AMPLIFIER FREQUENCY RESPONSE

In amplifiers, the coupling and bypass capacitors appear to

be shorts to ac at the midband frequencies.

At low frequencies the capacitive reactance of these

capacitors affect the gain and phase shift of signals, so they
must be taken into account.

The frequency response of an amplifier is the change in

gain or phase shift over a specified range of input signal
frequencies.

Effect of Coupling Capacitors:

At lower frequencies, for example, audio frequencies below 10 Hz
capacitively coupled amplifiers such as those in Fig below have less voltage
gain than they have at higher frequencies.
At low frequencies reactances of C1 and C3 are higher.
This higher signal voltage drop at lower frequencies reduces the voltage gain.

 Also, a phase shift is introduced by the coupling capacitors because

C1 forms a lead circuit with the Rin of the amplifier and C3 forms a
lead circuit with RL in series with RC or RD.

Effect of Bypass Capacitors:

At lower frequencies, the reactance of the bypass capacitor, C2
becomes significant and the emitter (or FET source terminal) is no
longer at ac ground
The capacitive reactance XC2 in parallel with RE (or RS) creates
an
impedance that reduces the gain.
At sufficiently high frequency

At lower frequencies

Effect of Internal Transistor Capacitances

At high frequencies, the coupling and bypass capacitors become
effective ac shorts and do not affect an amplifiers response.
Internal transistor junction capacitances, however, do come into play,
reducing an amplifiers gain and introducing phase shift as the signal
frequency increases.

 Datasheets often refer to the BJT capacitance Cbc as the output

capacitance, often designated Cob. The capacitance Cbe is often
designated as the input capacitance Cib.
Datasheets for FETs normally specify input capacitance Ciss and
reverse transfer capacitance Crss.
At lower frequencies: the internal capacitances have a very high
reactance because of their low capacitance value (usually only a few
picofarads) and the low frequency value. Therefore, they look like
opens and have no effect on the transistors performance.
At Higher frequencies: the internal capacitive reactances go down, and
at some point they begin to have a significant effect on the transistors
gain.
When the reactance of Cbe (or Cgs) becomes small enough, a
significant amount of the signal voltage is lost due to a voltage-divider
effect of the signal source resistance and the reactance of Cbe,

 When the reactance of Cbc (or Cgd) becomes small enough, a

significant amount of output signal voltage is fed back out of phase
with the input (negative feedback), thus effectively reducing the
voltage gain.

Millers Theorem
Millers theorem is used to simplify the analysis of inverting
amplifiers at high frequencies where the internal transistor
capacitances are important. The capacitance Cbc in BJTs (Cgd in
FETs) between the input (base or gate) and the output (collector
or drain) is shown in Fig below in a generalized form.

Av is the absolute voltage gain of the inverting amplifier at

midrange frequencies, and C represents either Cbc or Cgd.

 Millers theorem states that C effectively appears as a

capacitance from input to ground, as shown in Fig above , that
can be expressed as follows:
This formula shows that Cbc (or Cgd) has a much greater
impact on input capacitance than its actual value.
For example, if Cbc 6 pF and the amplifier gain is 50, then
Cin(Miller) 306 pF.

 Millers theorem also states that C effectively appears as a

capacitance from output to ground, as shown in Fig b, that can
be expressed as follows:
Cout(Miller) is approximately equal to Cbc or Cgd because
(Av + 1) /Av is approximately equal to 1.
Fig below shows how this effective output capacitance appears
in the ac equivalent circuit for BJTs and FETs.

 Applying Millers theorem, we can convert a floating

capacitance between the input and output nodes of an
amplifier into two grounded capacitances.
The capacitance at the input node is larger than the
original floating capacitance.

THE DECIBEL:
The decibel is a logarithmic measurement of the ratio of one
power to another or one voltage to another.
Power gain is expressed in decibels by the following formula:

Voltage gain is expressed in decibels by the following formula:

If Av is greater than 1, the dB gain is positive.

If Av is less than 1, the dB gain is negative and is usually called
attenuation

0 dB Reference
It is often convenient in amplifiers to assign a certain value of gain as
the 0 dB reference.
This does not mean that the actual voltage gain is 1 (which is 0 dB); it
means that the reference gain, no matter what its actual value, is used
as a reference with which to compare other values of gain and is
therefore assigned a 0 dB value.
Many amplifiers exhibit a maximum gain over a certain range of
frequencies and a reduced gain at frequencies below and above this
range.
The maximum gain occurs for the range of frequencies between the
upper and lower critical frequencies and is called the midrange gain,
which is assigned a 0 dB value.
Any value of gain below midrange can be referenced to 0 dB and
expressed as a negative dB value.

 Example: if the midrange voltage gain of a certain amplifier is

100 and the gain at a certain frequency below midrange is 50,
then this reduced voltage gain can be expressed as
20 log (50/100) = 20 log (0.5) = -6 dB
This indicates that it is 6 dB below the 0 dB reference.
Halving the output voltage for a steady input voltage is always
a 6 dB reduction in the gain.
Correspondingly, a doubling of the output voltage is always a 6
dB increase in the gain.
Fig below illustrates a normalized gain-versus-frequency curve
showing several dB points.
The term normalized means that the midrange voltage gain is
assigned a value of 1 or 0 dB.

Critical Frequency
A critical frequency (also known as cutoff frequency or
corner frequency) is a frequency at which the output power
drops to one-half of its midrange value.
This corresponds to a 3 dB reduction in the power gain, as
expressed in dB by the following formula:
Ap(dB) = 10 log (0.5) = -3 dB
Also, at the critical frequencies the voltage gain is 70.7%
of its midrange value and is expressed in dB as

Av(dB) = 20 log (0.707) = -3 dB

Power Measurement in dBm

The dBm is a unit for measuring power levels referenced to 1 mW.
Positive dBm values represent power levels above 1 mW, and
negative dBm values represent power levels below 1 mW.
Because the decibel (dB) can be used to represent only power ratios,
not actual power, the dBm provides a convenient way to express actual
power output of an amplifier or other device.
Each 3 dBm increase corresponds to a doubling of the power, and a 3
dBm decrease corresponds to a halving of the power.
To state that an amplifier has a 3 dB power gain indicates only that the
output power is twice the input power and nothing about the actual
output power.
To indicate actual output power, the dBm can be used.
For example, 3 dBm is equivalent to 2 mW because 2 mW is twice
the 1 mW reference. 6 dBm is equivalent to 4 mW, and so on.
Likewise, -3 dBm is the same as 0.5 mW.

Example

Solution:

Example
Solution:

LOW-FREQUENCY AMPLIFIER
RESPONSE

 The voltage gain and phase shift of capacitively coupled

amplifiers are affected whenthe signal frequency is below
a critical value.
At low frequencies, the reactance of the coupling
capacitors becomes significant, resulting in a reduction in
voltage gain and an increase in phase shift

BJT Amplifiers
Assuming that the coupling and bypass capacitors are ideal
shorts at the midrange signal frequency.

If a swamping resistor (RE1) is used

 The BJT amplifier in Fig above has three high-pass RC

circuits that affect its gain as the frequency is reduced
below midrange. These are shown in the low-frequency ac
equivalent circuit in Fig below.
The low-frequency equivalent circuit retains the coupling
and bypass capacitors because XC is not small enough to
neglect when the signal frequency is sufficiently low.

 One RC circuit is formed by the input coupling capacitor C1 and

the input resistance of the amplifier.
The second RC circuit is formed by the output coupling capacitor
C3, the resistance looking in at the collector (Rout), and the load
resistance.
The third RC circuit that affects the low-frequency response is
formed by the emitter-bypass capacitor C2 and the resistance
looking in at the emitter.

The Input RC Circuit:

The input RC circuit for the BJT amplifier is formed by C1 and the
amplifiers input resistance and is shown in Fig below
As the signal frequency decreases, XC1 increases. This causes less
voltage across the input resistance of the amplifier at the base
because more voltage is dropped across C1 and because of this, the
overall voltage gain of the amplifier is reduced.
The base voltage for the input RC circuit in (neglecting the internal
resistance of the input signal source) can be stated as

 A critical point in the amplifiers response occurs when the

output voltage is 70.7% of its midrange value.
This condition occurs in the input RC circuit when
XC1 = Rin.

In terms of measurement in decibels,

Lower Critical Frequency

If the resistance of the input source is taken into account,

Example

Voltage Gain Roll-Off at Low Frequencies:

As you have seen, the input RC circuit reduces the overall voltage
gain of an amplifier by 3 dB when the frequency is reduced to the
critical value fc .
As the frequency continues to decrease below fc, the overall
voltage gain also continues to decrease.
The rate of decrease in voltage gain with frequency is called rolloff.
For each ten times reduction in frequency below fc, there is a 20
dB reduction in voltage gain.
Lets consider a frequency that is one-tenth of the critical
frequency ( f = 0.1fc).
Since
then

 Therefore

The dB attenuation is

Bode Plot:
A plot of dB voltage gain versus frequency on semilog graph paper
(logarithmic horizontal axis scale and a linear vertical axis scale) is
called a Bode plot.
A ten-times change in frequency is called a decade.
So, for the input RC circuit, the attenuation is reduced by 20 dB for
each decade that the frequency decreases below the critical
frequency.
This causes the overall voltage gain to drop 20 dB per decade.
A generalized Bode plot for an input RC circuit is shown in fig
below.
The ideal response curve is shown in blue. Notice that it is flat (0
dB) down to the critical frequency, at which point the gain drops at
-20 dB/decade as shown.
Above fc are the midrange frequencies.

 The actual response curve is shown in red. Notice that it

decreases gradually beginning in midrange and is down to
-3dB at the critical frequency.
Often, the ideal response is used to simplify amplifier analysis.
The critical frequency at which the curve breaks into a -20
dB/decade drop is sometimes called the lower break frequency.

 Sometimes, the voltage gain roll-off of an amplifier is expressed

in dB/octave rather than dB/decade.
An octave corresponds to a doubling or halving of the frequency.
For example, an increase in frequency from 100 Hz to 200 Hz is
an octave. Likewise, a decrease in frequency from 100 kHz to 50
kHz is also an octave.
A rate of -20 dB/decade is approximately equivalent to -6
dB/octave a rate of -40 dB/decade is approximately equivalent to
-12 dB/octave, and so on.

Phase Shift in the Input RC Circuit

In addition to reducing the voltage gain, the input RC circuit also
causes an increasing phase shift through an amplifier as the frequency
decreases.
At midrange frequencies, the phase shift through the input RC circuit
is approximately zero because the capacitive reactance, XC1, is
approximately 0.
At lower frequencies, higher values of XC1 cause a phase shift to be
introduced, and the output voltage of the RC circuit leads the input
voltage.
As the phase angle in an input RC circuit is expressed as

 The phase shift through the input RC circuit approaches as the

frequency approaches zero.
A plot of phase angle versus frequency is shown in Fig below.
The result is that the voltage at the base of the transistor leads
the input signal voltage in phase below midrange, as shown in
Fig on next slide.

The Output RC Circuit

The second high-pass RC circuit in the BJT amplifier is formed by
the coupling capacitor C3, the resistance looking in at the
collector, and the load resistance RL, as shown in Fig (a).
In determining the output resistance, looking in at the collector,
the transistor is treated as an ideal current source (with infinite
internal resistance), and the upper end of RC is effectively at ac
ground, as shown in Fig (b).
Therefore, thevenizing the circuit to the left of capacitor C3
produces an equivalent voltage source equal to the collector
voltage and a series resistance equal to RC, as shown in Fig(c).
The lower critical frequency of this output RC circuit is

 The effect of the output RC circuit on the amplifier voltage gain

is similar to that of the input RC circuit.
As the signal frequency decreases, XC3 increases. This causes
less voltage across the load resistance because more voltage is
dropped across C3.

 The signal voltage is reduced by a factor of 0.707 when

frequency is reduced to the lower critical value, fcl, for the
circuit.
This corresponds to a 3 dB reduction in voltage gain.
Phase Shift in the Output RC Circuit:
The phase angle in the output RC circuit is

for the midrange frequencies and approaches 90 as the

frequency approaches zero (XC3 approaches infinity).
At the critical frequency fc, the phase shift is 45

EXAMPLE

The Bypass RC Circuit

The third RC circuit that affects the low-frequency gain of the
BJT amplifier includes the bypass capacitor C2.

As illustrated in Fig(1) for midrange frequencies, it is assumed

that
effectively shorting the emitter to ground so that
the amplifier gain is
as you already know.
As the frequency is reduced, XC2 increases and no longer
provides a sufficiently low reactance to effectively place the
emitter at ac ground, as shown in part (2).
Because the impedance from emitter to ground increases, the
gain decreases. In this case, Re in the formula,
is
replaced by an impedance formed by RE in parallel with XC2.

 The bypass RC circuit is formed by C2 and the resistance looking in

at the emitter, Rin(emitter), as shown in Fig (a).
The resistance looking in at the emitter is derived as follows.
First, Thevenins theorem is applied looking from the base of the
transistor toward the input source Vin, as shown in Fig (b).
This results in an equivalent resistance (Rth) and an equivalent
voltage source (Vth(1)) in series with the base, as shown in Fig (c).
The resistance looking in at the emitter is determined with the
equivalent input source shorted, as shown in Fig (d), and is
expressed as follows:

 Looking from the capacitor C2,

is in parallel with RE, as
shown in Fig (e).
Thevenizing again, we get the equivalent RC circuit shown in Fig (f).
The lower critical frequency for this equivalent bypass RC circuit is

If a swamping resistor is used, the equation for Rin(emitter) becomes

HIGH-FREQUENCY AMPLIFIER
RESPONSE

 We have seen how the coupling and bypass capacitors affect the
voltage gain of an amplifier at lower frequencies where the
reactances of the coupling and bypass capacitors are significant.
In the midrange of an amplifier, the effects of the capacitors are
minimal and can be neglected.
If the frequency is increased sufficiently, a point is reached where
the transistors internal capacitances begin to have a significant
effect on the gain.

The basic differences between BJTs and FETs are the

specifications of the internal capacitances and the input
resistance.

BJT Amplifiers
A high-frequency ac equivalent circuit for the BJT amplifier in Fig(a)
is shown
Notice that the coupling and bypass capacitors are treated as effective
shorts and do not appear in the equivalent circuit.
The internal capacitances, Cbe and Cbc,which are significant only at
high frequencies, do appear in the diagram.
As previouslymentioned. Cbe is sometimes called the input
capacitance Cib,
Cbc is sometimes called the output capacitance C ob.
Cbe is specified on datasheets at a certain value of V BE. Often, a
datasheet will list Cib as Cibo and Cob as Cobo.
The o as the last letter in the subscript indicates the capacitance is
measured with the base open.
For example, a 2N2222A transistor has a C be of 25 pF at VBE 0.5 V
dc, IC 0, and f 1 MHz. Also, Cbc is specified at a certain value of
VBC. The 2N2222A has a maximum Cbc of 8 pF at VBC 10 V dc.

Millers Theorem in High-Frequency Analysis

By applying Millers theorem to the inverting amplifier and using the
midrange voltage gain, we have a circuit that can be analyzed for
high-frequency response.
Looking in from the signal source, the capacitance C bc appears in the
Miller input capacitance from base to ground.

Cbe simply appears as a capacitance to ac ground, as shown in Fig

below , in parallel with Cin(Miller).
Looking in at the collector, Cbc appears in the Miller output
capacitance from collector to ground. As shown in Fig below, the
Miller output capacitance appears in parallel with Rc.

These two Miller capacitances create a high-frequency input RC

circuit and a high frequency output RC circuit.

 These two circuits differ from the low-frequency input and

output circuits, which act as high-pass filters, because the
capacitances go to ground and therefore act as low-pass filters.
The equivalent circuit in Fig below is an ideal model because
stray capacitances that are due to circuit interconnections are
neglected.

The Input RC Circuit

At high frequencies, the input circuit is as shown in Fig(a), where
is the input resistance at the base of the transistor because the
bypass capacitor effectively shorts the emitter to ground.
By combining Cbe and Cin (Miller) in parallel and repositioning,
we get the simplified circuit shown in Fig(b).
Next, by thevenizing the circuit to the left of the capacitor, as
indicated, the input RC circuit is reduced to the equivalent form
shown in Fig (c).
As the frequency increases, the capacitive reactance becomes
smaller. This causes the signal voltage at the base to decrease, so
the amplifiers voltage gain decreases.
The reason for this is that the capacitance and resistance act as a
voltage divider and, as the frequency increases, more voltage is
dropped across the resistance and less across the capacitance.

 Uper critical frequency: At the critical frequency, the gain is 3 dB

less than its midrange value.
The upper critical high frequency of the input circuit, fcu (input),
is the frequency at which the capacitive reactance is equal to the
total resistance.

As the frequency goes above fcu (input), the input RC circuit

causes the gain to roll off at a rate of -20 dB/decade just as with
the low-frequency response.

Phase Shift of the Input RC Circuit

Because the output voltage of a high-frequency input RC circuit is
across the capacitor, the output of the circuit lags the input.
The phase angle is expressed as

At the critical frequency, the phase angle is 45 with the signal

voltage at the base of the transistor lagging the input signal.
As the frequency increases above fc, the phase angle increases
above 45 and approaches 90 when the frequency is sufficiently
high.

Example
Derive the equivalent high-frequency input RC circuit for the BJT
amplifier in Fig below. Use this to determine the upper critical frequency
due to the input circuit. The transistors datasheet provides the following:
ac = 125, Cbe =20 pF, and
Cbc=2.4 pF.