EE105 Fall 2014

Microelectronic Devices and Circuits

Prof. Ming C. Wu
wu@eecs.berkeley.edu
511 Sutardja Dai Hall (SDH)

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 1

Terminal Gain and I/O Resistances of BJT Amplifiers

Common Emitter (CE) Common Collector (CC) Common Base (CB)

gm RL RL
AV ,t = AV ,t = AV ,t = gm RL
1+ gm RE 1
+ RL
gm 1
Ri = r + ( +1)RE Ri =
Ri = r + ( +1)RL gm
Ro = "#ro (1+ gm RE )$%
r + Rth 1 Rth Ro = !"ro (1+ gm RE )#$
AI,t = Ro = +
1+ gm AI,t 1
AI,t = +1
Without degeneration:
Simply set RE = 0

For the gain, Ri, Ro of the whole amplifier, you need to include voltage/
current dividers at input and output stages

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 2

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 Terminal Gain and I/O Resistances of MOS Amplifiers

Common Source (CS) Common Drain (CD) Common Gate (CG)

gm RL RL AV ,t = gm RL
AV ,t = AV ,t =
1+ gm RS 1
+ RL
Ri = gm 1
Ri = Ri =
Ro = #$ro (1+ gm RE )%& gm
1
AI,t = Ro = Ro = !"ro (1+ gm RE )#$
gm
AI,t 1
AI,t =
Without degeneration:
Simply set RS = 0

For the gain, Ri, Ro of the whole amplifier, you need to include voltage/
current dividers at input and output stages

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 3

Summary of Single-Transistor Amplifiers

BJT Ideal Common Common Common Common
Voltage Emitter Emitter Collector Base
Amplifiers with Deg.
Ri Moderate Large Large Small
Ro 0 Large Very Large Small Large
AV Large Moderate ~1 Large
fH Small Moderate Large Large

MOS Ideal Common Common Common Common

Voltage Source Source Drain Gate
Amplifiers with Deg.
Ri Very Large Very Large Large Small
Ro 0 Large Very Large Small Large
AV Moderate Small ~1 Moderate
fH Small Moderate Large Large

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 4

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 Need for Multistage Amplifiers
Typical spec for a general purpose operational amplifier
Input resistance ~ 1M
Output resistance ~ 100
Voltage gain ~ 100,000
No single transistor amplifier can satisfy the spec
Cascading multiple stages of amplifiers to meet the spec
Usually
An input stage to provide required input resistance
A middle stage(s) to provide gain
An output stage to provide required output resistance
It is important to note that the input resistance of the follow
-on stage becomes the load of the previous stage

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 5

A 3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

MOSFET M1operating in the C-S configuration provides high input

resistance and moderate voltage gain.
BJT Q2 in a C-E configuration, the second stage, provides high
gain.
BJT Q3, an emitter-follower gives low output resistance and buffers
the high gain stage from the relatively low value of load resistance.

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 6

3
 A 3-Stage ac-coupled Amplifier Circuit

Input and output of overall amplifier is ac-coupled through capacitors C1 and C6.
Bypass capacitors C2 and C4 are used to get maximum voltage gain from the two
inverting amplifiers.
Interstage coupling capacitors C3 and C5 transfer ac signals between amplifiers but
provide isolation at dc and prevent Q-points of the transistors from being affected.
In the ac equivalent circuit, bias resistors are replaced by RB2 = R1||R2 and RB3 = R3||R4

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 7

dc Equivalent Circuit
Transistor Parameters
M1 : Kn = 10 mA/V 2 , VTN = 2 V , = 0.02V 1
Q2 : F = 150, VA = 80V , VBE = 0.7V
Q3 : F = 80, VA = 60V , VBE = 0.7V

Q - Points
M1 : (5.00 mA, 10.9 V)
Q2 : (1.57 mA, 5.09 V)
Q3 : (1.99 mA, 8.36 V)
At dc, the capacitors isolate each
individual transistor stage from the Small - Signal Parameters
others. Thus, the bias point for each M1 : g m1 = 10.0 mS, ro1 = 12.2 k
transistor may be found using the Q2 : g m2 = 62.8 mS, r 2 = 2.39 k,
single transistor analysis methods ro2 = 54.2 k
already discussed. Q3 : g m3 = 79.6 mS, r 3 = 1.00 k,
ro3 = 34.4 k

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 8

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 ac and Small-Signal Equivalent Circuits

ac Equivalent

Small-signal Equivalent

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 9

Input Resistance and Voltage Gain

Rin
Av = Avt3 Avt2 Avt1
RI + Rin

v2
Avt1 = = g m1 RL1 = 0.01S (0.478k) = 4.78
v1
Rin 1M
v1 = vi = vi = 0.990vi
RI + Rin 10k + 1M

RL2 = RI 2 Rin3 = RI 2 [r + (
3 o3 ]
+ 1) RL3 =3.54k
RI1 = 620 17.2k = 598 v3
Avt2 = = g m2 RL2 = 62.8S (3.54k) = 222
RI 2 = 4.7k 51.8 = 4.31k v2
RI 3 = 3.3k 250 = 232
RL1 = RI1 Rin2 = 598 r 2 =598 2390 = 478 Avt3 =
vo
=
( o3 + 1) RL3 = 0.950
v3 r 3 + ( o3 + 1) RL3
Rin = RG = 1M

RG
Av = Avt3 Avt2 Avt1 = +998
RI + RG
Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 10

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 Output Resistance

r + Rth 1 Rth
Ro3 = +
1+ gm
Rth = RI 2 || ro2 = 4.31k || 54.2k = 4k
1 4k
Ro3 = + = 12.6 + 50 = 62.6
79.6mS 80
Rout = RE 3 || Ro3 = 3.3k || 62.6 = 61.3

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 11

Current and Power Gain

io
The input signal current delivered to the amplifier Current Gain: Ai = = 4.03x10 6 (132 dB)
ii
from source vi is
vi
ii = = 9.90x10 7 vi Voltage Gain: Av =
vo
= 9.98x10 2 (60 dB)
RI + Rin vi

and the signal current delivered to the load resistor is Po voio

Power Gain: AP = = = Av Ai = 4.02x10 9 (96 dB)
vo Av 998vi Pi viii
io = = v i = = 3.99vi
RL 250 250

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 12

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 Input and Output Signal Range

0.2 (1+ 2 ) V
For the first stage: v1 0.2 (VGS VTN ) vi = 0.202 V
0.99
For the second stage: vbe2 = v2 = Av1v1 5mV
5mV 5mV 1.05mV
v1 = = 1.05mV vi = 1.06 mV
Av1 4.78 0.99
v3 A A ( 0.990vi )
For the third stage: vbe3 = v1 v2 5mV
1+ gm3 RL3 1+ gm3 RL3
1+ gm3 RL3
vi 5mV = 92.7 V
Av1 Av2 ( 0.990 )
Overall: vi min ( 202mV,1.06mV, 92.7V ) = 92.7V
vo Av ( 92.7V ) = 998 ( 92.7V ) = 92.5 mV
Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 13

SPICE Simulation Circuit

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 14

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 SPICE Simulation Results

Av = 1000 fL = 500 Hz fH = 500 kHz

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 15

SPICE Simulation Results

vin = 100 V

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 16

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 SPICE Simulation Results

vin = 750 V

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 17

Short-Circuit Time Constant Estimate for fL

An estimate for the lower cutoff frequency for an amplifier

with multiple coupling and bypass capacitors is given by the
sum of the reciprocals of the "short-circuit" time constants:

1 n 1
fL
2 i=1 RiS Ci

where RiS is the resistance at the terminals of the ith capacitor

with all the other capacitors shorted.

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 18

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Short-Circuit Time Constant Estimate for fL

C1: R1S = RI + RG = 1.01 M

1 1
C2 : R2S = RS1 RiS1 = RS1 = 200 = 66.7
gm1 0.01S
C3 : R3S = RD1 + RI1 RiB2 = RD1 + RI1 r 2 = 620 +17.2k 2.39k = 2.72 k
r 2 + Rth2 2.39k +17.2k 0.620k
C4 : R4S = RE 2 RiE 2 = RE 2 = 1.5k = 19.2
o2 +1 151
C5 : R5S = RC + RI 2 RiB3 = RL + RI 2 r 3 (1+ gm3 RL3 )
R5S = 4.7k + 51.8k 1.0k"#1+ 0.0796S ( 232)$% = 18.9 k
r 3 + Rth3
C6 : R6S = RL + RE 3 RiE 3 = RL + RE 3
o3 +1
1.0k + 51.8k 4.7k
R6S = 250 + 3.3k = 315
81
Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 19

Short-Circuit Time Constant Estimate for fL

1 1 1 1 1
fL [ + + +
2 1.01M ( 22 F ) 66.7 ( 22 F ) 2.72k ( 22 F ) 19.2 ( 22 F )
1 1
+ + ] = 511 Hz
18.9k ( 22 F ) 315 ( 22 F )

fL fH

Lecture21-Multistage Amplifiers 20

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