Chapter 4

Frequency Response

Lecturer: Dr. Tran Vu Hoang

 Outline

 Introduction

 Low Frequency Response

 High Frequency Response

 Introduction
• For the amplifier, it was a frequency:
• ignore the effects of the capacitive elements
• Reduce the analysis to one that included only resistive elements and sources
• We will now investigate the frequency effects introduced by
• The larger capacitive elements of the network at low frequencies
• The smaller capacitive elements of the active device at the high frequencies
• The logarithmic scale will be defined and used.
• The concept of the decibel is introduced
• The frequency response analyses of both BJTs and FETs are quite similar
 Logarithms
• Consider the following mathematical equations:

• Common logarithm: x = log10a

• Natural logarithm: y = logea
• The relationship between them: logea = 2.3 log10a
 Decibels
• The bel (B) was defined by the following equation to relate power levels P1
and P2:

• However the bel was too large, so the decibel (dB) was defined:
 Decibels
• For Vi equal to some value V1, P1 = V12/Ri (Ri: the input resistance of the
system)
• If Vi should be increased (or decreased) to some other level, V2, then
P2 = V 22/R i
• The resulting difference in decibels between the power levels:
 General Frequency Considerations
• Frequency Response:
• The amplifier operate with negligible effects from capacitors and device internal
capacitances
• Called the mid-range.
• At frequencies below mid-range
• The coupling and bypass capacitors lower the gain
• At frequencies above mid-range
• stray capacitances associated with the active device lower the gain
• Also, cascading amplifiers limits the gain at high and low frequencies.
 Bode Plot
• Bode Plot: illustrates the frequency response of an amplifier
• The horizontal scale indicates the frequency (in Hz) and the vertical scale
indicates the gain (in dB).
 Cutoff Frequencies
• Mid-range frequency: bandwidth of the amplifier
• Defined by the lower and upper Cutoff frequencies
• Cutoff: frequency at which the gain has dropped by: 0.5 power; 0.707
voltage; -3dB from its mid-range value
 Outline

 Introduction

 Low Frequency Response

 High Frequency Response

 Low-Frequency Analysis
• We have:

$%
When R = XC: " &
 Low-Frequency Response – BJT Amplifier
• At low frequencies, the reactances of the coupling capacitors (CS, CC) and
the bypass capacitor (CE) affect the circuit impedances.
 Coupling Capacitor (CS)
• The cutoff frequency due to CS can be calculated using:
1
fLs 
2π(Rs  Ri )Cs

where
R i  R1 ||R 2 ||R e
 Coupling Capacitor (CS)
• The cutoff frequency due to CS can be calculated using:
1
fLs 
2π(Rs  Ri )Cs

where
R i  R1 ||R 2 ||R e
 Coupling Capacitor (CC)
• The cutoff frequency due to CC can be calculated using:
1
fLC 
2π(Ro  RL )Cc

where
Ro  RC ||ro
 Coupling Capacitor (CC)
• The cutoff frequency due to CC can be calculated using:
1
fLC 
2π(Ro  RL )Cc

where
Ro  RC ||ro
 Bypass Capacitor (CE)
• The cutoff frequency due to CE can be calculated with:
1
fLE 
2πReC E
where Rs
Re  RE||(  re )
β

and Rs  Rs ||R1||R2

 Low Frequency Response – BJT Amplifier
• The Bode plot indicates that
each capacitor may have a
different cutoff frequency.
• It is the device that has the
highest lower cutoff
frequency (fL) that dominates
the overall low-frequency
response of the amplifier.
 Roll – Off of Gain in the Bode Plot
• The Bode plot not only
indicates the cutoff
frequencies of the various
capacitors it also indicates the
amount of attenuation (loss in
gain) at these frequencies.
• The rate of attenuation is
sometimes referred to as roll-
off.
• The roll-off is measured in
dB-per-octave or dB-per-
decade.
 Roll-Off Rate (dB/Decade)
• dB/decade refers to the
attenuation for every 10-fold
change in frequency.
• For attenuations at the low-
frequency end, it refers to the
loss in gain from the lower
cutoff frequency to a
frequency that is one-tenth
the cutoff value.
 Roll-Off Rate (dB/Octave)
• dB/Octave refers to the
attenuation for every 2-fold
change in frequency.
• For attenuations at the low-
frequency end, it refers to the
loss in gain from the lower
cutoff frequency to a
frequency that is one-half the
cutoff value.
 Low-Frequency Response – FET Amplifier
• At low frequencies, the reactances of the coupling capacitors (CG, CC) and
the bypass capacitor (CS) affect the circuit impedances.
 Coupling Capacitor (CG)
• The cutoff frequency due to CG can be calculated with

"#
*+, + #

where
Ri  RG
 Coupling Capacitor (CC)
• The cutoff frequency due to CC can be calculated with

where
Ro  RD ||rd
 Bypass Capacitor (CS)
• The cutoff frequency due to CS can be calculated with
1
fLS 
2πReqCS

where
1
Req  RS || rd Ω
gm
 Low Frequency Response – FET Amplifier
• The Bode plot indicates that
each capacitor may have a
different cutoff frequency.
• It is the device that has the
highest lower cutoff
frequency (fL) is closest to the
actual cutoff frequency of the
amplifier.
 Outline

 Introduction

 Low Frequency Response

 High Frequency Response

 Miller Effect Capacitance
• Any p-n junction can develop capacitance. This capacitance becomes
noticeable across:
• The BJT base-collector junction in a common-emitter amplifier operating
at high frequencies
• The FET gate-drain junction in a common-source amplifier at high
frequencies
• These capacitances are represented as separate input and output capacitances,
called the Miller capacitances.
 Miller Input Capacitance (CMI)

CMi  (1 Av )Cf

• Note that the amount of Miller
capacitance is dependent on inter-
electrode capacitance from input to
output (Cf) and the gain (Av).
 Miller Output Capacitance (CMO)

• If the gain (Av) is considerably greater

than 1, then
CMO  Cf
 High-Frequency Response – BJT Amplifier

• Capacitances that affect the high-

frequency response are
• Junction capacitances
• Cbe, Cbc, Cce
• Wiring capacitances
• Cwi, Cwo
• Coupling capacitors
• C S, C C
• Bypass capacitor
• CE
 Input High-Frequency Cutoff (fHi)

1
fHi 
2πRThi Ci

where RThi Rs ||R1||R2 ||Ri and Ci  CWi  Cbe CMi

 CWi  Cbe  (1 Av )Cbc
 Output High-Frequency Cutoff (fHo)
1
fHo 
2πRThoC o

where RTho  RC||RL||ro and Co  CWo  Cce  CMo

hfe (or ) Variation
The hfe parameter (or  )
of a transistor varies with
frequency
1
fβ 
2πβmid r e(Cbe  Cbc )
 BJT Amplifier Frequency Response

Note the highest lower cutoff frequency (fL) and the lowest upper cutoff
frequency (fH) are closest to the actual response of the amplifier.
 High Frequency Response - FET Amplifier

Capacitances that affect the high-frequency response:

Junction capacitances
Cgs, Cgd, Cds
Wiring capacitances
Cwi, Cwo
Coupling capacitors
CG, CC
Bypass capacitor
CS
 Input High-Frequency Cutoff (fHi)

1
fHi 
2πRThiCi

Ci  CWi  Cgs  CMi

CMi  (1 Av )Cgd

RThi  Rsig||RG
 Output High-Frequency Cutoff (fHo)

1
fHo 
2πRThoCo

Co  CWo  Cds CMo

 1
CMo  1 Cgd
 Av 

RTho  RD||RL||rd