EXPERIMENT
DARLINGTON CONNECTION AND
CASCODE AMPLIFIER CIRCUITS
OBJECTIVES
1. To measure DC and AC voltages in Darlington and Cascode connection circuits.
EQUIPMENT REQUIRED
Oscilloscope
DMM
Function Generator
DC Supply
COMPONENTS
Resistors
(1) 100
(1) 51
, 1 W
(1) 1.8 K
(1) 4.7 K
(1) 5.6 K
(1) 6.8 K
(1) 100 K
(1) 1 K
(1) 50 K potentiometer
Transistors
(2) 2N3904 or
(2) 2N5551 or
(2) 2N4401 or
Any Equivalent FET
Capacitors
(1) 0.001 F
(4) 10
F
(1) TIP120 or
(1) TIP 102 or
(1) TIP 112 or
Any Equivalent NPN Darlington
RESUME OF THEORY
Darlington Circuit: A Darlington connection, as shown in Figure 5.1, provides a pair of BJT
transistors in a single IC package with effective beta ( D) equal to the product of the individual
transistor betas.
D 1 2
Equation 5.1
The Darlington emitter-follower has higher input impedance than that of an emitter-follower. The
Darlington emitter-follower input impedance is
ZI
Equation 5.2
RB
D RE
The output impedance of the Darlington emitter-follower is
Z O re
Equation 5.3
The voltage gain of a Darlington emitter-follower circuit is
AV
Equation 5.4
RE
RE re
Cascode Circuit: A cascode circuit, as shown in Figure 5.2, provides a common-emitter
amplifier using Q1 directly connected to a common-base amplifier using Q2. The voltage gain of
stage Q1 is approximately 1, with the voltage VO1 being opposite in polarity to that applied as VI.
AV 1 1
Equation 5.5
The voltage gain of stage Q2 is non-inverted and of magnitude
AV 2
RC
re2
Equation 5.6
Resulting in an overall gain
AV AV 1 AV 2 RC re2
Equation 5.7
PROCEDURES
Part 1. Darlington Emitter-Follower Circuit
a. For the circuit of Figure 5.1, calculate the DC bias voltages and currents.
Figure 5.1
(calculated)
(calculated)
VB = _9.9992 V_
VE = _8.599 V__
Calculate the theoretical values of voltage gain, input and output impedance.
(calculated)
(calculated)
(calculated)
AV = _0.9999__
ZI = 49.995k_
ZO = 15.42m_
(calculated)
(calculated)
IB = 16.861nA
IE = 168.6A
Calculate the base and emitter DC currents.
Calculate the values of transistor beta at this Q-point:
(calculated)
D = 10,000
b. Apply an input signal VSIG=1V, peak at f= 10 KHz. Using the oscilloscope, observe and
record the output voltage to assure that the signal is not clipped or distorted. (Reduce
the input signal amplitude if necessary.)
(measured)
(measured)
VI = 3.97 V
VO = 9.413 V
(calculated)
AV = 2.370 V
Calculate and record the AC voltage gain.
AV
VO
VI
Part 2. Darlington Input and Output Impedance
a. Calculate the input impedance.
(calculated)
ZI = __50k__
(calculated)
ZO = 0.0154_
Calculate the circuit output impedance
b. Connect a measurement resistor. RX=100 K, in series with VSIG. Measure and record
input voltage, VI.
(measured)
Calculate the circuit input impedance using
VI = ___1 V___
VI
VSIG VI
Z I RX
(calculated)
ZI = __50k__
Remove measurement resistor, RX.
c. Measure the output voltage VO with no load connectedSSSsssseee
(measured)
VO = _9.408 V__
Connect load resistor, RL=100 . Measure and record resulting output voltage (V O =
VL).
(measured)
VO = __10 V___
(calculated)
ZO = __-5.92_
Calculate the circuit output impedance using
VO VL
VL
Z O RL
Compare the calculated and measured values of ZI and ZO.
They have large difference_______________________________________________
Part 3. Cascode Amplifier
a.
a.
a.
a.
Calculate DC bias voltages and currents in the cascode amplifier of Figure 5.2 (assuming
base currents are less than the voltage divider current.)
Figure 5.2
Applied Formulas:
AV AV 1 AV 2
AV 1
RC
(common-emitter)
re
IE=DIB
VB=VE+VBE=VCC-IBRE
D= (1)(2)
IB=_VCC-VBE_
RB+DRE
Zi=RB//(ri+DRE)
Zo= ri//D
VE=IERE
Av= _RE+DRE__
DC Formulas:
ri+(RE+DRE)
AC Formulas:
VB1=VCC[R3/ (R1+R2+R3)]
VE1=VB1-VBE
AV1 -1
Av2 RC/re
IE1=VE1/RE IC=IE2
I3=VB1/R3= 1
VC1=VE2=VCC-I1R1-VBE2
VB2=I1(R2+R3)
VC2= VCC-ICRC
re1= re2 = 25mV/IE2
(calculated)
(calculated)
(calculated)
(calculated)
(calculated)
(calculated)
VB1
VE1
VC1
VB2
VE2
VC2
= _5.497 V_
= _4.097 V_
= 10.647 V_
= 11.345 V_
= 10.647 V_
= 12.625 V_
Calculate the DC bias emitter currents.
(calculated)
(calculated)
IE1 = 4.097 mA_
IE2 = 4.097 mA_
(calculated)
re1 = _6.346 _
Calculate the transistor dynamic resistances.
(calculated)
re2 = _6.346 _
b. Connect the cascode circuit of Figure 5.2. Measure and record DC bias voltages.
(measured)
(measured)
(measured)
(measured)
(measured)
(measured)
VB1
VE1
VC1
VB2
VE2
VC2
= _5.347 V_
= _4.643 V_
= 11.167 V_
= 11.874 V_
= 11.167 V_
= _8.253 V_
Calculate the values of emitter current.
(calculated)
(calculated)
IE1 = 4.097 mA_
IE2 = 4.097 mA_
(calculated)
(calculated)
re1 = _6.346 _
re2 = _6.346 _
And the values of dynamic resistances.
c. Using Equations 5.5 and 5.6, calculate the AC voltage gain of each transistor stage:
(calculated)
(calculated)
AV1 = __-1____
AV2 = _283.64_
d. Apply input signal, VSIG=10mV, peak at f=10KHz. Using the oscilloscope, observe
the output waveform VO to make sure that no signal distortion occurs. If the output is
clipped or distorted, reduce the input signal until the clipping or distorting disappears.
Using the DMM measure, record the AC signals.
(measured)
(measured)
(measured)
VI = __20 mV_
VO1 = __12 mV_
VO2 = __1.8 mV_
(calculated)
(calculated)
(calculated)
AV1 = __-1____
AV2 = _283.64_
AV = -283.64_
Calculate the measured voltage gains.
Compare the measured voltage gains with those calculated in step c and d.
They have large difference_______________________________________________
e. Using the oscilloscope, observe and record waveforms for the input signal, VI, output
of stage 1, VO1, and output of stage 2, VO2. Show amplitude and phase relations
clearly.
