Study Points for Test 2 (BJT)

Test 2 will focus on concepts associated with transistor circuits using the bipolar-junction
transistor (BJT) device.
The Test will be a mix of problems and conceptual uestions. !roblems will be similar to
those encountered in anal"tical homewor#.
Study Points
$. %now which part of diodes &-' is used in (ener diode operation. %now the relevant
terminolog".
2. Be able to anal")e circuits containing (ener diodes.
*. Be able to draw a cross-section slice of the BJT and identif" which junction must be
forward-biased and which must be reverse-biased. Be able to identif" the direction of the
+-field that collects injected charges from the emitter.
,. -nderstand (and memori)e) the positive reference polarities ('be vs 'eb. 'ce vs 'ec. etc)
used for npn and pnp BJTs.
/. Be able to draw the &-' (current as result of voltage) characteristics of the BJT and
identif" t"pical current levels.
0. Be able to explain how npn and pnp transistors differ and identif" directions of currents
and voltages when the transistor is in the active mode.
1. Be able to explain how the transistor operating point Q is defined b" a bias frame. and
what is the effect of each resistance on collector current IC.
2. -nderstand the concept of the load line. Be able to derive the load line expression for an
arbitrar" (BJT) circuit. Be able to draw the load line and extract the operating point.
3. Be able to ma#e a clear distinction between (operating point) 45 bias characteristics and
(small) 65 signal characteristics for a linear amplifier.
$7. Be able to determine the BJT operating point facts IB, IC, VC, VB, and VCE.
$$. 8emori)e 9 and T euivalent circuit models for BJT.
$2. Be able to ascertain transistor small signal characteristics gm, r

, re, ro, etc (as needed)

from the value for Q.
$*. Be able to s#etch the small signal euivalent circuit model of an amplifier using the 9 and
T euivalent circuit models for BJT
$,. Be able to distinguish between the general-purpose (5+) topolog" and the voltage-
follower (emitter-follower) topolog".
$/. Be able to assess transfer characteristics Rin, Rout, Av0, Av, Gv, Ais, Ai for the general-
purpose (common-emitter or 5+) topolog". whether driven b" npn or b" pnp transistors.
$0. 4o the same for the 5B and 55 topologies.
$1. Be able to assess the transfer characteristics of the general-purpose topolog" if biased b"
an independent current source in the emitter leg.
$2. Be able to assess the transfer characteristics Rin, Rout, Av0, Av, Gv, Ais, Ai of the voltage-
follower topolog" b" inspection.
$3. :emember the entire procedure of anal")ing a BJT amplifier circuit (45. euivalent
circuit. 65. etc).
27. ;or a general amplifier (including a BJT-based amplifier). understand and memori)e the
conditions (:i vs :s. :o vs :<. 6v and 6i) of a good '-amplifier. &-amplifier. '-buffer and
&-buffer.
2$. =ualitativel" understand the origin of the gain reduction at high freuencies.
22. =ualitativel" understand the origin of the gain reduction at low freuencies.
2*. Be able to draw from memor" the high-freuenc" h"brid-9 euivalent circuit model of an
amplifier (including parasitic capacitors).
2,. Be able to calculate the values of the BJT capacitors
2/. %now the meanings of the midband gain. f< and f>. *-dB bandwidth. gain-bandwidth
product. and unit"-gain freuenc" and their relation to BJT capacitors. Be able to do
relevant calculations.
Formulas to be provided on the test:
&5 ? &@ exp('B+A'T)
? A (B$) ? A ($-)
g
m
? &
5
A'
T
r

? A g
m
? '
T
A&
B
r
e
? Ag
m
? '
T
A&
+
r
o
? '
6
A&
5
) ( 2

C C
g
f
m
T
+
=