THE BIPOLAR TRANSISTOR

TRANSISTORS
A tr ansi stor can be used as an ampl i fi er
to contr ol el ectr i c motor speed such as AC
bl ower motor s, or as sol i d state swi tches
to contr ol actuator s such as fuel i njector s.
Thi s chapter wi l l cover each of the
fol l owi ng four ar eas:
Transistor Operation
Transistor Applications
Transistor Gain
I ntegrated Circuits
Tr ansi stor s ar e made fr om the same N-
type and P-type mater i al s as di odes and
empl oy the same pr i nci pl es. Tr ansi stor s,
however , have two PN juncti ons i nstead
of just one l i ke a di ode has. The two PN
juncti ons al l ow
a tr ansi stor to per for m mor e functi ons
than
a di ode, such as acti ng as a swi tch or an
ampl i fi er .
The bi pol ar tr ansi stor i s made up of thr ee
parts: the emi tter, the base and the
col l ector . Ther e ar e two types of bi pol ar
tr ansi stor s: the PNP and the NPN. I n the
PNP tr ansi stor the emi tter i s made fr om
P-type materi al , the base i s N-type
mater i al and the col l ector i s P-type
mater i al . For the PN tr ansi stor to
operate, the emi tter must be connected to
posi ti ve, the base to negati ve and the
col l ector to negati ve.
The NPN tr ansi stor has an emi tter made
fr om N-type mater i al . I ts base i s P-type
mater i al and the col l ector i s N-type
mater i al . For the NPN tr ansi stor to
operate, the emi tter must be connected to
negati ve, the base to posi ti ve and the
col l ector to posi ti ve Asi de fr om the way i n
whi ch the NPN and PNP tr ansi stor s ar e
connected i n the ci r ca they oper ate the
same way. Both tr ansi stor have a for war d
bi ased juncti on and a r ever se bi ased
juncti on, and thr ee par ts-the emi tter , the
base and the col l ector -for med i n a thr ee-
l ayer ar r angement
TRANSISTORS

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Cur r ent fl ow between the emi tter and
base contr ol s the cur r ent fl ow between the
emi tter and col l ector . The emi tter of the
transi stor i s the most heavi l y doped so i t
has the most excess el ectr ons or hol es,
dependi ng on whether the emi tter i s P-
type or N-type mater i al . The col l ector i s
doped sl i ghtl y l ess than the emi tter and
the base i s very thi n wi th the fewest
dopi ng atoms. As a r esul t of thi s type of
dopi ng, the cur r ent fl ow i n the emi tter -
col l ector i s much gr eater than i n the
emi tter -base. By r egul ati ng the cur r ent at
the emi tter -base juncti on, the amount of
cur r ent al l owed to pass fr om the emi tter
to the col l ector can be contr ol l ed.
The symbol s for both PNP and NPN
tr ansi stor s ar e ver y si mi l ar . The
di sti ngui shi ng featur e i s the ar r ow,
whi ch i s al ways l ocated i n the emi tter
and al ways poi nts i n the di r ecti on of
conventi onal cur r ent fl ow. The base i s
par t of the symbol whi ch l ooks l i ke a "T"
and the r emai ni ng l i ne, opposi te the
emi tter , i s the col l ector . I n the symbol for
a PNP tr ansi stor the ar r ow i n the emi tter
poi nts towar d the center so the cur r ent
fl ow i s fr om emi tter to base and fr om
emi tter to col l ector . I n the NPN tr ansi stor
the ar r ow
i n the emi tter poi nts away fr om the
center so the cur r ent fl ow i s fr om the base
to emi tter and from the col l ector to
emi tter .
One of the most common uses of a
tr ansi stor i n an automobi l e i s as a
swi tch. Swi tchi ng tr ansi stor s can be
found i n sol i d state contr ol modul es and
computer s. They contr ol devi ces on the
car such as the fuel i njector i n an EFI car
or a mechani cal r el ay that oper ates the
r etr act motor on a car wi th r etr actabl e
headl i ghts. When an NPN tr ansi stor i s
used as a swi tch, the emi tter of the
tr ansi stor i s gr ounded and the base i s
connected to posi ti ve. I f the vol tage i s
r emoved fr om the base, no cur r ent fl ows
from the emi tter to the col l ector and the
tr ansi stor i s off. When the base i s for war d
bi ased by a l ar ge enough vol tage, cur r ent
wi l l fl ow fr om the emi tter to the col l ector .
Essenti al l y, the tr ansi stor i s bei ng used to
contr ol a l ar ge cur r ent wi th a smal l
cur r ent l i ke a star ter r el ay. A smal l
amount of cur r ent to the r el ay wi l l
compl ete a ci r cui t so a l ar ge cur r ent can
fl ow.
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TRANSISTOR GAIN
We know that the cur r ent fl ow between
the emi tter and base contr ol s the cur r ent
fl ow between the emi tter and col l ector .
Al so, the amount of cur r ent fl ow between
the emi tter and base wi l l affect the
amount of emi tter col l ector cur r ent. The
r ati o between these two cur r ents i s
known as the "gai n" of the tr ansi stor .
Thi s gai n al l ows us to use a tr ansi stor to
contr ol a l ar ge cur r ent wi th a ver y smal l
cur r ent si mi l ar to the way a r el ay
oper ates. Exampl e shown: i f a tr ansi stor
had a gai n of 100 and the emi tter-base
cur r ent was i ncr eased by 10 mi l l i amps or
.01 amps, the emi tter col l ector cur r ent
woul d i ncr ease by 100 ti mes or 1 amp.
Thi s type of i ncr ease wi l l occur unti l the
tr ansi stor r eached satur ati on. Thi s i s the
poi nt wher e i ncr easi ng the emi tter -base
cur r ent does not i ncr ease the emi tter -
col l ector cur r ent. Tr ansi stor s used for
swi tchi ng usual l y oper ate at the
satur ati on poi nt when tur ned on, whi l e
tr ansi stor s that ar e used for ampl i fi er s
oper ate i n the r ange between off and
satur ati on.
Another appl i cati on for a tr ansi stor i s
ampl i fi cati on. Thi s si tuati on takes
advantage of the rel ati onshi p between the
emi tter base cur r ent and the emi tter -
col l ector cur r ent. Si nce a smal l change i n
cur r ent fl owi ng thr ough the tr ansi stor
from the emi tter to the base has a
pr opor ti onal l y l ar ger effect on the
emi tter -col l ector cur r ent, we can use
tr ansi stor s to i ncr ease the str ength of a
smal l si gnal i n a r adi o or to pr ovi de a
var i abl e contr ol for a motor .
On some Toyota model s, tr ansi stor s ar e
bei ng used to provi de vari abl e speed
contr ol such as the AC bl ower motor on
the Cr essi da and the el ectr i c motor that
r uns the power steer i ng pump on the 1991
MR2. By var yi ng the emi tter -base cur r ent
of the tr ansi stor , the cur r ent fl owi ng
thr ough the motor can be var i ed, ther eby
var yi ng the motor speed.
TRANSISTORS

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INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
An i ntegr ated ci r cui t (I C) i s nothi ng
mor e than many tr ansi stor s, di odes,
capaci tor s and r esi stor s connected
together wi th conductor s and pl aced on a
si ngl e si l i con chi p. A si ngl e I C i s a
system wi thi n a system, wi th sever al to
sever al thousand el ectr i cal ci r cui ts bui l t
i nto or onto a sever al -squar emi l l i meter
si l i con chi p i n a cer ami c or pl asti c
package. The advantages of the I C ar e the
si ze and l ow cost of mass pr oducti on
al ong wi th l ow power consumpti on and
r el i abi l i ty. An I C can be anythi ng fr om
si mpl e l ogi c gate to a mi cr opr ocessor to
al most a compl ete computer on a chi p.
I Cs ar e mor e r el i abl e than non-
i ntegr ated ci r cui ts because al l the
el ements can be bui l t i nto and onto a
si ngl e si l i con chi p, ther eby r educi ng
contact juncti ons. I n addi ti on, the
number of components i s r educed.
I Cs ar e cl assi fi ed by the number of par ts
i ncl uded on one chi p. The Smal l Scal e
I ntegrati on (SSI ) I C has about 100
el ements; the Medi um Scal e I ntegr ati on
(MSI ) I C has 100 to 1,000 el ements; the
Lar ge Scal e I ntegr ati on (LSI ) I C has
10,000 to 100,000 el ements; and the Very
Lar ge Scal e I ntegr ati on (VLSI ) I C has
more than 100,000 el ements.
Taken wi th per mi ssi on fr om the Toyota
Advanced El ectr i cal Cour se#672
TRANSISTORS

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TRANSISTORS

ASSIGNMENT NAME:
1. Descri be the basi c constructi on of a Bi pol ar Transi stor.
2. Draw a PNP Transi stor and l abel i ts parts.
3 Expl ai n the two current paths of a bi pol ar transi stor.
4. Expl ai n the purpose of the arrow on the emi tter and why i s the di recti on of i t
i mportant.
5. I f the arrow on the emi tter i s poi nti ng toward the base. What type of transi stor i s
i t and what vol tage si gnal (posi ti ve or negati ve) i s needed to the base i n order to
forward bi as the transi stor?
6. Expl ai n and provi de an exampl e of transi stor gai n.
7. Descri be what an i ntegrated ci rcui t i s.