BJT Frequency Response

General Frequency Considerations

The frequency response of an amplifier refers to the frequency range

in which the amplifier will operate with negligible effects from
capacitors and device internal capacitance. This range of frequencies
can be called the mid-range.
• At frequencies above and below the midrange, capacitance and
any inductance will affect the gain of the amplifier.

• At low frequencies the coupling and bypass capacitors lower

the gain.

• At high frequencies stray capacitances associated with the

active device lower the gain.

• Also, cascading amplifiers limits the gain at high and low

frequencies.
 Decibel
• Decibel is a form of gain measurement and is commonly used to express
amplifier response.
• The Decibel is a logarithm measurement of the ratio of one power to another
or one voltage to another.

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, is used as a reference with which to
compare other values of gain and is therefore assigned a 0 dB value.
• The maximum gain is called the midrange gain and 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.
 Bode Plot
• A plot of dB voltage gain versus frequency on semilog graph paper is
called a bode plot.
• The horizontal scale indicates the frequency (in Hz) and the vertical scale
indicates the gain (in dB).
• The Bode Plot is a variation of the basic frequency response curve. A
Bode plot assumes the amplitude is zero until the cut off frequency is
reached. Then the gain of the amplifier is assumed to drop at a set rate of
20 dB/decade (or one RC time constant).
 Cutoff Frequencies

The mid-range frequency

range of an amplifier is
called the bandwidth of
the amplifier.

The bandwidth is defined

by the lower and upper
cutoff frequencies.

Cutoff – any frequency at

which the gain has
dropped by 3 dB.
 Types of Coupling
• In a multistage amplifier the output of one stage makes the input of the
next stage.
• Normally a network is used between two stages so that a minimum
loss of voltage occurs when the signal passes through this network to
the next stage.
• Also the dc voltage at the output of one stage should not be
permitted to go to the input of the next. Otherwise, the biasing of the
next stage are disturbed.
• The three couplings generally used are.

1. RC coupling
2. Transformer coupling
3. Direct coupling
BJT AMPLIFIER
RC-Coupling
 RC -Coupled
• For the RC-coupled amplifier, the drop at low frequencies is due to the
increasing reactance of CC, Cs, or CE,
• Upper frequency limit is determined by either the parasitic capacitive
elements of the network and frequency dependence of the gain of the active
device.
• It has excellent frequency response in a audio frequency range and
cheaper in cost.
• The drawback of this approach is the lower frequency limit imposed by the
coupling capacitor and poor impedance matching.
Parasitic capacitive
elements of the network
and active device and
frequency dependence
of the gain of
transistor,FET
 Transformer -Coupling

• Transformer coupling is mainly used in power amplifiers CS capacitor is

used to make other point of transformer grounded, so that ac signal is
applied between base and ground. The drawback of this approach is the
poor frequency response
 Transformer -Coupled
• The drop in gain for the transformer-coupled system requires a basic
understanding of “transformer action”and the transformer equivalent
circuit.For the moment, it is simply due to the “shorting effect”(across the
input terminals of the transformer) of the magnetizing inductive reactance at
low frequencies (XL= 2ᴨf L).
• The gain must obviously be zero at f = 0 since at this point there is no
longer a changing flux established through the core to induce a secondary or
output voltage. As indicated in Fig., the high-frequency response is
controlled primarily by the stray capacitance between the turns of the
primary and secondary windings

Transformer
 Direct-Coupled Multistage Amplifiers
• A basic two-stage, direct-coupled amplifier is shown in fig. Notice that
there are no coupling or bypass capacitors in this circuit. the dc collector
voltage of the first stage provides the base-bias voltage for the second
stage.
• Because of the direct coupling, this type of amplifier has a better low-
frequency response than the capacitively coupled type in which the
reactance of coupling and bypass capacitors at very low frequencies may
become excessive.
• The increased reactance of capacitors at lower frequencies produces gain
reduction in capacitively coupled amplifiers. DC amplifiers can be used to
amplify low frequencies all the way down to dc (0 Hz) without loss of
voltage gain because there are no capacitive reactance in the circuit.
• The disadvantage of this is that small changes in the dc bias voltages from
temperature effects or power-supply variation are amplified by the
succeeding stages, which can result in a significant drift in the dc levels
throughout the circuit.
 DC -Coupled
• As the figure indicates, it is a flat response to the upper cut off frequency,
which is determined by either the parasitic capacitances of the circuit or the
frequency dependence of the gain of the active device.

Parasitic capacitive elements of the network

and active device and frequency dependence
of the gain of transistor,FET
Comparison of different type of coupling
 Low-frequency analysis –Bode Plot
• In the low-frequency region of the single-stage BJT or FET amplifier, it
is the R-C combinations formed by the network capacitors CC, CE, and Cs
and the network resistive parameters that determine the cut off
frequencies.
• In fact, an R-C network can be established for each capacitive element
and the frequency at which the output voltage drops to 0.707 of its
maximum value determined.
• Once the cut off frequencies due to each capacitor are determined, they
can be compared to establish which will determine the low-cut off
frequency for the system
 Low-frequency analysis –Bode Plot
At very high frequencies.

and the short-circuit equivalent can be substituted for the capacitor. The
result is that Vo ≈ Vi at high frequencies. At f = 0 Hz,

R-C Circuit
at very
high
frequencies

The open-circuit approximation can be

R-C
applied with the result that Vo = 0 V circuit at
f=0 Hz.
 Low-frequency analysis –Bode Plot
• As the frequency increases, the capacitive reactance decreases and more
of the input voltage appears across the output terminals.
• Between the two extremes, the ratio Av = Vo/Vi will vary

Low frequency
response for the R-C
circuit

The output and input voltages are related by the voltage-divider rule in the
following manner:

with the magnitude of Vo determined by

 Low-frequency analysis –Bode Plot
For the special case where XC = R,

and

In other words, at the frequency of which XC=R, the output will be 70.7% of
the input. The frequency at which this occurs is determined from
 Low-frequency analysis –Bode Plot
• An RC network will determine the low-frequency cut off frequency for a
BJT transistor
If the gain equation is written as

and using the frequency defined above

In the magnitude and phase form

 Low-frequency analysis –Bode Plot
For the magnitude when f = f1

In the logarithmic form, the gain in dB is

For frequencies where f<<f1 or (f1/f)2 >> 1, the equation above can be
approximated by

and finally
f<<f1……………..Eq.2
 Low-frequency analysis –Bode Plot
• Ignoring the condition f<<f1for a moment, a plot of gain on a frequency log
scale will yield a result of a very useful nature for future decibel plots
 Low-frequency analysis –Bode Plot
• A plot of these points is indicated from 0.1f1 to f1. Note that this results in
a straight line when plotted against a log scale. In the same figure, a
straight line is also drawn for the condition of 0 dB for f>>f1.

• Bode plot for the low-

frequency region.
 Voltage Gain Roll Off for input
circuit at low frequency
• 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 decrease in voltage gain with frequency is
called roll-off.

• For each ten times reduction in

frequency below fC there is a 20dB
reduction in voltage gain.
 LOW-FREQUENCY RESPONSE
BJT AMPLIFIER
• At low frequencies, coupling capacitor (CS, CC) and bypass capacitor (CE)
reactance affect the circuit impedances.

Loaded BJT amplifier with capacitors that affect the low-frequency response

Since Cs is normally connected

between the applied source and the
active device, the general form of the
R-C configuration is established by
the network. The total resistance is
now Rs+Ri , and the cut off frequency
is Determining the effect of Cs on the low frequency response
 Coupling Capacitor (CS)

The cutoff frequency due to CS can be calculated by

1
f Ls 
2(R s  R i )Cs

where

R i  R 1 || R 2 || βre
 Coupling Capacitor (CC)

The cutoff frequency due to CC can be calculated with

1
f LC 
2π( R o  R L )Cc
where

R o  R C || ro

Determining the effect of CC on the low-frequency response

 Bypass Capacitor (CE)
The cutoff frequency due to CE can be calculated with
1
f LE 
2πR e C E

R
where R e  R E || ( s  re )
β

and R s  R s || R 1 || R 2

Determining the effect of CE on the low-frequency response.

 BJT Amplifier Low-Frequency Response

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 frequency
response of the
amplifier.
 Miller Capacitance
Any p-n junction can develop capacitance. In a BJT amplifier, this
capacitance becomes noticeable across:
• The base-collector junction at high frequencies in common-emitter
BJT amplifier configurations.
• The gate-drain junction at high frequencies in common-source
FET amplifier configurations.
• In the high-frequency region, the capacitive elements of importance
are the inter electrode (between terminals) capacitances internal to the
active device and the wiring capacitance between leads of the
network.
• The large capacitors of the network that controlled the low-
frequency response have all been replaced by their short-circuit
equivalent due to their very low reactance levels.
These capacitances are represented as separate input and output capacitances,
called the Miller Capacitances.
 Miller Input Capacitance (CMi)
Applying Kirchhoff’s current law gives

Using Ohm’s law yields

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

C Mi  (1  A v )Cf

For any inverting amplifier, the

input capacitance will be increased
by a Miller effect capacitance
sensitive to the gain of the amplifier
and the inter electrode capacitance
connected between the input and
output terminals of the active device
 Miller Output Capacitance (CMo)
Applying Kirchhoff’s current law will result in

The resistance Ro is usually sufficiently large to

permit ignoring the first term of the equation
compared to the second term and assuming
that
 Miller Output Capacitance (CMo)

Or

Resulting in the following equation for the Miller output capacitance:

If the gain (Av) is considerably greater than 1, then

CMo  Cf

The Miller effect will also increase the level of output capacitance, which
must also be considered when the high-frequency cut off is determined.
 BJT Amplifier High-Frequency Response
• At the high-frequency end, there are two factors that will define the -3-dB
point: the network capacitance (parasitic and introduced) and the
frequency dependence of hfe(β).
• At increasing frequencies, the reactance XC will
decrease in magnitude, resulting in a shorting
effect across the output and a decrease in gain
R-C combination that will define a high
cut off frequency.
• The corner frequency for this RC configuration follows along similar
lines to that encountered for the low-frequency region. The most
significant difference is in the general form of Av appearing below.

• Note that f2 is in the denominator of the frequency ratio rather than the
numerator as occurred for f1 in low frequency.
 BJT Amplifier High-Frequency Response

Capacitances that affect the

high-frequency response are

• Junction capacitances
Cbe, Cbc, Cce

• Wiring capacitances
Cwi, Cwo

• Coupling capacitors
CS, CC

• Bypass capacitor
CE
Network of BJT with the capacitors that affect
the high-frequency response
 BJT Amplifier High-Frequency Response
• Note the absence of the capacitors Cs , CC, and CE, which are all
assumed to be in the short-circuit state at these frequencies.

• The capacitance Ci includes the input wiring capacitance Cwi , the

transition capacitance Cbe , and the Miller capacitance Cmi.

• The capacitance Co includes the output wiring capacitance Cwo ,the

parasitic capacitance Cce , and the output Miller capacitance CMo.

• In general, the capacitance Cbe is the largest of the parasitic

capacitances, with Cce the smallest.

• In fact, most specification sheets simply provide the levels of Cbe and
Cbc and do not include Cce unless it will affect the response of a
particular type of transistor in a specific area of application
 BJT Amplifier High-Frequency Response

Fig. (b) High-frequency ac equivalent model for the network of Fig. (a).

• Determining the Thévenin equivalent circuit for the input and output
networks of Fig. (b) .

Thévenin circuits for the input and output

networks of the network of Fig. (b)
 BJT Amplifier High-Frequency Response
For the input network, the -3-dB frequency is defined by
1
f Hi 
2πR Thi C i
where

R Thi  R s || R 1 || R 2 || R i
and
Ci  C Wi  Cbe  CMi
 C Wi  Cbe  (1  A v )Cbc

• At very high frequencies, the effect of Ci is to reduce the total

impedance of the parallel combination of R1 , R2 , Ri , and Ci in Fig. (b)
• The result is a reduced level of voltage across Ci, a reduction in Ib, and a
gain for the system.
 BJT Amplifier High-Frequency Response
• For the output network the -3-db cut-off frequency is given by
1
f Ho 
2πR Th2 C o
where
R Th2  R C || R L || ro
and
C o  C Wo  C ce  C Mo

• At very high frequencies, the capacitive reactance of Co will decrease and

consequently reduce the total impedance of the output parallel branches of
Fig. (b).
• The net result is that Vo will also decline toward zero as the reactance XC
becomes smaller. The frequencies fHi and fHo will each define a -6-dB/octave
asymptote .
 hfe ( or β) Variation
• The variation of hfe ( or β) with frequency will approach, with some degree
of accuracy, the following relationship:

The undefined quantity,fβ, is determined by a set of parameters employed in

the hybrid ᴨ or Giacoletto model frequently applied to best represent the
transistor in the high-frequency region as shown in fig

Fig (C).Giacoletto (or hybrid ᴨ) high-frequency transistor small-signal ac equivalent circuit.

 hfe ( or β) Variation

• The resistance rbb’ includes the base contact, base bulk, and base
spreading resistance. The first is due to the actual connection to the
base.

• The second includes the resistance from the external terminal to the
active region of the transistors, while the last is the actual resistance
within the active base region.

• The resistances rb’e, rce, and rb’c are the resistances between the
indicated terminals when the device is in the active region.

• The same is true for the capacitances Cb’c and Cb’e, although the
former is a transition capacitance while the latter is a diffusion
capacitance.
 hfe ( or β) Variation
• In terms of these parameters

Since the hybrid parameter hfe is related to gb’e through gm = hfemidgb’e

Taking it a step further

Using approximations

…………..Eq.1
 fβ is a function of the bias conditions
• The following equation permits a direct conversion for determining fβ if fα
and α are specified

• A quantity called the gain–bandwidth product is defined for the transistor

by the condition

So that

The frequency at which is clearly indicated by fT in Fig. (d). The

magnitude of hfe at the defined condition point ( fT >> fβ) is given by
 fβ is a function of the bias conditions

So that
………. Eq.2

Substituting Eq. (1) for fβ in Eq. (2) gives

 fβ is a function of the bias conditions

Fig. (d) hfe and hfb versus frequency in the high-frequency region
 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.
 MULTISTAGE FREQUENCY EFFECTS
• When second transistor stage connected directly to the output of a
first stage, there will be a significant change in the overall
frequency response.
• In the high-frequency region, the output capacitance Co must
now include the wiring capacitance (CW1), parasitic capacitance
(Cbe ), and Miller capacitance (Cmi ) of the following stage.
• Further, there will be additional low-frequency cut off levels due to
the second stage that will further reduce the overall gain of the
system in this region.
• For each additional stage, the upper cut off frequency will be
determined primarily by that stage having the lowest cut off
frequency.
• The low-frequency cut off is primarily determined by that stage
having the highest low-frequency cut off frequency.
 MULTISTAGE FREQUENCY EFFECTS
• The effect of increasing number of identical stages can be clearly
demonstrated by considering the situations indicated in Figure.

Effect of an increased number of stages on the cut off frequencies and the bandwidth
 MULTISTAGE FREQUENCY EFFECTS

• In each case, the upper and lower cut off frequencies of each of the
cascaded stages are identical.
• For a single stage, the cut off frequencies are f1 and f2 as indicated.
• For two identical stages in cascade, the drop-off rate in the high-
and low-frequency regions has increased to -12 dB/octave or -40
dB/decade.
• At f1 and f2 , therefore, the decibel drop is now -6 dB rather than
the defined band frequency gain level of -3 dB.
• The -3-dB point has shifted to f’1 and f’2 as indicated, with a
resulting drop in the bandwidth.
• A -18-dB/octave or -60-dB/decade slope will result for a three-
stage system of identical stages with the indicated reduction in
bandwidth (f ”1and f”2).
 MULTISTAGE FREQUENCY EFFECTS

• Assuming identical stages, an equation for each band frequency as

a function of the number of stages (n) can be determined in the
following manner: For the low frequency region,
Avlow,(overall) = Av1low Av2low Av3low…..Avnlow

but since each stage is identical, Av1low = Av2low = etc. and

Avlow, (overall) = (Av1low )n

Or
 MULTISTAGE FREQUENCY EFFECTS

• Setting the magnitude of this result equal to 1  3dblevel  results

2
in,
 MULTISTAGE FREQUENCY EFFECTS

with the result that

f1
f1' 
21 / n  1

In a similar manner, it can be shown that for the high-frequency region,

Note the presence of the same factor in each equation.

The magnitude of this factor for various values of n is listed below
 MULTISTAGE FREQUENCY EFFECTS
• For n= 2, consider that the upper cut off frequency f’2 = 0.64f2 or 64% of
the value obtained for a single stage, while f’1= (1/0.64)f 1 = 1.56f1.
• For n = 3 approximately twice the single-stage value.
• For the RC-coupled transistor amplifier, if f2 = fᵝ, or if they are close
enough in magnitude for both to affect the upper 3-dB frequency.
• The number of stages must be increased by a factor of 2 when determining
f’2 due to the increased number of factors 1/(1+jf/fx).
• A decrease in bandwidth is not always associated with an increase in the
number of stages if the mid band gain can remain fixed and independent of
the number of stages.
• For instance, if a single-stage amplifier produces a gain of 100 with a
bandwidth of 10,000 Hz, the resulting gain–bandwidth product is 102 *104
=106
• For a two-stage system the same gain can be obtained by having two stages
with a gain of 10 since (10 * 10 =100). The bandwidth of each stage would
then increase by a factor of 10 to 100,000 due to the lower gain
requirement and fixed gain–bandwidth product of 106
 Cascode Amplifier
• The cascode amplifier is combination of common-emitter and common-
base amplifier.

• The cascode stage offers a mid band gain and input resistance equal to
that of the common-emitter amplifier but with a much improved upper-
cut off frequency fH

• The upper cut-off frequency is due to first stage and lower cut-off
frequency is due to second stage
 Cascode Amplifier
• A common-base configuration is not subject to the Miller effect
because the grounded base shields the collector signal from being
feedback to the emitter input.
• Thus, a C-B amplifier has better high frequency response.
• The key to understanding the wide bandwidth of the cascode configuration
is the Miller effect.
• The C-B amplifier is known for wider bandwidth than the C-E
configuration,
• The low input impedance (10s of Ω) of C-B is a limitation for many
applications. the solution is to precede the C-B stage by a low gain C-E
stage which has moderately high input impedance (kΩs).
• The total current gain of cascode is β as current gain of the C-E stage is
1 for the C-B is β
• A cascode amplifier has a high gain, moderately high input
impedance, a high output impedance, and a high bandwidth.
 Cascode Ampilifer
• The output impedance seen looking into the collector of a BJT
can be boosted by as much as a factor of b, by using a BJT for
emitter degeneration.

Rout  [1  g m1 (ro 2 || r 1 )]ro1  ro 2 || r 1

Rout  g m1ro1 ro 2 || r 1   bro1

• If an extra BJT is used in the cascode configuration, the

maximum output impedance remains b ro1.

Rout  [1  g m1 ( bro 2 || r 1 )]ro1  bro 2 || r 1

Rout ,max  g m1ro1r 1  bro1
 Cascode Amplifier
• The voltage gain of a cascode amplifier is high, because Rout is
high.

Av   g m1ro1 g m 2 ro1 r 2 

• If the input is applied to the base of Q2 rather than the base of Q1,
however, the voltage gain is not as high.
– The resulting circuit is a CE amplifier with emitter degeneration,
which has lower Gm.

io gm2
Gm  
vin 1  g m 2 ro1 ro 2 