Lecture 9

OUTLINE
• BJT Amplifiers (cont’d)
– Common-base topology
– CB core
– CB stage with source resistance
– Impact of base resistance

Reading: Chapter 5.3.2

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 1 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

 Common Base (CB) Amplifier
• The base terminal is biased at a fixed voltage; the input
signal is applied to the emitter, and the output signal
sensed at the collector.

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 2 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

 Small-Signal Analysis of CB Core
• The voltage gain of a CB stage is gmRC, which is
identical to that of a CE stage in magnitude and
opposite in phase.

Av  g m RC
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 3 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
Tradeoff between Gain and Headroom
• To ensure that the BJT operates in active mode, the
voltage drop across RC cannot exceed VCC-VBE.

IC VCC  VBE
Av  RC 
VT VT

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 4 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

 Simple CB Stage Example
VCC = 1.8V
IC = 0.2mA
IS = 5x10-17 A
 = 100

R2
Vb  1.354V  VCC if I1  I B
R1  R2
VCC
Choose I1  10 I B  20A 
1 R1  R2
Av  g m RC   2230  17.2  R1  22.3k, R2  67.7 k
EE105 Fall 2007
130 Lecture 9, Slide 5 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
 Input Impedance of a CB Stage
• The input impedance of a CB stage is much smaller
than that of a CE stage.

1
Rin  if VA  
gm

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 6 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

 CB Stage with Source Resistance
• With the inclusion of a source resistance, the input
signal is attenuated before it reaches the emitter of
the amplifier; therefore, the voltage gain is lowered.
– This effect is similar to CE stage emitter degeneration.

RC
Av 
1
 RS
gm
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 7 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
 Practical Example of a CB Stage
• An antenna usually has low output impedance;
therefore, a correspondingly low input impedance is
required for the following stage.

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 8 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

 Output Impedance of a CB Stage
• The output impedance of a CB stage is equal to RC in
parallel with the impedance looking into the collector.

Rout1  1  g m ( RE || r ) rO   RE || r 
Rout 2  RC || Rout1
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 9 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
Output Impedance: CE vs. CB Stages
• The output impedances of emitter-degenerated CE and
CB stages are the same. This is because the circuits for
small-signal analysis are the same when the input port
is grounded.

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 10 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

Av of CB Stage with Base Resistance
(VA = ∞)
• With base resistance, the voltage gain degrades.
vout
vout   g m v RC  v  
g m RC
v vout
vP    r  RB    r  RB 
r r g m RC
vout
vP   r  RB 
RC
vout
 r  RB   vin
v v v  1   v  R
KCL at node P :   g m v  P in    g m   out   C
r RE  r  g m RC  RE

vout RC RC
 
vin r     1 RE  RB 1
 RE 
RB
gm  1
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 11 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley
 Voltage Gain: CE vs. CB Stages
• The magnitude of the voltage gain of a CB stage with
source and base resistances is the same as that of a CE
stage with base resistance and emitter degeneration.

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 12 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

Rin of CB Stage with Base Resistance
(VA = ∞)
• The input impedance of a CB stage with base
resistance is equal to 1/gm plus RB divided by (+1).
This is in contrast to a degenerated CE stage, in which
the resistance in series with the emitter is multiplied
by (+1) when seen from the base.
v
KCL   g m v  ix
r
1  r 
  g m   v x   ix
 r  r  RB 
r vx r  RB 1 RB
v   vx Rin    
r  RB ix  1 gm  1

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 13 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

Input Impedance Seen at Emitter vs. Base

Common Base Stage Common Emitter Stage

EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 14 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley

 Input Impedance Example
• To find RX, we have to first find Req, treat it as the base
resistance of Q2 and divide it by (+1).

1 RB 1 1  1 RB 
Req   Rx     
g m1   1 g m 2   1  g m1   1 
EE105 Fall 2007 Lecture 9, Slide 15 Prof. Liu, UC Berkeley