UNIJUNCTION TRANSISTOR

By :
Smridhi Chawla
What is UJT ?
 A three terminal device.
 Emitter ,Base1,Base2.
 Having only one PN junction.
 Differs from ordinary diode in that it has

three leads.
 A three lead terminal electronic device

with only one junction that acts exclusively

as an electrically controlled switch.
• It is similar to thyristor , high impedance

OFF state & low impedance ON state

Symbol of UJT
The symbol of UJT is designed
in such a way that arrow is bent
representing n type material
and under normal biasing it is
in the direction towards the
channel and along B1 terminal.

Arrowhead represents the

direction in which conventional
current flows.
Construction of UJT
• It consists of a lightly doped silicon bar (n Type) with a
heavily doped p-type material alloyed to its one side for
producing P-N junction.

•An aluminium rod like structure attached to it becomes

the emitter.

• The silicon bar has two ohmic contacts designated as

base 1 and base 2.

• The emitter is of P type. Emitter junction is usually

situated closer to the base 2 so the device is not
symmetrical.

One thing noteworthy in the construction is that

emitter is located nearer to B2 than B1 . This is done
to have resistive difference b/w the the two base
terminals.
EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT
The resistance between B1 and B2 when the emitter
is open circuited is called interbase resistance .
RBB = RB1 + RB2
where RB1 = dynamic resistance
of the silicon bar
between the emitter and base 1.
RB1 varies inversely with emitter current IE , and
therefore it is shown as a variable resistor.
Range of RB1 : several thousand ohms down to tens
of ohms
RB2 = dynamic resistance
between the emitter
and base 2
These two series resistance produce a voltage
divider network between the two base terminals of
UJT.
INTRINSIC STAND OFF RATIO
• When the voltage VBB is applies across
B1 and B2, there is a progressive fall of
voltage over RBB provided emitter is
open.
• A part of VBB is dropped over RB2 and
RB1
• The voltage drop across RB1 is given by
voltage divider rule;
= (RB1/(RB1 + RB2))*VBB
= (RB1 /RBB)* VBB
= ŋ * VBB

The voltage division factor ŋ , intrinsic

stand off ratio
ŋ = RB1 /RBB
ŋ = 0.5 to 0.85
UJT OPERATION
If VD is the barrier Voltage of the junction (voltage
across diode=0.7volt)
For VE= 0, there is no emitter current (except a very
small leakage current known as IEO)

VE < ηVBB +VD (Off State)

As the pn junction is reverse biased.

VE ≥ ηVBB +VD (On State)

The level of emitter voltage that causes the pn

junction to become forward-biased is called VP (peak-
point-voltage)
Vp = ηVBB + VD
As Emitter voltage increased(beyond
Vp)→emitter current increase→holes
start moving from P type to N type.
Therefore, as number of charge carriers
in RB1 increases ,Resistivity of RB1
decreases ,conductivity increases .This
is known as conductivity modulation.
Therfore, after turn-on, the UJT
operates in a negative resistance region
(VE decreases as IE increases) up to a
certain level of IE . Beyond this level,
VE begin to increase again. The
minimum level of VE is known as
valley point (VV , IV). Beyond this
point, the device enters its saturation
region.
For fixed values of and VD, the
magnitude of VP will vary as VBB i.e.

V P ⇑= ηV BB ⇑+ V D

Fixed
CUT OFF Region :

VE < VP and PN Junction is reversed biased. A small amount of reverse saturation currents flows
through the device .

NEGATIVE RESISTANCE region:

when emitter voltage VE ≥ VP , P-N Junction becomes forward biased and IE start flowing and
holes are injected into N layer .

Hence ,resistance decreases thereby decreasing V E for the increase in IE . So , there is a negative
region .

SATURATION Region :

Increase in IE further valley point derives the device in the saturation region and behaves like a
conventional forward biased P-N Junction
APPLICATIONS
 Switching Devices
 Triggering Devices for Triacs and SCR’s
 Timing Circuits
 For phase control
 In saw tooth generator
 Sine wave generator
 In simple relaxation oscillator
 Voltage or current regulated supplies
HOW UJT DIFFERENT FROM FET

● UJT differs from FET in that it has no ability to amplify.

● UJT has one pn junction , FET has two pn junctions.
● The channel P is more strongly doped than the channel in FET.
● UJT works in direct(forward) bias, whereas FET works in inverse
bias.
● UJT has low input impedance whereas FET has high input
impedance.
● BJT can be used as a switch and as an amplifier whereas UJT can be
used as an oscillator.
ADVANTAGES OF UJT
 The unique property of UJT is that it can be triggered by one
of its three terminals.
 It is a very low cost device.
 Good electrical & temperature characteristics
 Provides a good switching response.
 It has the ability to control large AC power with a small
signal.
 It exhibits a negative resistance characteristic, which makes it
useful as an oscillator.
 It provides unidirectional conductivity.
DISADVANTAGES OF UJT
 It cannot be used in linear amplifier.
 It can work with only low to moderate frequency.
 It is not suitable for very high frequency.
 It has lower input impedence.
 It has negative impedance property, that’s why it is not
suitable to use in some circuits.
 Application
A

Relaxation Oscilattor

Basic circuit
The operation

Assume that the initial

capacitor voltage, VC is
zero. When the supply
voltage VBB is first
applied, the UJT is in the
OFF state. IE is zero and
C charges exponentially
through R towards VBB.
The operation
When the supply voltage
VC (= VE) reaches the
firing (peak) potential, VP,
the UJT fires and C
discharges exponentially
through RL until VE
reaches the valley
potential VV
The operation
When VE reaches the valley potential VV the UJT turns OFF, IE goes to zero and the
capacitor is recharged.

This process repeats itself to produce the waveforms for vC and vL as shown below
Mathematical Analysis
Fixing the value of R1.

The value of R is crucial in ensuring that the

UJT can turn on and of.

V E=V BB −R I V BB −V E
R=
I
At the peak point, in order to switch the UJT to
conduction mode, VE and IE must increase to VP
and IP respectively.
 Hence,
V BB−V P
R<
IP
On the other hand, in order to switch off the UJT at the end of the
discharging period, VE and IE must reduce to VV and IV respectively.

Hence, V BB−V V
R>
IV
Thus, UJT will switch on and off if the value of R lies within the following range;

V BB −V V V BB−V P
<R<
IV IP
Frequency of Relaxation Oscillator

Charging Phase
Frequency of Relaxation Oscillator

Discharging Phase

Here, RB1 is the

internal resistance
b/w base 1 and
emitter
Frequency of Relaxation Oscillator
 Frequency of Relaxation Oscillator
Approximation Model
 1 1
f≃ =
T 1
( )
R C ln
1−η

When R is less, it takes less time in

charging the capacitor and hence high
frequency of relaxation oscillator is
obtained.
THANK YOU