The morphing of the π equivalent-circuit model to the T equivalent circuit model is still valid if a resistor is

connected between the drain D and the source S. Hence, in fig11(a), ro can be connected to account for the Early
effect. Fig11(b) shows an alternative T model that is equivalent.

2.6 Single stage MOS amplifiers

2.6.1 Basic Configurations

Amplifier Configurations: 1) Common Source without source resistance 2) Common Source with a source
resistance 3) Common gate 4) Common drain or source follower
Common Source (CS) Amplifier
• CS is most widely used configuration
• The source is grounded, making it common between input and output.
• We can use hybrid  model.
• In multistage amplifiers, the large gain is achieved from CS stage.

Fig.11 (a) NMOS Common-Source amplifier (b) AC equivalent

Common Gate (CG) Amplifier

In CG Configuration, gate potential is at constant potential and the input signal is applied at the source terminal
and the output is produced at the drain terminal. So that increase in input voltage Vsig in positive direction
increases the negative gate source voltage. Due to ID reduces, the drop IDRD also reduces.
Since VD= VDD-IDRD, the reduction in ID results in an increase in output voltage

Figure 12(a) shows CG amplifier and figure (b) shows its small signal equivalent circuit.

By analizing the small signal equivalent circuit, the voltage gain of CG amplifier is given by,
Av = gm RD
The input impedance of CG stage is relatively low only if the load resistance connected to the drain is small.
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Common Drain (CD) Amplifier – Source Follower
In the CD Amplifier configuration, the drain terminal is at AC ground. The input is applied between the gate and
drain terminals, while the output is measured between the source and drain terminal.

Figure 13(a) shows CD amplifier and figure (b) shows its small signal equivalent circuit.

The Common Drain Amplifier has

1) High Input Impedance
2) Low Output Impedance
3) Sub-unity voltage gain
Since the output at the source terminal is following the input signal, it is also known as Source Follower.
Because of its low output impedance, it is used as a buffer for driving the low output impedance load. Since there
is a resistance RL connected to the source, it is easier to use the T-model

2.7 Characterizing amplifiers

An amplifier fed with a voltage signal having a source resistance and feeding a load resistance L. Here,
L can be load or input resistance to the succeeding stages.

Input resistance with no load

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Open circuit voltage Gain:

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2.8 Common-Source (CS) Amplifier without Source Resistance
The common-source (CS) amplifier for MOSFET is the analogue of the common emitter amplifier for BJT. Its
popularity arises from its high gain, and that by cascading a number of them, larger amplification of the signal
can be achieved. Fig. 14(a) shows the small-signal model for the CS amplifier. Here, RD is considered part of the
amplifier and is the resistance that one measures between the drain and the ground. The small-signal model can
be replaced by its hybrid-π model as shown in Fig. 14(b). Then the current induced in the output port is i =
−gmvgs as indicated by the current source. Thus

Figure 14(a) shows CV amplifier withot RS and figure (b) shows its small signal equivalent circuit.

To find the Norton equivalence resistance, one sets vi = 0, which will make the current source an open circuit
with zero current. And by the test-current method, the output resistance is
Ro = RD (4)
From the fact that Rin = ∞, then vi = vsig. The overall voltage gain, Gv, is the same as the voltage gain proper, Av,
namely,

Final Remarks on CS Amplifier

1. The CS amplifiers has infinite input impedance (draws no current at DC), and a moderately high output
resistance (easier to match for maximum power transfer), and a high voltage gain (a desirable feature of an
amplifier).
2. Reducing RD reduces the output resistance of a CS amplifier, but unfortunately, the voltage gain is also
reduced. Alternate design can be employed to reduce the output resistance.
3. A CS amplifier suffers from poor high frequency performance, as most transistor amplifiers do.

2.9 CS Amplifier with a Source Resistance

From fig.15(b), a T model is used for the equivalent circuit for simplicity. It is seen that the input resistance of
the circuit is infinite because no gate current flows. As a consequence, vi = vsig. However, because of the
existence of the source resistance, less of the input voltage is divided to vgs, by the voltage divider formula.
Thus

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 Figure 15(a) shows CG amplifier and figure (b) shows its small signal equivalent circuit.

It is seen that Rs can be used to make vgs small so that there is less nonlinear distortion as the small-signal
approximations will become better. The output voltage is generated by the controlled current source yielding

The above shows that including the source resistance reduces the amplifier gain by a factor of (1 +gmRs) but
linearity and bandwidth performance will improve. This is called negative feedback because when the input
voltage vi or vgs attempts to increase, the voltage drop across Rs increases reducing vgs. The source resistance is
also called source-degeneration resistance.
The equivalent Thevenin’s resistor is Ro which is just RD in this case. When a load resistor RL is added, then the
voltage gain is

Because the input resistance is infinite, hence vi = vsig and the overall voltage gain Gv = Av.

Summary of the CS Amplifier with Source Resistance

1. The input resistance Rin is infinite.
2. The open-circuit voltage gain, Avo, is reduced by a factor of (1 +gmRs) as seen in Eq(4).
3. For the same nonlinear distortion, the input signal can be increased by a factor of (1 +gmRs) compared to
without Rs.
4. As shall be shown later, the high-frequency response of this design is improved. In general, the addition of the
source resistance Rs gives rise to a “negative” feedback factor (1 +gmRs) that reduces voltage gain, but improves
linearity, and high-frequency response. Because of the negative-feedback action of Rs, it is also called the
source-degenerate resistance.

2.10. Common-Gate (CG) Amplifier

The small-signal and a T-model equivalent-circuit common-gate (CG) amplifier is shown in Fig. 16(b). By
inspection, the input resistance Rin is given by

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 Figure 16(a) shows CG amplifier and figure (b) shows its small signal equivalent circuit.

Meaning that the vi is attenuated compared to vsig, since Rsig is typically larger than 1/gm. When a load resistor RL
is connected to the output, the voltage gain is

As the input impedance is low, it is good for matching sources with a low input impedance due the the maximum
power theorem, but it draws more current, implying high power consumption from the signal source.
Summary of the CG Amplifier
1. The CG amplifier has a low input resistance 1/gm. This is undesirable as it will draw large current when driven
by a voltage input.
2. The voltage gain of the CG amplifier can be made similar in magnitude to that of the CS amplifier if R D||RL
can be made large compared to Rsig + 1/gm.
3. The output resistance can be made large since Ro = RD.
4. The CG amplifier has good high frequency performance as shall be shown later.
2.11 The Source Follower (Common Drain Amplifier)
This is similar to the emitter follower for the BJT, which is used as a voltage buffer. It is a unit-gain amplifier
with very large input impedance but smaller output impedance. Therefore it is good for matching a high-
impedance circuit to a low-impedance circuit or to a circuit that needs a larger supply of current.

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 Figure 17(a) shows CD (source follower) amplifier and figure (b) shows its small signal equivalent circuit.

Figure 17(a) & (b) shows the small-signal circuit and a T-model equivalent circuit diagram for a source follower.
The input source is represented by a Thevenin equivalent voltage vsig and resistor Rsig. A load resistor is
connected to the output between the source and ground. Since the gate current is zero for this circuit,
Rin = ∞ (1)
Using the voltage divider formula, it is seen that voltage gain proper or terminal voltage gain is

Since 1/gm is typically small, with large RL, the gain is less than unity, but is close to unity.
Hence, this is a source follower, because the source voltage follows the input voltage, but yet,
it can provide a larger current to the output than the input current.

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