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Lab4

The document outlines an experiment involving transistors, specifically focusing on building a circuit to measure VCE and IC while varying IB, and designing a common emitter amplifier with specific specifications. It provides detailed instructions on component selection, calculations for gain, input impedance, and capacitor values, along with references for further reading. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of thermal stability and practical considerations when constructing the amplifier.

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sobhasubhash1998
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8 views4 pages

Lab4

The document outlines an experiment involving transistors, specifically focusing on building a circuit to measure VCE and IC while varying IB, and designing a common emitter amplifier with specific specifications. It provides detailed instructions on component selection, calculations for gain, input impedance, and capacitor values, along with references for further reading. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of thermal stability and practical considerations when constructing the amplifier.

Uploaded by

sobhasubhash1998
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Physics 4700 Experiment 4

Transistors - 1

1) Build the following circuit, with R1 = 5 MW and R2 = 10 kW. Vary IB between 1 and 30 µA
and measure VCE and IC. Plot IC1, b (= hfe = IC/ IB), VCE, vs. IB. What is the saturation current
and saturation voltage (VCE at saturation)?

2) Design a single stage common emitter amplifier. The amplifier should have the following
specs:
a) flat frequency response from 30 Hz to 10 kHz (i.e. -3 dB point at 30 Hz)
b) voltage gain of » 100
c) input impedance > 300 W

3) Measure the following properties of your amplifier and compare your results with
expectations:
a) DC voltages at operating point (VE, VB, VC).
b) plot voltage gain as a function of frequency (30 Hz - 100 kHz).
c) capture a picture of the amp’s output response to a large input sine wave, with time stamp.

Suggested References:
Class notes of course.
Simpson Experiment 13 (P. 862) and 14 (P. 864).
Student Manual for Art of Electronics (most of Chapter 2).
Richard Kass/K.K. Gan
Phys. 4700
Designing the Common Emitter Amp
In this note I will outline a plan for designing a common emitter (CE) amplifier. There are
many other ways of designing such an amp however they involve techniques beyond this class.
Here are some good references on the subject:
Simpson: Section 5.7 (P. 221) and Experiment 14 (P. 865)
Diefenderfer: P. 152-154
Hayes and Horowitz: P. 115

A general purpose design for the CE amp is given in Fig. 1.

R1 and R2 are bias resistors and are used to keep the transistor "turned on" for DC voltages
(Vcc). RC and RE determine the gain of the amp and RE plays a role in determining the input
impedance of the amp. CE provides a path to ground for AC signals, while Cin and Cout isolate
the input and output of the amp from the DC voltages that are present on the transistor.

Some general rules to keep in mind:


a) Our transistor amp amplifies small signals, typically mV.
b) Typical DC collector current is a few mA.
c) The gain (Vout/Vin) of a CE amp is ≈ RC/rBE if RE = 0. rBE is intrinsic to the transistor. You
can't touch it! It is given by:
rBE = hie/hfe ≈ 25 mV/IC. So if IC = 1 mA then rBE = 25 Ω.
(See Simpson P. 227, 244 or class notes or Hayes and Horowitz P. 113)
d) The AC input impedance of the transistor is ≈ βrBE (or hferbe ).
A typical β is 100. Remember that β = hfe = IC/IB so for 1 mA of collector current the AC
input impedance is ≈ (100)(25) = 2500 Ω.
e) The DC input impedance of the transistor is ≈ βRE (or hfeRE). A typical value of RE is 1 kΩ.
So the DC impedance is much larger (e.g. 100 k vs. 2.5 k) than the AC impedance.
f) Since IE = IC + IB and IB = IC/β we assume that IC = IE for design purposes.
g) In order to stabilize the transistor from problems due to heating we should have:
R1 || R2 < 10 RE.
See Simpson (P. 215-221) or Diefenderfer (P. 148) for a discussion of thermal stability.

With rules a-g in mind we are ready to design the CE amplifier.


1) Pick Vcc. Let’s use Vcc = 15 Volts since all our lab supplies go up to this value.

2) We want the voltage gain G = Vout/Vin > 100. From rule c


G ≈ RC/rE = RC/(25 Ω/IC).
From the 2N3904 spec sheet (Fig. 2) IC = 2.5 mA looks like good place to operate the
transistor (any choice in the linear region of the transistor would be OK):
G ≈ RC/10 > 100
RC > 1000 Ω
Pick RC = 2000 Ω.
3) We now need to decide what the maximum collect current (IC) we will allow. From the spec
sheet 4 mA looks reasonable. Applying Kirchhoff’s law to the circuit in Fig. 1 yields the
following load line (IC vs. VCE) equation:
IC= Vcc/(RE + RC) - VCE/(RE + RC)
(when IC = 4 mA, VCE = 0 Volts and when IC = 0 mA, VCE = 15 Volts)
VCE ≈ 5-6 Volts is in the linear region. From the spec sheet we see that IB must be ≈ 10 µA.

4) Using #3 from above we can find RE.


IC(max) = Vcc/(RE + RC) = 4 mA = 15 V/(2000 Ω + RE)
RE = 1.75 kΩ

5) We can now find VE and thus VB.


VE = IERE ≈ ICRE = (2.5 mA)(1.75 kΩ)
VE ≈ 4.4 Volts
Remember VB = VE + 0.6 Volts for an NPN transistor.
VB ≈ 5 Volts

6) We can now find R1 and R2 since:


VB = [15 V][R2 /(R1 + R2)] with VB = 5 V.
From rule g on P. 1 we need R1 || R2 < 10 RE = 17.5 kΩ.
Also R1 and R2 must provide enough base current (IB ≈ 10 µA)
Vcc/(R1 + R2) >> IB ≈ 10 µA.
A choice of R1 and R2 that satisfies all of the above is:
R1 = 10 kΩ and R2 = 5 kΩ. There are many other choices.

7) The AC input impedance of the amp can now be calculated:


1/Zinput ≈ 1/R1 + 1/R2 + 1/Rtransistor = 1/(10 kΩ) + 1/(5 kΩ) + 1/Rtransistor
Rtransistor = βrBE ≈ 1 kΩ for IC = 2.5 mA, β = 100 (see rule d).
Zinput = 800 Ω.

8) We now need to find values for the three capacitors, CE, Cin, and Cout.
CE must provide an AC ground for the emitter so we must have:
XCE = 1/(2πfCE) << RE = 1.75 kΩ.
Let XCE = RE /10. The lowest frequency we are concerned with is 30 Hz so:
CE = 1/(2πf XCE) = 1/(2π x 30 x (RE/10)) = 30 µF.

9) Finally we need to choose Cin and Cout. Pick these capacitors so we have the –3 dB points at
30 Hz. Remember ω3dB = 1/RC. For the input R ≈ 800 Ω and for the output R ≈ 1 MΩ (scope
resistance). Thus we have:
Cin ≈ 1/(800 Ω 2π 30) = 6 µF
Cout ≈ 1/(1 MΩ 2π 30) = 0.005 µF
We have now determined all R’s and C’s. When you build the circuit don’t be too
disappointed (or surprised) if your measurements are different than the above calculations. We
used a very simple model of the transistor.

linear region

8
2N3904 Transistor IB = 30 µA

IB = 25 µA
6

IB = 20 µA
IC (mA)

4 IB = 15 µA

load line IB = 10 µA
2
IB = 5 µA

0
0 5 10 15 20
VCE (V)

Fig. 2: 2N3904 Spec Sheet.

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