nction Transistor

BJT
BJT – is an amplifier device in AC Domain
Amplifier – an electronic circuit that is capable of increasing
signal amplitude or magnitude
BJT
• December 23, 1947
- Walter H. Brattain and John Bardeen demonstrated the amplifying action of
the first transistor at the Bell Telephone Laboratories
- Point-contact transistor is the first transistor
Bipolar Junction Transistor
Bipolar
- reflects that two charged carriers participate in the injection
process into the oppositely polarized materials.
- electrons
- holes
Advantages of transistor over the tube:
• It was smaller and light weight
• No heater requirement or heater loss
• Had rugged construction
• More efficient since less power was absorbed by the device itself
• Instantly available for use
• Requiring no warm-up period
• Low operating voltages possible
Transistor Construction
There are two types of
transistors:
 pnp
 npn
pnp – consist of two p- and one n-type
layers of materials
npn- consist of two n- and one p-type
layers of materials
Schematic Symbols
There are two types of
transistors:
 pnp
 npn
pnp – consist of two p- and one n-
type layers of materials
npn- consist of two n- and one p-
type layers of materials
Transistor Construction
A three-layer semiconductor device.
E – emitter
B – base
C – collector

Emitter – emits charged carriers or current (it is the source of

current)
Collector – collects the charge carriers emitted by the emitter
(it is the current drain)
Base – controls the amount of charged carriers or current that
is emitted by the emitter and collected by the collector
Construction
The base is always a different type of material
compared to both collector and emitter.
• Emitter is heavily doped
• Base is lightly doped
• Collector lightly doped
Doping ratio is 10:1
The outer layers have widths much greater
than the sandwiched layer.
The width ratio is 150:1
Transistor Construction
A three-layer semiconductor device.
E – emitter
B – base
C – collector
Although the emitter and collector are
made of the same material, they are
not interchangeable, because they
differ in the level of doping.
Transistor Operation
• PNP Transistor
A transistor has two junctions:
Base-Emitter Junction
Base-Collector Junction

The emitter-base junction is

forward biased

The base-collector junction is

reverse biased
Currents in a Transistor
• Applying Kirchoff’s current law to the transistor,
as a transistor as a single node:
𝐼𝐸 = 𝐼𝐶 + 𝐼𝐵
𝐼𝐵 = magnitude is in the order of microamperes
The emitter current is the sum of the collector
and base currents.

The collector current is comprised of two

components – the majority and minority carriers.
𝐼𝐶 = 𝐼𝐶𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 + 𝐼𝐶𝑂𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦

Minority Current – leakage current

Transistor Configurations
• Common-Base
• Common-Emitter
• Common-Collector
Common-Base Configuration
• The base is common to both input
(emitter–base) junction and
output (collector–base) junction of
the transistor.
• Base is usually the terminal closest
to the ground potential.
• The arrow in the graphic symbol
defines the direction of emitter
current (conventional flow)
through the device.
Common-Base Amplifier
Input Characteristics

This curve shows the

relationship between of
input current (IE) to input
voltage (VBE) for three
output voltage (VCB)
levels.
Characteristic Curve
Three modes of operation of BJT or Region of
Operation
This graph demonstrates the
output current (𝐼𝐶 ) to an
output voltage (𝑉𝐶𝐵 ) for
various levels of input current
(𝐼𝐸 ).
• Active region
• Saturation region
• Cut-off region
 Active Region
• The region normally employed
for linear (undistorted)
amplifiers. 𝐼𝐶 ≅ 𝐼𝐸
• In the active region the
collector-base junction is
reverse-biased, while the
base-emitter junction forward
biased.
• The emitter is able to emit
charged carriers or currents.
• Moderate current flow from
emitter to collector.
• Moderate voltage across
collector-emitter.
• Moderate resistance between
collector and emitter.
 Cut-off Region
• The region where collector current is 0A.
• In the cut-off region the base-collector
junction and base-emitter junction are
both reverse biased.
• The emitter is unable to emit charged
carriers or currents.
• There is no current flow from emitter to
collector. (Except for leakage current,
𝐼𝑐 = 𝐼𝐶𝐵𝑂 )
• The voltage across collector-emitter, 𝑉𝐶𝐸
is maximum. (Approximately equal to
supply voltage)
• The resistance between collector and
emitter is very high.(Ideally infinite)
Saturation Region
• The region of the characteristics to the
left of 𝑉𝐶𝐵 = 0𝑉
• In the saturation region the collector-
base and base-emitter junction are
forward biased.
• The emitter is able to emit maximum
charged carriers or currents.
• Maximum current flow from emitter to
collector. (𝐼𝐶 = 𝐼𝐶𝑚𝑎𝑥 )
• The voltage across collector-emitter is
minimum.
• The resistance between collector and
emitter is very low.
Summary of States/Regions of Operation and
Proper Biasing of BJT
B-E Junction B-C Junction Operating Region Applications

Forward Bias Reverse Bias Active Amplifier

Forward Bias Forward Bias Saturation Switch

Reverse Bias Reverse Bias Cut- off Switch

Reverse Bias Forward Bias Cut-off Switch

Common Base Configuration
Parameter:
𝛼 (alpha) – common base,
short circuit, amplification
factor
𝛼𝑎𝑐 – relationship between
the dc current 𝐼𝐶 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝐸
𝐼𝐶
𝛼𝑑𝑐 =
𝐼𝐸
For practical devices the level
of 𝛼 ranges from 0.90 to 0.998
Transistor
• The basic amplifying action was produced by transferring a current I
from a low to a high-resistance circuit. The combination of the two
terms that is,
transfer + resistor → transistor
Common-Emitter Configuration
• Most frequently encountered
transistor configuration
• The emitter is common or reference
to both the input and output
terminals
• Common to both the base and
collector terminals
• Input – base-emitter circuit
• Output – collector-emitter circuit
• The input is applied to the base and
the output is taken from the collector.
Characteristic Curve
Proper Biasing of Common Emitter:
Common-Emitter Configuration
• An important quality
to note here about
the common-emitter
configuration is that
the output voltage is
inverted with respect
to the input signal.
Common Emitter as Voltage
Amplifier
• The common-emitter
amplifier
configuration is
referred to as an
inverting amplifier.
• The output voltage
decreases as the input
signal increases.
Common-Emitter Configuration
What is its application?
Why you'd need or want to bother with a transistor in this circuit?
Beta (𝛽)
• The dc mode levels of 𝐼𝐶 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼𝐵
𝐼𝐶
𝛽𝑑𝑐 =
𝐼𝐵
𝛽𝑎𝑐 = common-emitter forward current amplification factor
The 𝛽 typically ranges from about 20 to over 600.
 Common-Collector Configuration

• The input is on the base and the output

is on the emitter.
• A common-collector with the load
resistor connected from emitter to
ground.
Power Dissipation
Transistor Specification Sheet
BJT DC Biasing
Biasing: Applying DC voltages to a transistor in order to turn it
on so that it can amplify AC signals.
Operating Point

The DC input establishes an

operating or quiescent point
called the Q-point.
The Three Operating Regions
•Active or Linear Region Operation
• Base–Emitter junction is forward biased
• Base–Collector junction is reverse biased

•Cutoff Region Operation

• Base–Emitter junction is reverse biased

•Saturation Region Operation

• Base–Emitter junction is forward biased
• Base–Collector junction is forward biased
DC Biasing Circuits
• Fixed-bias circuit
• Emitter-stabilized bias circuit
• Voltage divider bias circuit
• DC bias with voltage feedback
Important Basic Relationship for a Transistor:

𝑉𝐵𝐸 = 0.7𝑉

𝐼𝐸 = 𝛽 + 1 𝐼𝐵 ≅ 𝐼𝐶

𝐼𝐶 = 𝛽𝐼𝐵
Fixed Bias
The Base-Emitter Loop

From Kirchhoff’s voltage

law:

+VCC – IBRB – VBE = 0

Solving for base current:

VCC  VBE
IB 
RB
Collector-Emitter Loop

Collector current:
IC  IB

From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:

VCE  VCC  IC RC
Sample Problem:
Sample Problem:
Saturation
When the transistor is operating in saturation, current
through the transistor is at its maximum possible value.

V
ICsat  CC
R
C

VCE  0 V