TOPIC 3(C)

BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR (BJT)

LEARNING OUTCOME :
3.5 Apply frequency response curve
3.6 Apply frequency response characteristics of an Amplifier
3.7 Understand classification of an Amplifier
3.8 Understand other biasing techniques of Common Emitter
Transistor Configuration
OTHER BIASING TECHNIQUES OF COMMON EMITTER
TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION

i. Base biased with emitter feedback technique

Schematic Diagram :

vc
Circuit operation :

- When Beta is increased, IC and IE will increased.

- When IE increased, VRE become more positive

VRE = IE.RE

- NPN transistor is used in the circuit. So, when the output part become more
positive, forward biased of the transistor base will decrease

VRB = VCC – VBE - VRE

- IC will be back to its beginning value.

- Otherwise when Beta is decreased.

- This will cause the circuit will always stable in any temperature.
Function of Output Resistance, RE :

- RE is placed at the output part to be as a circuit stabilizer.

- It will stabilize the increasing or decreasing the operation current.

Function Of Shunt Capacitor, CE :

- CE is used to avoid a.c current from flow through RE. Input resistor
become low. So, Av is remain high.
Input And Output Equation :
Example :

Refer to figure below, calculate IC, VC and Voltage gain. When a shunt capacitor, CE is
connected and then not connected to the circuit, calculate the new voltage gain.
Solution :
ii. Biased voltage divider technique

Schematic diagram :

- R1 and R2 are voltage divider network

Input and Output Equation :

Advantage :
There’s no Beta factor in operation current (IC) calculation.
So, it is a good biasing technique.
Example :

Refer to figure below, calculate the voltage gain.

Solution :

a.c equivalent circuit :

FREQUENCY RESPONSE

- Frequency respond is the measure of any system’s output spectrum in response

to an input signal.

FREQUENCY RESPONSE CURVE

- A frequency-response curve is a graphical representation of the relationship
between amplifier gain and operating frequency.

- It explain the changes occur at levels of output signal when the signal
frequency changes.

- This curve is a plot of voltage gain of an amplifier (y-axis) against the

frequency of input signal (x-axis).

- Frequency range along the constant gain is called middle band range. The
gain symbol of the middle band range is Am.

- Example : in audio system, flat respond mean there is no increase or

decrease in volume level across the frequency range.
TERMS IN FREQUENCY RESPONSE

i. Decibel
- Logarithmic measurement of the ratio of one power to another or one voltage to
another.

ii. Maximum Voltage Gain (Avmax)

- Ratio of output voltage (Vo) to input voltage (Vi)

Avmax = Vo/Vi

- Maximum Voltage gain in dB :

Av max (dB) = 20 log Av max

iii. Cut-off frequency(fc1 and fc2) :

- Gain of 3dB @ 0.707 falls at the cut off frequency.
- Low cut-off frequency (fc1) : when Am ≈ 0.707Am.
- High cut-off frequency (fc2) : when Am less than 0.707Am.
- This frequency is where a device will quit working or operating in an efficient
manner.
iv. Frequency bandwidth (BW)
- Bandwidth of amplifier is defined as difference between fc1 and fc2.
- In this region, the amplifier is MOST effective in amplifying.

Formula :
Example :
An amplifier has 1.5Vpp input voltage and 5Vpp output voltage. Its low cut-off frequency
is 1KHz while its high cut-off frequency is 2.5KHz. Determine :
i. Bandwidth
ii. Maximum voltage gain
iii. Maximum voltage gain in dB

Solution :

i. Bandwidth :
BW = fc2 – fc1
= 2.5KHz – 1KHz = 1.5KHz

ii. Maximum voltage gain :

Avmax = Vo/Vi = 5V / 1.5V = 3.33

iii. Maximum voltage gain in dB :

Avmax (dB) = 20 log (Vo/Vi) dB
= 20 log (3.33)
= 10.45
CLASSIFICATION OF AMPLIFIER
- Transistor remain forward-biased throughout
i. Class-A Amplifier the input cycle.

- Q-point is at the centre of the load line.

- Output current flows during the entire cycle of

the input signal (360°).

- Power efficiency : 25% to 50%

- Advantage : Distorted- free output,

no crossover distortion problems.

- Disadvantage :
a). Only for amplifying input signals of small
amplitude.
b). Since under zero-signal condition, there is
no a.c output power. It means that all
power given to the transistor is wasted as
heat.

- Application : Requires in radio receiver and

televisyen sets.
ii. Class-B Amplifier
- Q-point lies at the cut-off point.

- There is no output current when input current is

zero.

- It conducts only for half-cycle of the input (180°).

- Efficiency : 78.5%.

- Advantage : No power wasted as heat.

- Disadvantages : Since negative half-cycles are

totally absent from the output, the signal distortion
is high.

- Application : radio-frequency (RF) amplifiers.

iii. Class-C Amplifier
- Q-point lies below the cut-off point.

- Output flows only during a part of positive half-

cycle of the input signal (Conduction angle varies
from 120° to 150°).

- There is no output current flow during any part of

negative cycle of the input signal.

- Output signal has hardly resemblance with input

signal. It consists of short pulses only.

- Efficiency : 85-90%
- Advantages : Power loss is very low.
- Disadvantages : Very high distortion.
- Application : As oscillators for radio-frequency
amplification.
 - A small collector current will flow when there is
iv. Class AB Amplifier no input signal but it is much less than that for
the Class A amplifier configuration. This means
then that the transistor will be "ON" for more
than half a cycle of the waveform but much less
than a full cycle.

- In class-AB operation, each device operates the

same way as in class B over half the
waveform, but also conducts a small amount on
the other half. As a result, the region where both
devices simultaneously are nearly off (the "dead
zone") is reduced.

- When the waveforms from the two devices are

combined, the crossover is greatly
minimised or eliminated altogether.

- Efficiency : 78.5%.
- Advantage : Reduce Crossover Distortion.
- Application : High-power applications such as
audio power amplifiers and PA systems.
Amplifier Classes Summary

- Then we have seen that the quiescent DC operating point (Q-point) of an amplifier
determines the amplifier classification.

- By setting the position of the Q-point at half way on the load line of the amplifiers
characteristics curve, the amplifier will operate as a class A amplifier.

- By moving the Q-point lower down the load line changes the amplifier into a class AB,
B or C amplifier.