problem for silicon transistors). In the absence of
specific requirements collector currents of 0.1 to 1 mA are a good starting point. You should be
thinking about whether these ground rules seem sensible and why they are chosen.
In order for the bias system to work when another transistor of the same type is substituted, and
over a range of temperatures, the operating point must be little affected by changes in or in the
base emitter voltage (Vbe). The former can vary by a factor of three from device to device, and
usually rises with increasing temperature. It is also a weak function of collector current (Ic). The
latter has a stable temperature coefficient of about -2 mV/C.
Selection of Component Values using Design Guides.
The standard bias scheme is shown below. I will start off by giving the simple design rules and
then discuss why they give the desired effect, and how the values can be modified to attain a
desired result. The order in which components are selected can be varied.
Start by assigning a base potential of 1 Volt plus Vbe or about 1.7 volts. This is obtained by a
resistive potential divider from the supply rail, and should have a low enough impedance for
changes in base current from changes to not change the voltage much. The base current also
depends on Ie so this must be decided before the potential divider resistors can be chosen. Too
low an impedance at the base will divert current from the transistor for a common emitter

amplifier, so a compromise is needed. I usually choose 10 , (corresponding to min) for

the lower part of the potential divider and therefore 11 , for the upper part because the base
current flows through this resistor. This will set up the calculated base voltage for a minimum
transistor, and a little more for a maximum device because it will have lower Ib. Now Ie was
already chosen and Re has this current through it and 1 volt across it by design, so its value
follows from Ohm's law. Now Vc is set to Vcc /2 by selecting Rc knowing that Ic Ie flows
through it dropping supply voltage. What are the expressions for the resistor values?
(Set Vc to Vcc/2 having chosen Ic by selecting Rc (= Vcc/2 Ic). Select Re so that Ve = 1 volt,
knowing that Ic Ie (Re = 1/Ic). Then for the scheme to work Vb must be Vbe greater than this or
about 1.7 volts. Calculate Ib = Ic / . The most robust bias would use minimum here. Choose
R1 and R2 to give the correct Vb of 1.7 with 10 times Ib flowing through them.)

This is now a complete standard bias circuit using design guidelines. The capacitors shown in
the schematic above are used to isolate the bias from external disturbance while allowing ac
signals to be passed. This circuit will not operate at dc (zero frequency) since the bias circuit is
trying to stabilize the zero frequency voltages and currents. The capacitor across Re puts a low
impedance across it at operating frequencies and removes it from the signal path. I will return to
it later.
To evaluate how well this circuit works I will look at it in detail. The base voltage is set by the

potential divider made up of R1 and R2 to a potential given by
  

 , with a source
 

resistance of  

 

Then

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 so that 
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or 

 
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and hence

The effect of changes in is to change the voltage drop in the source resistance Rb, so that lower
values of R1 and R2 will produce more stable bias with changes. However very low values will
divert the input from the transistor; that is, they will tend to 'short it out'. The values I have
calculated give an acceptable compromise which a designer can alter to suit his/her purpose.
Having defined Vb, Ve is now given by Vb - Vbe , and Vbe is well defined for a bipolar transistor
at about 0.7 volts with a temperature coefficient of about -2 mV/C. Ve across Re sets the emitter
current which would then be constant as long as the collector has the correct bias (positive for
npn) on it. The effect of lack of constancy in Ve resulting from changes in or Vbe is to change
Ie. The design guide which sets Ve to 1 volt ensures that temperature changes in Vbe do not
affect Ie greatly, while not 'wasting' too much supply voltage across Re. Since Vce must be
positive for the (npn) transistor to function; any drop across Re is not available as voltage swing
at the collector.


Now that Ie is set and reasonably stable Ic is also defined (' (, ( 1 and     ). Then


since Ic is largely independent of Vc, Rc can be chosen to give the selected Vc. To allow for the
 !

voltage drop across Re it is better to choose
 ''* rather than *'' if the supply voltage is low.
This analysis of the circuit operation enables one to calculate the effects of component tolerances
as well as transistor parameter changes. An alternative, but equivalent, way of looking at the
circuit is that Re, which carries both input and output current, therefore gives negative current
feedback to stabilize the operating point. This way of looking at the circuit shows that Re must
be 'short circuited' or bypassed at signal frequencies by the capacitor shown for full AC gain.
-./
The resistance it has to bypass is +,  !
in parallel with Re (we will learn later why). Local
negative feedback at signal frequencies can be added deliberately, if wanted, by only partially
bypassing Re.

The effects of change of due to transistor part to part changes can be calculated because change
in base current affects the voltage drop in the potential divider feeding the base. This means that
Ie varies to compensate for the change in the part. Assuming that the base emitter voltage does
not change enough to matter from part to part (which is usually reasonable), the change in
emitter current follows. For our calculated component values doubling or halving changes Ie
by + 5 % to - 10 %. Another simple calculation is to evaluate the expression for minimum and
assume that maximum is infinite. The result is a fractional change in Ie which in this case
would be 10 %, if we had done our bias calculation with minimum . The effects of change of
Vbe (from transistor temperature changes) can also be calculated fairly simply as it will cause a
change in emitter current. The effects of change of from transistor temperature changes can be
obtained using the relationship with already derived for part to part variation. Then the two
temperature effects can be added to give a resultant overall temperature effect.
In general this bias design is straightforward and reliable but it uses a lot of components. It is
normal when the circuit has several transistors to try to reduce the component count by using
direct coupling. The bias scheme must still fulfill the same basic objective of maintaining a
designed bias point for device and temperature changes, but the detailed performance must be
determined for the specific circuit.