38 www.rfdesign.

com January 2002

M
anufactur er s gener al l y suppl y the data
sheets for transi stors contai ni ng S-parame-
ters wi th respect to the emi tter (or the source). I n
other wor ds, the tr ansi stor i s consi der ed a two-
port devi ce wi th a common emi tter (or a common
sour ce). However , desi gn engi neer s may want to
use other tr an-
si stor confi gura-
ti ons for cer tai n
ci r cu i ts . Th i s
tutori al summa-
r i zes the neces-
s ar y tr an s for -
mati ons for such
appl i cati ons.
Consi der the
two-por t ci r cui t
i l l u s tr a ted i n
Fi gur e 1. Ter mi nal Thr ee of the devi ce i s con-
nected to the gr ound to for m a two-por t networ k.
Assume that the scatter i ng matr i x of thi s net-
wor k i s gi ven as fol l ows:
(1)
Thi s two-por t networ k wi l l be uncondi ti onal l y
stabl e i f both of the fol l owi ng condi ti ons are sati s-
fi ed: | D| < 1, (2) and k > 1 (3), where:
(4)
and,
(5)
I f these condi ti ons ar e not sati sfi ed, then the
devi ce i s potenti al l y unstabl e. Such unstabl e
regi ons on the Smi th chart can be i denti fi ed after
pl otti ng the i nput and output stabi l i ty ci r cl es
1
.
Centers and radi i of these two ci rcl es can be found
as fol l ows:
Furthermore, the devi ce wi l l be unstabl e i f even
one of the condi ti ons i s not sati sfi ed. However ,
these condi ti ons do not provi de means to compare
the l evel of i nstabi l i ty of two transi stors. An al ter-
nati ve par ameter for measur i ng a tr ansi stor for
certai n ci rcui ts, such as the osci l l ators, i s eval uat-
ed as fol l ows:
(10)
For the osci l l ator desi gn, the magni tude of the -
factor i s kept to a val ue of l ess than uni ty. For mag-
ni tudes greater than uni ty, the transi stor wi l l be
uncondi ti onal l y stabl e .
Transformation of the two-port network
A ci rcui t desi gner may someti mes need to consi d-
er the transi stor as a three-port devi ce by di scon-
necti ng Termi nal Three from the ground. I t may be
di ctated by certai n appl i cati ons to ei ther use a di f-
ferent transi stor confi gurati on (common base, com-
mon gate, etc.) or to add exter nal feedback that
enhances the desi red characteri sti cs of the devi ce.
Thi s can be achi eved after transformi ng the two-
por t devi ce i nto a thr ee-por t devi ce. Scatter i ng
parameters of thi s three-port transi stor descri pti on
can be found as fol l ows
2, 3
:
(11)
where:

12
= 1 S
11
S
21
(12)

21
= 1 S
12
S
22
(13)
= S
11
+ S
22
+ S
12
+ S
21
=
S
S S
S [ ]
+

_
,

_
,

+
11
11 12
12
11 21 11
21
22 1
4 4
2
4



22
22
22 21 22
12 21
4 4
2
4
2
4
2
4 4

_
,

_
,

1
]
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1


+
1 22
2
11 22 21 12
S
S S S S
*
C
S S
S
S S
S
2
22 11
22
2 2
2
12 21
2
22
2

( )

( )

(8), r (9)
C
S S
S
S S
S
1
11 22
11
2 2
1
12 21
2
11
2

( )

( )

(6), r (7)
k
S S
S S

+ 1
2
11
2
22
2 2
12 21

S S S S 11 21 2 22 1
S
S S
S S
[ ]

11 12
21 22


Figure 1. A three-terminal device as a two-port network.
semiconductors
Working with
transistor
S-parameters
By Duangrat Eungdamrong
and Devendra Misra
Transistors are generally
considered two-port devices
with a common emitter or source.
However, they can also be applied
to other configurations.
2
12

21
= 2
11

22
(14)

11
= 1 S
11
S
12
(15)

22
= 1 S
21
S
22
(16)
I f the gate (base) i s connected to
ground and the source (emi tter) repre-
sents new por t one (whi l e the dr ai n
(col l ector) remai ns as port two), then i ts
S-parameters are found to be:
(17)
On the other hand, i f a normal i zed
i mpedance Z
_
i s connected between
Termi nal Three and the ground to pro-
vi de a feedback, then the scatter i ng
par ameter s of the r esul ti ng two-por t
network are found as fol l ows:
(18)
where:
(19)
As (18) i ndi cates, S-par ameter s of
the new two-port network can be modi -
fi ed to a certai n extent by adjusti ng the
nor mal i zed i mpedance. Note that i ts
r efl ecti on coeffi -
ci ent, , wi l l sati sfy the fol l owi ng two
equati ons:
(20)
and,
(21)
where:
(22)
and,
(23)
I n the case of a reacti ve termi nati on
at port three, = 1. I t maps a ci rcl e i n
the S11n-pl ane, the center C1 and
radi us R1, whi ch are gi ven as fol l ows:
(24)
and,
(25)
Si mi l arl y, center C2 and radi us R2 of
the ci rcl e for S22n are found as fol l ows:
(26) and,
(27)
These ci r cl es may be dr awn on the
Smi th char t, and a sui tabl e feedback
ci r cui t can be i denti fi ed to meet the
desi red properti es of the resul ti ng two-
port network.
A case study
Consi der the common-source S-para-
meters of SHF-0198 HFET, as shown
i n Equati on 28. These are suppl i ed by
the manufacturer at Vds = 9 VDC, I
ds
=
150 mA, and f = 500 MHz.
(28)
Usi ng equati ons (2) (5), fi nd that
| | = 0.3776 and k = 0.0031. Thi s
shows that the transi stor i s potenti al l y
unstabl e. I ts stabi l i ty ci rcl es are found
from equati ons (6) (10) as fol l ows:
I n pu t s tabi l i ty ci r cl e C1 =
1.059571.51, R1 = 0.3469, outsi de i s
stabl e.
Ou tpu t s tabi l i ty ci r cl e C2 =
2.075964.79, R2 = 1.8161, outsi de i s
stabl e.
And, m = 0.7125
For the common-sour ce confi gur a-
S [ ]

1
]
1


0 928 64 0 023 70
10 84 150 0 529 27
. .
. .
R
S S
S
2
32 23
33
2
1

C
S S
S
2
22 2 33
33
2
1

R
S S
S
1
31 13
33
2
1

C
S S
S
1
11 1 33
33
2
3
1

2 22 33 32 23 S S S S
1 11 33 31 13 S S S S

S S
S S
n
n
22 22
22 33 2

S S
S S
n
n
11 11
11 33 1

+
Z
Z
1
1
S
S
S S
S
S
S S
S
S
S
n [ ]

+

+

11
13 31
33
1
12
13 32
33
1
21
23


SS
S
S
S S
S

31
33
1
22
23 32
33
1
+

+

1
]
1
1
1
1



S
S
S S
S
S
S S
S
S
S S
n
[ ]

+

+

33
31 13
11
32
31 12
11
23
21 13
1 1

11 1 11
22
21 12
11 +

+

1
]
1
1
1
1
S
S
S S
S

40 www.rfdesign.com January 2002
Figure 2. Impedance circle plots for the common source configuration.
Figure 3. Common source configuration stability circles with and without
feedback at the source.
42 www.rfdesign.com January 2002
ti on, the feedback r eactance can be
i denti fi ed vi a equati ons (24) (27) as
fol l ows:
S
11n
circle C
1
=1.036933.73, R
1
=
0.5237.
S
22n
circle C
2
=0.815518.99, R
2
=
0.3008.
Th es e ci r cl es ar e i l l u s tr ated i n
Fi gur e 2. I f the Z
_
= j25 i s connected
between the sour ce and the gr ound,
scatteri ng parameters of the resul ti ng
two-port are found to be:
(29)
Agai n, usi ng equati ons (2) (5), fi nd
that | | = 1.0067 and k = 0.9975.
Therefore, the transi stor wi th thi s feed-
back el ement i nvol ved i s potenti al l y
unstabl e. For thi s confi gur ati on, the
stabi l i ty ci rcl es are found as fol l ows:
I nput stabi l i ty ci rcl e, C
1
=
0.51070.94, R
1
=0.4917, inside is sta-
ble.
Output stabi l i ty ci rcl e, C
2
=
0.215315.17, R
2
=0.7943, inside is
stable.
And,
n
=0.015
Becaus e
n
i s now much s mal l er
than i t was wi thout feedback , thi s
ar r angement i s pr efer abl e i f one i s
desi gni ng an osci l l ator wi th a common-
s ou r ce con fi gu r ati on . As s h own i n
Fi gure 3, i t becomes obvi ous when the
stabi l i ty ci rcl es are pl otted on a Smi th
chart for the transi stor wi th and wi th-
out feedback at i ts source l ead.
I f the confi gur ati on i s swi tched to
common-gate, then i ts S-par ameter s
are found from equati ons (11) (17) as
fol l ows:
(30)
And agai n, usi ng equati ons (2) (5),
fi nd that | | = 0.8146 and k = 0.983 i n
thi s confi gurati on. Therefore, the tran-
si stor i s sti l l potenti al l y unstabl e. I ts
stabi l i ty ci r cl es ar e found fr om equa-
ti ons (6) (10) as
fol l ows:
I nput stabi l i ty
ci rcl e, C
1
=
0.1949173.68,
R
1
=1.0488, inside
is stable.
Output stability
ci rcl e: C
2
=
1.45744.35, r
2
=
0.4628, outsi de i s
stable.
And,
n
=0.8534
The feedback reactance can be i denti -
fi ed vi a equati ons (24) (27) as fol l ows:
S
11n
circle, C
1
=5.2851 88.27, R
1
=
5.3832. S
22n
circle: C
2
=2.464670.97,
R
2
=2.266.
Th es e ci r cl es ar e i l l u s tr ated i n
Fi gu r e 4. Wi th Z
_
= j 12 con n ected
between the gate and the ground, scat-
teri ng parameters of the resul ti ng two-
port are found to be:
(31)
Goi ng back to the standar d equa-
ti on s (2) (5), we fi n d th at | | =
2.0323 and k = 1.0066. Therefore, the
transi stor wi th thi s feedback el ement i s
potenti al l y unstabl e. I ts stabi l i ty ci rcl es
are found as fol l ows:
I nput stabi l i ty ci rcl e, C
1
=
0.47752.88, R
1
=0.5155, outside is
stable.
Output stabi l i ty ci rcl e: C
2
=
3.28519.3, R2 =2.2805, inside is sta-
ble.
n
=0.0379
Stabi l i ty ci r cl es for both of these
cases (wi th and wi thout feedback el e-
ment at i ts gate termi nal ) are shown i n
Fi gure 5. As i t i ndi cates, the feedback
provi des a l ot of fl exi bi l i ty to the osci l -
l ator desi gner i n sel ecti ng the sour ce
and the drai n si de ci rcui ts.
Conclusion
Some fundamental techniques can be
used for transforming scattering parame-
ters of transistors for different configura-
tions. Feedback networks can be designed
to obtain the desired device behavior. I t
al so shows that thr ee-por t tr ansi stor
devices are flexible and able to function in
various not-so-common configurations.
References:
[1] D. K. Misra, Radio - Frequency
and Mi cr owave Communi cati on
Circuits, NY:Wiley, 2001, Chapter - 10.
[2] A. P. S. Khanna, Osci l l ators,
Microwave Solid State Circuit Design, I
Bahl and P. Bhartia (Editors), Chapter -
9, NY:Wiley, 1988.
[3] D. K. Misra, Radio - Frequency
and Mi cr owave Communi cati on
Circuits, NY:Wiley, 2001, Chapter - 11.
Sn [ ]


3 9426 18 77 2 0431 28 94
2 9946 163 91 1 1881 137
. . . .
. . . .334

1
]
1
S
n
[ ]

0 75 178 23 0 0614 2 79
1 7266 4 26 0 9448 4 14
. . . .
. . . .

1
]
1
Sn [ ]

1
]
0 9962 4 0 705 90 57
0 1462 86 68 1 0002 3 88
. . .
. . . .
11
Figure 4. Common-gate configuration stability circles with Z
_
=
j12.
Figure 5. Stability circles for both cases (with and without feedback element at
the gate terminal).
About the authors
Duangrat Eungdamrong received her
B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engi-
neering from the University of Wisconsin
at Madison in 1994 and 1996. She is cur-
rently working toward a Ph.D. She joined
the electrical and computer engineering
department at the university as a teach-
ing assistant in 1997. Research interests
include design and simulation of oscilla-
tors and study of RF nonlinear circuits.
Devendra Misra received his B.S. and
M.S. degrees in electronics engineering
from B.H.U. (I ndia), and a Ph. D. in elec-
trical engineering from Michigan State
University. Currently, he is a professor
and the chai r for the El ectr i cal
Engineering, College of Engineering and
Applied Science, University of Wisconsin,
Milwaukee. They can be contacted at:
duangrat@uwm.edu, or misra@uwm.edu