Electronic Circuits

BJT and FET Frequency Response

Prof. Nizamettin AYDIN
naydin@yildiz.edu.tr
http://www.yildiz.edu.tr/~naydin

Dr. Gökhan Bilgin

gokhanb@ce.yildiz.edu.tr

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General Frequency Considerations Bode Plot

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
A Bode plot indicates the
capacitance. This range of frequencies can be called the mid-
mid-range.
range
frequency response of an
• At frequencies above and below the midrange, capacitance and any amplifier.
inductance will affect the gain of the amplifier.
The horizontal scale
• At low frequencies the coupling and bypass capacitors lower the gain. indicates the frequency (in
Hz) and the vertical scale
• At high frequencies stray capacitances associated with the active device lower indicates the gain (in dB).
the gain.

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

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Cutoff Frequencies BJT Amplifier Low-

Low-Frequency Response

The mid-range frequency

At low frequencies, coupling
range of an amplifier is
capacitor (CS, CC) and bypass
called the bandwidth of
capacitor (CE) reactances
the amplifier.
affect the circuit impedances.
The bandwidth is defined
by the lower and upper
cutoff frequencies.

Cutoff – any frequency at

which the gain has
dropped by 3 dB.

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 Coupling Capacitor (CS) Coupling Capacitor (CC)
The cutoff frequency due to CS can be calculated by The cutoff frequency due to CC can be calculated with
1
f Ls = 1
2π(R s + R i )C s f LC =
2 π( R o + R L )C c

where
where
R i = R 1 || R 2 || βr e R o = R C || ro

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Bypass Capacitor (CE) BJT Amplifier Low-

Low-Frequency Response
The cutoff frequency due to CE can be calculated with
The Bode plot indicates
1
f LE = that each capacitor may
2 πR e C E
have a different cutoff
frequency.
where
R′ It is the device that has
R e = R E || ( s + re )
β the highest lower cutoff
frequency (fL) that
and dominates the overall
R ′s = R s || R 1 || R 2 frequency response of the
amplifier.

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Roll--Off of Gain in the Bode Plot

Roll Roll--off Rate (-
Roll (-dB/Decade)
-dB/decade refers to the
The Bode plot not only attenuation for every 10-fold
indicates the cutoff change in frequency.
frequencies of the various
capacitors it also indicates For attenuations at the low-
the amount of attenuation frequency end, it refers to
(loss in gain) at these the loss in gain from the
frequencies. lower cutoff frequency to a
frequency that is one-tenth
The amount of attenuation the cutoff value.
is sometimes referred to as
roll-
roll-off
off. In this example:

The roll-off is described as fLS = 9kHz gain is 0dB

dB loss-per-octave or dB fLS/10 = .9kHz gain is –20dB
loss-per-decade. Thus the roll-off is 20dB/decade
The gain decreases by –20dB/decade

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 Roll--Off Rate ((––dB/Octave)
Roll FET Amplifier Low-
Low-Frequency Response
-dB/octave refers to the
attenuation for every 2-fold
change in frequency.
For attenuations at the low- At low frequencies,
frequency end, it refers to coupling capacitor (CG,
the loss in gain from the CC) and bypass capacitor
lower cutoff frequency to a (CS) reactances affect the
frequency one-half the cutoff
circuit impedances.
value.

In this example:

fLS = 9kHz gain is 0dB

fLS / 2 = 4.5kHz gain is –6dB
Therefore the roll-off is 6dB/octave.

This is a little difficult to see on this graph because

the horizontal scale is a logarithmic scale.
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Coupling Capacitor (CG) Coupling Capacitor (CC)

The cutoff frequency due to The cutoff frequency due to

CG can be calculated with CC can be calculated with

1 1
f LC= f LC =
2 π(R sig + R i )C G 2 π(R o + R L )CC
where where
Ri = RG R o = R D || rd

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Bypass Capacitor (CS) FET Amplifier Low-

Low-Frequency Response

The cutoff frequency due to

CS can be calculated with
The Bode plot indicates that
1 each capacitor may have a
f LS =
2 πR eq C S different cutoff frequency.

where The capacitor that has the

1 highest lower cutoff
R eq = R S || r ≅ ∞Ω
gm d frequency (fL) is closest to the
actual cutoff frequency of the
amplifier.

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 Miller Capacitance Miller Input Capacitance (CMi)
Any p-n junction can develop capacitance. In a BJT amplifier,
this capacitance becomes noticeable across:
C Mi = (1 − A v )C f
• The base-collector junction at high frequencies in
Note that the amount of
common-emitter BJT amplifier configurations
Miller capacitance is
dependent on inter-
• The gate-drain junction at high frequencies in common-
electrode capacitance
source FET amplifier configurations.
from input to output (Cf)
and the gain (Av).
These capacitances are represented as separate input and output
capacitances, called the Miller Capacitances.
Capacitances

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Miller Output Capacitance (CMo) BJT Amplifier High-

High-Frequency Response
Capacitances that affect the
If the gain (Av) is high-frequency response are
considerably greater
than 1, then • Junction capacitances
Cbe, Cbc, Cce
CMo ≅ Cf
• Wiring capacitances
Cwi, Cwo

• Coupling capacitors
CS, CC

• Bypass capacitor
CE

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Input Network (fHi) High

High--Frequency Cutoff Output Network (fHo) High
High--Frequency Cutoff

1
1 f Ho =
f Hi = 2 πR Tho Co
2πR Thi C i

where where

R Tho = R C || R L || ro
R Thi = R s || R 1 || R 2 || R i
and
and Co = C Wo + C ce + C Mo
C i = C Wi + C be + C Mi
= C Wi + C be + (1 − A v )C bc

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 hfe (or β) Variation BJT Amplifier Frequency Response
The hfe parameter (or β ) of a
transistor varies with
frequency
1
fβ ≅
2 πβ mid r e (C be + C bc )

Note the highest lower cutoff frequency (fL) and the lowest upper cutoff
frequency (fH) are closest to the actual response of the amplifier.

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FET Amplifier High-

High-Frequency Response Input Network (fHi) High-
High-Frequency Cutoff
Capacitances that affect the
high-frequency response are 1
f Hi =
2 πR Thi C i
• Junction capacitances
Cgs, Cgd, Cds
C i = C Wi + C gs + C Mi
• Wiring capacitances
Cwi, Cwo C Mi = (1 − A v )C gd

• Coupling capacitors R Thi = R sig || R G

CG, CC

• Bypass capacitor
CS

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Output Network (fHo) High

High--Frequency Cutoff Multistage Frequency Effects

1
f Ho =
2 πR Tho C o
Each stage will have its own frequency response,
Co = C Wo + Cds + CMo but the output of one stage will be affected by
capacitances in the subsequent stage. This is
 1 
C Mo =  1 − C gd especially so when determining the high frequency
 A v 
response. For example, the output capacitance (Co)
will be affected by the input Miller Capacitance
R Tho = R D || R L || rd
(CMi) of the next stage.

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 Multistage Amplifier Frequency Response Square Wave Testing

In order to determine the frequency

response of an amplifier by
experimentation, you must apply a wide
range of frequencies to the amplifier.

One way to accomplish this is to apply a

square wave. A square wave consists of
Once the cutoff frequencies have been determined for each stage (taking into multiple frequencies (by Fourier
account the shared capacitances), they can be plotted. analysis: it consists of odd harmonics).

Note the highest lower cutoff frequency (fL) and the lowest upper cutoff
frequency (fH) are closest to the actual response of the amplifier.

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Square Wave Response Waveforms

If the output of the

amplifier is not a perfect
square wave then the
amplifier is ‘cutting’ off
certain frequency
components of the square
wave.

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