EE/CE 3111

Electronic Circuits Laboratory

Spring 2012

Lab 5: BJT Amplifiers Part II

Objectives
The objective of this lab is to study Class-A amplifier. Specifically, we will experiment with a Class-A CE BJT amplifier with biasing circuit and AC-coupled input and output. We will learn the role of components in the amplifier and the concept of frequency response, low and high frequency end points and midband gain.

Introduction
This lab will cover just one amplifier configuration as shown in Figure 5-1.

Figure 5-1: Class-A CE BJT amplifier

DC Analysis To ensure that the circuit functions as an amplifier, we need to first make sure the BJT is biased properly in the FAR. This is accomplished with the resistors R1, R2, and RE in Fig. 5-1. To analyze the operating point of the BJT, we can overlay the VI characteristic of the transistor and RE combo (IC vs. VC) with the load line, as shown in Fig. 5-2. To obtain maximum output swing, the transistor is often biased at the Q (quiescent) bias point in the middle of the linear region. To determine the BJT current at the Q point, we can write the following of the emitter current
VCC IE R2 Vf R2 R1 RE

(5-1)

and the following about the base current

Professor Y. Chiu

EE/CE 3111

Electronic Circuits Laboratory

Spring 2012

Figure 5-2: VI characteristic of BJT 2N2222 and the load line

VCC IB R2 Vf R2 R1 ( F 1) RE

(5-2)

where Vf is the turn-on voltage of the base-emitter junction and F is the DC current gain (IC/IB) of the BJT. Note that (F + 1)RE >> R1 // R2 is assumed in order to arrive at (5-1) and (5-2).

Figure 5-3: AC equivalent circuit of the amplifier in Fig. 5-1 AC Analysis AC analysis refers to the small-signal linear analysis of the equivalent circuit of the amplifier as shown in Fig. 5-3, where RB = R1 // R2. Note that here the BJT symbol has been replaced by the so-called hybrid equivalent circuit model. We are interested in finding out the frequency response and the mid-band gain of the amplifier. Frequency response of the circuit derives from the capacitive elements in the circuit. For example, CS, CC, and CE are AC-coupling capacitors, i.e., for frequencies reasonably higher than DC, they can be considered as short circuits, while C and C are inherent capacitance of the BJT
Professor Y. Chiu 2

EE/CE 3111

Electronic Circuits Laboratory

Spring 2012

that will lead to high-frequency roll-offs of the amplifier gain. Combining the two effects at low and high frequencies, the gain exhibits a low cutoff frequency and a high cutoff frequency as well as a middle part that is flat. The flat gain of the middle part is referred to as the mid-band gain, and the low and high cutoff frequencies are simply the frequency points where the mid-band gain decreases by 3 dB. Since the mid-band gain is independent of frequency, we can short all AC-coupling capacitors (CS, CC, and CE) and open all high-frequency capacitors (C and C) in the equivalent circuit and obtain the following mid-band equivalent circuit

Figure 5-4: Mid-band AC equivalent circuit of the amplifier in Fig. 5-1 the mid-band gain thus can be easily determined as
Amid gm RC / / RL

(5-3)

Preparation
Build the amplifier shown in Fig. 5-1 in PSpice and simulate its frequency response. You need to first verify the operating point of the BJT. Do a DC operating point analysis and find out the emitter and base currents and compare with your hand calculation. You may assume a F of 100 and a Vf of 0.7 V. You may then apply an AC voltage source as Vin and determine the ratio Vout/Vin as a function of frequency. Mark the mid-band gain and the low and high cutoff frequency points.

Procedure
1. Measure the VI characteristic of the BJT plus RE as a composite transistor using BJT_IVcurve.vi (Hint: plot the collector current as a function of the absolute collector voltage instead of VCE). 2. Draw the load line of the amplifier in Fig. 5-1 on top of the VI characteristic. 3. Find the collector current and the Q point. 4. Use the collector current you found to determine the gm of the BJT and compute the mid-band gain of the amplifier using (5-3). 5. Build the circuit in Fig. 5-1. 6. Since the voltage gain of this amplifier is large (>100), to make it easier for the function generator, we can use a voltage divider to attenuate the input voltage. The attenuator circuit is
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EE/CE 3111

Electronic Circuits Laboratory

Spring 2012

shown in Fig. 5-5.

Figure 5-5: Voltage divider to be used at the amplifier input 7. Pick the value of RA in Fig. 5-5 to attenuate the input voltage by approximately 100x. 8. Set the input signal to sine wave at 100 kHz and measure the gain of the amplifier. 9. Use freqlog.vi to get the Bode plot of the gain. Mark the high and low frequency end points for the mid-band region. 10. Replace all capacitors with 10-F ones and repeat Steps 8 and 9.

Analysis
1. Report the value of resistor RA you picked. Argue how you picked this value. 2. Is your hand calculation close to your measurement results? Argue why or why not. 3. Are your PSpice simulation results close to your measurement? Argue why or why not.

Professor Y. Chiu