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BJT Biasing Using A Current Source Lecture

1. Biasing a BJT amplifier with a current source and one voltage source has advantages over using a single voltage source, including making the emitter current and collector current independent of beta and temperature. 2. This allows setting the emitter voltage low to maximize the output voltage swing. 3. Large resistor values can be used without sensitivity to temperature or beta variations.

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Spandana Srinivas
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23 views

BJT Biasing Using A Current Source Lecture

1. Biasing a BJT amplifier with a current source and one voltage source has advantages over using a single voltage source, including making the emitter current and collector current independent of beta and temperature. 2. This allows setting the emitter voltage low to maximize the output voltage swing. 3. Large resistor values can be used without sensitivity to temperature or beta variations.

Uploaded by

Spandana Srinivas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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4/13/2011 BJT Biasing using a Current Source lecture 1/5

BJT Biasing using


a Current Source
Another way to bias a BJT small signal amplifier is to use one voltage source and
one current source. This biasing scheme has a number of important advantages:

VCC VCC 1. The DC emitter current is independent of β or


BJT temperature!

RC IC Therefore, the DC collector current IC = α IE ≈ IE is


R1 nearly independent of these parameters as well.
+
2. This means that the emitter voltage can be set at
VCE an arbitrarily low value!

- Therefore, the output voltage swing can be much


larger than an equivalent single-supply amplifier!
R2
I
3. We can make resistors R1 and R2 large without
making design sensitive to temperature and β.

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


4/13/2011 BJT Biasing using a Current Source lecture 2/5

The current source:


not as easy as it appears
Note that ideally, we would set the emitter votage to zero (VE = 0 ), and thus
the collector voltage to VC =VCC 2 to maximize the output swing (i.e., maximize
the largest possible undistorted output signal).

VCC VCC

Q: But, isn’t it diddly darn


RC difficult to actually build
IC
R1 an ideal current source!?
+

VCE

- A: True! For reasons we shall study


later, most current sources require a
R2 minimum voltage across them in order
I
to operate properly.

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


4/13/2011 BJT Biasing using a Current Source lecture 3/5

Put collector voltage half way


between floor and ceiling
Thus, our bias rule should be:

Make the DC emitter voltage VE as small as possible (and still have the
current source work!).

Then set the current source to a value equal to the desired DC collector
current (i.e., IC ≈ IE ):
I = I E ≈ IC

To maximize the output voltage swing, we still want to place the DC collector
voltage VC half way between VCC and VE .

VCC +VE
VC =
2

The collector resistor therefore should be:

VCC −VC VCC −VC VCC −VE


RC = = =
IC I 2I

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


4/13/2011 BJT Biasing using a Current Source lecture 4/5

R1 and R2: same as before

The remaining resistors R1 and R2 are determined in the same manner as with
the single-supply bias design, i.e.:

VCC −VB
R1 =
I1

and
VB VB
R2 = ≈
I 2 I1

where the base voltage is approximately:

VB = 0.7 +VE

and the current I1 is any value in the range:

0.1 IC < I1 < IC

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS


4/13/2011 BJT Biasing using a Current Source lecture 5/5

Just the kind of subtle


topic I might put on an exam
For example, say we wish to design a biasing network where:

IC = 2 mA VE ≥ 2.0V VCC = 15.0 V I1 = 0.5 IC

The result would be:


It is obvious to me that this bias
15.0 15.0 design satisfies the parameters
described above.

RC = 3.25 K But, don’t take my word for it—


R1 = 12.3K verify for yourself that these
resistor values are correct.

R2 = 2.7 K
2.0 mA

Jim Stiles The Univ. of Kansas Dept. of EECS

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