Electronic – Finding AC equivalent seen between two nodes of a BJT Amplifier

amplifierbjtcircuit analysis

In the textbook, Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 11th Edition by Boylestead and Nashelsky, on page 566, the lower cutoff frequency is derived for a voltage divider BJT circuit. The circuit used is shown below.

Voltage Divider BJT Circuit

The lower cutoff frequency of \$C_E\$ is to be found. For this, they first find the equivalent AC circuit as seen from \$C_E\$.

AC Equivalent Circuit

My question is, how did the obtain this expression?: $$\dfrac{R_1||R_2}{\beta}+r_e$$

I understand that they applied Thevenin's thorem, but I'm stil not sure how this expression comes out. Also, doesn't \$R_C\$ play a role here?

Best Answer

Just draw the small signal model of the circuit to calculate the impedance seen at the emitter. Assuming a resistance \$r_b\$ is connected to the base, the impedance is calculated as:

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

Apply KCL at the emitter to give:

$$\beta i_b + i_b +i_x = \frac{v_x}{R_E}$$

Apply KVL in the emitter-base loop:

$$v_x + (\beta + 1)i_br_e + i_br_b = 0$$ $$\implies i_b = -\frac{v_x}{(\beta + 1)r_e + r_b}$$

Putting it in the first equation, $$-(\beta + 1)\frac{v_x}{(\beta + 1)r_e + r_b} + i_x = \frac{v_x}{R_E}$$ $$\implies \frac{i_x}{v_x} = \frac{1}{R_E} + \frac{1}{r_e + \frac{r_b}{\beta + 1}}$$ Thus equivalent impedance is \$R_E||(r_e+\frac{r_b}{\beta + 1})\$.
The base resistance \$r_b\$ for your case is \$R_1||R_2\$ which gives the expression you want (\$\beta >> 1\$).
I want to emphasize that the calculated base resistance is valid if the transistor is driven by a current source. In case of voltage driven input, the equivalent base resistance would be zero. Note that BJT is a current controlled current source, so it's input is usually a current source.