What circuits textbooks haven’t told you

about feedback amplifier and transistor port

impedances
Dennis Feucht - November 12, 2012

The recent EDN article of Bruce Trump (thesignal@list.ti.com) on the input impedance of an op-amp
circuit took into account the single-pole roll-off of its loop gain. He showed with a simple derivation
how the equivalent circuit for the input impedance of a trans-impedance amplifier (with current as
the input variable) has inductance. As we know, inductance can resonate with capacitance, and this
offers an important clue to some of the unexplained oscillations not uncommonly encountered in
circuits.

Background of an Enigma

Trump’s article is a good lead-in to an important aspect of circuit design involving high-frequency
(hf) theory, the theory of what happens in circuits above bandwidth. It applies not only to feedback
amplifiers but also to transistor circuits above fβ, the β bandwidth of BJTs. (FETs have a
corresponding bandwidth.)

This topic is not developed in any active-circuits textbook that I have found and is one of the
neglected topics of electronics. It has long been known by oscilloscope vertical-amplifier designers
at Tektronix and was taught for years in a course, “Amplifier Frequency and Transient Response” by
Carl Battjes and others within Tektronix. Over the last half century, it has not diffused very
extensively into the electronics industry. It is tangentially covered in filter theory about negative-
impedance converters but is not applied more generally to circuits.

This hf circuit theory can be used to identify spurious resonances or oscillations in feedback
amplifier and discrete transistor circuits, such as photodiode-input trans-resistance op-amps or
emitter followers with capacitive loads. Keep in mind that “high frequency” means above bandwidth,
not “microwave”. For a typical op-amp, the hf region starts at the open-loop bandwidth, typically 10
Hz. The hf region upper end is the gain-bandwidth product, or fT, of the amplifier or transistor.

What I intend to do in this article is present a basic tutorial on a theory that explains a variety of
circuit behaviors that are often not understood and are consequently fixed with experimental circuit
hacks (whether on the bench or simulator). Ironically, despite its relative obscurity, hf theory is not
hard to understand. The only math needed is basic algebra.

Closed-Loop Port Impedances

Trans-resistance amplifier input impedance is a special case of a more general principle that can be
applied to both feedback amplifier input and output ports. From basic feedback theory, amplifiers
can have either voltage or current inputs or outputs, resulting in four basic kinds of amplifiers and
four port impedances, for current or voltage variables at input or output.

A feedback amplifier with voltage output has a closed-loop output port impedance of

where G is the forward-path gain, H is the feedback-path gain, G·H is the loop gain and 1 + G·H is
what I call the feedback factor. (It is also less descriptively called the return ratio in control
literature.) It is the improvement factor attributable to feedback and reduces output impedance so
that with feedback the output is closer to that of an ideal voltage source.

Many circuits textbooks use A for G and β for H, but the BJT β parameter appears in feedback circuit
analysis, causing ambiguity. I am using the well-established control-theory notation instead.

A feedback amplifier with current input has an input port impedance that is of the same form as the
above feedback amplifier with voltage output;

where Zi is the open-loop input port impedance. The ideal current-input amplifier has 0 Ω input, and
feedback also causes the open-loop impedance to be reduced toward the ideal.

The other two cases, those of closed-loop input voltage and output current, have the form

These are the two basic feedback equations for port impedances.

High-Frequency Theory

High-Frequency Theory

For feedback amplifiers with single-pole loop gains, it is

where τbw is the time-constant of the bandwidth, fbw = 1/2·π·τbw. G0 and H0 are the quasi-static
(frequency-independent) values of G and H that would apply at 0 Hz or sufficiently low frequencies
without the effect of reactances. Then the frequency-dependent feedback factor is
The general feedback port impedance for ii and vo is

This low-Z formula can be rewritten by distributing the quasi-static feedback factor in the
denominator as

The equivalent circuit is drawn from the continued-fraction form of Z(cl), as shown below. The
multiplication of Z by s gyrates it as an impedance by +90° so that a resistive Z becomes inductive.

A trans-impedance amplifier (Zm = vo/ii) has input and output impedance of the same form. For
resistive open-loop input and output ports, Z = R, and the closed-loop equivalent circuit for both is R
shunting a series RL, as shown below.

For an op-amp trans-impedance amplifier, the open-loop input resistance is the feedback resistance
Rf = R. The combined quasi-static resistance of the equivalent circuit is

Input resistance is reduced from Rf to Rf/(1 + G0·H0) by the feedback factor. The series inductance is
where the unity-gain frequency,

corresponds to

The inductance forms a time constant in the series RL branch with R/(G0·H0) of τbw.

The dual case of vi and io has a closed-loop port impedance in the general form of

Some more algebra results in a topologically-explicit form by multiplying Z·(1 + G0·H0) through the
numerator and dividing;

Z(cl) in this high-Z formula has Z in series with a parallel combination of two elements in series. The
equivalent circuit is shown below and is the dual circuit to that of the previous Z(cl). The gyrated Z
is divided by s this time, which gyrates Z by –90° so that a resistance becomes capacitive.

For Z = R, the quasi-static port impedance has two resistances in series having a combined
resistance of R·(1 + G0·H0). The gyrated R is a capacitive reactance with capacitance τbw/(R·G0·H0). It
forms a parallel RC with R·(G0·H0) having a time constant of τbw.

Feedback Amplifier Example

A dominant single-pole voltage amplifier with feedback having a loop gain of

G0·H0 = 10k

and a unity-gain frequency of fT = 1 MHz has the following open-loop port impedances:

Zi = 1 kΩ ; Zo = 10 Ω || (1/s·(22 pF))

What are the closed-loop input and output impedances and what, if any, are the hf resonances?

First, the loop bandwidth of the amplifier is

fbw = fT/(G0·H0) = (1 MHz)/(10 k) = 100 Hz

with time constant τbw = 1/2·π·fbw = 1.590 ms.

Second, the input port impedance of a voltage amplifier with feedback-loop input variable vi has an
equivalent circuit of the high-Z form, Z·(1 + G·H). Substituting Zi = Ri = 1 kΩ, the result is 1 kΩ in
series with 1 kΩ·(10k) = 10 MΩ. It shunts a capacitance of

Ci = τT/Ri = (1/2·π·(1 MHz))/1 kΩ » 159 ns/1 kΩ » 159 pF

Ci shunts 10 MΩ and the RC time constant is τbw. The capacitance is rather considerable, and above
bandwidth its reactance becomes small relative to the 10 MΩ shunting it. This results in an
approximate hf impedance of 159 pF in series with 1 kΩ. This is quite different than the quasi-static
input resistance of 10.001 MΩ, and if the input source is inductive (such as a connecting cable
terminated at the source end in a voltage source), then a resonance is formed.

Finally, and most interestingly, the output port quantity, vo, is also a voltage and the low-Z closed-
loop impedance formula applies: Zo/(1 + G·H). The circuit is assumed linear and superposition can be
used to combine the equivalent circuits for Ro = 10 Ω and Co = 22 pF as shown below.

The contribution to Zo(cl) of Ro is 10 Ω of resistance shunting 1 mΩ in series with an inductance of

1.59 μH. Co is in parallel with Ro; consequently, their equivalent circuits are also in parallel. Co of
22 pF shunts a series RC with capacitance of 0.22 μF in series with the gyrated capacitance, which
becomes a resistance of 7.23 kΩ.

In a hf approximation (valid only in the hf region) of Zo(cl), the series RL collapses to L and series RC
to R. The resulting parallel resistance is 10 Ω || 7.23 kΩ which is about 10 Ω. This resistance damps
a parallel LC resonant circuit with resonant characteristics,
This amplifier will not oscillate at its output because fn is beyond fT (where there is insufficient gain
to oscillate) and also because it is highly over-damped. Critical damping resistance for parallel
resonance is Zn/2 = 134 Ω >> 10 Ω. However, were Co to increase significantly, Zn and fn would
decrease and the possibility of oscillations arises. An open cable connecting a high-resistance load or
CRT deflection plates can be instances of such large capacitance.

Transistors in the hf Region

Transistors in the hf Region

BJT hf terminal impedances for the three elemental cases of Z (R, L, and C) is analogous to Z(cl).
(Further development of this is in my books; see end of article.) Feedback port impedance low-Z and
high-Z formulas and equivalent circuits can be applied to BJT emitter and base (or FET source and
gate) port impedances by substituting

where Zb is the impedance into the base port and Ze is the impedance into the emitter port.
Consequently, the emitter equivalent circuit with base impedance ZB is shown below.

For the three basic elements, the equivalent emitter-port circuits are shown below; upper-left for
RB, upper-right for CB and lower for the more intriguing case of LB, with negative element values.
For the dual circuit, referred to (or “viewed from”) the base, the equivalent circuits for base port Zb
are shown below; upper-right for RE, upper-left for CE (more negative elements!), and lower for LE.

A BJT external emitter resistance RE is referred to the base as having a gyrated capacitance of
τbw/RE·G0·H0 Þ τβ/RE·β0 in series with RE. The capacitance simplifies to

In the hf region, a simplified equivalent circuit results from ignoring the relatively large shunting
resistance, β0·RE, and is shown below.

In the more usual case of emitter-followers with emitter capacitance, the other formula applies. The
inductance is the gyrated resistance of the base, RB and inductive reactance is
Transistors as Feedback Loops

The close analogy between single-pole feedback loops and BJTs leads to the realization that BJT
stages can be interpreted as feedback amplifiers. The series RE of the general BJT stage can be
viewed as providing voltage or “series” (loop) feedback to the input. Then the quasi-static base-port
resistance is 1 + G0·H0 or 1 + β0 times larger than RE and has a capacitive component corresponding
to the rightmost element in the above general equivalent circuit, or a capacitance of
(τβ/β0)/RE = τT/RE. This capacitance is in series with Z = RE.

BJT Amplifier Example

A PN3904 NPN BJT has fT = 300 MHz (at 10 mA) and a typical β0 of 150. In an emitter-follower
(common-collector) stage, it has a total resistance in its base circuit (including the BJT base
spreading resistance, rb’) of RB’ = 1 kΩ. The emitter is loaded by a subsequent stage that has an input
capacitance of 50 pF. What is the emitter node impedance and what, if any, is its resonance?

For the given fT, τT = 531 ps. Then the emitter-port equivalent circuit is RB’ = 1 kΩ shunting a series
RL of 6.67 Ω and 531 nH. The hf model approximates 6.67 Ω as 0 Ω, leaving a parallel resonant
circuit with fn = 31 MHz (within the hf region of 2 MHz to 300 MHz) and Zn = 103 Ω. The shunting
resistance is 1 kΩ, insufficient to damp the resonance. Its damping and pole angle are

The complex pole-pair is close to the jω-axis. This is a real ringer-dinger and the BJT stage will
probably oscillate.

One design fix is to add a shunt RC in series with the emitter (between the emitter and the 50 pF)
with R = RB’ and C = τT/RB’. The RC compensator has the same time constant (of τT) as the shunt RL
looking into the emitter (in the hf region) and together they form an all-pass circuit with a resistance
of RB’. This then forms an RC time constant with the 50 pF load capacitance, and has a pole at
3.18 MHz. If that is not high enough for the application, then other bandwidth-extending methods
must be applied such as inductive peaking.

Closure

The two Z(cl) formulas and their equivalent circuits, when applied to both feedback and discrete
transistor circuits, can explain much of the anomalous behavior that occurs between fbw and fT, and
can be used to predict when circuits will oscillate or be under-damped.

A fuller development of hf theory is found in my four-volume book-set on Analog Circuit Design

(www.scitechpublishing.com), in Designing Dynamic Circuit Response (vol. 2), and applied in
Designing High-Performance Amplifiers (vol. 3). The hf theory and application examples are also
given in a book I just finished writing and is being reviewed for publication, on Transistor Amplifiers.
(This article is a composite of excerpts from several sections of that book.) Peter Starič and Erik
Margan also cover it in Wideband Amplifiers (Springer (www.springer.com), 2006).

About the author

Dennis Feucht entered industry in engineering at Tektronix at age 17, has designed test and
measurement instruments, and has been doing power electronics for a long time as Innovatia
(www.innovatia.com). He has written a four-volume book-set on Analog Circuit Design
(www.scitechpub.com/r/category.php?cPath=5) He lives on a hilltop in the jungle in Central America
where he does electronics research and tries to help people via the Internet with their electronics
engineering challenges.