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TRANSISTORS (Current controlled device)
Transistor is a solid state device whose operation depends on the flow of electric charge
carriers within the solid. The term transistor was derived from the words TRANSfer and
resISTOR. It best describes the operation of the transistor - the transfer of an input signal
current from a low-resistance path to a high-resistance path.
Transistor-BJT:-The current conduction in transistor is due to both minority and majority
carriers.
Advantages
1. Smaller in size and light weight.
2. Low operating voltages <12v
3. Consume little power resulting in greater circuit efficiency.
4. Long life with no aging effect.
5. They are essentially shock proof.
Disadvantages
1. Loud hum noise
2. Restricted operating temperature and frequency.
Classification

Transistors are classified as either NPN or PNP according to the arrangement of their N
and P materials.
An NPN transistor is formed by introducing a thin region of P-type material between two regions
of N-type material.




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A PNP transistor is formed by introducing a thin region of N-type material between two regions
of P-type material.
Transistors constructed in this manner have 3 terminals and 2 PN junctions.
The terminals are
1. Emitter : The main function is to supply majority charge carriers to the base. The emitter
is always forward biased w.r.to base so that it is able to supply majority carriers to the
base. The emitter is heavily doped so that it may be able to inject a large number of chrge
carriers.
2. Collector: The main function is to collect majority charge carriers. Collector is always
reverse biased so as to remove the charge carriers away from its junction with the base. It
is moderately doped.
3. Base: It is very lightly doped and is very thin in comparison to either emitter or collector
so that it may pass most of the injected charge carriers to the collector.
The two PN junctions are
1. One PN junction is between the emitter and the base;
2. The other PN junction is between the collector and the base.
The two outer regions of a transistor are of same material but have different physical and
electrical properties.
The direction of the arrow on the emitter distinguishes the NPN from the PNP transistor.
If the arrow points in, the transistor is a PNP. On the other hand if the arrow points out, the
transistor is an NPN. The arrow always points from the P to N sections.
THREE REGIONS OF OPERATION OF A TRANSISTOR(Operating regions)
The process of applying dc voltages across the different terminals of a transistor is called
biasing. In terms of junction biasing the regions of operation of a transistor are
Active Region
The emitter-base junction is forward biased and the collector-base junction is reverse
biased. The transistor is on. The collector current is proportional to and controlled by the
base current
B C
I I and relatively insensitive to
CE
V . In this region the transistor can
act as an amplifier.

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Saturation Region
With both junctions forward-biased, the BJT is in saturation mode. Here the base current
has increased beyond the point where it can cause the collector current to increase. In
saturation, the transistor appears as a near short circuit between the collector and emitter
terminals.
In saturation, the following behavior is noted:
V
ce
<=0.2V. This is known as the saturation voltage, or Vce(sat)
I
b
>0, and Ic >0
V
be
>=0.7V
Cutoff Region
In cutoff both junctions are reverse biased. Whenever we observe the terminals of a BJT
and see that the emitter-base junction is not at least 0.6-0.7 volts, the transistor is in the
cutoff region. In cutoff, the transistor appears as an open circuit between the collector and
emitter terminals.
In cutoff, the following behavior is noted:
I
b
=0 (no base current)
I
c
=0 (no collector current)
V
be
<0.7V (emitter-base junction is not forward biased)
Using the two states of cutoff and saturation, the transistor may be used as a switch.
EB CB REGION OF
OPERATION
APPLICATION
Forward biased Reverse biased Active amplifier
Forward biased Forward biased Saturation switch
Reverse biased Forward biased Inverted Poor performance
Reverse biased Reverse biased Cut off Switch

TRANSISTOR BASICS
A forward-biased PN junction is comparable to a low-resistance circuit element because
it passes a high current for a given voltage. In turn, a reverse-biased PN junction is comparable
to a high-resistance circuit element. By using the Ohm's law formula for power (P =I
2
R) and
assuming current is held constant, the power developed across a high resistance is greater than
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that developed across a low resistance. Thus, a low-power signal could be injected into the
forward-biased junction and produce a high-power signal at the reverse-biased junction. In this
manner, a power gain would be obtained across the crystal. This is the basic theory behind how
the transistor amplifies.
NPN TRANSISTOR OPERATION
NPN transistor is preffered due to its high response
Unbiased transistors
When no battery is connected between different terminals of a transistor, the transistor is
said to be in unbiased state/open state.

Under these conditions diffusion of free electrons across the junction produces two
depletion layers. That is free electrons in the N region diffuse into P region and combines with
holes and produce negatively charged ions in the P-type material. Similarly positively charged
ions in the P-type material. This creates barrier potential.
The depletion region which are formed extend in to the semiconductor material as a function of
the doping levels.
It extends deeply into the lightly
doped regions and slightly in to the
heavily doped regions.
Working with External bias
For normal operation the emitter-
base junction is always forward-biased
while the collector-base junction is always
reverse biased.(ACTIVE REGION)
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The forward bias at the emitter base junction reduces the barrier potential and narrows the
depletion region. However relatively lightly doped base and collector regions produce a wide
depletion region under the reverse bias. The effective base width between the two depletion
region is very narrow.
Electrons are injected into the emitter region by the emitter base supply V
EB
. These
electrons have enough energy to overcome the emitter-base barrier potential. The injected
electrons enter very thin lightly doped base region. The electrons are minority carriers in the P-
type base region. Because the base is very lightly doped only a few of the electrons recombine
with the holes in the base.
Injected electrons diffuse into collector region due to extremely small thickness of base.
Most of the electrons cross into the collector region. Collector is reverse biased and creates a
strong electrostatic field between base and collector. The field immediately collects the diffused
electrons which enter the collector junction. Flow of electrons into the base region when met
with the holes, a few electrons (1 to 5 %) combine and neutralize, and rest of the electrons (95 to
99%) diffuse into the collector region and collected by the collector electrode. To maintain base
neutrality, base provides equal number of electrons which have combined with the holes and
results in a base current. Thus the emitter current I
E
is equal to the sum of collector current I
C
and
base current I
B
.
B C E
I I I
The ratio of collector current I
C
to the emitter current I
E
is called and it is a measure of
the possible current amplification factor.

E
C
I
I

Since both of the charge carriers are involved in the current flow through a transistor,
these devices are called bipolar junction transistors (BJTs).
TRANSISTOR CIRCUIT CONFIGURATIONS
Transistor is a three terminal device but we require four terminals- two for input and two
for output for connecting it in a circuit. Hence one of the terminals of the transistor is made
common to input and output. Thus there are three basic configurations.
1. Common Base (CB),
2. Common Emitter (CE), and
3. Common Collector (CC).
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The term common is used to denote the terminal that is common to input and output circuits.
Since the common terminal is usually grounded, these configurations are also referred to as
grounded base, grounded emitter and grounded collector configurations.
Regardless of the configurations the emitter is always forward biased and collector is
always reverse biased.





COMMON BASE (CB) CONFIGURATION
In common base configuration, input is connected between emitter and base, and output is taken
across the collector and base.
In this arrangement the emitter base junction is
forward biased and collector base junction is
reverse biased. The emitter current
E
I flows in
the input circuit and collector current
C
I flows in
the output circuit. A change in the emitter current
produces similar change in collector current due
to change in diffusion of electrons or holes across
the junctions. The impedances of the two circuits
are different and thus some voltage and power
gains can be achieved since a current variation in the low resistance emitter-base circuit has
similar variations in the high resistance collector-base circuit.
The ratio of collector current
C
I to the emitter current
E
I

is called the current amplification factor
. . If there is no input ac signal then the ratio of IC to IE is called dc alpha
dc
.
Then
E
C
dc
I
I

There is also an ac alpha for a transistor and it refers to the ratio of change in collector current to
the change in emitter current
ac
.

E
C
ac
I
I

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of a transistor is a measure of its quality. Higher the value of better is the transistor in the
sense that
C
I approaches
E
I . Its value ranges from 0.95 to 0.99. The value of can be increased
by making base thin and lightly doped.
Collector current consists of 2 parts.
1. A fraction of emitter current which reaches the collector.
2. Normal reverse current
CO
I .

CO E C
I I I
where
E
I is the fraction of emitter current that reaches the collector region and
CO
I is the
normal reverse leakage current due to movement of minority carriers across the collector base
junction. .

CO E CO E E C E B
I I I I I I I I 1
COMMON EMITTER (CE) CONFIGURATION
This arrangement is the most frequently used one in practical amplifier circuits, since it
provides good voltage, current, and power
gain.
Since the input signal is applied to the base-
emitter circuit and the output is taken from
the collector-emitter circuit, the emitter is
the element common to both input and
output.
In this configuration, bias voltages are
applied between collector and emitter and
base and emitter. Emitter base junction is
forward biased and the base is made more positive than the emitter by
BB
V . Collector-
emitter junction is reversed biased and the collector is made more positive than emitter
by
CC
V . The value of
CC
V must be greater than that of
BB
V .
The base current
B
I flows in the input circuit and collector current
C
I flows in the output
circuit.
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The current gain in the common-emitter circuit is called BETA . Beta is the relationship
of collector current (output current) to base current (input current).
The ratio of change in collector current and change in base current is called the base
current amplification factor .
i.e.
ac
=
B
C
I
I

Similarly
dc
or simply =
B
C
I
I

Almost in all transistors, the base current is less than 5% of emitter current, so is
usually higher than 20. Usually ranges from 20 to 100.This means that a change in base
current produces a change in collector current which is times as large.
Relationship Between and
=
B
C
I
I

We know that I
E
=I
B
+I
C
; From this I
B
= I
E
I
C
------------------- --(1)
Therefore,
C E
C
I I
I

Divide throughout by I
E
we get,

1
1
E
C
E
C
I
I
I
I
------------------------ (2)
In CE configuration, a small collector current flows even when base current is zero. This is the
collector cut-off current or reverse current and denoted by I
CEO
. I
CEO
must be larger than I
CBO
.
The equations for collector current is

CBO C B CBO E C
I I I I I I ) ( ;
C B E
I I I
or
CBO B C
I I I ) 1 (
or

1 1
CBO
B C
I
I I --------------------------(3)
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and total collector current,

CEO B C
I I I -----------------------(4)
Comparing (3) and (4) we have,

1

Also
CBO CEO
I I

1
1

From the above equation (1- ) =
= (1+ )

1

COMMON COLLECTOR (CC) CONFIGURATION
In this circuit arrangement, input is
applied between base and collector
while the output is taken across
emitter and collector.
Thus the collector forms the terminal
common to both input and output
circuits.
In this arrangement the base current
I
B
flows in the input circuit and
emitter current I
E
flows in the output
circuit.
Change in emitter current (I
E) to the change in base current ( I
B
) gives the current
amplification factor . The circuit provides nearly same current gain as in case of CE
arrangement.
The CC arrangement gives very high input impedance and very low output impedance
and therefore its voltage gain is always less than unity.
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Hence this configuration is seldom used for amplification. However, owing to relatively
high input impedance and low output impedance, this configuration is primarily used for
impedance matching i.e. for driving low impedance from a high impedance source. This
configuration is also called emitter follower.
Current gain
B
E
I
I

The relationship between , and
We know that

B C E
I I I
From this
C E B
I I I

C E
E
I I
I




Divide through out by Ic we get
1

C
E
C
E
I
I
I
I

1 )
1
(
1

1
1
1

1
1
1

CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMON EMITTER CONFIGURATION:
The circuit used for determination of transistor common emitter characteristics is shown below.
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Fig : Circuit arrangement for determination of input and output characteristics of a transistor in
CE configuration.
Input Characteristics
The curve drawn between base current I
B
and base-emitter voltage V
BE
for a given value
of V
CE
is known as the input characteristic.
For determination of input characteristics, collectoremitter voltage V
CE is held constant
and base current I
B
is recorded for
different values of base-emitter voltage
V
BE
.
i. The input characteristics of CE
transistors are quite similar to those of a
forward biased diode because the base-
emitter region of the transistor is a diode
and it is for forward biased.
ii. Base current increases less rapidly with
the increase in base-emitter voltage V
BE
.
This indicates that input resistance is
larger in CE configuration. Due to initial
nonlinearity of the curve, input resistance
varies from point-to-point in the initial
part of the characteristic. Its value over
the linear part of the curve is of the order
of few hundred ohms.
iii. An increment in value of V
CE
causes the input current I
B
to be lower for a given level of
V
BE
. This is because the higher levels of V
CE
provide greater collector-base junction
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reverse bias, causing greater depletion region penetration into the base and thus reducing
the distance between the collector-base and emitter-base regions. Thus width of base
region again reduces, also the recombination. As a result more charge carriers from the
emitter flows across the collector-base junction, and few of flow out through the base
lead.
Dynamic input Resistance: The ratio of change in base-emitter voltage (V
BE
) to the
resulting change in base current (I
B
) at constant collector-emitter voltage (V
CE
) is
known as the dynamic input resistance
in
r . It is calculated as the reciprocal of the slope
of the input characteristics at a given V
BE
.
i.e.,
in
r
=
B
BE
I
V

,
CE
V
=constant
Its value is of the order of 800K.
Output characteristics
The curve drawn between collector current I
C
and collector-emitter voltage V
CE
for a
given value of base current I
B
is known as the output characteristic.
For determination of CE output characteristics, base current I
B
is maintained constant
at several convenient levels. At each fixed levels of I
B
, collector emitter voltage V
CE
is adjusted in steps, and the corresponding values of collector current I
C
is noted. For
each value of I
B
, I
C
is plotted versus V
CE
.

Fig: Output characteristics for CE NPN transistor.
i. The collector current I
C
varies with V
CE
for V
CE
between 0 and 1V and then becomes
almost constant and independent of V
CE
. The transistors are always operated above
1V.
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ii. Output characteristics in CE configuration have some slope. This indicates that output
resistance in the case of CE configuration is less.
iii. In active region, for small values of base current the effect of collector voltage V
C

over I
C
is small but for large values of I
B
this effect increases. Collector current I
C
is
larger than input current I
B
. So the current gain for this configuration is larger than
unity. The transistor must always be operated in the active region, when employed as
an amplifying device.
iv. Saturation region: With low values of V
CE
the transistor is said to be operated in
saturation region and in this region base current I
B
doesnt cause a corresponding
change in collector current.
v. With much higher V
CE
, the collector-base junction completely breaks down and
because of this avalanche breakdown collector current I
C
increase rapidly and the
transistor get damaged.
vi. In cut-off region, small amount of collector current I
C
flows even when base current
I
B
=0. This is called I
CEO
. Since main current I
C
is zero, transistor is said to be cut-off.
vii. Moderate output to input impedance ratio makes this configuration an ideal one for
coupling between various transistor stages.
viii. Dynamic output resistance: The ratio of change in collector-emitter voltage (V
CE
) to
the change in collector current (I
C
) at constant base current is known as dynamic
output resistance. It is calculated as the reciprocal of the slope of output characteristic
at a given I
B
.
i.e.
C
CE
o
I
V
r

,
B
I
constant.
Its value is of the order of 50K.
DC current gain,
B
C
I
I


AC current gain,
B
C
I
I
ac

,
CE
V
constant.
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Comparison of characteristics of transistors in different configurations
Characteristics Common Base Common Emitter Common Collector
Input impedance low(about 100)
Medium(about
800)
Very high (about
750K)
Output impedance
Very high (about
500K)
High (about 50K) Low(about 50)
Current gain
Less than unity but
usually more than 0.9
High (about 80) High (about 100)
Voltage gain About 150 About 500 Less than unity
Leakage current
Very small (5A for
Ge and 1A for Si)
Very large (500A
for Ge and 20a for
Si)
Very large
Output signal phase In phase with input reverse In phase with input
Applications
For high frequency
applications
For audio frequency
applications
For impedance
matching