Chapter 4

DC BiasingBJTs
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Biasing
Biasing: The DC voltages applied to a transistor in
order to turn it on so that it can amplify the AC signal.
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Operating Point
The DC input
establishes an
operating or
quiescent point
called the Q-point.
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
The Three States of Operation
Active or Linear Region Operation
BaseEmitter junction is forward biased
BaseCollector junction is reverse biased

Cutoff Region Operation
BaseEmitter junction is reverse biased

Saturation Region Operation
BaseEmitter junction is forward biased
BaseCollector junction is forward biased
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
DC Biasing Circuits
Fixed-bias circuit
Emitter-stabilized bias circuit
Collector-emitter loop
Voltage divider bias circuit
DC bias with voltage feedback
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Fixed Bias
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
The Base-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoffs voltage
law:
Solving for base current:
+V
CC
I
B
R
B
V
BE
= 0
B
BE CC
B
R
V V
I

Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Collector-Emitter Loop
Collector current:
From Kirchhoffs voltage law:
B
I I
C

C C CC CE
R I V V
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Saturation
When the transistor is operating in saturation, current
through the transistor is at its maximum possible value.
C
R
CC
V
Csat
I
V 0
CE
V
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Load Line Analysis
I
Csat
I
C
= V
CC
/ R
C
V
CE
= 0 V
V
CEcutoff
V
CE
= V
CC
I
C
= 0 mA

where the value of R
B
sets the value of
I
B
that sets the values of V
CE
and I
C

The Q-point is the operating point:
The end points of the load line are:
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Circuit Values Affect the Q-Point
more
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Circuit Values Affect the Q-Point
more
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Circuit Values Affect the Q-Point
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Emitter-Stabilized Bias Circuit
Adding a resistor
(R
E
) to the emitter
circuit stabilizes
the bias circuit.
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Base-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoffs voltage law:
0 R 1)I ( - R I - V
E B B B CC

0 R I - V - R I - V
E E BE E E CC

E B
BE CC
B
1)R ( R
V - V
I

Since I
E
= ( + 1)I
B
:
Solving for I
B
:
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Collector-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoffs voltage law:
0
CC
V
C
R
C
I
CE
V
E
R
E
I
Since I
E
I
C
:
) R (R I V V
E C C CC CE

Also:
E BE B R CC B
C C CC E CE C
E E E
V V R I V V
R I - V V V V
R I V

Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Improved Biased Stability
Stability refers to a circuit condition in which the currents and voltages
will remain fairly constant over a wide range of temperatures and
transistor Beta () values.
Adding RE to the emitter improves the stability of a transistor.
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Saturation Level
V
CEcutoff
: I
Csat
:
The endpoints can be determined from the load line.
mA 0 I
V V
C
CC CE

E
R
C
R
CC
V
C
I
CE
V 0 V

Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Voltage Divider Bias
This is a very stable
bias circuit.

The currents and
voltages are nearly
independent of any
variations in .
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Approximate Analysis
Where I
B
<< I
1
and I
1
I
2
:
Where R
E
> 10R
2
:
From Kirchhoffs voltage law:
2 1
CC 2
B
R R
V R
V

E
E
E
R
V
I
BE B E
V V V
E E C C CC CE
R I R I V V
) R (R I V V
I I
E C C CC CE
C E

Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Voltage Divider Bias Analysis
Transistor Saturation Level
E C
CC
Cmax Csat
R R
V
I I

Load Line Analysis
Cutoff: Saturation:
mA 0 I
V V
C
CC CE

V 0 V
CE
E
R
C
R
CC
V
C
I

Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
DC Bias with Voltage Feedback
Another way to
improve the stability
of a bias circuit is to
add a feedback path
from collector to
base.

In this bias circuit
the Q-point is only
slightly dependent on
the transistor beta, .
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Base-Emitter Loop
) R (R R
V V
I
E C B
BE CC
B

From Kirchhoffs voltage law:

0 R I V R I R I V
E E BE B B C C CC

Where I
B
<< I
C
:
C
I
B
I
C
I
C
I'
Knowing I
C
= I
B
and I
E
I
C
, the loop
equation becomes:
0 R I V R I R I V
E B BE B B C B CC

Solving for I
B
:
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Collector-Emitter Loop
Applying Kirchoffs voltage law:

I
E
+ V
CE
+ I
C
R
C
V
CC
= 0

Since I
C
I
C
and I
C
= I
B
:

I
C
(R
C
+
RE
) + V
CE
V
CC
=0

Solving for V
CE
:

V
CE
= V
CC
I
C
(R
C
+ R
E
)
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Base-Emitter Bias Analysis
Transistor Saturation Level
E C
CC
Cmax Csat
R R
V
I I

Load Line Analysis
Cutoff: Saturation:
mA 0 I
V V
C
CC CE

V 0 V
CE
E
R
C
R
CC
V
C
I

Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Transistor Switching Networks
Transistors with only the DC source applied can be used
as electronic switches.
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Switching Circuit Calculations
C
CC
Csat
R
V
I
dc
Csat
B
I
I

Csat
CEsat
sat
I
V
R
CEO
CC
cutoff
I
V
R
Saturation current:
To ensure saturation:
Emitter-collector resistance
at saturation and cutoff:
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Switching Time
Transistor switching times:
d r on
t t t
f s off
t t t
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
Troubleshooting Hints
Approximate voltages
V
BE
.7 V for silicon transistors
V
CE
25% to 75% of V
CC
Test for opens and shorts with an ohmmeter.
Test the solder joints.
Test the transistor with a transistor tester or a curve tracer.
Note that the load or the next stage affects the transistor operation.
Copyright 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 All rights reserved.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky
PNP Transistors
The analysis for pnp transistor biasing circuits is the same
as that for npn transistor circuits. The only difference is that
the currents are flowing in the opposite direction.