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Cascode BJT Circuit

A popular circuit for use at high frequencies is the cascode amplifier, as shown below:-

B e2 c2 C Vout
Q2

c1 Zout
b2
b1 RL
Q1
Vin A

e1
Zin

Gain of Q1 due to load of Q2

1
CE gain = - gm1R L1 RIN (CB stage ) =
gm 2

1
∴ A V 1 = - gm1 which assuming transistors are matched = 1
gm 2

A I1 = - β

Miller capacitance

CSHUNT = CBC (1 − A v ) = CBC (1 − (−1)) CSHUNT = 2CBC

The miller capacitance across the input of the CE stage is double the Base collector
capacitance of Q1.
 Sheet
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Input Impedance

of Q1 at point A is

β I k.T
RIN = where gm = CQ ; VT = wherek = Boltzmansconstant= 1.3807x10-23 JK −1
gm VT q
q = Electroncharge= 1.6022x10-19C
T = Temperature in Kelvin
gm = Transconductance(mS)

Voltage Gain Av

Voltage gain of CE stage is ~ 1 (due to low output RL) so the voltage gain of the amplifier will
be from the common-base stage:

VOUT β 2 .ib2 .R L β 2 .R L RL ICQ VA VA 1

AV = = = ≈ = . = (as = rce )
VIN ib2 (β 2 + 1)rbe2 (β 2 + 1)rbe2 rbe VT ICQ VT gm

Current Gain Ai

Current gain of CB stage is ~ 1 so the current gain of the amplifier will be from the common-
emitter stage.

Current gain (Ai) = Ai of the CE stage (Ai of CB stage = 1) = β

Output Impedance

ROUT = RL

Of course as the voltage gain of the whole amplifier is dependant on the load resistor (and
ultimately rce2), then adding an active load (eg current mirror) will allow high voltage gain.
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Cascode Simulation

For comparison a common-emitter stage was simulated on ADS to measure voltage gain.

Using the HF3127B transistor array we can calculate the voltage gain of the circuit at low
frequencies. If we assume a supply voltage of 5V and a device current of 5mA, we can
calculate the value of the load resistor (We also assume that we want half the supply voltage
across the device so that VC = 2.5V).

VCC - VC 5 - 2.5
RL = = = 500Ω
ICQ 5x10 -3

Device Data V A = 50V ; VT = 25mV ; β = 100

VT 25x10 -3
AV= - gm.R L = - .R L = - .500 = 2500 in dB' s = 10 * log(2500) = 34dB
ICQ 5x10 -3

Vc - Vbe 2.5 - 0.7

Base collector bias resistor = = = 36KΩ
ICQ /β 5x10 -3 /100

At low frequencies we would expect a voltage gain of 34dB rolling off to a gain of 0dB at the fT
of the device (~ 8GHz).

Below is shown the simulation and result from ADS.

R
V_DC R3
SRC1 DC R=500 Ohm
Vdc=5.0 V
DC
DC1 I_Probe
R I_Probe1
R4
R=27000 Ohm
C

AC
B
AC
DC_Block E AC1
V_AC DC_Block1 Start=1.0 MHz
SRC4 Stop=9000 MHz
Vac=1 V HFA3127B_npn Step=
Freq=freq X2

Note a DC block is used as the AC source has a DC of 0V. During simulation the value of the
base-collector resistor was reduced to ensure IC = 5mA.
And the resulting data of voltage gain vs frequency for the single-stage common-emitter
amplifier.
 Sheet
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DC.vc2 DC.I_Probe1.i
2.289 V 5.423mA

m2 m1
freq=1.000MHz freq=1.696GHz
dB(AC.vc2)=35.944 dB(AC.vc2)=15.335
40m2

30
dB(AC.vc2)

20 m1

10

-10
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

freq, GHz

The predicted low-frequency voltage gain agrees well with our initial calculation.

However, we have not included a source resistance – this will effectively form a potential
divider with the base bulk resistor rb, and lower the voltage entering the device and hence
lowering the gain.

Now a 50-ohm resistor has been added to the ideal input voltage source.

AC
DC
AC
DC
AC1
DC1
Start=1.0 MHz
Stop=4000 MHz
Step=

V_DC R BJT_Model
SRC1 R3 BJTM2
Vdc=5 V R=500 Ohm NPN=yes Br=1e1 Cjc=3.98e-13 Re=1.848
PNP=no Ikr=5.4e-2 Vjc=9.7e-1 Rc=1.14e1
R I_Probe Bf=1.036e2 Isc=1.6e-14 Mjc=2.4e-1 Kf=0
R5 I_Probe1 Ikf=5.4e-2 Nc=1.8 Xcjc=9e-1 Af=1
R=50 Ohm Ise=1.686e-19 Var=4.5 Fc=5e-1 Kb=
Ne=1.4 Nr= Cje=2.4e-13 Ab=
V_AC Vaf=7.2e1 Tr=4e-9 Vje=8.69e-1 Fb=
SRC4 Nf= Eg=1.11 Mje=5.1e-1 Ffe=
Vdc=0.817 V Tf=10.51e-12 Is=1.84e-16 Cjs=1.15e-13 Lateral=no
Vac=1 V Xtf=2.3 Imax= Vjs=7.5e-1 AllParams=
Freq=freq Vtf=3.5 Xti=3 Mjs=0
BJT_NPN Itf=3.5e-2 Tnom= Rb=5.007e1
BJT2 Ptf=0 Nk= Irb=
Model=BJTM2 Xtb=0 Iss= Rbm=1.974
Area= Approxqb=yes Ns= RbModel=MDS
Region=
Temp=
Mode=nonlinear
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The resulting plot now shows how gain has rolled off faster due to the Miller effect.

DC.vc2 DC.I_Probe1.i
2.486 V 5.028mA

m2 m1
freq=1.000MHz freq=1.692GHz
dB(AC.vc2)=34.820 dB(AC.vc2)=8.738
40m2

30
dB(AC.vc2)

20

m1
10

0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

freq, GHz

To improve the high frequency response and stability we now add a common-base stage to
form a Cascode amplifier. The common-base stage is biased in saturation and therefore there
will be little voltage drop across the collector-emitter junction.

AC
DC
AC
AC1 DC
Start=1.0 MHz DC1
Stop=4000 MHz
Step= V_DC R
SRC1 R3
Vdc=5 V R=500 Ohm

I_Probe
BJT_Model
I_Probe1
BJTM2
NPN=yes Br=1e1 Cjc=3.98e-13 Re=1.848
BJT_NPN
PNP=no Ikr=5.4e-2 Vjc=9.7e-1 Rc=1.14e1
V_DC BJT3
Bf=1.036e2 Isc=1.6e-14 Mjc=2.4e-1 Kf=0
SRC5 Model=BJTM2
Ikf=5.4e-2 Nc=1.8 Xcjc=9e-1 Af=1
Vdc=3 V Area=
Ise=1.686e-19 Var=4.5 Fc=5e-1 Kb=
Region=
Ne=1.4 Nr= Cje=2.4e-13 Ab=
R Temp=
Vaf=7.2e1 Tr=4e-9 Vje=8.69e-1 Fb=
R5 Mode=nonlinear
Nf= Eg=1.11 Mje=5.1e-1 Ffe=
R=50 Ohm
Tf=10.51e-12 Is=1.84e-16 Cjs=1.15e-13 Lateral=no
Xtf=2.3 Imax= Vjs=7.5e-1 AllParams=
V_AC Vtf=3.5 Xti=3 Mjs=0
SRC4 Itf=3.5e-2 Tnom= Rb=5.007e1
Vdc=0.817 V Ptf=0 Nk= Irb=
Vac=1 V Xtb=0 Iss= Rbm=1.974
Freq=freq Approxqb=yes Ns= RbModel=MDS
BJT_NPN
BJT2
Model=BJTM2
Area=
Region=
Temp=
Mode=nonlinear
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The red plot shows the voltage gain of the CE stage showing that the gain of the first stage is
now a lot lower than the single CE stage amplifier. The blue plot shows the new voltage gain
response of the Cascode amplifier and at marker 2 (1.69GHz) the gain has improved from
8.7dB to 12.6dB, as the Milller effect has been reduced.

DC.vc2 DC.I_Probe1.i
2.528 V 4.944mA

m1 m2
freq=1.000MHz freq=1.692GHz
dB(AC.vc2)=34.935 dB(AC.vc2)=12.631
40 m1

30
dB(AC.vc1)
dB(AC.vc2)

20
m2
10

0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

freq, GHz