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EXPLAIN THE WORKING OF FET WITH NEAT DIAGRAM AND RELEVANT

CHARACTERISTICS. INDICATE EACH REGION OF THE CHARACTERISTICS

Transistors were invented at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey in 1947 by three brilliant US
physicists: John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley.

Transistors are active components that are used in electronic circuits either as an Amplifier or as
a Switch.

When the it works as an Amplifier, it takes in a tiny electric current at one end (an input current)
and produces a much bigger electric current at the other (an output current). In other words, it is
kind of a current booster.

Example: A transistor comes useful in hearing aids. A hearing aid has a tiny microphone which
picks up sounds from the world around you and turns them into fluctuating electric currents.
These are fed into a transistor that boosts them and powers a tiny loudspeaker, so that you hear
a much louder version of the sounds around you.

Transistors can also work as switches. A tiny electric current flowing through one part of a
transistor can make a much bigger current flow through another part of it. In other words, the
small current switches on the larger one. This is essentially how all computer chips work. For
example, a memory chip contains hundreds of millions or even billions of transistors, each of
which can be switched on or off individually. Since each transistor can be in two distinct states, it
can store two different numbers, zero and one. With billions of transistors, a chip can store
billions of zeros and ones, and almost as many ordinary numbers and letters (or characters, as
we call them).

TRANSISTOR CONSTRUCTION:

Transistors rely on semiconductors to work their magic. A semiconductor is a material that’s not
quite a pure conductor (like copper wire) but also not an insulator (like air). The conductivity of a
semiconductor is classified on how easily it allows electrons to flow which once again depends on
variables like, temperature in which it operates and the quantity of electrons present.
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TRANSISTOR STRUCTURE AND OPERATION:

Transistors are electronic components made from “P” and “N” type
semiconductor. We can say that a transistor is the combination of two diodes
connected back to back. It works like a device that regulates current or voltage
flow and acts as a button or gate for electronic signals.

Transistors are built by stacking three different layers of semiconductor

material capable of moving a current. General semiconductor materials usedfor
transistors are Silicon, Germanium and Gallium arsenide which conducts
electricity in a “semi-enthusiastic” way. Some of those layers have extra
electrons added to them (a process called “doping”), and others have electrons
removed (doped with “holes”).

A semiconductor material with extra electrons is called an N-type (N for negative because
electrons have a negative charge) and a material with electrons removed is called a P-type (P for
positive because electrons have a positive charge). Transistors are created by either stacking an
N on top of a P on top of an N, or P over N over P.

We can say that a transistor is the combination of two diodes

connected back to back. There are two main types of transistors i.e.
NPN and PNP. Most circuits use NPN types. There are hundreds of
transistors which work at different voltages but all of them fall into
these two categories.

The NPN transistor is designed to pass electrons from the emitter to the collector. The emitter
“emits” electrons into the base, which controls the number of electrons the emitter emits. Most of
the electrons emitted are “collected” by the collector, which sends them along to the next part of
the circuit.

A PNP transistor works in a same but opposite fashion. The base still controls current flow, but
that current flows in the opposite direction, from emitter to collector. Instead of electrons, the
emitter emits “holes” (an absence of electrons) which are collected by the collector.

There are so many types of transistors and they each vary in their characteristics and each has
their own advantages and disadvantages. Some types of transistors are used mostly for switching
applications while others can be used for both switching and amplification.
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DIFFERENT TYPES OF TRANSISTORS:

Transistors are basically classified into two types; they are Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT) and
Field Effect Transistors (FET). The BJTs are again classified into NPN and PNP transistors. The FET
transistors are classified into JFET and MOSFET. Junction FET transistors are classified into N-
channel JFET and P-channel JFET depending on their function. MOSFET transistors are classified
into Depletion mode and Enhancement mode. Again depletion and enhancement mode transistors
are classified into N-channel JFET and P-channel.
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BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR (BJT):

Bipolar Junction Transistors are transistors which are built up of three pins, the Base (B), the
Collector (C) and the Emitter (E). Bipolar Junction transistors are current-controlled devices. A
small amount of current entering in the Base pin of the transistor causes a much larger current
flow from the Emitter to the Collector pin.

Bipolar junction transistors come in two major types, NPN and PNP.

The BJT transistors have low input impedance and it causes to flow large current through the
transistor. The BJT transistors are only the transistors which are turned ON by the input current
which is given to the base. Bipolar junction transistors can operate in three regions, they are:

 Cut-off Region : Here the transistor is in ‘OFF’ state i.e the current flowing through the
transistor is zero.
 Active Region : Here the transistor acts as an amplifier.

 Saturation Region : Here the transistor is in fully ‘ON’ state and also works as a closed
switch.

NPN TRANSISTOR:

NPN is one of the two types of Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT). The NPN transistor consists of
two n-type semiconductor materials and they are separated by a thin layer of p-type
semiconductor. Here the majority charge carriers are electrons and holes are the minority charge
carriers. The flowing of electrons from emitter to collector forms the current flow in the transistor
through the base terminal.

A small amount of current at base terminal causes to flow large amount current from emitter to
collector. Nowadays the generally used bipolar transistor is NPN transistor, because the mobility
of electrons is greater than mobility of holes. The standard equation for the currents flowing in
the transistor is

IE = IB + IC

The symbols and structure for NPN transistors are given below.
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PNP TRANSISTOR:

The PNP is another type of Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT). The PNP transistors contain two p-
type semiconductor materials and are separated by a thin layer of n-type semiconductor. The
majority charge carriers in the PNP transistors are holes and electrons are minority charge
carriers. The arrow in the emitter terminal of transistor indicates the flow of conventional current.
In PNP transistor the current flows from Emitter to Collector.

The PNP transistor is ON when the base terminal is pulled to LOW with respect to emitter. The
symbol and structure for PNP transistor is shown below.
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FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR (FET):

The Field Effect Transistors have three terminals they are Gate (G), Drain (D) and Source (S).
FET transistors are classified into Junction Field Effect transistors (JFET) and Insulated Gate FET
(IG-FET) or Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFET). For the connections in
the circuit we also consider fourth terminal called Base or Substrate. The FET transistors have
control on the size and shape of a channel between source and drain which is created by applied
voltage. The FET transistors are uni-polar transistors because they perform single channel
operation where as BJT transistors are bipolar junction transistors. The FET transistors have high
current gain than BJT transistors.

JFET (JUNCTION-FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR):

The Junction-Field-Effect transistor (JFET) is an earliest and simple type of FET transistors. These
JFETs are used as switches, amplifiers and resistors. This transistor is a voltage controlled device.
It doesn’t need any biasing current. The voltage applied between gate and source controls the
flow of electric current between source and drain of a transistor. The JFET transistors are
available in both N-channel and P-channel types.

CHARACTERISTICS OF JFETS:

There are two types of static characteristics:

(A). Output or drain characteristic.

(B). Transfer characteristic.

1). Output or Drain Characteristic: The curve drawn between drain current Ip and drain-source
voltage VDS with gate-to source voltage VGS as the parameter is called the drain or output
characteristic. This characteristic is analogous to collector characteristic of a BJT:
(a). Drain Characteristic with Shorted-Gate: The circuit diagram for determining the drain
characteristic with shorted-gate for an N-channel JFET is given in figure. and the drain
characteristic with shorted-gate is shown in another figure.
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DRAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF JFET:

Initially when drain-source voltage Vns is zero, there is no attracting potential at the drain, so no
current flows inspite of the fact that the channel is fully open. This gives drain current Ip = 0. For
small applied voltage Vna, the N-type bar acts as a simple semiconductor resistor, and the drain
current increases linearly with the increase in Vds, upto the knee point. This region, (to the left of
the knee point) of the curve is called the channel ohmic region, because in this region the FET
behaves like an ordinary resistor.

With the increase in drain current ID, the ohmic voltage drop between the source and channel
region reverse-biases the gate junction. The reverse-biasing of the gate junction is not uniform
throughout. The reverse bias is more at the drain end than that at the source end of the channel,
so with the increase in Vds, the conducting portion of the channel begins to constrict more at the
drain end. Eventually a voltage Vds is reached at which the channel is pinched off. The drain
current ID no longer increases with the increase in Vds. It approaches a constant saturation value.
The value of voltage VDS at which the channel is pinched off (i.e. all the free charges from the
channel get removed), is called the pinch-off voltage Vp. The pinch-off voltage Vp, not too sharply
defined on the curve, where the drain current ID begins to level off and attains a constant value.
From point A (knee point) to the point B (pinch-off point) the drain current ID increases with the
increase In voltage Vds following a reverse square law. The region of the characteristic in which
drain current ID remains fairly constant is called the pinch-off region. It is also sometimes called
the saturation region or amplifier region. In this region the JFET operates as a constant current
device since drain current (or output current) remains almost constant. It is the normal operating
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region of the JFET when used as an amplifier. The drain current in the pinch-off region with VGS =
0 is referred to the drain-source saturation current, Idss).

It is to be noted that in the pinch-off (or saturation) region the channel resistance increases in
proportion to increase in VDS and so keeps the drain current almost constant and the reverse bias
required by the gate-channel junction is supplied entirely by the voltage drop across the channel
resistance due to flow of IDsg and not by the external bias because VGS = 0

Drain current in the pinch-of region is given by Shockley’s equation

Where, ID is the drain current at a given gate-source voltage VGS, IDSS is the drain-current with
gate shorted to source and VGS (0FF) is the gate-source cut-off voltage.

If drain-source voltage, Vds is continuously increased, a stage comes when the gate-channel
junction breaks down. At this point current increases very rapidly. and the JFET may be
destroyed. This happens because the charge carriers making up the saturation current at the gate
channel junction accelerate to a high velocity and produce an avalanche effect.

DRAIN CHARACTERISTICS WITH EXTERNAL BIAS:

The circuit diagram for determining the drain characteristics with different values of external bias
is shown in figure. and a family of drain characteristics for different values of gate-source voltage
VGS is given in next figure:
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EXTERNAL BIAS CHARACTERISTIC OF JFET:

It is observed that as the negative gate bias voltage is increased:

(1) The maximum saturation drain current becomes smaller because the conducting channel
now becomes narrower.
(2) Pinch-off voltage is reached at a lower value of drain current ID than when VGS = 0.
When an external bias of, say – 1 V is applied between the gate and the source, the
gate-channel junctions are reverse-biased even when drain current, ID is zero. Hence the
depletion regions are already penetrating the channel to a certain extent when drain-|
source voltage, VDS is zero. Due to this reason, a smaller voltage drop along the channel
(i.e. smaller than that for VGS = 0) will increase the depletion regions to the point where
1 they pinch-off the current. Consequently, the pinch-off voltage VP is reached at a lower
1 drain current, ID when VGS = 0.
(3) The ohmic region portion decreases.
(4) Value of drain-source voltage VDS for the avalanche breakdown of the gate junction is
reduced.

Value of drain-source voltage, VDS for breakdown with the increase in negative bias voltage is
reduced simply due to the fact that gate-source voltage, VGS keeps adding to the I reverse bias at
the junction produced by current flow. Thus the maximum value of V DS I that can be applied to a
FET is the lowest voltage which causes avalanche breakdown. It is also observed that with VGS =
0, ID saturates at IDSS and the characteristic shows VP = 4 V. When an external bias of – 1 V is
applied, the gate-channel junctions still require -4 V to achieve pinch-off. It means that a 3 V
drop is now required along the channel instead of the previous 4.0 V. Obviously, this drop of 3 V
can be achieved with a lower value of drain current, Similarly when VGS = – 2 V and – 3 V, pinch-
off is achieved with 2 V and 1 V respectively, along the channel. These drops of 2 V and 1 V are,
of course, achieved with further reduced values of drain current, ID. It is further observed that
when the gate-source bias is numerically equal to pinch-off voltage, VP (-4 V in this case),
no channel drop is required and, therefore, drain current, ID is zero. The gate-source bias voltage
required to reduce drain current, ID to zero is designated the gate-source cut-off voltage, VGS /0FF)
and, as explained,

Hence for working of JFET in the pinch-off or active region it is necessary that the following
conditions be fulfilled.

VP < VDS < VDS (max)

VGS (OFF)< VGS < 0
0 < ID < IDSS
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2). TRANSFER CHARACTERISTIC OF JFET:

The transfer characteristic for a JFET can be determined experimentally, keeping drain-
source voltage, VDS constant and determining drain current, ID for various values of gate-
source voltage, VGS. The circuit diagram is shown in fig. 9.7 (a). The curve is plotted
between gate-source voltage, VGS and drain current, ID, as illustrated in fig. 9.8. It is similar
to the transconductance characteristic of a vacuum tube or a transistor. It is observed that

(i) Drain current decreases with the increase in negative gate-source bias
(ii) Drain current, ID = IDSS when VGS = 0
(iii) Drain current, ID = 0 when VGS = VD The transfer characteristic follows equation (9.1)

The transfer characteristic can also be derived from the drain characteristic by noting values
of drain current, IDcorresponding to various values of gate-source voltage, VGS for a constant
drain-source voltage and plotting them.

It may be noted that a P-channel JFET operates in the same way and have the similar
characteristics as an N-channel JFET except that channel carriers are holes instead of
electrons and the polarities of VGS and VDS are reversed.
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N-CHANNEL JFET

In N-channel JFET the current flow is due to the electrons. When voltage is applied between gate
and source, a channel is formed between source and drain for current flow. This channel is called
N-channel. Nowadays N-channel JFET transistor is most preferable type than P-channel JFET. The
symbols for N-channel JFET transistor are given below.

P-CHANNEL JFET

In this JFET transistor the current flow is because of holes. The channel between source and drain
is called P-channel. The symbols for P-channel JFET transistors are given below. Here arrow
marks indicates the direction of current flow.
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METAL-OXIDE-SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR (MOSFET):

Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) is most useful type of among all
transistors. The name itself indicates that it contains metal gate terminal. The MOSFET has four
terminals Drain (D), Source (S), Gate (G) and Body or Substrate (B). MOSFET has many
advantages over BJT and JFET, mainly it offer high input impedance and low output impedance. It
is used in low power circuits mainly in chip designing technologies.

The MOSFET transistors are available in depletion and enhancement types. Further the depletion
and enhancement types are classified into N-channel and P-channel types.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MOSFETS:

01. DRAIN CHARACTERISTICS:

Typical drain characteristics, for various levels of gate-source voltage, of an N-channel

MOSFET are shown in figure. The upper curves are for positive V GS and the lower curves
are for negative VGS. The bottom drain curve is for VGS = V GS (OFF). For a specified drain-
source voltage VDS, VGS (OFF) is the gate-source voltage at which drain current reduces to
a certain specified negligibly small value, as shown in figure. This voltage corresponds to
the pinch-off voltage Vp of JFET. For VGS between VGS (0FF) and zero, the device operates in
depletion-mode while for VGS exceeding zero the device operates in enhancement mode.
These drain curves again display an ohmic region, a constant-current source region and a
cut-off region. MOSFET has two major applications: a constant current source and a
voltage variable resistor.
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DEMOSFET TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS:

The transfer (or transconductance) characteristic for an N-channel DE-MOSFET is shown in figure.
IDSS is the drain current with a shorted gate. Since the curve extends to the right of the origin,
IDSS is no longer the maximum possibledrain current.

Mathematically, the curve is still part of a parabola and the same square-law relation exists as
with a JFET. In fact, the depletion-mode MOSFET has a drain current given by the same
transconductance equation as before, equation. Furthermore, it has the same equivalent circuits
as a JFET. Because of this, the analysis of a depletion-mode MOSFET circuit is almost identical to
that of a JFET circuit. The only difference is the analysis for a positive gate, but even here the
same basic formulas are used to determine the drain current ID, gate-source voltage VGS etc.

The foregoing discussion is applicable in principle also to the P-channel DE-MOSFET. For such a
device the sign of all currents and voltages in the characteristics must be reversed.
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N-CHANNEL MOSFET:

The MOSFET having N-channel region between source and drain is called N-channel MOSFET.
Here the source and gate terminals are heavily doped with n-type materials and substrate is
doped with p-type semiconductor material. Here the current flow between source and drain is
because of electrons. The gate voltage controls the current flow in the circuit. N-channel MOSFET
is most preferable than P-channel MOSFET because the mobility of electrons is high than mobility
of holes. The symbols for N-channel MOSFET transistors are given below.
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P- CHANNEL MOSFET:

The MOSFET having P-channel region between source and drain is called as P-channel MOSFET.
Here the source and drain terminals are heavily doped with P-type material and the substrate is
doped with N-type material. The current flow between source and drain is because of holes
concentration. The applied voltage at gate will controls the flow of current through channel
region. The symbols for P-channel MOSFET transistors in depletion and enhancement types are
given below.
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TRANSISTORS BASED ON FUNCTION:

Transistors are also classified depending on the functions that mean what the transistors do.
Different types of transistors based on their function are explained below.

SMALL SIGNAL TRANSISTORS:

The basic function of small signal transistors is to amplify small signals even
these transistors are used for switching purpose. Small signal transistors are
available in market in the form of NPN and PNP transistors. We can see some
value on the body of small signal transistor this value indicates hFE of transistor.

Depending on this hFE value we can understand the capacity of transistor to

amplify the signal. The hFE values are present within the range of 10 to 500.
The collector current value of these transistors is 80 to 600mA. This type of
transistors operates with the frequency range of 1 to 300MHz. The name of the
transistor itself indicates that these transistors amplify small signals which use
small voltages and currents, such as few milli volts and milli amperes of current.

Small signal transistors are used in almost all types of electronic equipments and also these
transistors are used in several applications, some of them are ON or OFF switches for general use,
LED diode driver, Relay driver, Audio mute function, Timer circuits, Infrared diode amplifier, Bias
supply circuits etc.

SMALL SWITCHING TRANSISTORS:

Small switching transistors are the transistors which are primarily used for
switching after that also used for amplification. Like small signal transistors,
small switching transistors are also available in the form of NPN and PNP and
these type of transistors are also have hFE values. The hFE value range for
these transistors is from 10 to 200. At hFE value 200 the transistors are not
good amplifiers even though they act as better switches. The collector current
values ranges from 10 to 1000mA. These transistors are used mostly in
switching applications.
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POWER TRANSISTORS:

The transistors which are used in the high power amplifiers and power supplies are called as
“power amplifiers”. The collector terminal of this transistor is connected to the base of a metal
device and this structure acts as heat sink which dissipates excess power for the applications.

These types of transistors are available in the form of NPN, PNP and Darlington transistors. Here
the collector current values range from 1 to 100A. The operating frequency range from 1 to
100MHz. The power values of these transistors are range from 10 to 300W. The name of the
transistor itself indicates that the power transistors are used in the applications where high
power, high voltage and high current are required.

HIGH FREQUENCY TRANSISTORS:

High frequency transistors are used for small signals which operate at high
frequencies and these are used in high speed switching applications. High
frequency transistors are also called as RF Transistors. These transistors have
maximum frequency values of about 2000MHz. The collector current (IC)
value ranges from 10 to 600mA. These types of transistors are also available
in the form of NPN and PNP. These are mainly used in the applications of high
frequency signals and also this transistors must be ON or OFF at high speeds
only. These transistors are used in HF, VHF, UHF, CATV and MATV oscillator
and amplifier circuits.
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PHOTO TRANSISTOR:

Photo transistors are the transistors which operate depending on the light that means these
transistors are light sensitive. The general photo transistor is nothing but a bipolar transistor
which contains light sensitive area instead of base terminal. The photo transistors have only 2
terminals instead of general 3 terminals. The transistor operates depending on the light. When
the light sensitive area is dark then no current flows in transistor i.e. transistor is in OFF state.

When light sensitive area is exposed to light then a small amount of current generates at base
terminal and it causes to flow large current from collector to emitter. The photo transistors are
available in both BJT and FET transistor types. These are named as photo-BJTs and photo-FETs.

Unlike photo-BJTs, the photo-FETs are generating gate current by using light which controls the
current flow between drain and source terminals. Photo-FETs are more sensitive to light than
photo-BJTs. The symbols for photo-BJT and photo-FETs are shown above.

UNIJUNCTION TRANSISTORS:
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Unijunction transistors are used only as electrically controlled switches. These transistors do not
contain any amplification characteristics because of their design. These are generally three lead
transistors. Now we see the operation of unijunction transistor. If there is no potential difference
between emitter and any one of the base terminals (B1 or B2) then a small amount of current
flows between B1 and B2.

If sufficient amount of voltage is applied to the emitter terminal then high current generates at
emitter terminal and it adds to small current between B1 and B2, then it causes to flow large
current in the transistor. Here the emitter current is the primary current source for total current
in the transistor. The current between the terminals B1 and B2 is very small, due to this reason
these transistors are not suitable for amplification purpose.