Common Emitter Amplifier

Operation, performance and circuit analysis

This report is written by Mehrzad Fereidooni

(000459259)

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Table of Content:
1 _) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction and
background

2 _) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Practical
measurements
2-1 . . . . . . . experimental circuit
2.2 . . . . . . Equipment and components
2.3 . . . . . . . Experimental Procedure
2.4 . . . . . . Experimental Results
2.4.1 . . . . DC conditions of single Amplifier
2.4.2 . . . . Frequency Response of single amplifier
with single Cc

3_) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .. . . Theoretical
Analysis
3.1 DC Conditions of Single Amplifier
3.2 The Midband Gain of Single Amplifier
3.3 The High Cut-off Frequency of Single Amplifier
3.4 The Cut-off Frequency with Single Cc

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4_) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
PSICE Simulation
4.1 DC conditions of single amplifier
4.2 Frequency response of single amplifier with
double Cc
5_) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusion

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 1_) Introduction and background:
The purpose of this report is to study the performance
of common emitter amplifier, this include the practical
measurement shown in tables below and all the
theoretical and Pspice simulation.
The common emitter configuration is one of most
commonly used BJT amplifier circuits. This type of
circuit produces a curve known as the output
characteristic curve, this curve is the product of the
collector current the (Ic), to the output voltage the
(Vce); for a set of different value of base current the
(Ib), basically the input current and the output voltage
are the independent variables where as the input
voltage and the output current are depended variables.
As for all the transistor circuits we need an AC
condition to bias the transistor this is very important to
achieve the right operating point and reduce any
distortion at the output signal.
In this lab session Frequency response of the BJT
common emitter amplifier is studied by measuring the
overall voltage gain versus frequency. Those
measurements were used to analyse behaviour of
common emitter amplifier and figure out the properties
like midband, midband gain, low-frequency band, low
cut off frequency, high-frequency band, high cut off
frequency and finally the Bandwidth. The main aim of
this assignment is to compare those practically

4
measured properties with the theoretical
demonstration and simulation results to get insight
about the frequency performance of a common emitter
amplifier.

2.) Practical Measurements

2.1 Experimental Circuit

Once the Q point has been established by biasing the
circuit, an input voltage can be applied through
coupling capacitors C1 and C2; they isolate the dc
signal of the biasing circuit from the input signal.

Figure 1.Schematic diagram of the circuit.

2.2 Equipment and components.
1)

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 Regulated DC supply.
2)
Function generator.
3)
Oscilloscope.
4)
Breadboard.
5)
BC 337 NPN transistors. X 2
6)
Resistors. (56kΩ, 22kΩ, 180Ω, 4.7kΩ, 3.3kΩ, 10kΩ
and 1kΩ)
7)
Capacitors. (330nF, 470pF (×2), 220µF and 10µF)
2.3 Experimental Procedure.
1)
Left hand side of the dotted line AB of the circuit
shown in figure 1 was built without the capacitors.
DC voltages at the emitter, the base, the collector
were measured.
2)
C1,CE,Cc capacitors were added and the CL+RL load
were added to the collector of Q1.20mV peak to peak

6
 sine wave was applied to the input and gain was
measured at the frequency of 5KHz
3)
Frequency response of the amplifier was measured
varying the frequency from 10Hz to
100KHz.Measures values were plotted to find low and
high cut-off frequencies.
4)
Capacitor value of Cc was doubled adding another
capacitor with same value in parallel and step 3 was
repeated to take another set of measurements.
5)
Q2 was added between CL and RL and the collector of
Q1 as shown in the right hand side of the doted line
AB of the circuit in Figure 1.DC values of the base
and emitter voltages without the signal.
6)
Midband gain was Re-measures plotting the results
and high and low cut-off frequencies were checked
using the plot.

2.4 Experimental Results.

2.4.0 DC conditions of single Amplifier.

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We all know and assume that Vbe should be 0.7 that is
because the transistor at that point is in active mode.
In cut off mode (Ie=0) the current enters the collector
terminal and leaves the base terminal, the voltage drop
across the base and collector are very low in regions of
millvolts with respect to change in temperature.

VB1 VE1 VC1

3.94V
4.12V 3.35V
0.6V 9.89V

V E1 3.35
I E1 = = = 1.015 mA
RE1 3.3K

I E1 ≈ I C 1

I C 1.015 mA
g m1 =
VT
=
26 mV
= 0.0390 S

β 210
rπ1 = = = 5384 Ω = 5.384 KΩ
gM 0.039

Where and

9.37V 0.6V 9.37V 8.83V 15V

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 2.4.1Cascade Amplifier Dc Conditions

2.4.2 Frequency Response of single amplifier with

single Cc.

Figure 2.Frequency response with single Cc

a) From the figure lower cut-off frequency=102.146
≈139hz
b) From the figure High cut-off
frequency=104.586≈40kHz

The overall gain equals to the product of the gain of the

individual stages, the gain bandwidth product of the
cascade is increased in comparison to that of a single
capacitor single stage. For a specified value of Fh, the
gain of cascading amplifier is greater than that
achieved by a single stage having the same Fh.

9
2.4.2 Frequency Response of single amplifier with

double Cc.
Figure 3.Frequency Response with Double Cc
a) From the figure lower cut-off frequency
=101.985≈100Hz
b) From the figure High cut-off
frequency=104.294≈20kHz

3. Theoretical Analysis

The high frequency response of the amplifier is

determined by a single time constant at the first part
with a single capacitor, but a multi stage consist of at
least two capacitors. Also including a resistance in
the signal pass between the ground and emitter can
led to significant changes in amplifier characteristic.
3.1 DC Conditions of Single Amplifier

Determining I c, rπ1 and gm1.

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Figure 4.DC conditions 1

RB ' = R1 // R2 + RB − − − − − − − − − − − −(1)
R1 // R2 = 56 K + 22 K = 15 .79 KΩ − −(2)
78 K
RB ' = (15 .79 K +180 )Ω = 15 .9348 KΩ.
22 K
V BB = 15 × V = 4.23V − − − − − − − −(3)
78 K

Figure 5.DC conditions 2

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VBB = I B RB '+VBE + I E1RE
I E1
VBB = RB '+VBE + I E1 RE
β
VBB − VBE
I E1 = − − − − − − − − − −(4)
RB ' + RE
β +1
4.23 − 0.59
I E1 =
15.934 K + 3.3K
211
I E1 = 1.078 mA
I E1 ≈ I C 1

IC1=1.045mA
I C1 1.078 mA
g m1 = = = 0.04147 S
VT 26 mA

β1
rπ 1 = = 5063 .90 ≈ 5kΩ
g m1

3.2 The Midband Gain of Single Amplifier

Small signal equivalent model at midband frequency is

shown in figure 6.
In our analysis we assume that the amplifier is working
in midband range, the signal frequency is sufficiently
high so C1 and C2 are short circuited

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 Figure 6. Small signal equivalent model

From the figure 8 Midband gain Am1 can be found as

follow:
RB ' = R1 // R 2

RB '+rπ1
Vin = ×Vπ
rπ1
Vout = −g mVπ ( RC // R L )

Vin − g m1 ( RC // RL )
Gain = = − − − − − − − − − −(5)
Vout RB '+rπ 1
rπ 1
− 0.04147 × 0.8246 k
= = −33 .039 ≈ 33
1.035
20 log( Gain ) = 30 dB

Midband Gain Am= 30 dB

3.3 The High Cut-off Frequency of Single Amplifier

3.3.1 The Cut-off Frequency with Single Cc

In the High Frequency band gain falls off as a result of

Cπ and Cµ .The High frequency equivalent circuit model
is shown in figure 7.

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 Figure 7.High Frequency equivalent model

From millers Theorem:

The bandwidth of the common-emitter amplifier tends

to be low due to high capacitance resulting from the
Miller effect. The parasitic base-collector capacitance
appears like a larger parasitic capacitor from the base
to ground [1]. This large capacitor greatly decreases the
bandwidth of the amplifier as it makes the time
constant of the parasitic input RC filter where is the
output impedance of the signal source connected to the
ideal base.

Figure 8.Simplified circuit 1

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 Figure 9.Simplified circuit 2
If effective source resistance is considered as zero so “
RB’//RS ” becomes zero .So we can consider
RB’(=R1//R2) is not present. Short circuiting the source
effective resistance (Rin) can be calculated as follows.
Rin=RB//Rπ
Rin = 180 // 5k = 173 .75 Ω − − − − − (6)

C in = Cπ + (Cµ + C C )(1 + g m1 R L ') − − − − − − − −(7)

From the values we can see Cc is much larger than

Cµ.So we can neglect Cµ and replace “(Cµ+ Cc)” with
Cc. But in the other hand effect of Cπ is neglect able
compare to the magnitude of “Cc(1+gmRL’)” So Cin
becomes as follows.
C in = C C (1 + g m1 RL ') − − − − − − − −(8)

R L ' = RC // R L

C in = 470 (1 + 0.04147 ×824 .5) pF

C in = 16 .54 nF

Now the whole circuit can be simplified in to a simple

RC circuit as shown in Fig 10.Using the RC circuit High
cut-off frequency can be determined as follows:

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 1
fH =
2π × Rin × C IN
1
fH =
2π ×173 .75 ×16 .54 ×10 −9

f H = 55 .4 KHz

3.3.2 The Cut-off Frequency with Double Cc

The increaser of Cc can be considered as a increaser of
the internal capacitance. Earlier from the equation 5 it
was apparent effect of Cπ and Cµ can be neglected as
Cc is much bigger than both of them. So as Cc was
doubled new Cin can be calculated multiplying the
equation 7 by 2( (7)x2) .
C in = 2 × C C (1 + g m1 R L ') = 33 .08 nF

Rin Is equal the value calculated in equation 6

So High cut-off frequency can be calculated as follows
1
fH =
2π × Rin × C IN
1
fH =
2π ×173 .75 × 33 .08 ×10 −9

f H = 27 .7 KHz

When Bandwidth it taken Lower cut off frequency can

be ignores as high cut-off frequency is much larger

16
 than low cut-off frequency. So BW was almost
decreased by the factor of ½ by doubling the Cc.

4. PSICE Simulation.
4.1 DC conditions of single amplifier.
Psice file
*Resistors in Circuit
RB 2 4 180
RC 5 1 4k7
RE 3 0 3k3
R1 4 0 22k
R2 5 4 56k
*Diode in Circuit
Q1 1 2 3 QBC337-25
.MODEL QBC337-25 NPN(
+ IS = 4.13E-14
+ NF = 0.9822
+ ISE = 3.534E-15
+ NE = 1.35
+ BF = 292.4
+ IKF = 0.9
+ VAF = 145.7
+ NR = 0.982
+ ISC = 1.957E-13
+ NC = 1.3
+ BR = 23.68
+ IKR = 0.1
+ VAR = 20
+ RB = 60
+ IRB = 0.0002
+ RBM = 8
+ RE = 0.1129
+ RC = 0.25

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+ XTB = 0
+ EG = 1.11
+ XTI = 3
+ CJE = 3.799E-11
+ VJE = 0.6752
+ MJE = 0.3488
+ TF = 5.4E-10
+ XTF = 4
+ VTF = 4.448
+ ITF = 0.665
+ PTF = 90
+ CJC = 1.355E-11
+ VJC = 0.3523
+ MJC = 0.3831
+ XCJC = 0.455
+ TR = 3E-08
+ CJS = 0
+ VJS = 0.75
+ MJS = 0.333
+ FC = 0.643)
**
Vcc 5 0 15
.OP
.END

Output
NODE VOLTAGE NODE VOLTAGE NODE
VOLTAGE NODE VOLTAGE
( 1) 10.2790 ( 2) 4.1647 ( 3) 3.5529 (
4) 4.1654

( 5) 15.0000

V E1 3.35
I E1 = = = 1.015 mA
RE1 3.3K

18
I E1 ≈ I C 1

I C 1.015 mA
g m1 =
VT
=
26 mV
= 0.0390 S

β 210
rπ1 = = = 5384 Ω = 5.384 KΩ 4.2 Frequency response with
gM 0.039

single Cc

Pspice file
*Resistors in Circuit
RB 4 2 180
RC 5 1 4.7k
RE 3 0 3.3k
R2 4 0 22k
R1 5 4 56k
RL 7 0 1k
*Capacitors in Circuit
Cc 2 1 470pF
CL 1 7 10uF
CE 3 0 220uF
C1 8 4 330nF
*Diode in Circuit
Q1 1 2 3 QBC337-25
.MODEL QBC337-25 NPN(
+ IS = 4.13E-14
+ NF = 0.9822
+ ISE = 3.534E-15
+ NE = 1.35
+ BF = 292.4
+ IKF = 0.9
+ VAF = 145.7
+ NR = 0.982
+ ISC = 1.957E-13
+ NC = 1.3

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+ BR = 23.68
+ IKR = 0.1
+ VAR = 20
+ RB = 60
+ IRB = 0.0002
+ RBM = 8
+ RE = 0.1129
+ RC = 0.25
+ XTB = 0
+ EG = 1.11
+ XTI = 3
+ CJE = 3.799E-11
+ VJE = 0.6752
+ MJE = 0.3488
+ TF = 5.4E-10
+ XTF = 4
+ VTF = 4.448
+ ITF = 0.665
+ PTF = 90
+ CJC = 1.355E-11
+ VJC = 0.3523
+ MJC = 0.3831
+ XCJC = 0.455
+ TR = 3E-08
+ CJS = 0
+ VJS = 0.75
+ MJS = 0.333
+ FC = 0.643)
*
Vcc 5 0 15
Vin 8 0 AC 20m
*
.AC DEC 100 10 1Meg
.PROBE
.END

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 Figure 10- single amplifier frequency response

4.3 Frequency response of single amplifier with double

Cc
PSPICE file
*Resistors in Circuit
RB 4 2 180
RC 5 1 4.7k
RE 3 0 3.3k
R2 4 0 22k
R1 5 4 56k
RL 7 0 1k
*Capacitors in Circuit
Cc 2 1 940pF
CL 1 7 10uF
CE 3 0 220uF
C1 8 4 330nF

21
*Diode in Circuit
Q1 1 2 3 QBC337-25
.MODEL QBC337-25 NPN(
+ IS = 4.13E-14
+ NF = 0.9822
+ ISE = 3.534E-15
+ NE = 1.35
+ BF = 292.4
+ IKF = 0.9
+ VAF = 145.7
+ NR = 0.982
+ ISC = 1.957E-13
+ NC = 1.3
+ BR = 23.68
+ IKR = 0.1
+ VAR = 20
+ RB = 60
+ IRB = 0.0002
+ RBM = 8
+ RE = 0.1129
+ RC = 0.25
+ XTB = 0
+ EG = 1.11
+ XTI = 3
+ CJE = 3.799E-11
+ VJE = 0.6752
+ MJE = 0.3488
+ TF = 5.4E-10
+ XTF = 4
+ VTF = 4.448
+ ITF = 0.665
+ PTF = 90
+ CJC = 1.355E-11
+ VJC = 0.3523
+ MJC = 0.3831
+ XCJC = 0.455

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+ TR = 3E-08
+ CJS = 0
+ VJS = 0.75
+ MJS = 0.333
+ FC = 0.643)
*
Vcc 5 0 15
Vin 8 0 AC 20m
*
.AC DEC 100 10 1Meg
.PROBE
.END

Figure 11.Frequency response of single amplifier with

double Cc

Table-1) frequency response with double

capacitors:
double
capacitor

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frequency Vin Vout gain gain
Vin/Vo
Hz mV mV ut db
26.93
50Hz 20mV 0.9v 22.22 db
20.91
100Hz 20mV 1.8v 11.11 db
200Hz 20mV 2v 10 20db
400Hz 20mV 2v 10 20db
500Hz 20mV 2v 10 20db
600Hz 20mV 2v 10 20db
800Hz 20mV 2v 10 20db
1KHz 20mV 2v 10 20db
2KHz 20mV 2v 10 20db
21.15
4KHz 20mV 1.75v 11.42 db
22.49
5KHz 20mV 1.5v 13.33 db
22.49
6KHz 20mV 1.5v 13.33 db
24.08
8KH 20mV 1.25v 16 db
25.19
10KHz 20mV 1.1v 18.18 db
26.02
11KHz 20mV 1v 20 db
26.93
12KHz 20mV 0.9v 22.22 db
26.93
13KHz 20mV 0.9v 22.22 db
27.95
14KHz 20mV 0.8v 25 db
27.95
15KHz 20mV 0.8v 25 db
29.11
16KHz 20mV 0.7v 28.57 db
29.11
17KHz 20mV 0.7v 28.57 db
29.11
18KHz 20mV 0.7v 28.57 db
30.45
19KHz 20mV 0.6v 33.33 db
20KHz 20mV
40KHz 20mV
60KHz 20mV
80KHz 20mV
100KHz 20mV
200KHz 20mV
400KHz 20mV
600KHz 20mV

24
800KHz 20mV
1MHz 20mV

25
Table_ 2) frequency response of single capacitor
measured in the lab
single
capacitor
frequency Vin Vout gain gain
Vin/Vo
Hz mV mV ut db
22.496
50Hz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 db
22.496
100Hz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 db
22.496
200Hz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 db
22.496
400Hz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 db
22.496
500Hz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 db
22.496
600Hz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 db
22.496
800Hz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 db
22.496
1KHz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 db

26
2KHz 20mV 2.0mV 10 20db
4KHz 20mV 2.0mV 10 20db
5KHz 20mV 2.0mV 10 20db
6KHz 20mV 2.0mV 10 20db
1.75m 21.15d
8KH 20mV V 11.42 b
22.49d
10KHz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 b
1.625 21.79d
11KHz 20mV mV 12.3 b
22.49d
12KHz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 b
22.49d
13KHz 20mV 1.5mV 13.33 b
1.45m 22.79d
14KHz 20mV V 13.79 b
1.375 23.25d
15KHz 20mV mV 14.54 b
1.35m 23.41d
16KHz 20mV V 14.81 b
1.25m 24.08d
17KHz 20mV V 16 b
1.15m 24.80d
18KHz 20mV V 17.39 b
1.15m 24.80d
19KHz 20mV V 17.39 b
26.02d
20KHz 20mV 1mV 20 b
0.75m 28.51d
40KHz 20mV V 26.66 b
32.04d
60KHz 20mV 0.5mV 40 b
33.97d
80KHz 20mV 0.4mv 50 b
36.47d
100KHz 20mV 0.3mv 66.66 b
0.275 37.23d
200KHz 20mV mV 72.72 b
400KHz 20mV 0.2mV 100 40db
600KHz 20mV 0.2mV 100 40db
800KHz 20mV 0.2mV 100 40db
1MHz 20mV 0.2mV 100 40db

As we can see in this graph for a constant and

continuous value of voltage input at 20mV the voltage
output varies.

27
As the frequency increses the voltage output increases
up to a certeian point then starts to decline.

28
As we increase the frequency we notice that the gain
also increases.

29
Conclusion:
From what we have learned and experimented we
could say that only the common-emitter stage is
capable of both voltage gain and current gain greater
than unity, this make common emitter model very
versatile model. The voltage gain of a common emitter
stage depends on the value of β. Another important
factor is the resistor, the resistance in the emitter
enables the amplifier to handle large input signal
without incurring nonlinear distortion. This is because
only a fraction of the input signal appears between the
base and the emitter.
The common emitter configuration is the best suited in
realizing the bulk of gain required in an amplifier,
depending on the magnitude of gain required, either in
a single stage or a cascade of two or more stages.
Because of the high input resistance of CE the high
frequency response of this model is grey. In situation
where R is relatively large and C is relatively small
miller’s theorem can be used to obtain a quick and
accurate model of higher cut off frequency. In common
emitter the low-frequency power gain obtained with a
resistive load is much higher than any other
configuration.

30
Reference:

Dr Ruiheng Wu analogue electronics lectures, university of greenwich

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascode
http://www.electronics-
tutorials.ws/amplifier/amp_2.html
Analysis and design of analogue integrated circuits/
ISBN 978-0-39877-7
Microelectronics by Jacob millman ISBN 0-07-100596-x
Analogue circuit design by Jim Williams ISBN 0-7506-
9166-2
Microelectronic circuit by Rashid ISBN-10:0-534-95174-
0
Analogue electronic circuit design by Jan Davidse
ISBN 0-13-035346-9
Microelectronic circuit Sedra /Smith ISBN 0-19-514252-
7

31