Electrical and Computer Engineering — ELEC 301 A Circuit of Interest — P 2.

A Circuit of Interest

A typical circuit of interest, a common-emitter amplifier, is shown in

figure 1:

Figure 1. A Basic CE Amplifier.

©Nicolas A. F. Jaeger. Not to be copied, used, or revised without explicit written permission from the copyright owner.
 Electrical and Computer Engineering — ELEC 301 A Circuit of Interest — P 2.2

The transistor shown in figure 1, Q1, can be modeled using a

"hybrid-π" small signal model (see figure 2),

Figure 2. The Hybrid-π Model.

©Nicolas A. F. Jaeger. Not to be copied, used, or revised without explicit written permission from the copyright owner.
 Electrical and Computer Engineering — ELEC 301 A Circuit of Interest — P 2.3

giving the small signal equivalent circuit shown in figure 3.

Figure 3. Small Signal Equivalent Circuit.

©Nicolas A. F. Jaeger. Not to be copied, used, or revised without explicit written permission from the copyright owner.
 Electrical and Computer Engineering — ELEC 301 A Circuit of Interest — P 2.4

One problem with the circuit shown in figure 3 is the feedback

capacitor, cμ, which significantly complicates the analysis of the circuit.

This problem can be very much simplified by using Miller's theorem

(together with some appropriate approximations):

(Here k = vo/vπ @ Midband)

Figure 4. Simplified Small Signal Model.

where the input stage has been “de-coupled” from the output stage.
©Nicolas A. F. Jaeger. Not to be copied, used, or revised without explicit written permission from the copyright owner.