
Chapter 7 Frequency Response 539
and the coupling capacitor of the second stage must be
C
C2
=
τ
B
R
C1
+ R
1
R
2
R
i
=
7.958 × 10
−3
(2.5 + 5531206.2) × 10
3
⇒ 0.386 μF
Comment: This circuit design using two coupling capacitors is a brute-force
approach to a two-stage amplifier design and would not be used in an IC design.
Since the 3 dB frequency for each capacitor is 20 Hz, this circuit is referred to as
a two-pole high-pass filter.
7.8 SUMMARY
• In this chapter, the frequency response of transistor circuits was discussed. The ef-
fects due to circuit capacitors, such as coupling, bypass, and load capacitors, were
determined. In addition, expanded equivalent circuits of BJTs and MOSFETs
were analyzed to determine the frequency response of the transistors.
• A time-constant technique was developed so that Bode plots can be constructed
without the need of deriving complex transfer functions. The high and low cor-
ner frequencies, or 3 dB frequencies, can be determined directly from the time
constants.
• Coupling and bypass capacitors affect the low-frequency characteristics of a cir-
cuit, while load capacitors affect the high-frequency characteristics of a circuit.
• The capacitances included in the small-signal equivalent circuits of both the
bipolar and MOS transistors result in reduced transistor gain at high frequencies.
The cutoff frequency is a figure of merit for the transistor and is defined as the
frequency at which the magnitude of the current gain is unity.
• The Miller effect is a multiplication of the base–collector or gate–drain capaci-
tance due to feedback between the output and input of the transistor. The band-
width of the amplifier is reduced by this affect.
• The common-emitter (common-source) amplifier, in general, shows the greatest
reduction in bandwidth due to the Miller effect. The common-base (common-
gate) amplifier has a larger bandwidth because of a smaller multiplication factor.
The cascode configuration, a combination of a common emitter and common
base, combines the advantages of high gain and wide bandwith.
• As an application, a two-stage BJT amplifier was designed to meet specified
3 dB frequencies.
CHECKPOINT
After studying this chapter, the reader should have the ability to:
✓ Construct the Bode plots of the gain magnitude and phase from a transfer func-
tion written in terms of the complex frequency s.
✓ Construct the Bode plots of the gain magnitude and phase of electronic amplifier
circuits, taking into account circuit capacitors, using the time constant technique.
✓ Determine the short-circuit current gain versus frequency of a BJT and deter-
mine the Miller capacitance of a BJT circuit using the expanded hybrid-π equiv-
alent circuit.
✓ Determine the unity-gain bandwidth of an FET and determine the Miller capac-
itance of an FET circuit using the expanded small-signal equivalent circuit.
✓ Describe the relative frequency responses of the three basic amplifier configura-
tions and the cascode amplifier.
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