‘EXPERIMENT14 ‘THE BJT. COMMON-EMITTER AMPLIFIER 74 Small-Signal Modeling of Analog Circuits 74.1 Incremental Signal 74.2 Small-Signal Model of the BIT 745 Transistor Small-Signal Output Resistance ‘746 Transistor Small-Signal Input Resistance Purpose Now that the operating point of your BJT amplifier has been set, the circuit will be used in two forms; the common-emitter configuration amplifies the voltage of an input waveform, and the emitter follower reproduces the waveform without voltage amplification, but with sufficient current to drive a low-resistance load. The follower will be studied in Experiment 16. The small- signal parameters - intrinsic gain, input resistance, and output resistance - will be measured. Introduction ‘We now reconsider the basic cell that was studied in Experiment 13 (Fig. 13-3). To use it as voltage amplifier, we must first connect an input signal source and an output load to it without disturbing its operating point. In circuits composed of discrete components, as opposed to integrated-circut chips, this goal is often accomplished with isolation capacitors, as shown in Fig. M44. ‘The de state of the circuit is determined by the resistors Ry, Ry, Ro, and Rp. The si source, whose Thevenin equivalent is v, R, is connected through the isolation capacitor Cy, which {s large enough to present a negligibly small impedance at the frequency of the signal. At the same time, C; acts as an open circuit at dc, so that the de voltage atthe transistor base is unaffected by the signal source. Cz, which is also large, acts in the same way to isolate the circuit from the load. resistor at de, while allowing the signal to reach the load with litte attenuation. The bypass ‘capacitor Cy serves a different function, which will be discussed later. 9To provide linear amplification of an input waveform, the BJT must operate within its ‘small-signal limitation (review Experiment 6), where the change in base-emitter diode current is effectively proportional to the change in base-emitter voltage, which is the input signal. We found in Experiment 6 that this limitation is vbe < Vr, the thermal voltage (0.026 V at room temperature). When this condition holds, the small-signal model of the transistor, shown in Fig, 142, can be used. Bo a ic) Since this isa small-signal, or incremental model, all currents, node voltages and voltage differences denote deviations from the operating point, not total values. The incremental base- emitter voltage is called vx here. rz, the incremental resistance of the base-emitter diode, is the equivalent of rq in Experiment 6. Bp isthe ratio ic /iy, and 1 = Vee/t. The latter accounts for the small slope of the -v characteristics in the forward-active region. For most purposes, we will take oto equal Br ‘The small-signal behavior of any BJT circuit can be derived by redrawing the circuit with all. transistors replaced by Fig. 142, then applying the usual analysis tools to the resulting linear network. Doing this with Fig, 14-1, first with Cs removed, we get Fig. 143. Fig.143 Any node that has an unchanging voltage Vx in the actual circuit, whether at Vc, Ves or zero, can be described by the statement AVx = 0, or vz=0. That node thus appears at ground in the small-signal circuit. A new symbol is used for ground in the incremental circuit to emphasize that it denotes an incremental, or ac ground, ‘The linear analysis of Fig. 14-3 leads to the following expression for the voltage gain: 70vee {RIB _)_PoRelRubo % (aia) tect: aan “The gain is very low because of the term (Py+1)Re inthe denominator, which is large because fis of the order of 100. The emitter bypass capacitor Cy is added in parallel with Rr to remove this term, The impedance of Cp is low enough atthe signal frequency to make it appear effectively as & short circuit for Rp. After adding Cs, combining parallel resistors, and ignoring m because it sin parallel with the much smaller Rc and Ry, we arive atthe version of the incremental circuit shown in Fig. 14-4. + RL Vout Fig. 144 ‘The basic cell amplifier is inside the dashed rectangle; the Thevenin equivalent ofthe signal source {sat the left, and the load resistor is atthe right. We derive the voltage gain by fist finding the Thevenin-block or two-port equivalent ofthe basic cell, The intrinsic gain ay ofthe cells » Mee Rs 42) Teac c ‘The input resistance or Thevenin resistance, looking into the input por from the lft is r= RilRalra- ass) “The output resistance, or Thevenin resistance, looking into the output port from the right is Pout = Rev assy because, when the input source is tured off, the current from atest source at the output port flows only through Re, since vs = 0. “Any amplifier, no matter how complicated, can be represented by its two-port equivalent, once the three quantities ay, rw and reg are known. The Thevenin equivalent of the amplifier is shown in Fig. 145. n‘The overall gain Vous/Vs is (eae mtx) -(aptee (ag - alles Rabe SNR oe R, | basicssil cal oF W- + d a Fig. 145 Note that (145) isthe same as (141) after the (Bp+1)Re term is removed (by adding Cy) and the Substitution Bp = gars is made. The three terms in parentheses ae, from lft to right, the input loading factor, the intrinsic gain, and the output loading factor. Procedure BEFORE COMING TO THE LABORATORY Build the amplifier circuit of Fig, 146, using asthe nucleus your previously biased circuit from Experiment 13. The voltage divider i the signal source allows you to provide a smal signal Voltage to the amplifier with the amplitude control ofthe signal generator set near the middle of a higher range, where more precise adjustment can be achieved. Recommended values are 10 kA. and 100 @ for R, and Ry, respectively. You should derive the Thevenin equivalent ofthis source network and use it in your analysis of the amplifier.Be sure to observe the correct polarity of any electrolytic capacitors that you use for Cp. They may explode if you don't. INTHELABORATORY 1) Set the frequency ofthe signal source to 10 KHz and set the amplitude to make Vig about 10 mV. You will measure Vout by observing the peak-to-peak values with the oscilloscope. It will be helpful to use "external triggering” of the scope, connecting the trigger input to the "trig out” terminal ofthe signal generator, 4. Begin with no bypass capacitor Ce in the circuit, and record vou for several different values of Vin: ». Repeat the measurements for Cz = 10 KF and 100 HF. . Repeat the measurement for one value of Vin with C; resistor across the output terminals, 4d. Repeat part Ie with a 220-9 load resistor across the output terminals ‘e. Repeat part Ic, increasing vi, while observing the output waveform on the oscilloscope. Continue until the waveform becomes grossly distorted, indicating that the transistor has reached cutoff or saturation. 100 WF, and with a 100-K0 load 2) With the input set to one of the values from part 1, insert a variable resistance between terminals B and BY; adjust its value until the output voltage is halved, and record the resistance value, which is the input resistance nj of the amplifier. 3) Measure the output resistance raw of the amplifier by placing a variable resistor across the output terminals, again adjusting its value until the output is halved. Record the resistance value. Keep the circuit of Fig. 14-6 intact for use in Experiment 16, Analysis of the Data 'A) Now that you have experimental values for the overall gain of the amplifier, ri and Tow the remaining unknown terms in (14-5) i8 gay. Calculate gay from the data and compare it with the vvakue obtained from. sk ase) fn ye “where Ic is the operating-point current and Vr isthe thermal voltage. You can also find re from tin ‘using (14-3), and then find forthe transistor from f= aim» Are your results consistent with values that you obtained in earlier experiments? ) Does your observation in part 1e indicate that the transistor has gone into cutoff, or into saturation? Is the result consistent with what you would predict from your component values? 3(©) How do you explain the change in voltage gain in parts 1c and 1d when the load resistance was changed? ) The resistance that you measured in part 2 is approximately ri. You should draw an ‘equivalent circuit for the amplifier with the additional resistance to convince yourself that this method for finding ris valid. Note that it requires that the Thevenin resistance of the source, R,R,, be small compared with ri. Compare this measured value of ry with the value calculated from 14-3. B) The resistance that you measured in part 3 is approximately roy. Again you should convince yourself that this method works. Compare your measured rou with (14-4) 74