ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
XAVIER UNIVERSITY- ATENEO DE CAGAYAN

Title of Experiment: BJT Frequency Response

Experiment #: 1

Names of Members:
Leo Marcelo P. Villalba
Joeune B. Merencillo
Arnel Charles Ed Go
Aira Jean Damasing
Primo B. Revilla III
Group Number: 3
Subject and Section: ECE 32- EC

Date Performed:
November 12, 2015
Date of Report Submitted:
November 19, 2015

Name of Intsructor:
Engr. McAlvin Neri

Rating:
Introduction, Objective & Theory (20%)
Methods/Laboratory Performance (20%)
Data and Results (20%)
Discussions & Conclusions (20%)
Organization (20%)
Total (100%)

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Remarks:
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INTRODUCTION
Bipolar junction transistor are commonly used as an amplifier. As an amplifier,
BJT (bipolar junction transistor) uses coupling capacitors and bypass capacitors in
order to separate dc signal to ac signal. The coupling and bypass capacitors are
placed at the source, output and parallel to the emitter stabilizer resistor. In the
analysis of frequency response, we look at the reactance as a behavior of this
capacitors, see (Eqn. 1).

1
2

(Eqn. 1)

In figure 1, a common voltage divider configuration had been used with CIN,
COUT, and CE, as coupling and bypass capacitor, contributes to the lower frequency
cutoff of the voltage gain of the amplifier. While on high frequency cutoff, the parasitic
or capacitance developed by the PN junctions between collector, base, and emitter
damps the signal.

Figure 1. Common emitter, voltage divider configuration.

PROCEDURE
The following materials were used in the experiment; Module EL-2-N, power
supply, function generator, 2 multimeters, and oscilloscope.
In the following experiment, the dc voltage (Vcc) is set to 14 volts while the ac
voltage (Vrms) is set to 6 Vrms having a peak value of 8.5 Vp. The voltage across the
transistor (VCE) is set to 6 volts and collector current (IC) to 10 mA by adjusting the
variable resistors R1 and Rc in the module, see figure 2.

Figure 2. Module EL-2-N.

After setting VCE and IC it is important to note that the ammeter at RC
should be shorted out. Voltage from AC source is applied on Vac having only 1/25 of
Vp in the input. 100 uF capacitors have connectors in order for the parallel network to
be summed up when connecting getting 101 uF in total. For the frequency response,
repeated in the four processes, the f3dB was achieved by using an oscilloscope (for
faster searching) and a multimeter to measure the voltage input and output with the
help of the throw switch. The data gathered is presented on the next section and to
get f3dB, the gain must be 0.707 and to get the unity gain, we looked for the frequency
and waveform that yields the unity gain. The low frequency search starts with 15 Hz
due to function generators minimum frequency production. Also it is important to note

the frequency has no uniform calibration. The high frequency cutoff cannot be
achieved too due to the limitations of the frequency the function generator can
produce.
DATA AND RESULTS
The following representation of data was plotted using MatLab with semilog plot
setting in order to cover from the low frequency up to the 200 kHz range. The
frequency starts at 15 Hz and ends with 225 kHz due to function generators
limitations.
Table 1. Low frequency response of BJT amplifier
with Cin = Cout = CE = 101 uF.
Frequency (Hz)
15
20
25
30
35
36
37
40
50
VIN (mV)
211
213
214
214
215
216
216
216
216
VOUT (mV)
105
134
162
186
205
215
220
240
293
AV
0.498 0.629 0.757 0.869 0.953 0.995 1.019 1.111 1.356
AvdB
-6.06 -4.03 -2.42 -1.22 -0.418 -0.044 0.164 0.914 2.65
Table 2. Low frequency response of BJT amplifier with
Cin = 1 uF, Cout = CE = 101 uF.
Frequency (Hz)
VIN (mV)
VOUT (mV)
AV
AvdB

15
20
30
31
33
35
214
215
216
216
216
216
53
69
148
153
163
188
0.248 0.321 0.685 0.708 0.755 0.87
-12.1 -9.87 -3.29 -2.99 -2.44 -1.21

40
216
215
0.995
-0.04

Table 3. Low frequency response of BJT amplifier with

Cin = CE = 101 uF, Cout = 1 uF.
Frequency (Hz)
15
20
30
31
32
35
VIN (mV)
214
214
214
215
215
215
VOUT (mV)
10
21
145
152
153
174
AV
0.047 0.098 0.678 0.707 0.712 0.809
AvdB
-26.6 -20.2 -3.38 -3.02 -2.95 -1.84

40
215
206
0.958
-0.372

41
42
215
215
207
220
0.963 1.023
-0.328 0.198

Table 4. Low frequency response of BJT amplifier with

Cin = Cout= 101 uF, CE= 1 uF.
Frequency (Hz)
VIN (mV)
VOUT (mV)
AV
AvdB

15
16
212
212
278
315
1.311 1.486
2.35 3.44

17
213
343
1.61
4.14

At 15 Hz, Av > 1

Table 5. High frequency response of BJT amplifier with

Cin = Cout = CE = 101 uF.
Frequency (kHz)
VIN (mV)
VOUT (mV)
AV
AvdB

155
181
225
3
3
3
5
4
4
1.667 1.333 1.333
4.44 2.50 2.50

At 225 kHz,
Av = 1.33.

Figure 3. Low frequency response of BJT amplifier with

CIN = COUT = CE = 100 uF.

Figure 4. Low frequency response of BJT amplifier with

COUT = CE = 101 uF and CIN = 1 uF.

Figure 5. Low frequency response of BJT amplifier with

CIN = CE = 101 uF and COUT = 1 uF.

Figure 6. Combined bode plots, (blue) Figure 1, (red) Figure 2, (green) Figure 3.

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION

Leo Marcelo Villalba:
In the initial testing of the equipment to be used, it is important to note the
limitation and their tolerance. For the function generator, the extremes are limited and
some frequencies are hard to produce because of the unstable characteristic.
In the first low frequency test, all connectors (rectangle in Figure 2 in the 100
uF Capacitor) are shorted to sum the two capacitances 1 and 100 uF. In the 3 dB
frequency tests, it started with 15 Hz and being increased to look for the 3 dB. We can
see the trend in figure 3, the increasing of the voltage gain when frequency is
increased. In Table 1, the 3 dB is found in the middle of 20 and 25 Hz.The function
generator is unstable within those range. Increasing the frequency, we noticed
increase in voltage output and a constant input voltage from table 1 rows 1 and 2. A
small change in frequency changes the voltage gain. Reaching the unity gain, the
output then starts to be greater than the input.
In the second low frequency test with CIN equal to 1 uF, the 3 dB point shifted
to higher frequency and so as the unity gain, see table 2. Illustrating this, a simple
solution as follows is provided:
CIN = 101 uF, Z constant
1

= 2(101)
=

1575.59

CIN = 1 uF, Z constant

1

= 2(1)
=

159154.94

Let Z = 1575.59,
= 1 |=101

= 101 |=1

In the third low frequency test, the input capacitor is set back to 101 uF and the
output capacitor is set to 1 uF. It is noticeable that the voltage gain at 15 Hz is lower
than the first and second tests. However, we can see the similarities when the

frequency reaches 30 Hz where it starts to be at the 3 dB point, see tables 2 and 3.

Voltage gain for both second and third tests were 0.708 and 0.707. Also, their unity
gain occurs at a proximate frequency.
We can see from figure 6, the shift of the bode plot and the roll off differences.
In the fourth low frequency test, where CE is set to 1 uF and CIN and COUT at
101 uF, see table 4, at 15 Hz, voltage gain is already greater than 1. That means, 3
dB point and unity gain is less than 15 Hz and the bode plot shifted to the left. However,
this cant be found due to limitation of the function generator.
In the high frequency test, at 155 kHz, voltage gain is 1.667 and dropping to
1.333 when increased to 181 kHz, limitation of the multimeter and function generator
led to 1.333 voltage gain of the 225 kHz. The 225 kHz is similar to 181 kHz, this is due
to the fact that voltage readings are in 4 mV and 3 mV, multimeter voltage range is set
to 400 mV max, and measurements below 1 mV are not included in the decimal digits.
However, the important thing to note here is the decrease in voltage gain noticeable
in the change from 155 kHz to 181 kHz.
CONCLUSION
The greater the input and output capacitance (i.e. 101 uF compared to 1 uF),
the smaller the frequency to achieve unity gain. That is, 3 dB point shifts to the right
when capacitance is decreased and shifted to the left when increased. Also, the
frequency response of the BJT amplifier is greatly affected by the frequency response
of the bypass capacitor. Theoretically and experimentally, it shows that the bypass
capacitor has a big deal in the frequency response of the amplifier. Lastly, at high
frequency, layer capacitances increases thus leading to the decrease of gain.