Oct. 18, 1960 L
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Oct. 18, 1960 L. H. ENLOE 2,957,143 WIDEBAND TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER Filed Sept. ll, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l s INVENTOR LOUIS H. ENLOE ATTORNEYs Oct. 18, 1960 L. H. ENLOE 2,957,143 WIDEBAND TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER Filed Sept. 1, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g S S. R S. w INVENTOR OU S H. ENOE "%-4- wear ATTORNEYS24-4) 2,957,143 United States Patent EPatented Oct. 18, 1960 2 quency of the transistor when the current gain thereof in a common emitter configuration substantially equals one. Under such conditions, the gain-bandwidth product 2,957,143 is fully independent of the internal and external emitter WDEBAND TRANSSOR AMPLIFEER fesistance so that gain may be exchanged for bandwidth by adjusting the external emitter resistance. Louissearch H. Enloe,Foundation, Holmdel, Tucson, N.J., Ariz.,assignor a tocorporation Arizona Re:of The addition of the external emitter resistance when Arizona properly proportioned in value makes the total effective emitter resistance (external plus internal resistance times Filed Sept. 11, 1959, Ser. No. 839,379 10 the common emitter, low frequency, short circuit current gain factor) so large compared to the impedance level 8 Claims. (C. 330-30) of any wideband interstage as to be neglectable, while the externally added emitter capacitance in conjunction with the internal associated capacitance reduces the ef This invention relates to wideband amplifiers employ 15 fective input capacity from, say, 50 pluf. down to, say, ing transistors as the amplifying elements, and in par 0.7 up.f. Under such conditions, the input circuit looks ticular to a transistorized distributed amplifier. like a pure capacitance, but in reality, there is an unavoid The conventional techniques of wideband amplifier de able so-called “base spreading' resistance in series there sign have been explored thoroughly in recent years. They with when a connection is made to the base electrode, have shown that there is an upper limit to the gain-band 20 due to the present day inability to make that connection width product associated with a given vacuum tube or non-resistive. It is because of that resistance that one transistor type, regardless of the complexity of the inter cannot actually place any component directly across the stage coupling networks. The limit is governed pri input capacitance, as one can the internal input capaci marily by shunt capacities, associated with the respective tance of a vacuum tube. However, by adding the parallel active device, across which a voltage must be developed. 25 RC emitter circuit as above-described, the series spread This places a definite limit on the bandwidth obtainable ing resistance combines with the effective input capacity by cascading single stage amplifiers, for if the desired to produce an input conductance which increases with overall bandwidth is greater than the gain-bandwidth the Square of frequency in the same manner as that of product of the individual stages, each stage attenuates in a vacuum tube at high frequencies, the transistor input stead of amplifying. 30 impedance raises considerably, and the gain is exchanged The vacuum tube distributed amplifier can be used to for bandwidth without decreasing the gain-bandwidth obtain amplification over bandwidths in excess of the product, i.e., that product remains approximately constant, gain-bandwidth product of its vacuum tube amplifying thereby greatly increasing the bandwidth over that pro sections. The individual sections are connected together vided for by transistorized prior art circuits. A plurality in such a manner that their input and output capacities 35 of such wideband transistor amplifiers may be employed form part of an artificial transmission line. Each sec as the amplifying elements with constant-K transmission tion amplifies the voltage wave propagating down the input lines in a distributed amplifier. line. The sections are arranged so that the amplified It is, therefore, one object of this invention to provide voltages are added in phase on the output transmission in a wideband amplifier at least one transistor situated in line. Since the voltages are combined by addition, the 40 a common emitter configuration with a parallel RC cir total amplification is equal to the sum of the section cuit serially connected to its emitter electrode, the time gains rather than the product. Amplification is then constant of the RC circuit being substantially equal to possible even though the gains of the individual sections the reciprocal of the angular frequency of the transistor are less than unity. when the common emitter configuration current gain of Although it might be expected that transistors could 45 that transistor is substantially equal to one. be directly substituted for the vacuum tubes in a con It is another object of this invention to employ the ventional distributed amplifier, it has been found that transistor circuit of the foregoing object in a distributed this cannot be the case with desirable results. For wide amplifier of the constant-K type. band distributed amplifiers the natural tendency would Constant-K type non-transistorized distributed ampli be to utilize the grounded or common base transistor con 50 fiers are well-known. However, following my discovery figuration because of its high cutoff frequency. However, of the above-mentioned wideband amplifier and its the low input impedance of such a configuration places unique incorporation into a constant-K distributed am severe limitations on the impedance level of the input plifier, I discovered a constant resistance distributed line. A somewhat higher input impedance can be ob amplifier after realizing that the base spreading or lead tained in the grounded or common emitter circuit, but 55 contact resistance in the input circuit of transistors in the bandwidth of this configuration is greatly reduced. the common emitter configuration could be employed it has been suggested that the bandwidth thereof can to advantage by its corporation into a filter section. be increased at the expense of gain, by a parallel resist The resulting substantially lossless network or filter sec ance-capacitor (RC) circuit connected in series with the tion has a characteristic constant impedance which is emitter electrode for emitter degeneration purposes. If 60 resistive rather than complex, and consequently is ter the collector barrier capacitive reactance is large com minated in a resistance without any intervening match pared to the load resistance, the voltage gain contains ing network. In addition, I discovered that a constant one zero and two poles in the finite s-plane. There is resistance filter section could be made for each tran then not only an increase in bandwidth at the expense sistor output so as to form a constant resistance output of gain, but also an increase in impedance. However, 65 transmission line for a distributed amplifier. the gain-bandwidth product is not independent of the in It is, therefore, another object of this invention to ternal and external emitter resistance. After consider provide a distributed amplifier with transistorized wide able work on this problem, I discovered that a transistor, band amplifiers, as aforementioned, with the input and when connected in the common emitter configuration, output transmission lines having a characteristic imped may be made to have substantially a reactive behavior if 70 ance which is a constant resistance. the time constant of the external emitter RC circuit is Still other objects of this invention will become appar substantially equal to the reciprocal of the angular fre ent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference 2,957,148 - -- 3 4 to the following detailed description of the exemplary Each output stage or section of the amplifier of Fig embodiments of the apparatus and the appended claims. ure 1 includes two serially connected inductances 64, 66 The various features of the exemplary embodiments with the junction therebetween being coupled to the re according to the invention may be best understood with spective collector electrode 68. Since the effective out reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 5 put impedance of the transistor is capacitative, each out Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of a constant-K tran put or collector line filter, for example that within dash sistorized distributed amplifier; line 70, is effectively a T-type constant-K filter section. Figure 2 is a schematic drawing of a transistorized ... At the end remote from the termination of the input distributed amplifier with input and output transmission transmission line, i.e. at the left end of Figure 1, the lines of constant resistance; and 0. output transmission line is terminated in its charac Figure 3 is a modification of the distributed amplifier teristic impedance by resistor 72. This resistance is of Figure 2, the output transmission line being different. matched to the input impedance of the filter 70 by a half In Figure 1, there is illustrated a distributed amplifier -section series m-derived filter 74. At the output trans with N stages or sections as designated. The signal to mission line, another half section series m-derived filter be amplified is shown as having a source 10 whose 15 76 is employed between the terminating load 78 and the internal impedance is illustrated by the dotted resistor Nth section of the amplifier, the load being coupled to 2. This signal is applied across an input artificial filter 76 by a direct current blocking condenser 80. The transmission line comprising two conductors 14 and 16, characteristic impedance of load 78 is equal in value to the latter of which is shown grounded. The remote end the resistance value of resistor 72, and to the input of the input transmission line is terminated in its char 20 output impedance characteristic of each of the sectional acteristic impedance, for example by resistor 18, which collector line filters.