Sudeesten Price $1.50 Transistor Manual y AN 50 (ey CORPORATION OF AMERICA. + ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS AND DEVICES, HARRISON, N. J. % Rotem eles eeCONTENTS MATERIALS, JUNCTIONS, AND DEVICES Semiconductor Materials, P-N Junctions, Current Flow, N- -P- N and P-N-P Structures, Types of Devices TRANSISTOR DESIGNS AND CIRCUIT CONFIGURATIONS Design and Fabrication, Basic Circuits TRANSISTOR CHARACTERISTICS TRANSISTOR APPLICATIONS Biasing, Coupling, Circuit Stability, Amplification, Oscillation, Switching SILICON RECTIFIERS ‘Thermal Considerations, Reverse Characteristics, Ratings, Heat Sinks, Series and Parallel Arrangements, Qverload Protection, Applications SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIERS. Construction, Current-Voltage Characteristics, Maximum Rat- ings, Triggering Characteristics, Overload Protection, Series Ar- rangement, Power Control, Current Ratios TUNNEL, VARACTOR, AND OTHER DIODES Tunnel Diodes, High-Current Tunnel Diodes, Varactor Diodes, Voltage-Reference Diodes, Compensating Diodes TRANSISTOR INSTALLATION Blectrical Connections, Testing, Temperature Hffects, Heat Sinks, Shielding, Dress of Circuit Leads, Filters INTERPRETATION OF DATA SELECTION CHARTS TECHNICAL DATA OUTLINES CIRCUITS RCA TECHNICAL PUBLICATIONS READING LIST .............. INDEX .. 10 4 18 49 59 76 79 82 87 332 342 378 381 382 RCA Transistor Manual This manual, like its preceding edition, has been prepared to assist those who work or experiment with semiconductor devices and circuits. It will be useful to engineers, educators, students, radio amateurs, hobby- ists, and others technically interested in tran- sistors, silicon rectifiers, silicon controlled rectifiers, varactor diodes, and tunnel diodes. This edition has been thoroughly re- vised to cover the latest changes in semi- conductor-device technology and applications. The TECHNICAL DATA Section, as well as the text material, has been greatly expanded and brought up to date. Of particular interest to the hobbyist and experimenter are the many practical and timely additions to the CIRCUITS Section. RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA Electronic Components and Devices Harrison, New JerseyINFORMATION FURNISHED BY RCA IS BELIEVED TO BE ACCURATE AND RELIABLE. HOWEVER, NO RE- SPONSIBILITY IS ASSUMED BY RCA FOR ITS USE; NOR FOR ANY INFRINGEMENTS OF PATENTS OR OTHER RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES WHICH MAY RESULT FROM ITS USE. NO LICENSE IS. GRANTED BY IMPLI- CATION OR OTHERWISE UNDER ANY PATENT OR PATENT RIGHTS OF RCA. Copyright 1964 by RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA (All rights reserved) 6-64 Trade Mark(s) Registered Printed in US.A. Marea(s) Registrada(s) Materials, Junctions, and Devices EMICONDUCTOR devices are } small but versatile units that can perform an amazing variety of con- trol functions in electronic equipment. Like other electron devices, they have the ability to control almost instantly the movement of charges of clec- tricity. They are used as rectifiers, detectors, amplifiers, oscillators, electronie switches, mixers, and modulators. In addition, semiconductor devices have many important advantages over other types of electron devices. They are very small and light in weight (some are less than an inch long and weigh just a fraction of an ounce). They have no filaments or heaters, and therefore require no heating power or warm-up time. They consume very little power. They are solid in construction, extremely rugged, free from microphonics, and can be made impervious to many se- vere environmental conditions. The circuits required for their operation are usually simple. SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS Unlike other electron devices, which depend for their functioning on the flow of electric charges through a vacuum or a gas, semiconductor de- vices make use of the flow of current in a solid. In general, all materials may be classified in three major categories—conductors, semiconduc- tors, and insulators—depending upon their ability to conduct an electric current. AS the name indicates, a semiconductor material has poorer conductivity than a conductor, but better conductivity than an insulator The materials most often used in semiconductor devices are germa- nium and silicon, Germanium has higher electrical conductivity (less resistance to current flow) than silicon; and is used in’ most low- and medium-power diodes and transis- tors, Silicon is more suitable for high-power devices than germanium because it can be used at much higher temperatures. A relatively new ma- terial which combines the principal desirable features of both germa- nium and silicon is gallium arsenide. When further experience with this material has been obtained, it is ex- pected to find much wider use in semiconductor devices. Resistivity The ability of a material to con- duct current (conductivity) is di- rectly proportional to the number of free (loosely held) electrons in the material. Good conductors, such as silver, copper, and aluminum, have large numbers of fre2 electrons; their resistivities are of the order of a few millionths of an ohm-centimeter. Insulators such as glass, rubber, and mica, which have very few loosely held electrons, have resistivities as high as several million ohm-centi- meters. Semiconductor materials lie in the range between these two extremes, as shown in Fig, 1. Pure germanium has a resistivity of 60 ohm-centi- meters. Pure silicon has a consider- ably higher resistivity, in the order