The Current Gain or Current Amplification

1 I

For the BJT amplifier stage, AI is defined as the ratio of output to input current, or

Io AI | Ib

For the circuit in shown below we see that VT = IbrT and, by use of the current-divider relation, Io = gmVTro/(ro + RC). combination of these result and identification of gmrT = Fo and RL = RC || ro gives

ro RL AI F o ! Fo ro  RC RC

For ro RC, we find that RL = RC and AI = Fo. Subject to this approximation, AI equals the short-circuit current gain of the BJT and is independent of the load RC.

Common-emitter stage and (b) its low-frequency, small-signal equivalent circuit.

(a)

The Input Resistance Ri : The resistance Rs in the figure represents the signal-source resistance. The resistance we see by looking into the transistor input terminals B and E is the amplifier input resistance Ri or

Vb Ri | ! rb  rT ! hie Ib
Note that Ri is also independent of the load and equals the short-circuit input resistance hie. If rT rb, as is usually the situation, Ri } rT.

The Voltage Gain or Voltage Amplification AV : The ration of output voltage Vo to input voltage Vs is the voltage gain of the stage. Identifying RL as the parallel combination of RC and ro, we obtain

Vo  g mVT RL AV | ! Vs I b ( Rs  rb  rT )
where Ib(Rs + rb + rT) is KVL for the base loop. On substitution of VT = IbrT and we obtain

 F o RL  F 0 RL AV ! ! Rs  Ri Rs  rb  rT

Note that the value of AV cannot be increased by arbitrarily increasing RC. If RC ro, RL } ro, and AV becomes

 F o ro AV ! !  g m ro Rs  rb  rT

for rT Rs + rb.

Substitution of above equations yields |AV| } VA/VT; this is the maximum gain of the stage.

The common-emitter amplifier with an emitter resistor

The common-emitter stage with emitter resistance (b) The equivalent circuit of the stage in (a) valid at low frequencies.

I o ! g mVT
Vo !  I o Rc

VT ! I b rT
The KVL equation for the base loop gives

 Vs  I b Rs  rT  I b  g mVT RE ! 0
and

Vb ! I b rT  I b  g mVT R E ! 0

Use of the above equations gives

Io AI ! ! Fo Ib

Substitution and division by Ib yields

Vo  F o RC AV ! ! Vs Rs  rT    F o RE 1
1 For   F o RE >> Rs  rT , the above equation reduces to

 RC Av } RE
and is dependent of transistor parameters. The price we pay to make Av independent of Fo variations is a significantly reduced gain compared to that obtained for a simple common-emitter stage. However, in many applications, the benefit derived outweighs the cost.

Analysis of the Generalized FET Amplifier Stage

I d RD  I d rd  QV gs  I d Rs ! 0
From the figure the voltage from G to S is given by

V gs ! Vi  I d Rs
Combination of the two equations yields

Q Id ! Vi rd  RD    Q RS 1

(a) Circuit used to find (b) Circuit in (a) with the drain-source portion (Rs,Vgs, rd, and RD) replaced by a Thevenin equivalent Vgs-RA.

(a) The common-source stage with source resistance and (b) the small-signal equivalent circuit.

The output voltages Vo1 and Vo2, taken between drain and ground and source and ground, respectively, are

 QR D Vo1 !  I d R D ! Vi rd  RD    Q RS 1

Vo 2

 QR s !  I d Rs ! Vi rd  RD    Q RS 1

The voltage gain of the common-source stage with source resistance is Vo1  QR D

Av !

Vi

rd  RD    Q RS 1

For Q >> 1, Av can be written as

 g m RL Av ! 1  g m Rs R L / RD

The output resistance Ro1 is the Thevenin resistance seen looking into terminals 1-2. The short-circuit current Isc is expressible as

 I sc

Q ! I d  RD ! 0 ! Vi 1 rd    Q RS

The common-source stage and (b) the common-drain (source follower) stage.

Since Vo1 is the Thevenin voltage, it follows that

Vo1 R D ?rd  Rs   Q A 1 R ! !  RD I sc R D  rd  Rs   Q 1
' o1
'

?rd  RS 1  Q A

The output resistance Ro1 of the common-source stage ' with source resistance is Ro1 = Ro1``RD from which

Ro1 ! rd  Rs   Q } rd   g m Rs 1 1
for Q >> 1.

In similar fashion, obtaining the Thevenin resistance between S and N yields

Vo1 R ! I sc
' o1

RS (rd  R D )  RS RS ! 0 ! 1 RD  rd   Q RS
Ro2 `` RS so that

RD  rd 1 Q

Again R

' = o1

Ro 2

R D  rd ! 1 Q

Where Q >>1 and rd>>RD, Ro2 } 1 / gm.

The Emitter follower

(a) The common-collector (emitter follower) stage (b) the low frequency equivalent circuit.

The current gain In above figure, the output current Io, with the use of KCL at E, is given by

Io = -Ib gmVT
And

VT = IbrT

Combination of the above equations, identification of Fo = gmrT, and formation of the ratio Io/Ib yields

Io ! F o  1 AI ! Ib

The Input resistance The input resistance Ri is the ratio Vb/Ib. From KVL for the outer loop in figure, we obtain

Vb ! I b rT  I o RE
Substitution of Io and division by Ib gives

Vb Ri ! ! rT  1  F o RE Ib
In the above equation we observe that Ri for the emitter follower is considerably greater than Ri = rT for the commonemitter stage, even for small values of RE because Fo>> 1.

The voltage gain The output voltage Vo = IoRE. Since VS = IbRS + Vb, use of the above equations allows after some algebraic manipulation

Vo ( F o  1) RE ( F o  1) RE Av ! ! ! Vs Rs  rT  ( F o  1) RE Rs  Ri
For ( ( F o  1) RE >>Rs + rT, as in the usual case, Av is approximately unity (but slightly less than unity).

The output resistance The resistance Ro` is the Thevenin resistance seen at terminals X-Y. As the Thevenin voltage is simply Vo = AvVs, determination of the short circuit Isc gives Ro` = Vo+Isc. Note that Isc = - Io, and by letting RE = 0 (short circuit), we can obtain

Rs  rT RE / 1  F o Ri ! ?Rs  rT / 1  F o A RE
'

The above equation indicates that Ro is the parallel 1 combination of RE and a resistance Rs  rT /   F o . In Fig.1.4.5b we observe that Ro=Ro``RE and hence

Rs  rT Ro ! 1 Fo

Common- Emitter Amplifier with Active Load

I c 2 ! I c 2  ce 2,VBE 2 V

Common emitter amplifier with active load.

I C1 ! I C 2
Vce 2 ! VCC  Vce1

I c1 !  I c 2  ce 2,VBE 2 V

I c 2 !  I c 2 ? VCC  Vce1 ,VBE 2 A

(a)

(b)

(a) I-V characteristics of pnp transistor active load. (b) Collector characteristics of the npn Transistor.

(c) npn collector characteristic with pnp load line superimposed.

(d) DC transfer characteristics of common emitter amplifier with active load.

 Vi Vce1 I c1 ! I S1 exp 1  V V T AN
| VBE 2 | | Vce 2 | 1  I c 2 ! I S2 exp V VT AN | VBE 3 | VBE ( on ) 1  $ I c3 ! I S2 exp VAP VT

I ref

assuming FF 1.

Since VBE2 = VBE3, we can combine the above equations to yield

Ic2

| Vce 2 | 1 VAP ! I ref VBE ( on ) 1  VAP

Since the two collector currents Ic1 and Ic2 must be equal in magnitude, the combination of the equations yields

Vi I S1 exp VT

Vce1 1  VAN

| Vce 2 | 1 VAP ! I ref VBE ( on ) 1 VAP

The output voltage Vo is related to the collector-emitter voltage by

Vce1 ! Vo

Thus

| Vcc  Vo 1 Vo Vi VAP 1  I S1 exp V ! I ref VBE ( on ) VT AN 1 VAP

VCC  Vo 1 Vi VAP I S1 exp ! I ref VBE ( on ) VT Vo 1  1  V VAP AN

| Vce 2 | ! VCC  Vo

And we obtain

We now make the assumption that the quantities (VCC Vo)/ VAP, VBE(on)/ VAP, and Vo/ VAN are much less than unity. Using the approximations

and

1 } 1 x 1 x

(x

1)
(x, y 1)

1  x 1  y } 1  x  y
can be simplified to

VCC 1 Vi 1 VBE ( on )  ! I ref 1   Vo  I S1 exp V VT VAP AP VAN VAP

This expression can be solved for Vo to yield

Vo ! VCC  VBE ( on )
where

Vi I S 1 exp V VAN T  VA( eff ) 1  V V I ref AP AN

VA ( eff )

VAN VAP ! V V AP AN

is the effective Early voltage.

[VCC  VCE (sat ) ] " [Vo " [VCE (sat ) ]

Vi I S1 exp VT !1 I ref
in the above equation , the output voltage is

Vo ! VCC  VBE ( on )

VAN V V AP AN
Vi I S1 exp VT I ref

VA ( eff ) dVo Av ! ! dVi VT

Av ! 

VA ( eff ) VT

VAP VAN 1 !  V V V AP T AN
1 ! L npn  L pnp

This can be manipulated to give

Av !

1 VT VT  VAN VAP

 g m1  g m1 A v ! g m1 (ro1 || ro 2 ) ! ! 1 1 Lnpn g m1  Lnpn g m 2  ro1 ro 2

Since the two transistors operate at the same current, gm1 = gm2 and thus  g m1

Av !

L npn  L npn

Small-signal equivalent circuit for common-emitter amplifier with active load.

Emitter-Coupled Pair with Active Load

Emitter-coupled pair with active load

Common-mode half-circuit for emitter-coupled pair with active load

Modified active load for emitter-coupled pair.

Common-source Amplifier with Active Load

g m1 Av ! g o1  g o 2

The small-signal output resistance of the stage is simply ro1|| ro2.

Common-source amplifier with p-channel transistor currentsource load, and its transfer characteristic.

I-V characteristics of n-channel depletion-mode load transistor

v0 g m1 g m1 ! } v1 g o1  g o 2  g mb 2 g mb 2

(a) Common-source amplifier with depletion-mode transistor load. (b) dc transfer characteristic.

Small-signal equivalent circuit of the common-source amplifier with depletion load, including the body effect in the load and the channellength modulation in the load and common-source device.

This can be expressed as

v0 (W / L)1 1 ! (W / L) 2 x v1
Note that if this circuit topology is implemented using JEETs in a BiFET technology, there is no body effect and a much larger gain [-gm1/(go+go2)] is realized. we have

1  VSB / 2J f x ! 2 2J f Cox 2 qIN A

1