Amplitude distortion in transistor amplifiers

Distortion in transistor amplifiers is a very complex problem not amenable to easy solution. In this paper, an equation is found for the complete collector characteristic of a planar transistor which permits calculation of l.f. distortion when operating in each of the nonlinear regions, i.e. saturation, central and breakdown regions. Distortion due to the nonlinearity of input impedance is also calculated. Means of cancelling distortion are shown. Very good experimental verification is observed. Although the theory presented is valid only at low frequencies, the transistors used were v.h.f. types with short-circuit current gain-bandwidth products between 80 and 400 Mc/s. For reasons discussed in the paper, the results should be valid up to approximately the 1¿5 Mc/s region.