Low frequency Amplifiers

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

Best Biasing techniques for stable operation

Amplifiers are used for signal amplifications.

The condition of course is that the signal be
amplified without changing the shape of the
input signal (no distortion).
How can we get maximum amplification without
distortion and making sure our amplifier is not
easily influenced by other changes in the
circuits such as heat, change of beta, etc.?

Which one of these configuration is suited for Amplifier?

Including RE for T.Stability

Including CE for High

Gain and Thermal
Stability

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

Quiescent Point (Q Point) or operating point is a point

established on the DC load line for best operation

Quiescent current is the current that flows

in an electrical circuit when no load is present.
Once the operating point is established,
when input signal is applied, the Q-point
should not move either to saturation or cutoff region. However this unwanted shift might
occur due to various reasons.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

Why Q-point shift?

The shifting of operating point is due to
three major reasons:
1. Parameters of transistor depend on
temperature. As it increases, leakage current
due to minority charge carriers (ICBO)
increases. As ICBO increases, ICEO also
increases, causing increase in collector
current IC. This produces heat at the
collector base junction. This process repeat,
and finally Q-pt may shift into saturation
region. Sometimes the excess heat produced
at the junction may even burn the transistor.
This is known as thermal runaway.
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

 2. changes in current gain () can shift

the Q-point. varies with temperature
and in some case the variation can be
drastic.
3. Changes of VBE.(change with temperature)
To avoid shift of Q-pt, bias-stabilization is necessary. Various
biasing techniques can be used for this purpose.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

So, what are the Requirements of proper Biasing?

Q-pt is established in the center of active region of
transistor characteristic. It should not shift to
saturation region or cut-off region, when input is
applied.
Q-pt should be independent of transistor parameters
ie. should not shift if transistor is replaced by
another transistor of the same type.
Collector current should be stabilized against changes
in temperature.
The circuit must be practical in its implementation, and
cost-effective.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

Types of Transistor Biasing Circuits

There are five main types of biasing circuits
used with Bipolar transistors.
Fixed bias
Collector-to-base bias
Fixed bias with emitter resistor
Voltage divider bias
Emitter bias

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

Fixed bias

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Fixed Bias

This form of biasing is also called Base

Bias. In the given circuit,
VCC = IBRB + VBE
Therefore,
IB = (VCC - VBE)/RB
For a given transistor, VBE does not vary
significantly during use. VCC has fixed
value, so by selecting RB, the base
current IB is fixed. Therefore this type
is called fixed bias type of circuit.
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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 Also for the given circuit,

VCC = ICRC + VcE
Therefore, VCE is given as
VCE = VCC ICRC
Since IC = IB, we can obtain IC as well. In
this manner, operating point given as
(VCE,IC) can be set for given transistor.
Note that both IC and VCE are dependent
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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 Advantage:

It is simple to shift the operating point

anywhere in the active region by merely
changing the base resistor (RB).
Very few number of components are
required.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Weakness of Fixed bias

The collector current does not remain constant with
variation in temperature. Therefore the operating
point is unstable.
When the transistor is replaced with another one,
slight (if not large) change in the value of can be
expected. Due to this the operating point will shift.

Usage:

Fixed bias is rarely used in linear circuits, ie. those

circuits which use the transistor as a current source.
Instead it is often used in circuits where transistor
is used as a switch.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Collector-to-Base bias

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Collector to base bias

In this form of biasing, the base resistor RB
is connected to the collector instead of
connecting it to the battery VCC as shown.
VCE = VCC - ICRC (Since IB << IC)
In case of an increase in temperature,
collector current tends to increase, causing
the voltage drop across resistor RC to
increase. Hence VCE decreases. Therefore
base current reduces, thereby compensating
for the increase in collector current.
It can be noted that for the given circuit,
IB = (VCC)/(RB+RC)
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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 Advantage:
Circuit has a tendency to stabilize the
operating point against variations in
temperature and (ie. replacement of
transistor)
Disadvantage:
The resistor RB causes an ac feedback,
reducing the voltage gain of the amplifier. This
is a mostly undesirable effect.
Usage:
Due to the major drawback of feedback, this
biasing form is rarely used.
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Fixed bias with emitter resistor

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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 Since Vbe is very small, we get

Ib = (VCC-VBE - IERE)/RB
When the temperature increases, the leakage
current increases. Therefore there is an
increase in IC and IE. This increases the
emitter voltage, which in turn reduces the
voltage across the base resistor. This reduces
the base current which results in less
collector current. Thus collector current is
not allowed to increase, and operating point is
kept stable.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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 Similarly, if the transistor is replaced

by another, there may be a change in IC
corresponding to change in -value. By
similar process as above, the change is
negated and operating point kept stable.
VCE = VCC - (RC+RE)IC (since IC roughly
equals IE as IB is very small).
Advantage:
The circuit has the tendency to
stabilize operating point against
changes in temperature and -value.
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Disadvantage

In this circuit, for proper

functioning, the following condition
must be met:
RE >> RB/
As -value is fixed for a given
transistor, this relation can be
satisfied either by keeping RE very
large, or making RB very low.
If RE is of large value, high VCC is
necessary. This increases the cost.
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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 If RB is low, a separate low voltage

supply should be used in the base
circuit. Using two supplies of different
voltages is impractical.
In addition to the above, RE causes ac
feedback which reduces the voltage
gain of the amplifier.
Usage:
Due to the above disadvantages, this
type of biasing circuit is generally not
used.
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Voltage divider bias

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Voltage Divider

The voltage divider is formed using

external resistors R1 and R2.
The voltage across R2 forward biases the
emitter junction.
By proper selection of resistors R1 and
R2, the operating point of the transistor
can be made independent of .
In this circuit we get,
VB = Voltage across R2 = (R2*VCC)/(R1+R2)
Also VB = VBE + IERE
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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V. Divider
When temperature increases, IC increases
and so does IE. When IE increases, VBE
decreases. Therefore IC decreases and the
operating point remains stable.
Also, VC = VCC - ICRC
Since IC is approximately equal to IE,
VcE = VC - (RC+RE)IC
Note that is absent from all the above
equations. Therefore, if the transistor is
replaced by another having a different value
of , the operating point is largely unchanged.
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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v. divider

Advantage:
only one dc supply is necessary.
Operating point is almost independent of variations.
Operating point stabilized against shift in
temperature.
Disadvantage:
Ac feedback is caused by RE, which reduces the
voltage gain of the amplifier. A solution to avoid this
will follow.
Usage:
The circuit's stability and merits as above make it
the most widely for linear circuits.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Voltage divider with capacitor

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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VD
The standard voltage divider circuit faces one
critical drawback - ac feedback caused by
resistor RE. This can be avoided using a
capacitor (CE) in parallel with RE, as shown in
circuit diagram.
The impedance of the capacitor (XC) is given
by the equation,
XC = 1/(2**F*C)
where F is the frequency of input signal
C the value of capacitance.
is pi
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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VD
With the capacitor the emitter is
placed at ground potential for ac
input. Only dc feedback is provided
for stabilization of operating point.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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Emitter bias

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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 this biasing circuit is the most effective

when a split supply (dual power supply) is
available,.
The negative supply VEE is used to forwardbias the emitter junction through RE. The
positive supply VCC is used to reverse-bias
the collector junction.
Only three resistors are necessary.
We know that,
VB - VE = VBE
KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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 If RB is small enough, base voltage will be

approximately zero. Therefore emitter
current is,
IE = (VEE - VBE)/RE
The operating point is independent of if
RE >> RB/
Advantage:
Good stability of operating point similar to
voltage divider bias.
Disadvantage:
This type can only be used when split (dual)
power supply is available.

KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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KEEE2225 Professor Dr. Mahmoud

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