1

Frequency Response

Untill now the discussion for ampliers had been easy and straightforward as we
had assumed that the capacitors are innite in value. Though far from true, this
is theoretically convenient notion and it enabled us to make the estimate of gain,
input and output impedances. It is now time to face the hard fact that capacitors
are indeed nite. It is more disturbing to note that to realize a moderate capacitor
of 1F you need 500 football ground areas separated by 1 meter. The capacitors that
are typically used in microelectronics have values ranging from few 1pF to hundreds
of F. The goal of this lesson is to demonstrate that with practical capacitors we will
still be able to design useful ampliers.

Vcc
R1

Rc
vo

Rsi
vi

Cc
R2

RE

Figure 1: A typical amplier circuit

Fig.(1) shows a typical amplier with capacitor Cc appearing in series with the
input signal and base. Let us consider the eect of this capacitor (assuming some
nite value, say 1F) at frequencies approaching 0Hz. The impedance oered by the
Cc is
1
= .
(1)
C
This clearly indicates that the capacitor behaves as open circuit at small frequencies and the signal is not coupled to the amplier any more. Thus at low frequencies
the signal would not even reach the amplier in the rst place. We sense some problem
in this frequency range.
It should be noted that BJT is made of junctions between terminals such as
emitter, base and collector. Whenever a junction is made a depletion region would
result causing a capacitance associated with it. For dierent reasons there is diusion
lim Xc =

capacitance associated with junctions. To summarize, any junction will introduce a

capacitor. It is simply impossible to make an active device without capacitors. These
junction capacitances act as short circuits at extremely high frequencies harming the
transistor action. Such capacitors are called parasitic and stray capacitors. This
causes rapid fall of gain at very high frequencies. Similar capacitors are found in
MOSFETs too.
To summarize every transistor amplier will have gain which is falling down at low
frequencies because of capacitors that are included in the circuit. At high frequencies
the gain rolls o due to capacitors that are inside the transistors. The gain will
assume constant value between these two extremes as shown in Fig.(2) below. We

Figure 2: Frequency Response of a Typical Amplier

notice from gure that the ampliers performance is satisfactory between a lower
cut-o frequency, fl and an upper cut-o frequency fu . The dierence is termed as
bandwidth of the amplier,
Bandwidth = BW = fu fl .

(2)

That the ampliers bandwidth is nite presents itself as a new challenge to the
circuit designer. Trust me, circuits can still be designed. For example, if you want
to build an amplier for audio signals (20 to 20kHz), it is necessary that we have
fl < 20Hz and fu > 20kHz. Using approprite combination of resistors and capacitors
will get the job done. The region in which the gain is constant (and also highest) is
called as the mid-band region of the amplier.
If you want to build a video amplier the requirements are more stringent. Video
ampliers need a bandwidth range covering from 5Hz to 5MHz. It is to be noted that
as generations pass by transistor sizes keep on diminishing. Downscaling transistor
2

size results in smaller junction areas. We know that C =  Ad and hence the capacitor
values drop in proportion. This will push the upper cut-o frequencies to much
higher range. As technology advances, we will be able to make smaller transistors
which translates to higher speed.
A typical example that I would quote is that Cell phones in the consumer market 10 years ago provided voice transmission and texting features to the maximum.
Nowadays at the same price you could nd a phone that could handle video downloading and internet live-game playing features. This is all enabled by reduction in
transistor size. The impact it has on our lives is tremendous.

1.1

First Order Systems

With this motivation, we will delve into the topic of frequency response in a more
rigorous manner. In general a transistor amplier will have multiple capacitors and
as such dealing all of them simultaneously is nearly impossible. Rather we begin our
analysis with rst order systems which provide a simplied approach.
1.1.1

The series capacitor

Fig.(3) shows the circuit with a capacitor connected in series between the input and
output.

vi

Rs

Cs

vo
RP

Figure 3: Series Capacitor

If we work in Laplace domain, we have,
Rp
vo (s)
=
vi (s)
Rp + Rs + sC1 s
sRp Cs
=
1 + s(Rp + Rs )Cs
which can be rearranged and written as,

(3)
(4)

Rp
vo (s)
s(Rp + Rs )Cs
=
vi (s)
Rp + Rs 1 + s(Rp + Rs )Cs
ss
= K
1 + ss

(5)
(6)

p
where K = RpR+R
is the gain of the circuit (when the capcitor is a short circuit)
s
and s = (Rs + Rp )Cs is the time constant of the circuit.
This equation is a rst order equation as the largest power of s in the denominator
is unity. Before we look quantitatively, we look at certain qualitative aspects of the
circuit. First, at very low frequencies the capacitor impedance becomes large and
approaches . Hence the capacitor at low frequency tends to be open circuit and vi
is no longer connected to vo . At high frequencies the capacitor tends to be a short
circuit and vo gets coupled to vi . It is instructive to study this behavior with proper
mathematical support.
(s)
We shall call the ratio vvoi (s)
as the transfer function or frequency response of the
circuit, denoted by T (s).

vo (s)
Rp
ss
=
vi (s)
Rs + Rp 1 + ss
Rp
js
T (j) =
Rs + Rp 1 + js

T (s) =

1.1.2

(7)
(8)

Magnitude Response

The above equation suggests that the gain is a complex number with real and imaginary components. Rather, we prefer to express gain in terms of magnitude and phase.
The magnitude of the above equation is,
Rp
|T (j)| =
Rs + Rp
Rp
|T (jf )| =
Rs + Rp




s

1 + 2s2


2f s
1 + (2f s )2

(9)

.

Considering the above expression in log or decibel scale,we get:

(10)

|T (jf )|dB = 20 log10 |T (jf )|




Rp
2f s

= 20 log10
Rs + Rp
1 + (2f s )2
Rp
+ 20 log10 (2f s )
= 20 log10
Rs + Rp

20 log10 ( 1 + (2f s )2 ).

(11)
(12)

(13)

We will try to plot the equation given above as shown in Fig.(4). In section (a) of
p
the gure, the rst term 20 log10 RsR+R
is plotted. Since Rp + Rs > Rp , the argument
p
p
it yields a
is always less than one and hence when log is taken over the ratio RsR+R
p
value less than 0dB. Since the rst term is totally independent of frequency it assumes
uniform value for all frequencies.
In section (b) of the gure, the second term is examined. Now, in this case the
argument is directly proportional to frequency. When we plot it in log-log scale this
turns out to be a straight line of slope 20db per decade. This line intersects the 0dB
1
line when f = 2
. This can be veried by substituting for f in the second term
s
which will yield log10 1 = 0.
Section (c) is the interesting part. The third term appears to be dierent and
dicult. An engineer by the name Bode, came up with an innovative idea to plot
the curve as described by the third term. According to Bodes suggestion rather
than working with the equation for the curve we can work with the asymptotes. An
asymptote is dened as a straight line that approaches the curve at but it never
touches for any nite value.
Bodes idea is to consider the third term at two extremes, the rst being when
f 0 (low frequencies) and the second being when f (high frequencies). Let
us indentify the curve at these two extremes. At the left extreme,

lim 20 log10

f 0


1 + (2f s )2 = 0

(14)

and hence at values close to 0Hz the curve will lie exactly on top of the frequency
axis. We have got the rst asymptote. Next we proceed to the second asymptote by
considering,
lim 20 log10

1 + (2f s )2 = 20 log10 (2f s )

(15)

This equation looks similar to the curve obtained by using the second term. However, now the slope is negative. For a moment we will use these approximate asymptotes and extend them to nite frequencies. Being said that they are approximate we
must look how much approximation that we can aord. As engineers we should be
open minded to approximations but we should not overtly approximate as it could
5

dB


0

f(logscale)





20.log(Rp/(Rp+Rs))
(a)





dB

20dB/decade


0f(logscale)






f=1/2s



















(b)


dBf=1/2s

3dB

0f(logscale)

20dB/decade


(c)

Figure 4: Series capacitor eects with each terms considered seperately

totally throw away the picture. Approximations are good as long as we are careful in
using them.
1
When we extend both the asymptotes they meet at f = 2
. f is called as the
s
6

break-point frequency of the system. In Fig.(4), the actual curve is also plotted along
with the asymptotes. At the place where they meet it can be noted that the actual
curve is 3dB less than the asymptotic extension. This error is usually negligible.
Remember, we are working with rst order systems. For a system with nth order,
the error can be as large as 3ndB. So for higher order systems Bode plot is a crude
approximation. Besides, Bodes approximation is eective only if the poles of the
system are well separated. It is important to keep an eye on both these conditions to
apply Bodes approximation sucessfully. Sadly, very often this is forgotten but you
shouldnt.

Figure 5: Plot obtained after combining all the terms

It is now time to combine all the graphs to obtain the nal plot. We rst combine
plots (b) and (c) in Fig.(4), before the break-point frequency plot (b) is a straight line
with slope 20dB/decade and plot (c) assumes the value of 0dB uniformly. This results
in a straight line of slope 20dB/decade. Beyond the break-point frequency we can
see that plot (b) is a line with positive slope and plot (c) is a line with negative slope
of equal magnitude. When added it results in 0dB throughout. Thus the resultant
is a line of 20dB/decade before and 0dB beyond the break-point frequency. Plot (a)
is independent of frequency, so when all three are added plot (a) pushes down the
p
combination of (b) and (c) by 20 log10 RpR+R
. This is shown in Fig.(5).
s
1.1.3

Phase Response

We rewrite the transfer function to nd the phase response,

j2f s
Rp
Rp + Rs 1 + j2f s
Rp
1
=
j2f s
Rp + Rs
1 + j2f s
= T1 T2 T3

T (jf ) =

where T1 =

Rp
,
Rp +Rs

T2 = j2f s and T3 =


1
.
1+j2f s

(16)
(17)
(18)

Now, the phase response is,

T (jf ) =  T1 +  T2 +  T3

(19)

T1 has a phase of 0 as it is purely real, T2 contributes a phase of 90 as it is

purely imaginary and T3 is a complex number and its contibution is arc tan of ratio
of imaginary and real part. That is,


T (jf ) = (f ) = 0 + 90 tan1 (2f s )

= 90 tan1 (2f s )

(20)
(21)

Here too, Bode has an interesting suggestion. Once again we shall begin to construct asymptotes at the low and high extremes of the frequency axis. For the low
frequency conditions,
lim (f ) = 90 tan1 0 = 90

f 0

(22)

and at high frequency conditions

lim (f ) = 90 tan1 ()

= 90 90 = 0 .

(23)
(24)

So we end up with two asymptotes one having the value 90 at low frequencies
and 0 at very high frequencies. At the break-point frequency we have,


1
f=
(25)
= 90 tan1 (1) = 90 45 = 45 .
2s
Now, with these quantities we shall try to plot the phase response,which is shown
in Fig.(6). It is important to realize that the phase assumes a value of 90 upto the
f
frequency 10 times less than the break-point frequency 10
. Then it assumes a straight

line and touches 45 at the break-point frequency with slope 45 per decade. This
continues till 10 times the break-point frequency 10f where the phase reaches 0 and
remains at this value for all higher frequencies.
f
Bodes suggestion is to consider 10f as high frequency and 10
as low frequency
when we are operating at a frequency f.
8



(f)
degree

90




45





0f/10f 








10f

Figure 6: Phase response of Circuit with Series Capacitor