PHYS 331 Electronics

Prof. Dr. Ali S. Hennache, Department of Physics, Al-Imam Muhammad Ibin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh,-KSA.
Phys. 331 (Electronics)
Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh-KSA

Faculty of Sciences
Department of Physics
PHYS. 331
ELECTRONICS
Prof. Dr. Ali S. Hennache
1st Edition
AIMISIU ‐ Riyadh
Oct. 2009
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 1

Chapter one
ALTERNATING CURRENT (AC) CIRCUITS

1.1 INTRODUCTION
• Alternating current (AC) circuits are the electrical connections used most frequently in
everyday life. Electric outlets in homes and offices use alternating current to transfer power
from generating stations to the hundreds of end uses which frame our everyday life.
Alternator voltage as function of shaft position (time).
Period and frequency are mathematical reciprocals of one another. That is to say, if a wave has a
period of 10 seconds, its frequency will be 0.1 Hz, or 1/10 of a cycle per second:
• In an alternating current, the voltages and current change with time, making use of the laws of
induction to transfer power even as the voltages and currents cycle from zero through positive
and negative maxima back to zero.
• The instantaneous voltage produced by an AC generator varies sinusoidally, expressed as:
vins = Vmax sin(2πft),

where f = the frequency at which the current alternates, expressed in cycles per second, and t is
time.
The voltage at a particular instant in time can be determined by multiplying the maximum
(peak) voltage by the sin of the angle. The angle is obtained by multiplying the 2π f t all
together. Note: the frequency must be in Hertz and the time in seconds. This will result in the
angle being in radians. Therefore the calculator must be in the radian mode when taking the sin
of this angle.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 2

• While the average current in an AC circuit is zero, the rms (root mean square) current is non-
zero. This current is defined as the square root of the average of the square of the current, and
the rms current is normally used to describe the current and power in an AC circuit.
• The rms current and voltage is related to the maximum values via:
I max
I rms = = 0.707 × I max
2
The rms current is a constant value DC equivalent current that will produce the same heating effect
in a resistive load as the AC current. It found by taking the square root of the mean of the squared
values for the AC current over one full cycle. When the signal is a true sinewave, the rms current
can be found by dividing the maximum (peak) current by the square root of 2. It can be closely
approximated by multiplying the peak current by 0.707.
Vmax
Vrms = ≈ 0.707Vmax
2
As with rms current, the rms voltage can be found by either dividing the peak voltage by the square-
root of 2, or by multiplying the peak voltage from the sinewave by 0.707.
The rms value is the sum of values throughout one complete time period. rms is also called the
effective value. It is the value given by a voltmeter to ac voltages.
The average power delivered to a resistance is given by the formula PAvg = I rms 2 R .
V 2 rms
Pavg =
R
Pavg = I rms 2 R
This formula is for a sine wave only; not a square or triangular waves.
• Voltmeters and ammeters are designed to measure rms quantities.
1.2 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS IN AN AC CIRCUIT
Resistance is essentially friction against the motion of electrons. It is present in all conductors to
some extent (except superconductors!), most notably in resistors. When alternating current goes
through a resistance, a voltage drop is produced that is in-phase with the current. Resistance is
mathematically symbolized by the letter “R” and is measured in the unit of ohms (Ω).
Reactance is essentially inertia against the motion of electrons. It is present anywhere electric or
magnetic fields are developed in proportion to applied voltage or current, respectively; but most
notably in capacitors and inductors. When alternating current goes through a pure reactance, a
voltage drop is produced that is 90o out of phase with the current. Reactance is mathematically
symbolized by the letter “X” and is measured in the unit of ohms (Ω).
Impedance is a comprehensive expression of any and all forms of opposition to electron flow,
including both resistance and reactance. It is present in all circuits, and in all components. When
alternating current goes through an impedance, a voltage drop is produced that is somewhere
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 3

between 0o and 90o out of phase with the current. Impedance is mathematically symbolized by the
letter “Z” and is measured in the unit of ohms (Ω), in complex form. While ohm's law applies
directly to resistors in DC or in AC Circuits, the form of the current-voltage relationship in AC
circuits in general is modified to the form:
1.2.1 RESISTORS:
When an AC circuit consists of a voltage source and a resistor, the current is in phase with
the voltage, meaning that each quantity rises and declines in step.
The rms current and voltage for this circuit are related according to Ohm’s law, analogous
to Ohm’s law for a direct current circuit. This expression is also accurate for the maximum
values of the potential and current.
VR ,rms = I rms × R
Likewise the average power dissipated in an AC circuit with a resistor is similar to the
expression applicable to DC circuits:
Pav = I2rms × R
1.2.2 CAPACITORS:
In an AC circuit with a voltage source and a capacitor, the voltage lags behind the current
by a quarter-cycle (= 90°).
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 4

A capacitor acts as a form of resistance on the current in an AC circuit, expressed in terms

of the capacitive reactance, XC,
1
XC ≡
2πfC
Capacitive reactance (the opposition to the flow of an alternating current generated by a

capacitor) depends upon the frequency and capacitance. The capacitive reactance is
measured in ohms, just like resistance. Note: as the frequency increases, the capacitive
reactance decreases.
VC,rms = Irms x XC You can use the variations on Ohm’s Law with the rms voltage and
current with capacitors as well as resistors.
1.2.3 INDUCTORS:
ΔI
VL = L
Δt
This is a repeat of the voltage induced across an inductor due to a change in the current flowing
through it. The faster the rate at which the current is trying to change, the higher the induced voltage
across it.
In an AC circuit with a voltage source and an inductor, the voltage leads the current by one-
quarter turn (= 90°).
As with a capacitor, an inductor affects the current flow, producing a back emf as long as the
current is changing. The affect of the inductor is measured by the inductive reactance,
XL = 2πfL
Here, the frequency is expressed in Hertz (Hz) and the inductance is measured in henrys (H).
A variant of Ohm’s law is also valid for this circuit element:
VL,rms = Irms x XL
1.3 THE RLC CIRCUIT
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• In an AC circuit with multiple current elements, the current in the circuit is the same at any time
and varies sinusoidally with time:
i = Imax sin(2πft)
The instantaneous voltage across the resistor is in phase with the current
The instantaneous voltage across the inductor leads the current by 90°
The instantaneous voltage across the capacitor lags the current by 90°
• The maximum applied voltage is related to the maximum voltages across the various circuit
elements:
Vmax R = VR2 + (VL − VC ) 2
• These various circuit elements affect the current flow as a form of “resistance”, collectively
known as the impedance, Z. The impedance depends on both the properties of the resistors,
capacitors, and inductors, and the frequency of the AC circuit.
Z = R 2 + ( X L − X C )2
The voltage drops across resistors, capacitors and inductors in a series circuit are out of phase
with each other. The voltages across the inductors and capacitors will be 180 degrees out of
phase. (Current leads voltage in a capacitive circuit and voltage leads current in an inductive
circuit: ELI the ICE man.) Therefore you can’t simply add the voltage drops across them
together to get the supply voltage as is done in a simple resistive series circuit. First you find the
difference between the voltage drops across the capacitor and the inductor. Then this is added to
the voltage across the resistor as if they form two legs of a right angle triangle. Note: the
equation is essentially the Pythagorean Theorem.
Vmax = I max R 2 + (X L − X C )
2
Note: again Ohm’s Law can be applied, but you must take the phase angles into account. The
maximum (peak) supply voltage will be equal to the maximum (peak) circuit current multiplied by
the total circuit impedance.
Z ≡ R 2 + (X L − X C )
2
The resistance and reactance do not add directly together in a series RLC circuit because of the fact
that the voltage and current are not in phase across inductors or capacitors. Therefore the resistance
and reactance must be added at right angle in order to get the total circuit impedance.
Note: Resistance is the opposition to the flow of a direct current.

Reactance is the opposition to the flow of an alternating current.
Impedance is the total opposition to the flow of current.
• A variant of Ohm’s law expresses the relationship between current and applied voltage in an
AC circuit.
Vmax = I max × Z
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• Unlike DC circuits, the voltage and current are generally out-of-phase in an AC circuit, the
relevant phase angle is set by the relative properties of the circuit elements. For a series AC
circuit,
XL − XC
tan φ =
R
VL − VC
tan θ =
VR
The phase angle between current and voltage can be calculated by taking the arctangent of the ratio
of the reactance to the impedance.
⎛ X − XC ⎞
θ = tan −1 ⎜ L ⎟
⎝ R ⎠
The phase angle (θ - the angle formed between the circuit current and supply voltage) can be
obtained by finding the tangent of the ratio of the voltage across the reactive components in the
circuit to the voltage across the resistance in the circuit. Note: it can also be obtained by finding the
tangent of the ratio of reactance to resistance. (Again, it is only the difference between inductive
reactance and capacitive reactance that matters. If the inductive reactance and capacitive reactance
are equal to each other, then the phase angle will be zero and the circuit current will be fully in
phase with the voltage.)
1.4 POWER AND RESONANCE IN AC CIRCUITS
• Pure (‘ideal’) capacitors and inductors do not cause loss of power in a circuit; electric power is
removed via the resistance elements, either lost through heating, or used in the form of work in
some application (e.g., powering a fan).
• Then average power delivered by a generator is converted to internal energy in the resistor.
Pav = I rms
2
×R
Because purely reactive components do not really use power (they put the energy they absorb back
into the system) the only power used in the circuit is calculated based upon the resistance in the
circuit
• Using Ohms law for AC circuits (given above) the average power lost may also be expressed:
Pav = I rms × VR
• Since the voltage across the resistor can be expressed in terms of the voltage source in the
circuit: VR = Vrms × cos(φ), the average power can be expressed in terms of the phase angle. φ
is the phase angle, cos(φ) is termed the power factor.
Pav = I rms × Vrms × cos(φ )
In a series RLC circuit, because the current and voltage do not reach their peak values at the same
time, you can’t simply multiply the rms currents and voltages together to calculate power. You must
multiply by the cosine of the phase angle in order to compensate for the fact that current and voltage
are out of phase.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 7

Note: rms current multiplied by rms voltage is often referred to as the “apparent power” as opposed
to the real or “true” power being used.
• Since the rms current can be derived using Ohm’s Law,
Vrms
I rms =
Z
this current will reach a maximum when the impedance is at a minimum. From the definition of
impedance, this minimum value occurs when XL = XC.
Ohm’s Law still applies to AC circuits, but you must use the circuit impedance and take into
account the phase angles. (Technically the impedance will consist of both an magnitude and an
angle. The voltage and impedance must be divided as vectors in order to calculate the current.)
• Equating these two quantities, gives a frequency at which ths minimum impedance occurs (since
both quantities depend on the frequency of the circuit).
1
f0 =
2π LC
• This quantity is known as the resonance frequency of the circuit.
The resonant frequency (fo) is the frequency at which the inductive reactance is equal to the
capacitive reactance. At this point the total circuit impedance in the circuit is simply equal to the
resistance in the circuit. Depending upon the values for the inductive and capacitive reactance, the
voltage drop across each of them may be many times larger than the supply voltage.
Summary:
• AC produced by an electromechanical alternator follows the graphical shape of a sine

wave.
• One cycle of a wave is one complete evolution of its shape until the point that it is ready
to repeat itself.
• The period of a wave is the amount of time it takes to complete one cycle.
• Frequency is the number of complete cycles that a wave completes in a given amount of
time. Usually measured in Hertz (Hz), 1 Hz being equal to one complete wave cycle per
second.
• Frequency = 1/(period in seconds)
• The impedance is the general term for the ratio of voltage to current. Resistance is the
special case of impedance when φ = 0, reactance the special case when φ = 90°. The table
below summarizes the impedance of the different components. It is easy to remember that
the voltage on the capacitor is behind the current, because the charge doesn't build up until
after the current has been flowing for a while.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 8

Perfect resistor, inductor, and capacitor.
Reactance is of two types, inductive and capacitive.

• Inductive reactance (symbol XL) is associated with the varying magnetic field that
surrounds a wire or a coil carrying a current. The more rapidly the current changes, the
more an inductor resists it. The reactance is proportional to the frequency; a high-
frequency alternating current changes more rapidly than a low-frequency one, since
there are more cycles per second. Thus the higher the frequency and the larger the
inductance, the harder it is for current to flow through the inductance; it meets more
opposition. The unit of reactance is also the ohm.
• Capacitive reactance (symbol XC) is associated with the changing electric field
between two conducting surfaces (plates) separated from each other by an insulating
medium. The more rapidly the applied voltage changes in value, the faster the
capacitor stores energy. This means that a high-frequency alternating voltage will put
more current into a given capacitor than a low frequency voltage could. Thus the
reactance of a capacitor goes down as the frequency increases.
Reactance produces a phase shift between the electric current and voltage in the circuit.
Reactance is denoted by the symbol X and is measured in ohms.
• If X > 0, the reactance is said to be inductive.
• If X = 0, then the circuit is purely resistive (i.e. it has no reactance).
• If X < 0, it is said to be capacitive.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 9

Chapter Two
SEMICONDUCTORS
2.1- INTRODUCTION
If Resistors are the most basic passive component in electrical or electronic circuits, then the Signal
Diode can be classed as the most basic "Active" component. It is a very simple non-linear
electronic device that will only allow current to flow through it in one direction only, acting more
like a one way electrical valve. But, before we have a look at how signal diodes work we first need
to understand their basic construction and concept.
Diodes are made from a single piece of Semiconductor material which has a positive "P-region" at
one end and a negative "N-region" at the other, and has a resistivity somewhere between that of a
conductor and an insulator. But what is a "Semiconductor" material?, firstly let's look at what
makes something either a Conductor or an Insulator.
Resistivity
The electrical Resistance of an electrical or electronic component or device is generally defined as

being the ratio of the Voltage difference across it to the Current flowing through it, basic Ohm´s
Law principals. The problem with using resistance as a measurement is that it depends very much
on the physical size of the material being measured as well as the material out of which it is made.
For example, If we were to increase the length of the material (making it longer) its resistance
would also increase. Likewise, if we increased its diameter (making it fatter) its resistance would
then decrease. So we want to be able to define the material in such a way as to indicate its ability to
either conduct or oppose the flow of electrical current through it no matter what its size or shape
happens to be. The quantity that is used to indicate this is called Resistivity and is generally given
the Greek symbol of ρ, (Rho) and is measured in Ohms per metre, (Ω's/m).
If the resistivity of various materials is compared, they can be classified into three main groups,
Conductors, Insulators and Semi-conductors as shown below.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 10

Resistivity Chart
Notice also that there is a small margin

between the resistivity of conductors, e.g.
Silver, Gold etc, compared to the large
margin for the resistivity of insulators, e.g.
Glass and Quartz. The resistivity of all the
materials also depends upon their
temperature.
Conductors
From above we now know that Conductors are materials that have a low value of resistivity
allowing them to easily pass an electrical current due to there being plenty of free electrons floating
about within their basic atom structure. When a positive voltage potential is applied to the material
these "free electrons" leave their parent atom and travel together through the material forming an
electron or current flow. Examples of good conductors are generally metals such as Copper,
Aluminium, Silver or non metals such as Carbon because these materials have very few electrons in
their outer "Valence Shell" or ring, resulting in them being easily knocked out of the atom's orbit.
This allows them to flow freely through the material until they join up with other atoms, producing
a "Domino Effect" through the material thereby creating an electrical current.
Generally speaking, most metals are good conductors of electricity, as they have very small
resistance values, usually in the region of micro-ohms per metre with the resistivity of conductors
increasing with temperature because metals are also generally good conductors of heat.
The Effects of temperature on a conductor

As temperature rises within the conductor, the vibration of the atomic structure increases, and so
there are more free electrons being shaken loose from their orbits. This gives rise to more
collisions with the electrons moving under the influence of the electric potential making the flow
of electrons towards the positive electrical potential more difficult. Thus the resistance of a
conductor slightly increases as its temperature rises.
Heat also causes a vibration within the atomic structure and this vibration "shakes loose" some of
the more easily detached electrons allowing them to migrate randomly from atom to atom.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 11

Insulators
Insulators on the other hand are the exact opposite of conductors. They are made of materials,
generally non-metals, that have very few or no "free electrons" floating about within their basic
atom structure because the electrons in the outer valence shell are strongly attracted by the
positively charged inner nucleus. So if a potential voltage is applied to the material no current will
flow as there are no electrons to move and which gives these materials their insulating properties.
Insulators also have very high resistances, millions of ohms per metre, and are generally not
affected by normal temperature changes (although at very high temperatures wood becomes
charcoal and changes from an insulator to a conductor). In some cases however, for example at high
temperatures or with very high voltages applied, some insulating materials will conduct. In these
circumstances we say that the insulating material has "Broken down" and usually the structure of
the material is permanently damaged. Examples of good insulators are marble, fused quartz, p.v.c.
plastics, rubber etc.
Insulators play a very important role within electrical and electronic circuits, because without them
electrical circuits would short together and not work. For example, insulators made of glass or
porcelain are used for insulating and supporting overhead transmission cables while epoxy-glass
resin materials are used to make printed circuit boards, PCB's etc.
2.2- SEMI-CONDUCTORS
- fall between these two groups. They do not normally pass current easily at room temperature,
having an ability to conduct, somewhere between conductors and insulators. They have properties
however which make them very useful in electronic devices.
The difference between the three groups of materials lies in the number of easily detached
electrons within the atomic structure. The electrons concerned are more or less loosely held in the
outermost electron shells called valence shells and so these electrons are called valence electrons.
In a semiconductor the bond between the Valence electrons and their nucleus is much stronger
than in a conductor so far fewer electrons are free to move when a potential is applied. When
current does flow the chances of a collision between the electrons moving due to the electric
potential and randomly moving electrons due to heat is much less. Additionally the heating of the
material frees electrons previously held by their atoms and so these electrons are also free to add
to the current flow. Although of course the total current flow is much less than in a conductor the
amount by which current flow increases due to heat is proportionally greater. In use therefore it is
important to keep components made from semiconductor materials, such as transistors, cool.
Otherwise an effect called thermal runaway can occur. This is when an increase in temperature
causes an increase in current, which in turn causes a further increase in temperature, leading to
increasing current. A process that can escalate until the material passes so much current it is
destroyed.
Semi-conductors materials such as Silicon and Germanium, have electrical properties somewhere
in the middle, between those of a "Conductor" and an "Insulator". They are not good conductors nor
good insulators (hence their name semi-conductors). They have very few "fee electrons" because
their atoms are closely grouped together in a crystalline pattern called a "Crystal Lattice". However,
their ability to conduct electricity can be greatly improved by adding certain "Impurities" to this
crystalline structure thereby, producing more free electrons than holes or vice versa. By controlling
the amount of impurities added to the semiconductor material it is possible to control its
conductivity. This process of adding impurity atoms to semiconductor atoms (the order of 1
impurity atom per 10 million (or more) atoms of the semiconductor) is called Doping.
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The most commonly used semiconductor material is Silicon. It has four valence electrons in its
outer most shell which it shares with its adjacent atoms in forming covalent bonds. The structure of
the bond between two silicon atoms is such that each atom shares one electron with its neighbour
making the bond very stable. As there are very few free electrons available to move from place to
place producing an electrical current, crystals of pure silicon (or germanium) are therefore good
insulators, or at the very least very high value resistors. Silicon atoms are arranged in a definite
symmetrical pattern making them a crystalline solid structure. A crystal of pure silicon (silicon
dioxide or glass) is generally said to be an intrinsic crystal.
The diagram above shows the structure and lattice of a 'normal' pure
crystal of Silicon.
2.2.1- N-type Semiconductor.
In order for our silicon crystal to conduct electricity, we need to introduce an impurity atom such as
Arsenic, Antimony or Phosphorus into the crystalline structure. These atoms have five outer
electrons in their outermost co-valent bond to share with other atoms and are commonly called
"Pentavalent" impurities. This allows four of the five electrons to bond with its neighbouring silicon
atoms leaving one "free electron" to move about when an electrical voltage is applied (electron
flow). As each impurity atom "donates" one electron, pentavalent atoms are generally known as
"Donors". Antimony (symbol Sb) is frequently used as a pentavalent additive as it has 51 electrons
arranged in 5 shells around the nucleus. The resulting semiconductor material has an excess of
current-carrying electrons, each with a negative charge, and is therefore referred to as "N-type"
material with the electrons called "Majority Carriers" and the resultant holes "Minority Carriers".
The diagram above shows the structure and lattice of the donor impurity
atom Antimony.
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2.2.2- P-Type Semiconductor.
If we go the other way, and introduce a "Trivalent" (3-electron) impurity into the crystal structure,
such as Aluminium, Boron or Indium, only three valence electrons are available in the outermost
covalent bond meaning that the fourth bond cannot be formed. Therefore, a complete connection is
not possible, giving the semiconductor material an abundance of positively charged carriers known
as "holes" in the structure of the crystal. As there is a hole an adjoining free electron is attracted to it
and will try to move into the hole to fill it. However, the electron filling the hole leaves another hole
behind it as it moves. This in turn attracts another electron which in turn creates another hole
behind, and so forth giving the appearance that the holes are moving as a positive charge through
the crystal structure (conventional current flow). As each impurity atom generates a hole, trivalent
impurities are generally known as "Acceptors" as they are continually "accepting" extra electrons.
Boron (symbol B) is frequently used as a trivalent additive as it has only 5 electrons arranged in 3
shells around the nucleus. Addition of Boron causes conduction to consist mainly of positive charge
carriers results in a "P-type" material and the positive holes are called "Majority Carriers" while the
free electrons are called "Minority Carriers".
The diagram above shows the structure and lattice of the acceptor impurity
atom Boron.
Summary:
N-type (e.g. add Antimony)
These are materials which have Pentavalent impurity atoms (Donors) added and conduct by
"electron" movement and are called, N-type Semiconductors.
In these types of materials are:
• 1. The Donors are positively charged.

• 2. There are a large number of free electrons.
• 3. A small number of holes in relation to the number of free electrons.
• 4. Doping gives:
o positively charged donors.
o negatively charged free electrons.
• 5. Supply of energy gives:
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o positively charged holes.
P-type (e.g. add Boron)
These are materials which have Trivalent impurity atoms (Acceptors) added and conduct by "hole"
movement and are called, P-type Semiconductors.
In these types of materials are:
• 1. The Acceptors are negatively charged.

• 2. There are a large number of holes.
• 3. A small number of free electrons in relation to the number of holes.
• 4. Doping gives:
o negatively charged acceptors.
• 5. Supply of energy gives:
and both P and N-types as a whole, are electrically neutral.
2.3- THE JUNCTION DIODE
The effect described in the previous tutorial is achieved without any external voltage potential being
applied to the actual PN-junction. However, if we were to make electrical connections at the ends of
both the N-type and the P-type materials and then connect them to a battery in the appropriate
direction, the depletion layer around the junction can be increased or decreased thereby increasing
or decreasing the effective resistance of the junction itself. The behaviour of the PN-junction with
regards to the potential barrier size produces an asymmetrical conducting device, better known as
the Junction Diode.
Figure below shows diode representations (a) The depletion region is almost devoid of available
charge carriers, and acts as an insulator:
Diode representations: PN-junction model, schematic symbol, physical part.
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The schematic symbol of the diode is shown in Figure above (b) such that the anode (pointing end)
corresponds to the P-type semiconductor at (a). The cathode bar, non-pointing end, at (b)
corresponds to the N-type material at (a). Also note that the cathode stripe on the physical part (c)
corresponds to the cathode on the symbol.
If a reverse-biasing voltage is applied across the P-N junction, this depletion region expands, further
resisting any current through it. (Figure below)
2.3.1 The Basic Diode Symbol and Static I-V Characteristics.
But before we can use the PN-junction as a practical device or as a rectifying device we need to
firstly "Bias" the junction, ie connect a voltage potential across it. On the voltage axis above
"Reverse Bias" refers to an external voltage potential which increases the potential barrier. An
external voltage which decreases the potential barrier is said to act in the "Forward Bias" direction.
There are 3 possible "biasing" conditions for the standard Junction Diode and these are:
1. Zero Bias - No external voltage potential is applied to the PN-junction.
2. Reverse Bias - The voltage potential is connected negative, (-ve) to the P-type material and
positive, (+ve) to the N-type material across the diode which has the effect of Increasing the
PN-junction width.
3. Forward Bias - The voltage potential is connected positive, (+ve) to the P-type material and
negative, (-ve) to the N-type material across the diode which has the effect of Decreasing the
PN-junction width.
2.3.2- Zero Bias.
When a diode is connected in a Zero Bias condition, no external potential energy is applied to the
PN-junction. However if the diodes terminals are shorted together, a few holes (majority carriers) in
the P-type material with enough energy to overcome the potential barrier will move across the
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 16

junction against this barrier potential. This is known as the "Forward Current" and is referenced
as IF
Likewise, holes generated in the N-type material (minority carriers), find this situation favourable
and move across the junction in the opposite direction. This is known as the "Reverse Current"
and is referenced as IR, as shown below.
2.3.3- Zero Biased Diode.
An "Equilibrium" or balance will be established when the two currents are equal and both moving
in opposite directions, so that the net result is zero current flowing in the circuit. When this occurs
the junction is said to be in a state of "Dynamic Equilibrium".
This state of equilibrium can be broken by raising the temperature of the PN-junction causing an
increase in the generation of minority carriers, thereby resulting in an increase in leakage current.
2.3.4- Reverse Bias.
When a diode is connected in a Reverse Bias condition, a positive voltage is applied to the N-type
material and a negative voltage is applied to the P-type material. The positive voltage applied to the
N-type material attracts electrons towards the positive electrode and away from the junction, while
the holes in the P-type end are also attracted away from the junction towards the negative electrode.
The net result is that the depletion layer grows wider due to a lack of electrons and holes and
presents a high impedance path, almost an insulator. The result is that a high potential barrier is
created thus preventing current from flowing through the semiconductor material.
A Reverse Biased Junction showing the Increase in the Depletion Layer.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 17

This condition represents the high resistance direction of a PN-junction and practically zero current
flows through the diode with an increase in bias voltage. However, a very small leakage current
does flow through the junction which can be measured in microamperes, (μA). One final point, if
the reverse bias voltage Vr applied to the junction is increased to a sufficiently high enough value, it
will cause the PN-junction to overheat and fail due to the avalanche effect around the junction. This
may cause the diode to become shorted and will result in maximum circuit current to flow, Ohm's
Law and this shown in the reverse characteristics curve below.
Reverse Characteristics Curve for a Diode.
Sometimes this avalanche effect has practical applications in voltage stabilizing circuits where a
series limiting resistor is used with the diode to limit this reverse breakdown current to a preset
maximum value thereby producing a fixed voltage output across the diode. These types of diodes
are commonly known as Zener Diodes and are discussed in a later tutorial.
2.3.5- Forward Bias.
When a diode is connected in a Forward Bias condition, a negative voltage is applied to the N-type
material and a positive voltage is applied to the P-type material. If this external voltage becomes
greater than the value of the potential barrier, 0.7 volts for Silicon and 0.3 volts for Germanium, the
potential barriers opposition will be overcome and current will start to flow as the negative voltage
pushes or repels electrons towards the junction giving them the energy to cross over and combine
with the holes being pushed in the opposite direction towards the junction by the positive voltage.
This results in a characteristics curve of zero current flowing up to this "knee" voltage and high
current flow through the diode with little increase in the external voltage as shown below.
Forward Characteristics Curve for a Diode.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 18

This results in the depletion layer becoming very thin and narrow and which now represents a low
impedance path thereby producing a very small potential barrier and allowing high currents to flow.
The point at which this takes place is represented on the static I-V characteristics curve above as the
"knee" point.
Forward Biased Junction Diode showing a Reduction in the Depletion Layer.
This condition represents the low resistance direction in a PN-junction allowing very large currents
to flow through the diode with only a small increase in bias voltage. The actual potential difference
across the junction or diode is kept constant by the action of the depletion layer at about 0.3v for
Germanium and about 0.7v for Silicon diodes. Since the diode can conduct "infinite" current above
this knee point as it effectively becomes a short circuit, resistors are used in series with the device to
limit its current flow. Exceeding its maximum forward current specification causes the device to
dissipate more power in the form of heat than it was designed for resulting in failure of the device.
The essential difference between forward-bias and reverse-bias is the polarity of the voltage
dropped across the diode. Let's take a closer look at the simple battery-diode-lamp circuit shown
earlier, this time investigating voltage drops across the various components in Figure below.
Summary:
1). Semiconductors contain two types of mobile charge carriers, Holes and Electrons.
2). The holes are positively charged while the electrons negatively charged.
3). A semiconductor may be doped with donor impurities such as Antimony (N-type doping), so
that it contains mobile charges which are primarily electrons.
4). A semiconductor may be doped with acceptor impurities such as Boron (P-type doping), so
that it contains mobile charges which are mainly holes.
5). When a diode is Zero Biased no external energy source is applied and a natural Potential
Barrier is developed across a PN-junction which is about 0.7v for Silicon diodes and about 0.3v
for Germanium diodes.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 19

6). When a diode is Forward Biased the PN-junction is "reduced" and current flows through the
diode.
7). When a diode is Reverse Biased the PN-junction is "increased" and zero current flows, (only
a very small leakage current).
2.4- THE SIGNAL DIODE
The semiconductor Signal Diode is a small non-linear semiconductor devices generally used in
electronic circuits, where small currents or high frequencies are involved such as in radio, television
and digital logic circuits or where a low value of capacitance is required between the terminals of
the device. Signal diodes which are also sometimes known by their older name of the Point
Contact or Glass Diode, are physically very small in size compared to their larger Power Diode
cousins and control small currents up to about 100mA. Generally, the PN-junction of a signal diode
is encapsulated in glass to protect it and they generally have a red or black band at one end of their
body to help identify which end is its Cathode terminal. The most widely used of all the glass
encapsulated signal diode is the very common 1N4148 signal diode.
The characteristics of a signal point contact diode are different for both germanium and silicon
types and are given as:
Germanium Signal Diodes - These have a low reverse resistance value giving a lower forward volt
drop across the junction, typically only about 0.2-0.3v, but have a higher forward resistance value
because of their small junction area.
Silicon Signal Diodes - These have a very high value of reverse resistance and give a forward volt
drop of about 0.6-0.7v across the junction. They have fairly low values of forward resistance giving
them high peak values of forward current and reverse voltage.
The electronic symbol given for any type of diode is that of an arrow with a bar or line at its end
and this is illustrated below along with the Steady State V-I Characteristics Curve.
2.4.1- Silicon Diode V-I Characteristic Curve
The arrow points in the direction of conventional current flow through the diode meaning that the
diode will only conduct if a positive supply is connected to the Anode (A) terminal and a negative
supply is connected to the Cathode (K) terminal thus only allowing current to flow through it in one
direction only, acting more like a one way electrical valve, (Forward Biased Condition).
However, we know from the previous tutorial that if we connect the external energy source in the
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 20

other direction the diode will block any current flowing through it and instead will act like an open
switch, (Reversed Biased Condition) as shown below.
2.4.2- Forward and Reversed Biased Diode
Then we can say that an ideal small signal diode conducts current in one direction (forward-
conducting) and blocks current in the other direction (reverse-blocking). Signal Diodes are used in a
wide variety of applications such as a switch in rectifiers, limiters, snubbers or in wave-shaping
circuits.
2.4.3- Signal Diode Parameters
Signal Diodes are manufactured in a wide range of voltage and current ratings and care must be
taken when choosing a diode for a certain application. There are a bewildering array of static
characteristics associated with the humble signal diode but the more important ones are.
1. Maximum Forward Current
The Maximum Forward Current (IF(max)) is as its name implies the maximum forward current
allowed to flow through the device. When the diode is conducting in the forward bias condition, it
has a very small "ON" resistance across the junction and therefore, power is dissipated across this
junction (Ohm´s Law) in the form of heat. Then, exceeding its (IF(max)) value will cause more heat
to be generated across the junction and the diode will fail due to thermal overload, usually with
destructive consequences. When operating diodes around their maximum current ratings it is always
best to mount them onto suitable aluminium heatsinks to dissipate the heat produced by the diode.
For example, our small 1N4148 signal diode has a maximum current rating of about 150mA with a
power dissipation of 500mW at 25oC. Then a resistor must be used in series with the diode to limit
the forward current, (IF(max)) through it.
2. Peak Inverse Voltage
The Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV) or Maximum Reverse Voltage (VR(max)), is the maximum
allowable Reverse operating voltage that can be applied to the diode without reverse breakdown
and damage occurring to the device. This rating therefore, is less than the "Avalanche Breakdown"
level on the reverse bias characteristic curve. It is mainly used for rectifying diodes in AC rectifier
circuits with reference to the amplitude of the voltage were the sinusoidal waveform changes from a
positive to a negative value on each and every cycle.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 21

3. Maximum Operating Temperature
The Maximum Operating Temperature actually relates to the Junction Temperature (TJ) of the
device. It is the maximum temperature allowable before the structure of the device deteriorates and
is expressed in units of degrees Centigrade per Watt. This value is linked closely to the maximum
forward current of the device so that at this value the temperature of the junction is not exceeded.
However, the maximum forward current will also depend upon the ambient temperature in which
the device is operating so the maximum forward current is usually quoted for two or more ambient
temperature values.
2.4.4- DIODE ARRAYS
When space is limited, or matching pairs of signal diodes are required, diode arrays can be used.
They are generally high speed silicon diodes such as the IN4148 connected together in multiple
diode packages called an array for use in switching and clamping circuits. They are generally single
inline packages (SIP) containing 4 or more diodes connected internally to give a Common
Cathode, (CC) or a Common Anode, (CA) configuration as shown.
Diode Array
Signal diode arrays can also be used to connect together diodes in either series or parallel
combinations to form voltage regulator or voltage reducing type circuits or to produce a known
fixed voltage. We know that the forward volt drop across a silicon diode is about 0.7v and by
connecting together a number of diodes in series the total voltage drop will be the sum of the
individual voltage drops of each diode. However, when signal diodes are connected together in
series, the current will be the same for each diode so the maximum forward current must not be
exceeded.
2.4.5- Connecting Signal Diodes in Series
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 22

As the forward voltage drop across a silicon diode is about 0.7v, these individual voltage drops will
be subtracted from the supply voltage to leave a certain voltage potential across the load resistor,
and in our simple example above is given as 10v - (3 x 0.7v) = 7.9v. By adding more diodes in
series a greater voltage reduction will occur. Also series connected diodes can be placed in parallel
with the load resistor to act as a voltage regulating circuit. Here the voltage applied to the load
resistor will be 3 x 0.7v = 2.1v. We can of course produce the same constant voltage source using a
single Zener Diode. Resistor, RD is used to prevent excessive current flowing through the diodes if
the load is removed.
2.4.6- Flywheel Diodes
Signal diodes can also be used in a variety of clamping, protection and wave shaping circuits with
the most common form of clamping diode circuit being one which uses a diode connected in
parallel with a coil or inductive load to prevent damage to the switching circuit by suppressing the
voltage spikes caused when the load is turned "OFF". This type of diode is generally known as a
"Flywheeling Diode" or "Flywheel diode". Flywheel diodes can also be used to protect solid state
switches such as power MOSFETS from damage by reverse battery protection as well as protection
from highly inductive loads such as relay coils or motors, and an example of its connection is
shown below.
Other types of specialized diodes not included here are Photo Diodes, PIN Diodes, Tunnel Diodes
and Schottky Barrier Diodes. By adding more PN-junctions to the basic diode structure other
types of semiconductor devices can be made. For example a 3 layer semiconductor device becomes
a Transistor and a 4 layer semiconductor device becomes a Thyristor or Silicon Controlled
Rectifier. 5 layer devices known as Triacs are also available.
2.5- POWER DIODES AND RECTIFIERS
2.5.1- The Power Diode
In the previous tutorials we saw that a diode will only conduct current in one direction (from Anode
to Cathode) but not in the reverse direction acting a bit like a one way valve. A widely used
application of this feature is in the conversion of alternating voltages (AC) to direct voltages (DC),
in other words, Rectification, especially used in power supply applications. Small signal diodes can
be used as rectifiers in low-power, low current rectifiers or applications but were larger currents and
higher voltages are involved the PN-junction of a signal diode would melt so larger Power Diodes
are used instead.
Power Diodes have much larger PN-junctions resulting in a high forward current capability,
typically up to several hundred amps. Since the power diode has a large PN-junction, it is not
suitable for high frequency applications but special and expensive high frequency, high current
diodes are available. Power diodes are designed to have a forward "ON" resistance of fractions of
an ohm while their reverse blocking resistance is in the megaohms range. They are mainly used in
power conversion, such as power supplies, rectifiers and inverters. Some of the larger value diodes
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 23

are designed to be "stud mounted" onto heatsinks reducing their thermal resistance to between 0.1
to 1oC/Watt.
Power diodes can be used individually or connected together to produce a variety of rectifier
circuits such as "Half-Wave", "Full-Wave" or as "Bridge Rectifiers". The most commonly used
individual power diode for basic electronics applications is the general purpose 1N400X Series
Glass Passivated type rectifying diode with standard ratings of forward current from 1amp and
reverse voltage ratings from 50v (1N4001) up to 1000v (1N4007) with the small 1N4007GP being
the most popular.
2.5.2- Half-wave Rectification
A rectifier is a circuit which converts Alternating Current (AC) into a Direct Current (DC) form
and the simplest of all the rectifier circuits is that of the Half-Wave Rectifier. A half-wave rectifier
circuit uses just one half of each complete sine wave or cycle of the AC supply in order to convert it
to a DC supply. Then this type of circuit is called a "half-wave" rectifier because it passes only half
of the incoming AC power signal as shown below.
Half-wave Rectifier Circuit
During each "positive" half cycle of the AC sine wave, the diode is Forward Biased (Anode is
positive with respect to the Cathode) and current flows through it. Since the DC load is resistive
(resistor R), the current flowing in the load resistor is therefore proportional to the voltage (Ohm´s
Law), and the voltage across the load resistor is the same as the supply voltage, Vs (minus Vf), that
is the "DC" voltage across the load is sinusoidal for the first half cycle only. Then Vout = Vs.
During each "negative" half cycle of the AC sine wave, the diode is Reverse Biased (Anode is
negative with respect to the Cathode) and No current flows through it. Therefore, in the negative
half cycle of the supply, no current flows in the load resistor as no voltage appears across it. Then
Vout = 0.
The current on the DC side of the circuit flows in one direction only making the circuit
Unidirectional and the value of the DC voltage VDC across the load resistor is calculated as
follows.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 24

Where Vmax is the maximum voltage value of the AC supply, and VS is the r.m.s. value of the
supply.
Example No1.
Calculate the current (IDC) flowing through a 100Ω resistor connected to a 240v single phase half-
wave rectifier as shown above, and also the power consumed by the load.
As the voltage across the load resistor is only present during the positive half of the cycle, the
resultant voltage is "ON" and "OFF" during every cycle resulting in a low average DC value. This
variation on the rectified waveform is called "Ripple" and is an undesirable feature. The resultant
DC ripple has a frequency that is equal to that of the AC supply frequency. Very often when
rectifying an alternating voltage we wish to produce a "steady" direct voltage free from any voltage
variations or ripple. One way of doing this is to connect a Capacitor across the output voltage
terminals in parallel with the load resistor as shown below. This type of capacitor is known
commonly as a "Reservoir" or Smoothing Capacitor.
Half-wave Rectifier with Smoothing Capacitor
When rectification is used to provide a direct voltage power supply from an alternating source, the
amount of ripple can be reduced by using larger value capacitors but there are limits both on cost
and size. For a given capacitor value, a greater load current (smaller load resistor) will discharge the
capacitor more quickly (RC Time Constant) and so increases the ripple obtained. Then for single
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 25

phase, half-wave rectifier circuits it is not very practical to try and reduce the ripple voltage by
capacitor smoothing alone so it is more practical to use "Full-wave Rectification" instead as
discussed in the next tutorial.
2.5.3- The Full-wave Rectifier
In the previous Power Diodes tutorial we discussed ways of reducing the ripple or voltage
variations on a direct DC voltage by connecting capacitors across the load resistance. While this
method may be suitable for low power applications it is unsuitable however for applications that
require both a "steady and smooth" DC power supply voltage. One method of improving on this
method is to use every half-cycle of the AC input voltage instead of every other half-cycle as we did
previously. The circuit which allows us to do just that is called a Full-wave Rectifier.
In a Full-wave rectifier circuit two diodes are now used, together with a transformer whose
secondary winding is split equally into two and has a common centre tapped connection, (C). Now
each diode conducts in turn when its Anode terminal is positive with respect to the centre point C as
shown below.
Full-wave Rectifier Circuit
The circuit consists of two Half-wave rectifiers connected to a single load resistance with each
diode taking it in turn to supply current to the load. When point A is positive with respect to point
B, diode D1 conducts in the forward direction as indicated by the arrows. When point B is positive
(in the negative half of the cycle) with respect to point A, diode D2 conducts in the forward
direction and the current flowing through resistor R is in the same direction for both circuits. As the
output voltage across the resistor R is the sum of the two waveforms, this type of circuit is also
known as a "bi-phase" circuit.
As the spaces between each half-wave developed by each diode is now being filled in by the other
diode the average DC output voltage across the load resistor is now double that of the single half-
wave rectifier circuit and is about 0.637Vmax of the peak voltage, assuming no losses.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 26

The peak voltage of the output waveform is the same as before for the half-wave rectifier provided
each half of the transformer windings have the same rms voltage value. To obtain a different d.c.
voltage output different transformer ratios can be used, but one main disadvantage of this type of
rectifier is that having a larger transformer for a given power output with two separate windings
makes this type of circuit costly compared to a "Bridge Rectifier" circuit equivalent.
2.5.4- The Bridge Rectifier
Another type of circuit that produces the same output as a full-wave rectifier is that of the Bridge
Rectifier. This type of single phase rectifier uses 4 individual rectifying diodes connected in a
"bridged" configuration to produce the desired output but does not require a special centre tapped
transformer, thereby reducing its size and cost. The single secondary winding is connected to one
side of the diode bridge network and the load to the other side as shown below.
The Diode Bridge Rectifier
The 4 diodes labeled D1 to D4 are arranged in "series pairs" with only two diodes conducting
current during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2
conduct in series while diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load
as shown below.
The Positive Half-cycle
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 27

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1 and
D2 switch of as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing through the load is the same
direction as before.
The Negative Half-cycle
As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed across the load is
also unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave rectifier, therefore the average
DC voltage across the load is 0.637Vmax and the ripple frequency is now twice the supply frequency
(e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz supply).
The Smoothing Capacitor
We saw in the previous section that the single phase half-wave rectifier produces an output wave
every half cycle and that it was not practical to use this type of circuit to produce a steady DC
supply. The full-wave bridge rectifier however, gives us a greater mean DC value (0.637 Vmax)
with less superimposed ripple while the output waveform is twice that of the frequency of the input
supply frequency. We can therefore increase its average DC output level even higher by connecting
a suitable smoothing capacitor across the output of the bridge circuit as shown below.
Full-wave Rectifier with Smoothing Capacitor
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 28

The smoothing capacitor converts the full-wave rippled output of the rectifier into a smooth DC
output voltage. Two important parameters to consider when choosing a suitable a capacitor are its
Working Voltage, which must be higher than the no-load output value of the rectifier and its
Capacitance Value, which determines the amount of ripple that will appear superimposed on top of
the DC voltage. Too low a value and the capacitor has little effect. As a general rule of thumb, we
are looking to have a ripple voltage of less than 100mV peak to peak.
The main advantages of a full-wave bridge rectifier is that it has a smaller AC ripple value for a
given load and a smaller reservoir or smoothing capacitor than an equivalent half-wave rectifier.
Therefore, the fundamental frequency of the ripple voltage is twice that of the AC supply frequency
(100Hz) where for the half-wave rectifier it is exactly equal to the supply frequency (50Hz). The
amount of ripple voltage that is superimposed on top of the DC supply voltage by the diodes can be
virtually eliminated by adding a much improved π-filter (pi-filter) to the output terminals of the
bridge rectifier. This type of low-pass filter consists of two smoothing capacitors, usually of the
same value and a choke or inductance across them to introduce a high impedance path to the
alternating ripple component. Another more practical and cheaper alternative is to use a 3-terminal
voltage regulator IC, such as a LM7805 which can reduce the ripple by more than 70dB (Datasheet)
while delivering over 1amp of output current.
2.6- THE ZENER DIODE
In the previous Signal Diode tutorial we saw that a "reverse biased" diode passes very little current
but will suffer breakdown or damage if the reverse voltage applied across it is made to high.
However, Zener Diodes or "Breakdown Diodes" as they are sometimes called, are basically the
same as the standard junction diode but are specially made to have a low pre-determined Reverse
Breakdown Voltage, called the "Zener Voltage" (Vz). In the forward direction it behaves just like
a normal signal diode passing current, but when the reverse voltage applied to it exceeds the
selected reverse breakdown voltage a process called Avalanche Breakdown occurs in the depletion
layer and the current through the diode increases to the maximum circuit value, which is usually
limited by a series resistor. The point at which current flows can be very accurately controlled (to
less than 1% tolerance) in the doping stage of the diodes construction giving it a specific Zener
Breakdown voltage (Vz) ranging from a few volts up to a few hundred volts.
Zener Diode I-V Characteristics
Zener Diodes are used in the "REVERSE" bias mode, i.e. the anode connects to the negative
supply, and from its I-V characteristics curve above, we can see that the Zener diode has a region in
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 29
its reverse bias characteristics of almost a constant voltage regardless of the current flowing through
the diode. This voltage across the diode (it's Zener Voltage, Vz) remains nearly constant even with
large changes in current through the diode caused by variations in the supply voltage or load. This
ability to control itself can be used to great effect to regulate or stabilise a voltage source against
supply or load variations. The diode will continue to regulate until the diode current falls below the
minimum Iz value in the reverse breakdown region.
The Zener Regulator
Zener Diodes can be used to produce a stabilised voltage output by passing a small current through
it from a voltage source via a suitable current limiting resistor, (RS). We remember from the
previous tutorials that the DC output voltage from the half or full-wave rectifiers contains ripple
superimposed onto the DC voltage and that as the load value changes so to does the average output
voltage. By connecting a simple Zener stabiliser circuit as shown below across the output of the
rectifier a more stable reference voltage can be produced.
Zener Diode Stabiliser
The resistor, RS is connected in series with the Zener diode to limit the current flow with the output
from the voltage source, VS being connected across the combination while the stabilised output
voltage Voutis taken from across the Zener diode. The Zener diode is connected with its Cathode
terminal connected to the positive rail of the DC supply so it is reverse biased and will be operating
in its breakdown condition. Resistor RS is selected so to limit the maximum current flowing in the
circuit. When no load resistance, RL is connected to the circuit, no load current (IL = 0), is drawn
and all the circuit current passes through the Zener diode which dissipates its maximum power.
Care must be taken when selecting the appropriate value of resistance that the Zener maximum
power rating is not exceeded under this "no-load" condition.
There is a minimum Zener current for which the stabilization of the voltage is effective and the
Zener current must stay above this value operating within its breakdown region at all times. The
upper limit of current is of course dependant upon the power rating of the device.
Example No1.
A 5.0v stabilised power supply is required from a 12v d.c. input source. The maximum power rating
of the Zener diode is 2W. Using the circuit above calculate:
a) The maximum current flowing in the Zener Diode.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 30

b) The value of the series resistor, RS
c) The load current IL if a load resistor of 1kΩ is connected across the Zener diode.
d) The total supply current IS
2.7- ZENER VALUES
As well as producing a single stabilised voltage output, Zener diodes can also be joined together in
series along with normal silicon signal diodes to produce a variety of different reference voltage
values as shown below.
2.7.1- Zener Diodes Connected in Series
The values of the individual Zener diodes can be chosen to suit the application while the silicon
diode drops about 0.7v in the forward bias condition. The supply voltage, Vin must of course be
higher than the largest output reference voltage and in our example above this is 19v.
Summary:
• A diode is an electrical component acting as a one-way valve for current.

• When voltage is applied across a diode in such a way that the diode allows current, the
diode is said to be forward-biased.
• When voltage is applied across a diode in such a way that the diode prohibits current, the
diode is said to be reverse-biased.
• The voltage dropped across a conducting, forward-biased diode is called the forward
voltage. Forward voltage for a diode varies only slightly for changes in forward current and
temperature, and is fixed by the chemical composition of the P-N junction.
• Silicon diodes have a forward voltage of approximately 0.7 volts.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 31
• Germanium diodes have a forward voltage of approximately 0.3 volts.
• The maximum reverse-bias voltage that a diode can withstand without “breaking down”
is called the Peak Inverse Voltage, or PIV rating.
2.8- LIGHT EMITTING DIODES ( LED )
LED´s, are among the most widely used of all the types of diodes available. They are the most
visible type of diode, that emits a fairly narrow bandwidth of either visible coloured light, invisible
infra-red or laser type light when a forward current is passed through them. A "Light Emitting
Diode" or LED as it is more commonly called, is basically just a specialised type of PN-junction
diode, made from a very thin layer of fairly heavily doped semiconductor material. When the diode
is Forward Biased, electrons from the semiconductors conduction band combine with holes from
the valence band, releasing sufficient energy to produce photons of light. Because of this thin layer
a reasonable number of these photons can leave the junction and radiate away producing a coloured
light output
Unlike normal diodes which are made for detection or power rectification, and which are generally
made from either Germanium or Silicon semiconductor material, Light Emitting Diodes are made
from compound type semiconductor materials such as Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Gallium
Phosphide (GaP), Gallium Arsenide Phosphide (GaAsP), Silicon Carbide (SiC) or Gallium Indium
Nitride (GaInN). The exact choice of the semiconductor material used will determine the overall
wavelength of the photon light emissions and therefore the resulting colour of the light emitted, as
in the case of the visible light coloured LEDs, (RED, AMBER, GREEN etc)
Typical LED Characteristics

Semiconductor VF @
Wavelength Colour
Material 20mA
Infra-
GaAs 850-940nm 1.2v
Red
GaAsP 630-660nm Red 1.8v
GaAsP 605-620nm Amber 2.0v
GaAsP:N 585-595nm Yellow 2.2v
GaP 550-570nm Green 3.5v
SiC 430-505nm Blue 3.6v
GaInN 450nm White 4.0v
From the table above we can see that the main P-type dopant used in the manufacture of Light
Emitting Diodes is Gallium(Ga, atomic number 31) and the main N-type dopant used is Arsenic
(As, atomic number 31) giving the resulting Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) crystal structure, which has
the characteristics of radiating significant amounts of infrared radiation from its junction when a
forward current is flowing through it. By also adding Phosphorus (P, atomic number 15), as a third
dopant the overall wavelength of the emitted radiation is reduced to give visible red light to the
human eye. Further refinements in the doping process of the PN-junction have resulted in a range of
colours available from red, orange and amber through to yellow, and the recently developed blue
LED which is achieved by injecting nitrogen atoms into the crystal structure during the doping
process.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 32

2.8.1- Light Emitting Diodes I-V Characteristics.
Light Emitting Diode (LED) Schematic symbol and its I-V Characteristics Curves showing
the different colours available.
Before a light emitting diode can "emit" any form of light it needs a current to flow through it, as it
is a current dependant device. As the LED is to be connected in a forward bias condition across a
power supply it should be Current Limited using a series resistor to protect it from excessive current
flow. From the table above we can see that each LED has its own forward voltage drop across the
PN-junction and this parameter which is determined by the semiconductor material used is the
forward voltage drop for a given amount of forward conduction current, typically for a forward
current of 20mA. In most cases LEDs are operated from a low voltage DC supply, with a series
resistor to limit the forward current to a suitable value from say 5mA for a simple LED indicator to
30mA or more where a high brightness light output is needed.
2.8.2- LED Series Resistance.
The series resistor value RS is calculated by simply using Ohm´s Law, knowing the required
forward current IF, the supply voltage VS and the expected forward voltage drop of the LED, VF at
this current level as shown below.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 33

2.8.3- LED Series Resistor Circuit
Example No1.
An amber coloured LED is to be connected to a 5.0v stabilised power supply. Using the circuit
above calculate the series resistor required to limit the forward current to less than 10mA.
We remember from the Resistors tutorials, that resistors come in standard preferred values. Our
calculation shows to limit the current flowing through the LED to 10mA exactly, we would require
a 300Ω resistor. In the E12 series of resistors there is no 300Ω resistor so we would need to choose
the next highest value, which is 330Ω. A quick re-calculation shows the new forward current value
is now 9.1mA, and this is ok.
The brightness of a LED cannot be controlled by simply varying the current flowing through it.
Allowing more current to flow through the LED will make it glow brighter but will also cause it to
dissipate more heat. LEDs are designed to produce a set amount of light operating with a forward
current of about 10 to 20mA. In situations where power savings are important, less current may be
possible. However, reducing the current to below say 5mA may dim its light output to much or even
turn the LED "OFF" completely. A much better way to control the brightness of LEDs is to use a
control process known as "Pulse Width Modulation" or PWM, in which the LED is turned "ON"
and "OFF" continuously at varying frequencies depending upon the required light intensity.
When higher light output is required, a pulsed current with a fairly short duty cycle ("ON-OFF"
Ratio) allows the current and therefore the light output to be increased significantly during the
actual pulses, while still keeping the LEDs average current level and power dissipation within its
limits. The human eyes fills in the gaps between the "ON" and "OFF" light pulses, providing the
pulse frequency is high enough, making it appear as a continuous light output. So pulses at a
frequency of 100Hz or more actually appear brighter to the eye than continuous light of the same
average intensity.
2.8.4- Multi-LEDs
LEDs are available in a wide range of shapes, colours and various sizes with different light output
intensities available, with the most common (and cheapest to produce) being the standard 5mm Red
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 34

LED. LED's are also available in various "packages" arranged to produce both letters and numbers
with the most common being that of a "Seven-Segment Display" arrangement. Nowadays, full
colour flat screen LED displays are available with a large number of dedicated I.C.s available for
driving the displays directly.
Most LEDs produce a single output colour however, multi-colour LEDs are now available that can
produce a variety of colours within a single device. These are actually 2 LEDs fabricated within a
single package as shown below.
2.8.5- A Bi-colour LED
LED Terminal A
AC
Selected + -
LED 1 ON OFF ON
LED 2 OFF ON ON
Colour Green Red Yellow
Here the LEDs are connected in "inverse parallel", so that the colour red is emitted when the device
is connected in one direction and the colour green is emitted when it is biased in the other direction.
This type of arrangement is useful for giving polarity indication, for example correct connection of
batteries, power supplies etc. Also, both LEDs would take it in turn to light if the device was
connected (via suitable resistor) to a low voltage, low frequency AC supply.
2.8.6- A Multi or Tri-colour LED
Output
Red Orange Yellow Green
Colour
LED 1
0 5mA 9.5mA 15mA
Current
LED 2
10mA 6.5mA 3.5mA 0
Current
This multicoloured LED comprises of a single Red and Green LED with the cathode terminals
connected together. This device gives out a Red or a Green colour by turning "ON" only one LED
at a time. It can also generate additional shades of colours such as Orange or Yellow by turning
"ON" the two LEDs in different ratios of forward current as shown in the table thereby generating 4
different colours from just two diode junctions.
2.8.7- LED Displays
As well as individual colour or multi-colour LEDs, light emitting diodes can be combined together
in a single package to produce displays such as bargraphs, strips, arrays and 7-segment displays. A
7-segment LED display provides a very convenient way of displaying information or digital data in
the form of Numbers, Letters or even Alpha-numerical characters and as their name suggests, they
consist of 7 individual LEDs (the segments), within one single display package. In order to produce
the required numbers or characters from 0 to 9 and A to F respectively, on the display the correct
combination of LED segments need to be illuminated. A standard 7-segment LED display generally
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 35

has 8 input connections, one for each LED segment and one that acts as a common terminal or
connection for all the internal segments.
There are two important types of 7-segment LED digital display.
- The Common Cathode Display (CCD) : In the common cathode display, all the cathode
connections of the LEDs are joined together and the individual segments are illuminated by
application of a HIGH, logic "1" signal
- The Common Anode Display (CAD) : In the common anode display, all the anode connections
of the LEDs are joined together and the individual segments are illuminated by connecting the
terminals to a LOW, logic "0" signal.
2.8.8- Typical 7-segment Display
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 36

Chapter Three
TRANSISTORS
3.1- INTRODUCTION
The invention of the bipolar transistor in 1948 ushered in a revolution in electronics. Technical feats
previously requiring relatively large, mechanically fragile, power-hungry vacuum tubes were
suddenly achievable with tiny, mechanically rugged, power-thrifty specks of crystalline silicon.
This revolution made possible the design and manufacture of lightweight, inexpensive electronic
devices that we now take for granted. Understanding how transistors function is of paramount
importance to anyone interested in understanding modern electronics.
Bipolar Transistor Construction
The construction and circuit symbols for both the NPN and PNP bipolar transistor are shown above
with the arrow in the circuit symbol always showing the direction of conventional current flow
between the base terminal and its emitter terminal, with the direction of the arrow pointing from the
positive P-type region to the negative N-type region, exactly the same as for the standard diode
symbol.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 37

There are basically three possible ways to connect a Bipolar Transistor within an electronic circuit
with each method of connection responding differently to its input signal as the static characteristics
of the transistor vary with each circuit arrangement.
• 1. Common Base Configuration - has Voltage Gain but no Current Gain.

• 2. Common Emitter Configuration - has both Current and Voltage Gain.
• 3. Common Collector Configuration - has Current Gain but no Voltage Gain.
TRANSISTOR OPERATION
The forward biased base/emitter junction causes electrons to be attracted from the emitter area
towards the base.
Arriving in the base area, most of the negative electrons come under the influence of the more
positive collector and are attracted by it.
This is shown in the left hand drawing, where the base current plus collector current equals the
emitter current.
Alpha gain is collector current divided by emitter current, and is always less than 1.
Beta gain is collector current divided by base current and can be a fairly high number.
Therefore, causing a small base current to flow makes a much larger collector current flow.
A small base current controls a large collector current.
There is 0.6 volts across the base/emitter junction, when it is forward biased. (0.3 volts for
germanium).
A bipolar transistor consists of a three-layer “sandwich” of doped (extrinsic) semiconductor

materials, either P-N-P in Figure below (b) or N-P-N at (d). Each layer forming the transistor has a
specific name, and each layer is provided with a wire contact for connection to a circuit. The
schematic symbols are shown in Figure below (a) and (d).
BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor): (a) PNP schematic symbol, (b) physical layout (c) NPN
symbol, (d) layout.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 38

Junction transistors consist of two junctions made from N-type and P-type semiconductor materials
and are called bipolar transistors (two polarities).
They have three connections, emitter, base and collector.
The functional difference between a PNP transistor and an NPN transistor is the proper biasing
(polarity) of the junctions when operating. For any given state of operation, the current directions
and voltage polarities for each kind of transistor are exactly opposite each other.
Bipolar transistors work as current-controlled current regulators. In other words, transistors restrict
the amount of current passed according to a smaller, controlling current. The main current that is
controlled goes from collector to emitter, or from emitter to collector, depending on the type of
transistor it is (PNP or NPN, respectively). The small current that controls the main current goes
from base to emitter, or from emitter to base, once again depending on the kind of transistor it is
(PNP or NPN, respectively). According to the standards of semiconductor symbology, the arrow
always points against the direction of electron flow. (Figure below)
Small electron base current controls large collector electron current flowing against emitter
arrow.
Bipolar transistors are called bipolar because the main flow of electrons through them takes place in
two types of semiconductor material: P and N, as the main current goes from emitter to collector (or
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 39

vice versa). In other words, two types of charge carriers -- electrons and holes -- comprise this main current
through the transistor.
As you can see, the controlling current and the controlled current always mesh together through the
emitter wire, and their electrons always flow against the direction of the transistor's arrow. This is
the first and foremost rule in the use of transistors: all currents must be going in the proper
directions for the device to work as a current regulator. The small, controlling current is usually
referred to simply as the base current because it is the only current that goes through the base wire
of the transistor. Conversely, the large, controlled current is referred to as the collector current
because it is the only current that goes through the collector wire. The emitter current is the sum of
the base and collector currents, in compliance with Kirchhoff's Current Law.
No current through the base of the transistor, shuts it off like an open switch and prevents current
through the collector. A base current, turns the transistor on like a closed switch and allows a
proportional amount of current through the collector. Collector current is primarily limited by the
base current, regardless of the amount of voltage available to push it. The next section will explore
in more detail the use of bipolar transistors as switching elements.
The bipolar junction transistor and its symbol. The emitter

lead is with arrow on it.
JUNCTION TRANSISTOR BIASING
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 40

The emitter/base junction is forward biased.

The collector/base junction is reversed biased.
There is an explanation of biasing on one of the diode junction pages.
The middle diagram shows the two junctions as two diodes.

Of course, you can't make a transistor like this but it helps to understand the forward and reverse
biasing.
The anodes are positive with respect the cathodes for forward biasing.
They are negative with respect to the cathodes for reverse biasing.
The bottom diagram shows the junctions being correctly biased using just one battery.
Note that there is 0.6 volts across the base/emitter junction when it is forward biased, for a silicon
transistor. (0.3 volts for a germanium one).
Junction transistors consist of two junctions made from N-type and P-type semiconductor materials
and are called bipolar transistors (two polarities).
They have three connections, emitter, base and collector.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 41

UNIJUNCTION TRANSISTOR
The unijunction transistor (UJT) is made of a bar of N type material with a P type junction (the
emitter) near the centre.
Base 1 is connected to zero volts and base 2 to the positive supply.
The resistance between the two bases (the INTERBASE RESISTANCE) is typically 10k.
With the emitter unconnected, the bar acts as a potential divider, and about 0.5 volts appears at the
emitter.
If a voltage is connected to the emitter, as long as it is less than 0.5 volts, nothing happens, as the P-
N junction is reversed biased. (see the right hand diagram).
When the emitter voltage exceeds 0.5 volts, the junction is forward biased and emitter current will
flow.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 42

This increase in current is equal to a reduction of resistance between base 1 and the emitter.
This causes the emitter voltage to fall.
In the circuit, C charges via R1. When the voltage across C exceeds 0.6 volts, the b1/emitter
junction goes low resistance and discharges C. The result is a sawtooth waveform across C. There is
also a pulse of current through R3 , giving a pulse of voltage across it. This circuit is called a
relaxation oscillator.
The voltage across C charges up slowly then suddenly relaxes. The circuit is often used to trigger
thyristor circuits.
JUNCTION FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR
The field effect transistor (FET) is made of a bar of N type material called the SUBSTRATE with a
P type junction (the gate) diffused into it..
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 43

With a positive voltage on the drain, with respect to the source, electron current flows from source
to drain through the CHANNEL. If the gate is made negative with respect to the source, an
electrostatic field is created, which squeezes the channel and reduces the current. If the gate voltage
is high enough the channel will be "pinched off" and the current will be zero. The FET is voltage
controlled, unlike the transistor which is current controlled. This device is sometimes called the
junction FET or JUGFET or JFET. If the FET is accidentally forward biased, gate current will flow
and the FET will be destroyed. To avoid this, an extremely thin insulating layer of silicon oxide is
placed between the gate and the channel. The device is then known as an insulated gate FET, or
IGFET or metal oxide semiconductor FET(MOSTFET)
METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR Fet (Mosfet)
The mosfet has the gate insulated from the substrate by a thin layer of silicon oxide, to prevent gate
current flowing and damaging the device (see the page on fets).
There are two main families:
Enhancement - where the mosfet has to be forward biased like a transistor.
Depletion - where the mosfet is reverse biased like a thermionic valve (tube in the USA).
Some mosfets have two gates (dual gate mosfets) and are commonly used as r.f. mixers.
Some devices have Zener diodes built in, between gate and source, for protection
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 44

Summary:
• Bipolar transistors are so named because the controlled current must go through two
types of semiconductor material: P and N. The current consists of both electron and hole
flow, in different parts of the transistor.
• Bipolar transistors consist of either a P-N-P or an N-P-N semiconductor “sandwich”
structure.
• The three leads of a bipolar transistor are called the Emitter, Base, and Collector.
• Transistors function as current regulators by allowing a small current to control a larger
current. The amount of current allowed between collector and emitter is primarily
determined by the amount of current moving between base and emitter.
• In order for a transistor to properly function as a current regulator, the controlling (base)
current and the controlled (collector) currents must be going in the proper directions:
meshing additively at the emitter and going against the emitter arrow symbol.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 45

Chapter Four
AMPLIFIERS
4.1- INTRODUCTION
In "Electronics", signal amplifiers are widely used devices as they have the ability to amplify a
relatively small input voltage signal, for example from a Sensor or microphone, into a much larger
output signal to drive a Relay, lamp or loudspeaker for example. There are many forms of
amplifiers, from Operational Amplifiers and Small Signal Amplifiers up to Large Signal and
Power Amplifiers. Amplifiers can be thought of as a simple box or block containing the amplifying
device, such as a Transistor, Field Effect Transistor or Op-amp, and which has two input
terminals and two output terminals with the output signal being greater than that of the input signal,
being "Amplified".
An amplifier has three main properties:
1- Input Resistance or (Rin),

2- Output Resistance or (Rout) and of course
3- Gain or (A).
No matter how complicated an amplifier circuit is, a general amplifier model can be used to show
the relationship of these three properties.
4.2- IDEAL AMPLIFIER MODEL
The difference between the input and output signals is known as the Gain of the amplifier and is
basically a measure of how much an amplifier "amplifies" the input signal. For example, if we have
an input signal of 1 and an output of 50, then the gain of the amplifier would be 50. Gain is a ratio,
it has no units but is given the symbol "A", which can be simply calculated as the output signal
divided by the input signal.
4.3- AMPLIFIER GAIN
Then the gain of an amplifier can be said to be the relationship that exists between the signal
measured at the output with the signal measured at the input.
There are three different kinds of Amplifier Gain,
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 46

1- Voltage Gain (Av),
2- Current Gain (Ai) and
3- Power Gain (Ap) and examples of these are given below.
4.3.1 Amplifier Gain of the Input Signal
Voltage Amplifier Gain
Current Amplifier Gain
Power Amplifier Gain
Note that for the Power Gain you can also divide the power obtained at the output with the power
obtained at the input. Also, the subscripts v, i and p denote the type of signal gain.
The power Gain of the amplifier can also be expressed in Decibels, (dB). The Bel is a logarithmic
unit (base 10) of measurement that has no units but as the Bel is a large unit of measure, it has be
prefixed with deci making it Decibels with one decibel being one tenth (1/10th) of a Bel. To
calculate the gain of the amplifier in Decibels or dB, we can use the following expressions.
• Voltage Gain in dB: av = 20 log Av

• Current Gain in dB: ai = 20 log Ai
• Power Gain in dB: ap = 10 log Ap
Note that the DC power gain of an amplifier is equal to ten times the common log of the output to
input ratio, where as voltage and current gains are 20 times the common log of the ratio. Also, a
positive value of dB represents a Gain and a negative value of dB represents a Loss within the
amplifier. For example, an amplifier gain of +3dB indicates that the output signal has "doubled",
(x2) while an amplifier gain of -3dB indicates that the signal has "halved", (x0.5) or in other words
a loss.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 47

Example No.1
Determine the Voltage, Current and Power Gain of an amplifier that has an input signal of 1mA at
10mV and a corresponding output signal of 10mA at 1V. Also, express all three gains in decibels,
(dB).
Amplifier Gain.
in Decibels (dB).
Then the amplifier has a Voltage Gain of 100, a Current Gain of 10 and a Power Gain of 1,000.
Amplifiers can be divide into two distinct types, Small Signal Amplifiers such as pre-amplifiers,
instrumentation amplifiers etc, which are designed to amplify very small signal voltage levels of
only a few micro-volts (μV) from sensors or audio signals and Large Signal Amplifiers such as
audio power amplifiers or switching amplifiers, which are designed to amplify large input voltage
signals or switch high current loads.
Power Amplifiers
Small signal amplifiers are generally referred to as "Voltage" amplifiers as they convert a small
input voltage into a much larger output voltage. Sometimes an amplifier is required to drive a motor
or feed a loudspeaker and for these types of applications where high switching currents are needed
Power Amplifiers are required.
The main function of Power amplifiers (also known as large signal amplifiers) is to deliver power,
which as we know from above, is the product of the voltage and current applied to the load. The
power amplifier works on the basic principle of converting the DC power drawn from the power
supply into an AC voltage signal delivered to the load. Although the amplification is high the
efficiency of the conversion from the DC power supply input to the AC voltage signal output is
usually poor. The perfect or ideal amplifier would give us an efficiency rating of 100% or at least
the power IN is equal to the power OUT. However, this can never happen as some of its power is
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 48

lost in the form of heat and also, the amplifier itself consumes power during the amplification
process. Then the efficiency of an amplifier is given as:
Amplifier Efficiency
Amplifier Classes
Audio Power Amplifiers are classified in order according to their circuit configurations and mode
of operation being designated different classes of operation in alphabetical order such as A, B, C,
AB, etc. These different classes of operation range from a near linear output but with low efficiency
to a non-linear output but with a high efficiency. There are typical maximum efficiencies for the
various types or class of amplifier, with the most commonly used being:
• Class A - a maximum theoretical efficiency of less than 40%

• Class B - with a maximum theoretical efficiency of about 70%
• Class AB - which an efficiency rating between that of Class A and Class B
Class A Operation
Class A Amplifier operation is were the entire input signal waveform is faithfully reproduced at the
amplifiers output as the transistor is perfectly biased within its active region, thereby never reaching
either of its Cut-off or Saturation regions. This then results in the AC input signal being perfectly
"centred" between the amplifiers upper and lower signal limits as shown below.
Class A Output Waveform
Here, the Class A amplifier uses the same transistor for both halves of the output waveform and due
to its biasing arrangement always has current flowing through it, even if there is no input signal. In
other words the output transistors never turns "OFF". This results in the class A type of operation
being very inefficient as its conversion of the DC supply power to the AC signal power delivered to
the load is usually very low. Generally, the output transistor of a Class A amplifier gets very hot
even when there is no input signal present so some form of heatsinking is required. The DC current
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 49

flowing through the output transistor (Ic) when there is no output signal will be equal to the current
flowing through the load.
Class B Operation
Unlike the Class A amplifier above that uses a single transistor for its output stage, the Class B
Amplifier uses two complimentary transistors (an NPN and a PNP) for each half of the output
waveform. One transistors for the positive half of the waveform and another for the negative half of
the waveform. This means that each transistor spends half of its time in the Active region and half
its time in the Cut-off region. Class B operation has no DC bias voltage instead the transistor only
conducts when the input signal is greater than the base-emitter voltage and for silicon devices is
about 0.7v. Therefore, at zero input there is zero output. This then results in only half the input
signal being presented at the amplifiers output giving a greater efficiency as shown below.
Class B Output Waveform
As the output transistors for each half of the waveform, both positive and negative, requires a base-
emitter voltage greater than the 0.7v required for the bipolar transistor to start conducting, the lower
part of the output waveform which is below this 0.7v window will not be reproduced accurately
resulting in a distorted area of the output waveform as one transistor turns "OFF" waiting for the
other to turn back "ON". This type of distortion is called Crossover Distortion and is looked at later
on in this section.
Class AB Operation
The Class AB Amplifier is a compromise between the Class A and the Class B configurations
above. While Class AB operation still uses two complementary transistors in its output stage a very
small biasing voltage is applied to the Base of the transistor to bias it close to the Cut-off region
when no input signal is present. An input signal will cause the transistor to operate as normal in its
Active region thereby eliminating any crossover distortion. A small Collector current will flow
when there is no input signal but it is much less than that for the Class A amplifier configuration.
This means then that the transistor will be "ON" for more than half a cycle of the waveform. This
type of amplifier configuration improves both the efficiency and linearity of the amplifier circuit
compared to Class A.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 50

Class AB Output Waveform
The class of operation for an amplifier is very important as it determines both the efficiency and the
amount of power that the amplifier consumes and dissipates in the form of wasted heat, which may
also require larger power transistors, more expensive heatsinks, cooling fans, or even an increase in
the size of the power supply required to deliver the extra power required by the amplifier. Power
converted into heat from transistors, resistors or any other component makes any electronic circuit
inefficient and will result in premature failure of the device. So why use a Class A amplifier if its
efficiency is less than 40% compared to a Class B amplifier that has a higher efficiency rating of
nearly 70%. Basically, a Class A amplifier gives a more linear output meaning that it has, Linearity
over a larger frequency response.
4.4- The Common Emitter Amplifier
Looking at the DC behavior of the amplifier and following the convention that lower case letters
represent changes in the respective quantities:
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 51

The gain is
which for small rE can be approximated by
The most common circuit configuration for a transistor is that of the Common Emitter Amplifier
and that a family of curves known commonly as the Output Characteristics Curves, relates the
Collector current (Ic), to the output or Collector voltage (Vce), for different values of Base current
(Ib) signal. All types of signal amplifiers operate using AC signal inputs which alternate between a
positive value and a negative value so some way of presetting the amplifier circuit to operate
between these two maximum or peak values is required. This is achieved using a process known as
Biasing. Biasing is very important in amplifier design as it establishes the correct operating point of
the amplifier thereby reducing any distortion to the input signal.
We also saw that a DC load line can be drawn onto these output characteristics curves to show all
the possible operating points from fully "ON" to fully "OFF" of the transistor and to which the
Quiescent Point or Q-point can be found. The aim of any small signal amplifier is to amplify all of
the input signal with the minimum distortion possible to the output, in other words, the output
signal must be an exact reproduction of the input signal but only bigger (amplified). To obtain low
distortion when used as an amplifier the operating quiescent point needs to be correctly selected.
This is in fact the DC operating point of the amplifier and its position may be established at any
point along the load line by a suitable biasing arrangement. The best possible position for this
quiescent point is as close to the centre position of the load line as reasonably possible, thereby
producing a Class A type amplifier operation, ie. Vce = 1/2Vcc. Consider the Common Emitter
Amplifier circuit shown below.
4.5- The Common Emitter Amplifier Circuit
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 52

The quiescent Base voltage (Vb) is determined by the potential divider network formed by the
resistors, R1 and R2 and the power supply voltage Vcc and this is given as:
This same supply voltage also determines the Collector current, Ic when the transistor is fully "ON"
(saturation), Vce = 0. The Base current Ib for the transistor is found from the Collector current, Ic
and the DC current gain Beta, β of the transistor.
For example, assume a load resistor, RL of 1.2kΩs and a supply voltage of 12v. Calculate the
Collector current (Ic) flowing through the load resistor when the transistor is switched fully "ON",
assume Vce = 0. Also find the value of the Emitter resistor, Re with a voltage drop of 1v across it.
This then establishes point "A" on the Collector current vertical axis of the characteristics curves
and occurs when Vce = 0. When the transistor is switched fully "OFF", their is no voltage drop
across either resistor Re or RL as no current is flowing through them. Then the voltage drop across
the transistor, Vce is equal to the supply voltage, Vcc. This then establishes point "B" on the
horizontal axis of the characteristics curves. Generally, the Q-point of the amplifier is half-way
along the load line so the Collector current will be given as half of 9.2mA. Therefore Q = 4.6mA.
This DC load line produces a straight line equation whose slope is given as: -1/(RL + Re) and that it
crosses the vertical Ic axis at a point equal to Vcc/(RL + Re). The actual position of the Q-point on
the DC load line is determined by the mean value of Ib.
As the Collector current of the transistor, Ic is also equal to the DC gain Beta, times the Base
current (β x Ib), if we assume a Beta (β) value for the transistor of say 100, the Base current Ib
flowing into the transistor will be given as:
Resistors, R1 and R2 are chosen to give a quiescent Base current of 92uA. The current flowing
through the potential divider circuit has to be large compared to the actual Base current, Ib, so
assume a value of 10 times Ib flowing through the resistor R2. This then gives the value of R2 as:
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 53

If the current flowing through resistor R2 is 10 times the value of the Base current, then the current
flowing through resistor R1 must be 11 times the value of the Base current at 1012uA or 1mA. The
voltage across resistor R1 is equal to Vcc - 1.7v (Vre + 0.7 for silicon transistor) which equals
10.3V, therefore R1 is given as:
So, for our example above, the preferred values of the resistors chosen to give a tolerance of 5%
(E24) are:
Then, our original Common Emitter circuit above can be rewritten to include the values of the
components that we have just calculated.
4.6- Completed Common Emitter Circuit
In common emitter amplifier circuits, capacitors C1 and C2 are used as Coupling Capacitors to
ensure that the bias condition set up for the circuit to operate correctly is not effected by any
additional external circuits or components connected to the amplifier, as the capacitors will only
pass AC signals and block any DC component.
So far, so good. We can now draw the load line onto the curves for the load resistor RL of 1.2kΩ.
When the transistor is switched "OFF", Vce equals the supply voltage Vcc and this is point B on the
line. Likewise when the transistor is fully "ON" and saturated the Collector current is determined by
the load resistor, RL and this is point A on the line. We calculated before from the DC gain of the
transistor that the Base current required for the mean position of the transistor was 92uA and this is
point Q on the load line which is also the Quiescent point or Q-point of the amplifier. We could
quite easily make life easy for ourselves and round off this value to 100uA exactly, without any
effect to the operating point.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 54

4.7- Output Characteristics Curves
Point Q on the load line gives us the Base current operating point of Ib = 92uA. We need to find the
maximum and minimum peak swings of Base current that will result in a proportional change to the
Collector current, Ic without any distortion to the input signal. As the load line cuts through equal
spacings of the DC characteristics curves we can find the peak swings of Base current equally
spaced along the load line, and these are points N and M on the line, giving a minimum and
maximum Base current of 25uA and 175uA respectively. Any input signal giving a Base current
greater than these values will cause the transistor to go beyond point N and into its Cut-off region or
beyond point M and into its Saturation region thereby resulting in distortion to the signal.
Using points N and M, the instantaneous values of Collector current and corresponding values of
Collector-emitter voltage can be projected from the load line. It can be seen that the Collector-
emitter voltage is in anti-phase (-1800) with the collector current. As the Base current Ib changes in
a positive direction from 92uA to 175uA, the Collector-emitter voltage, which is also the output
voltage decreases from its steady state value of 5.8v to 2.0v. Therefore, a single stage Common
Emitter Amplifier is also an Inverting Amplifier.
So, for our simple example above we can now summarize all the values calculated for our simple
common emitter amplifier circuit as:
Minimum Mean Maximum
Base Current 25uA 92uA 175uA

Collector Current 2.0mA 4.8mA 7.7mA
Output Voltage Swing 2.0v 5.8v 9.3v
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 55
4.8- JFET Amplifier
So far we have looked at the Bipolar type amplifiers and especially the Common Emitter amplifier,
but small signal amplifiers can also be made using Field Effect Transistors or FET's. These
devices have the advantage over bipolar devices of having an extremely high input impedance along
with a low noise output making them very useful in amplifier circuits using very small signals. The
design of an amplifier circuit based around a JFET (n-channel FET for this example) or even a
MOSFET is exactly the same principle as that for a bipolar device and for a Class A amplifier as we
looked at in the previous tutorial. A suitable Quiescent point still needs to be found for the correct
biasing of the amplifier circuit with amplifier configurations of Common Source, Common Drain
and Common Gate available for FET devices. In this part we will look at the JFET Amplifier as a
common source amplifier as this is the most widely used design. Consider the Common Source
JFET Amplifier circuit below.
4.9- Common Source JFET Amplifier
The circuit consists of an N-channel JFET, but the device could also be an equivalent N-channel
Depletion-mode MOSFET as the circuit diagram would be the same, just a change in the FET. The
JFET Gate voltage Vg is biased through the potential divider network set up by resistors R1 and R2
and is biased to operate within its saturation region which is equivalent to the active region of the
BJT. The Gate biasing voltage Vg is given as:
Note that this equation only determines the ratio of the resistors R1 and R2, but in order to take
advantage of the very high input impedance of the JFET as well as reducing the power dissipation
within the circuit, we need to make these resistor values as high as possible, with values in the order
of 1 to 10MΩ being common.
The input signal, (Vin) is applied between the Gate terminal and 0v with the Drain circuit
containing the load resistor, Rd. The output voltage, Vout is developed across this load resistance.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 56

There is also an additional resistor, Rs included in the Source lead and the same Drain current also
flows through this resistor. When the JFET is switched fully "ON" a voltage drop equal to Rs x Id is
developed across this resistor raising the potential of the Source terminal above 0v or ground level.
This voltage drop across Rs due to the Drain current provides the necessary reverse biasing
condition across the Gate resistor, R2. In order to keep the Gate-source junction reverse biased, the
Source voltage, Vs needs to be higher than the gate voltage, Vg. This Source voltage is therefore
given as:
Then the Drain current, Id is also equal to the Source current, Is as "No Current" enters the Gate
terminal and this can be given as:
This potential divider biasing circuit improves the stability of the common source JFET circuit
when being fed from a single DC supply compared to that of a fixed voltage biasing circuit. Both
Resistor, Rs and Capacitor, Cs serve basically the same function as the Emitter resistor and
capacitor in the Common Emitter Bipolar Transistor amplifier circuit, namely to provide good
stability and prevent a reduction in the signal gain. However, the price paid for a stabilized
quiescent Gate voltage is that more of the supply voltage is dropped across Rs.
The basic circuit and characteristics of a common source JFET amplifier are very similar to that of
the Common Emitter amplifier. A DC load line is constructed by joining the two points relating to
the Drain current, Id and the supply voltage, Vdd intersecting the curves at the Q-point as follows.
4.10- JFET Amplifier Characteristics Curves
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 57

As with the Common Emitter circuit, the DC load line produces a straight line equation whose
gradient is given as: -1/(Rd + Rs) and that it crosses the vertical Id axis at a point equal to Vdd/(Rd
+ Rs). The other end of the load line crosses the horizontal axis at a point equal to Vdd. The actual
position of the Q-point on the DC load line is determined by the mean value of Vg which is biased
negatively as the JFET as a depletion-mode device. Like the bipolar common emitter amplifier the
output of the Common Source JFET Amplifier is 1800 out of phase with the input signal.
One of the main disadvantages of using Depletion-mode JFET is that they need to be negatively
biased. Should this bias fail for any reason the Gate-source voltage may rise and become positive
causing an increase in Drain current resulting in failure of the Drain voltage, Vd. Also the high
channel resistance, Rds(on) of the JFET, coupled with high quiescent steady state Drain current
makes these devices run hot so additional heatsink is required. However, most of the problems
associated with using JFET's can be greatly reduced by using enhancement-mode MOSFET devices
instead.
MOSFETs or Metal Oxide Semiconductor FET's have much higher input impedances and low
channel resistances compared to the equivalent JFET. Also the biasing arrangements for MOSFETs
are different and unless we bias them positively for N-channel devices and negatively for P-channel
devices no Drain current will flow, then we have in effect a fail safe transistor.
4.11- Amplifier Distortion
From the previous tutorials we learnt that for a signal amplifier to work correctly it requires some
form of DC Bias on its Base or Gate terminal so that it amplifies the input signal over its entire
cycle with the bias Q-point set as near to the middle of the load line as possible. This then gave us a
Class "A" type amplification with the most common configuration being Common Emitter for
Bipolar transistors and Common Source for unipolar transistors. We also saw that the Power,
Voltage or Current Gain, (amplification) provided by the amplifier is the ratio of the peak input
value to its peak output value. However, if we incorrectly design our amplifier circuit and set the
biasing Q-point at the wrong position on the load line or apply too large an input signal, the
resultant output signal may not be an exact reproduction of the original input signal waveform.
Consider the common emitter amplifier circuit below.
4.12- Common Emitter Amplifier
Distortion of the signal waveform may take place because:
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 58

• 1. Amplification may not be taking place over the whole signal cycle due to incorrect
biasing.
•
• 2. The input may be too large, causing the amplifier to limit.
•
• 3. The amplification may not be linear over the entire frequency range of inputs.
This means then that during the amplification process of the signal waveform, some form of
Amplifier Distortion has occurred.
4.13- Amplitude Distortion
Amplifiers are basically designed to amplify small voltage input signals into much larger output
signals and this means that the output signal is constantly changing by some factor or value times
the input signal at all input frequencies. We saw previously that this multiplication factor is called
the Beta, β value of the transistor. Common Emitter or even common Source type circuits work fine
for small AC input signals but suffer from one major disadvantage, the bias Q-point of a bipolar
amplifier depends on the same Beta value which may vary from transistors of the same type, ie. the
Q-point for one transistor is not necessarily the same as the Q-point for another transistor of the
same type due to the inherent manufacturing tolerances. If this occurs the amplifier may not be
linear and Amplitude Distortion will result but careful choice of the transistor can minimise this
effect.
Amplitude distortion occurs when the peak values of the frequency waveform are attenuated
causing distortion due to a shift in the Q-point and amplification may not take place over the whole
signal cycle. This non-linearity of the output waveform is shown below.
4.14- Amplitude Distortion due to Incorrect Biasing
If the bias is correct the output waveform should look like that of the input waveform only bigger,
(amplified). If there is insufficient bias the output waveform will look like the one on the right with
the negative part of the output waveform "cut-off". If there is too much bias the output waveform
will look like the one on the left with the positive part "cut-off". When the bias voltage is too small,
during the negative part of the cycle the transistor does not conduct fully so the output is set by the
supply voltage. When the bias is too great the positive part of the cycle saturates the transistor and
the output drops almost to zero.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 59

Even with the correct biasing voltage level set, it is still possible for the output waveform to become
distorted due to a large input signal being amplified by the circuits gain. The output voltage signal
becomes clipped in both the positive and negative parts of the waveform an no longer resembles a
sine wave, even when the bias is correct. This type of amplitude distortion is called Clipping and is
the result of "Over-driving" the input of the amplifier.
When the input amplitude becomes too large, the clipping becomes substantial and forces the output
waveform signal to exceed the power supply voltage rails with the peak (+ve half) and the trough (-
ve half) parts of the waveform signal becoming flattened or "Clipped-off". To avoid this the
maximum value of the input signal must be limited to a level that will prevent this clipping effect as
shown above.
4.15- Amplitude Distortion due to Clipping
Amplitude Distortion greatly reduces the efficiency of an amplifier circuit. These "flat tops" of the
distorted output waveform either due to incorrect biasing or over driving the input do not contribute
anything to the strength of the output signal at the desired frequency. Having said all that, some
well known guitarist and rock bands actually prefer that their distinctive sound is highly distorted or
"overdriven" by heavily clipping the output waveform to both the +ve and -ve power supply rails.
Also, excessive amounts of clipping can also produce an output which resembles a "square wave"
shape which can then be used in electronic or digital circuits.
We have seen that with a DC signal the level of gain of the amplifier can vary with signal
amplitude, but as well as Amplitude Distortion, other types of distortion can occur with AC signals
in amplifier circuits, such as Frequency Distortion and Phase Distortion.
4.16- Frequency Distortion
Frequency Distortion occurs in a transistor amplifier when the level of amplification varies with
frequency. Many of the input signals that a practical amplifier will amplify consist of the required
signal waveform called the "Fundamental Frequency" plus a number of different frequencies called
"Harmonics" superimposed onto it. Normally, the amplitude of these harmonics are a fraction of the
fundamental amplitude and therefore have very little or no effect on the output waveform. However,
the output waveform can become distorted if these harmonic frequencies increase in amplitude with
regards to the fundamental frequency. For example, consider the waveform below:
Frequency Distortion due to Harmonics
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In the example above, the input waveform consists a the fundamental frequency plus a second
harmonic signal. The resultant output waveform is shown on the right hand side. The frequency
distortion occurs when the fundamental frequency combines with the second harmonic to distort the
output signal. Harmonics are therefore multiples of the fundamental frequency and in our simple
example a second harmonic was used. Therefore, the frequency of the harmonic is 2 times the
fundamental, 2 x f or 2f. Then a third harmonic would be 3f, a fourth, 4f, and so on. Frequency
distortion due to harmonics is always a possibility in amplifier circuits containing reactive elements
such as capacitance or inductance.
4.17- Phase Distortion
Phase Distortion or Delay Distortion occurs in a non-linear transistor amplifier when there is a
time delay between the input signal and its appearance at the output. If we call the phase change
between the input and the output zero at the fundamental frequency, the resultant phase angle delay
will be the difference between the harmonic and the fundamental. This time delay will depend on
the construction of the amplifier and will increase progressively with frequency within the
bandwidth of the amplifier. For example, consider the waveform below:
Phase Distortion due to Delay
Any practical amplifier will have a combination of both "Frequency" and "Phase" distortion
together with amplitude distortion but in most applications such as in audio amplifiers or power
amplifiers, unless the distortion is excessive or severe it will not generally affect the operation of
the system.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 61

4.18- Darlington Transistor Configurations
The overall current gain Beta (β) or Hfe value of a Darlington device is the product of the two
individual gains of the transistors multiplied together and very high β values along with high
Collector currents are possible compared to a single transistor circuit.
To improve the full power efficiency of the Class A amplifier it is possible to design the circuit
with a transformer connected directly in the Collector circuit to form a circuit called a Transformer
Coupled Amplifier. This improves the efficiency of the amplifier by matching the impedance of
the load with that of the amplifiers output using the turns ratio (N) of the transformer and an
example is given below.
Amplifiers Summary:
Small Signal Amplifiers
• Small Signal Amplifiers are also known as Voltage Amplifiers.

• Voltage Amplifiers have 3 main properties, Input Resistance, Output Resistance and
Gain.
• The Gain of a small signal amplifier is the amount by which the amplifier "Amplifies"
the input signal.
• Gain is a ratio of input divided by output, therefore it has no units but is given the symbol
(A) with the most common types being, Voltage Gain (Av), Current Gain (Ai) and Power
Gain (Ap)
• The power Gain of the amplifier can also be expressed in Decibels or simply dB.
• In order to amplify all of the input signal distortion free in a Class A type amplifier, DC
Base Biasing is required.
• DC Bias sets the Q-point of the amplifier half way along the load line.
• This DC Base biasing means that the amplifier consumes power even if there is no input
signal present.
• The transistor amplifier is non-linear and an incorrect bias setting will produce large
amounts of distortion to the output waveform.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 62

• Too large an input signal will produce large amounts of distortion due to clipping, which
is also a form of amplitude distortion.
• Incorrect positioning of the Q-point on the load line will produce either Saturation
Clipping or Cut-off Clipping.
• The Common Emitter Amplifier configuration is the most common form of all the
general purpose voltage amplifier circuits.
•
• be made using Transformers or Complementary Transistors in its output stage.
Bipolar Transistor Construction
The construction and circuit symbols for both the NPN and PNP bipolar transistor are shown above
with the arrow in the circuit symbol always showing the direction of conventional current flow
between the base terminal and its emitter terminal, with the direction of the arrow pointing from the
positive P-type region to the negative N-type region, exactly the same as for the standard diode
symbol.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 63

• 1. Common Base Configuration - has Voltage Gain but no Current Gain.
•
• 2. Common Emitter Configuration - has both Current and Voltage Gain.
•
• 3. Common Collector Configuration - has Current Gain but no Voltage Gain.
The Common Base Configuration.
As its name suggests, in the Common Base or Grounded Base configuration, the BASE connection
is common to both the input signal AND the output signal with the input signal being applied
between the base and the emitter terminals. The corresponding output signal is taken from between
the base and the collector terminals as shown with the base terminal grounded or connected to a
fixed reference voltage point. The input current flowing into the emitter is quite large as its the sum
of both the base current and collector current respectively therefore, the collector current output is
less than the emitter current input resulting in a Current Gain for this type of circuit of less than "1",
or in other words it "Attenuates" the signal.
The Common Base Amplifier Circuit
This type of amplifier configuration is a non-inverting voltage amplifier circuit, in that the signal
voltages Vin and Vout are In-Phase. This type of arrangement is not very common due to its
unusually high voltage gain characteristics. Its Output characteristics represent that of a forward
biased diode while the Input characteristics represent that of an illuminated photo-diode. Also this
type of configuration has a high ratio of Output to Input resistance or more importantly "Load"
resistance (RL) to "Input" resistance (Rin) giving it a value of "Resistance Gain". Then the Voltage
Gain for a common base can therefore be given as:
Common Base Voltage Gain
The Common Base circuit is generally only used in single stage amplifier circuits such as
microphone pre-amplifier or RF radio amplifiers due to its very good high frequency response.
The Common Emitter Configuration.
In the Common Emitter or Grounded Emitter configuration, the input signal is applied between the
base, while the output is taken from between the collector and the emitter as shown. This type of
configuration is the most commonly used circuit for transistor based amplifiers and which
represents the "normal" method of connection. The common emitter amplifier configuration
produces the highest current and power gain of all the three bipolar transistor configurations. This is
mainly because the input impedance is LOW as it is connected to a forward-biased junction, while
the output impedance is HIGH as it is taken from a reverse-biased junction.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 64

The Common Emitter Amplifier Circuit
In this type of configuration, the current flowing out of the transistor must be equal to the currents
flowing into the transistor as the emitter current is given as Ie = Ic + Ib. Also, as the load resistance
(RL) is connected in series with the collector, the Current gain of the Common Emitter Transistor
Amplifier is quite large as it is the ratio of Ic/Ib and is given the symbol of Beta, (β). Since the
relationship between these three currents is determined by the transistor itself, any small change in
the base current will result in a large change in the collector current. Then, small changes in base
current will thus control the current in the Emitter/Collector circuit.
By combining the expressions for both Alpha, α and Beta, β the mathematical relationship between
these parameters and therefore the current gain of the amplifier can be given as:
Where: "Ic" is the current flowing into the collector terminal, "Ib" is the current flowing into the
base terminal and "Ie" is the current flowing out of the emitter terminal.
Then to summarise, this type of bipolar transistor configuration has a greater input impedance,
Current and Power gain than that of the common Base configuration but its Voltage gain is much
lower. The common emitter is an inverting amplifier circuit resulting in the output signal being 180o
out of phase with the input voltage signal.
The Common Collector Configuration.
In the Common Collector or Grounded Collector configuration, the collector is now common and
the input signal is connected to the Base, while the output is taken from the Emitter load as shown.
This type of configuration is commonly known as a Voltage Follower or Emitter Follower circuit.
The Emitter follower configuration is very useful for impedance matching applications because of
the very high input impedance, in the region of hundreds of thousands of Ohms, and it has relatively
low output impedance.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 65

The Common Collector Amplifier Circuit
The Common Emitter configuration has a current gain equal to the β value of the transistor itself. In
the common collector configuration the load resistance is situated in series with the emitter so its
current is equal to that of the emitter current. As the emitter current is the combination of the
collector AND base currents combined, the load resistance in this type of amplifier configuration
also has both the collector current and the input current of the base flowing through it. Then the
current gain of the circuit is given as:
This type of bipolar transistor configuration is a non-inverting amplifier circuit in that the signal
voltages of Vin and Vout are "In-Phase". It has a voltage gain that is always less than "1" (unity).
The load resistance of the common collector amplifier configuration receives both the base and
collector currents giving a large current gain (as with the Common Emitter configuration) therefore,
providing good current amplification with very little voltage gain.
Bipolar Transistor Summary.
The behaviour of the bipolar transistor in each one of the above circuit configurations is very
different and produces different circuit characteristics with regards to Input impedance, Output
impedance and Gain and this is summarised in the table below.
Transistor Characteristics
The static characteristics for Bipolar Transistor amplifiers can be divided into the following main
groups.
Input Characteristics:- Common Base - IE ÷ VEB
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 66

Common Emitter - IB ÷ VBE
Output Characteristics:- Common Base - IC ÷ VC

Common Emitter - IC ÷ VC
Transfer Characteristics:- Common Base - IE ÷ IC

Common Emitter - IB ÷ IC
with the characteristics of the different transistor configurations given in the following table:
Common Common Common

Characteristic
Base Emitter Collector
Input impedance Low Medium High
Output impedance Very High High Low
Phase Angle 0o 180o 0o
Voltage Gain High Medium Low
Current Gain Low Medium High
Power Gain Low Very High Medium
NPN Transistors
In the previous tutorial we saw that the standard Bipolar Transistor or BJT, comes in two basic
forms. An NPN (Negative-Positive-Negative) type and a PNP (Positive-Negative-Positive) type,
with the most commonly used transistor type being NPN Transistors. We also learnt that the
transistor junctions can be biased in one of three different ways - Common Base, Common
Emitter and Common Collector. In this tutorial we will look more closely at the "Common
Emitter" configuration using NPN Transistors and an example of its current flow characteristics is
given below.
NPN Transistor Configuration
Note: Conventional current flow.
We know that the transistor is a "CURRENT" operated device and that a large current (Ic) flows
freely through the device between the collector and the emitter terminals. However, this only
happens when a small biasing current (Ib) is flowing into the base terminal of the transistor thus
allowing the base to act as a sort of current control input. The ratio of these two currents (Ic/Ib) is
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 67

called the DC Current Gain of the device and is given the symbol of hfe or nowadays Beta, (β).
Beta has no units as it is a ratio. Also, the current gain from the emitter to the collector terminal,
Ic/Ie, is called Alpha, (α), and is a function of the transistor itself. As the emitter current Ie is the
product of a very small base current to a very large collector current the value of this parameter α is
very close to unity, and for a typical low-power signal transistor this value ranges from about 0.950
to 0.999.
α and β Relationships
By combining the two parameters α and β we can produce two mathematical expressions that gives
the relationship between the different currents flowing in the transistor.
The values of Beta vary from about 20 for high current power transistors to well over 1000 for high
frequency low power type bipolar transistors. The equation for Beta can also be re-arranged to make
Ic as the subject, and with zero base current (Ib = 0) the resultant collector current Ic will also be
zero, (β x 0). Also when the base current is high the corresponding collector current will also be
high resulting in the base current controlling the collector current. One of the most important
properties of the Bipolar Junction Transistor is that a small base current can control a much larger
collector current. Consider the following example.
Example No1.
An NPN Transistor has a DC current gain, (Beta) value of 200. Calculate the base current Ib
required to switch a resistive load of 4mA.
Therefore, β = 200, Ic = 4mA and Ib = 20µA.
One other point to remember about NPN Transistors. The collector voltage, (Vc) must be greater
than the emitter voltage, (Ve) to allow current to flow through the device between the collector-
emitter junction. Also, there is a voltage drop between the base and the emitter terminal of about
0.7v for silicon devices as the input characteristics of an NPN Transistor are of a forward biased
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 68

diode. Then the base voltage, (Vbe) of an NPN Transistor must be greater than this 0.7 V otherwise
the transistor will not conduct with the base current given as.
Where: Ib is the base current, Vb is the base bias voltage, Vce is the base-emitter volt drop (0.7v)
and Rb is the base input resistor.
Example No2.
An NPN Transistor has a DC base bias voltage, Vb of 10v and an input base resistor, Rb of 100kΩ.
What will be the value of the base current into the transistor.
Therefore, Ib = 93µA.
The Common Emitter Configuration.
As well as being used as a switch to turn load currents "ON" or "OFF" by controlling the Base
signal to the transistor, NPN Transistors can also be used to produce a circuit which will also
amplify any small AC signal applied to its Base terminal. If a suitable DC "biasing" voltage is
firstly applied to the transistors Base terminal thus allowing it to always operate within its linear
active region, an inverting amplifier circuit called a Common Emitter Amplifier is produced.
One such Common Emitter Amplifier configuration is called a Class A Amplifier. A Class A
Amplifier operation is one where the transistors Base terminal is biased in such a way that the
transistor is always operating halfway between its cut-off and saturation points, thereby allowing
the transistor amplifier to accurately reproduce the positive and negative halves of the AC input
signal superimposed upon the DC Biasing voltage. Without this "Bias Voltage" only the positive
half of the input waveform would be amplified. This type of amplifier has many applications but is
commonly used in audio circuits such as pre-amplifier and power amplifier stages.
With reference to the common emitter configuration shown below, a family of curves known
commonly as the Output Characteristics Curves, relates the output collector current, (Ic) to the
collector voltage, (Vce) when different values of base current, (Ib) are applied to the transistor for
transistors with the same β value. A DC "Load Line" can also be drawn onto the output
characteristics curves to show all the possible operating points when different values of base current
are applied. It is necessary to set the initial value of Vce correctly to allow the output voltage to
vary both up and down when amplifying AC input signals and this is called setting the operating
point or Quiescent Point, Q-point for short and this is shown below.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 69

The Common Emitter Amplifier Circuit
Output Characteristics Curves for a Typical Bipolar Transistor
The most important factor to notice is the effect of Vce upon the collector current Ic when Vce is
greater than about 1.0 volts. You can see that Ic is largely unaffected by changes in Vce above this
value and instead it is almost entirely controlled by the base current, Ib. When this happens we can
say then that the output circuit represents that of a "Constant Current Source". It can also be seen
from the common emitter circuit above that the emitter current Ie is the sum of the collector current,
Ic and the base current, Ib, added together so we can also say that " Ie = Ic + Ib " for the common
emitter configuration.
By using the output characteristics curves in our example above and also Ohm´s Law, the current
flowing through the load resistor, (RL), is equal to the collector current, Ic entering the transistor
which inturn corresponds to the supply voltage, (Vcc) minus the voltage drop between the collector
and the emitter terminals, (Vce) and is given as:
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 70

Also, a Load Line can be drawn directly onto the graph of curves above from the point of
"Saturation" when Vce = 0 to the point of "Cut-off" when Ic = 0 giving us the "Operating" or Q-
point of the transistor. These two points are calculated as:
Then, the collector or output characteristics curves for Common Emitter NPN Transistors can be
used to predict the Collector current, Ic, when given Vce and the Base current, Ib. A Load Line can
also be constructed onto the curves to determine a suitable Operating or Q-point which can be set
by adjustment of the base current.
PNP Transistors
PNP Transistors are the exact opposite to the NPN Transistors device we looked at previously.
Basically, in this type of transistor construction the two diodes are reversed with respect to the NPN
type, with the arrow, which also defines the Emitter terminal this time pointing inwards in the
transistor symbol. Also, all the polarities are reversed which means that PNP Transistors "sink"
current as opposed to the NPN transistor which "sources" current. Then, PNP Transistors use a
small output base current and a negative base voltage to control a much larger emitter-collector
current. The construction of a PNP transistor consists of two P-type semiconductor materials either
side of the N-type material as shown below.
PNP Transistor Configuration
Note: Conventional current flow.
PNP Transistors have very similar characteristics to their NPN bipolar cousins, except that the
polarities (or biasing) of the current and voltage directions are reversed for any one of the possible
three configurations looked at in the first tutorial, Common Base, Common Emitter and Common
Collector. Generally, PNP Transistors require a negative (-ve) voltage at their Collector terminal
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 71

with the flow of current through the emitter-collector terminals being Holes as opposed to
Electrons for the NPN types. Because the movement of holes across the depletion layer tends to be
slower than for electrons, PNP transistors are generally more slower than their equivalent NPN
counterparts when operating.
To cause the Base current to flow in a PNP transistor the Base needs to be more negative than the
Emitter (current must leave the base) by approx 0.7 volts for a silicon device or 0.3 volts for a
germanium device with the formulas used to calculate the Base resistor, Base current or Collector
current are the same as those used for an equivalent NPN transistor and is given as.
Generally, PNP transistors can replace NPN transistors in electronic circuits, the only difference is
the polarities of the voltages, and the directions of the current flow. PNP Transistors can also be
used as switching devices and an example of a PNP transistor switch is shown below.
PNP Transistor Circuit
The Output Characteristics Curves for a PNP transistor look very similar to those for an
equivalent NPN transistor except that they are rotated by 180o to take account of the reverse polarity
voltages and currents, (the currents flowing out of the Base and Collector in a PNP transistor are
negative).
Transistor Matching
You may think what is the point of having PNP Transistors, when there are plenty of NPN
Transistors available?. Well, having two different types of transistors PNP & NPN, can be an
advantage when designing amplifier circuits such as Class B Amplifiers that use "Complementary"
or "Matched Pair" transistors or for reversible H-Bridge motor control circuits. A pair of
corresponding NPN and PNP transistors with near identical characteristics to each other are called
Complementary Transistors for example, a TIP3055 (NPN), TIP2955 (PNP) are good examples
of complementary or matched pair silicon power transistors. They have a DC current gain, Beta, (Ic
/ Ib) matched to within 10% and high Collector current of about 15A making them suitable for
general motor control or robotic applications.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 72

Identifying PNP Transistors
We saw in the first tutorial of this Transistors section, that transistors are basically made up of two
Diodes connected together back-to-back. We can use this analogy to determine whether a transistor
is of the type PNP or NPN by testing its Resistance between the three different leads, Emitter, Base
and Collector. By testing each pair of transistor leads in both directions will result in six tests in
total with the expected resistance values in Ohm's given below.
• 1. Emitter-Base Terminals - The Emitter to Base should act like a normal diode and
conduct one way only.
•
• 2. Collector-Base Terminals - The Collector-Base junction should act like a normal diode
and conduct one way only.
•
• 3. Emitter-Collector Terminals - The Emitter-Collector should not conduct in either
direction.
Transistor Resistance Values for PNP and NPN types

Between Transistor Terminals PNP NPN
Collector Emitter RHIGH RHIGH
Collector Base RLOW RHIGH
Emitter Collector RHIGH RHIGH
Emitter Base RLOW RHIGH
Base Collector RHIGH RLOW
Base Emitter RHIGH RLOW
The Transistor as a Switch
When used as an AC signal amplifier, the transistors Base biasing voltage is applied so that it
operates within its "Active" region and the linear part of the output characteristics curves are used.
However, both the NPN & PNP type bipolar transistors can be made to operate as an "ON/OFF"
type solid state switch for controlling high power devices such as motors, solenoids or lamps. If the
circuit uses the Transistor as a Switch, then the biasing is arranged to operate in the output
characteristics curves seen previously in the areas known as the "Saturation" and "Cut-off" regions
as shown below.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 73

Transistor Curves
The pink shaded area at the bottom represents the "Cut-off" region. Here the operating conditions of
the transistor are zero input base current (Ib), zero output collector current (Ic) and maximum
collector voltage (Vce) which results in a large depletion layer and no current flows through the
device. The transistor is switched "Fully-OFF". The lighter blue area to the left represents the
"Saturation" region. Here the transistor will be biased so that the maximum amount of base current
is applied, resulting in maximum collector current flow and minimum collector emitter voltage
which results in the depletion layer being as small as possible and maximum current flows through
the device. The transistor is switched "Fully-ON". Then we can summarize this as:
• 1. Cut-off Region - Both junctions are Reverse-biased, Base current is zero or very small
resulting in zero Collector current flowing, the device is switched fully "OFF".
•
• 2. Saturation Region - Both junctions are Forward-biased, Base current is high enough to
give a Collector-Emitter voltage of 0v resulting in maximum Collector current flowing, the
device is switched fully "ON".
An example of an NPN Transistor as a switch being used to operate a relay is given below. With
inductive loads such as relays or solenoids a flywheel diode is placed across the load to dissipate the
back EMF generated by the inductive load when the transistor switches "OFF" and so protect the
transistor from damage. If the load is of a very high current or voltage nature, such as motors,
heaters etc, then the load current can be controlled via a suitable relay as shown.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 74

Transistor Switching Circuit
The circuit resembles that of the Common Emitter circuit we looked at in the previous tutorials.
The difference this time is that to operate the transistor as a switch the transistor needs to be turned
either fully "OFF" (Cut-off) or fully "ON" (Saturated). An ideal transistor switch would have an
infinite resistance when turned "OFF" resulting in zero current flow and zero resistance when
turned "ON", resulting in maximum current flow. In practice when turned "OFF", small leakage
currents flow through the transistor and when fully "ON" the device has a low resistance value
causing a small saturation voltage (Vce) across it. In both the Cut-off and Saturation regions the
power dissipated by the transistor is at its minimum.
To make the Base current flow, the Base input terminal must be made more positive than the
Emitter by increasing it above the 0.7 volts needed for a silicon device. By varying the Base-Emitter
voltage Vbe, the Base current is altered and which in turn controls the amount of Collector current
flowing through the transistor as previously discussed. When maximum Collector current flows the
transistor is said to be Saturated. The value of the Base resistor determines how much input
voltage is required and corresponding Base current to switch the transistor fully "ON".
Example No1.
For example, using the transistor values from the previous tutorials of: β = 200, Ic = 4mA and Ib =
20uA, find the value of the Base resistor (Rb) required to switch the load "ON" when the input
terminal voltage exceeds 2.5v.
Example No2.
Again using the same values, find the minimum Base current required to turn the transistor fully
"ON" (Saturated) for a load that requires 200mA of current.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 75

Transistor switches are used for a wide variety of applications such as interfacing large current or
high voltage devices like motors, relays or lamps to low voltage digital logic IC's or gates like AND
Gates or OR Gates. Here, the output from a digital logic gate is only +5v but the device to be
controlled may require a 12 or even 24 volts supply. Or the load such as a DC Motor may need to
have its speed controlled using a series of pulses (Pulse Width Modulation) and transistor switches
will allow us to do this faster and more easily than with conventional mechanical switches.
Digital Logic Transistor Switch
The base resistor, Rb is required to limit the output current of the logic gate.
Darlington Transistors
Sometimes the DC current gain of the bipolar transistor is too low to directly switch the load current
or voltage, so multiple switching transistors are used. Here, one small input transistor is used to
switch "ON" or "OFF" a much larger current handling output transistor. To maximise the signal
gain the two transistors are connected in a "Complementary Gain Compounding Configuration" or
what is generally called a "Darlington Configuration" where the amplification factor is the
product of the two individual transistors.
Darlington Transistors simply contain two individual bipolar NPN or PNP type transistors
connected together so that the current gain of the first transistor is multiplied with that of the current
gain of the second transistor to produce a device which acts like a single transistor with a very high
current gain. The overall current gain Beta (β) or Hfe value of a Darlington device is the product of
the two individual gains of the transistors and is given as:
So Darlington Transistors with very high β values and high Collector currents are possible
compared to a single transistor. An example of the two basic types of Darlington transistor are
given below.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 76

Darlington Transistor Configurations
The above NPN Darlington transistor configuration shows the Collectors of the two transistors
connected together with the Emitter of the first transistor connected to the Base of the second
transistor therefore, the Emitter current of the first transistor becomes the Base current of the second
transistor. The first or "input" transistor receives an input signal, amplifies it and uses it to drive the
second or "output" transistors which amplifies it again resulting in a very high current gain. As well
as its high increased current and voltage switching capabilities, another advantage of a Darlington
transistor is in its high switching speeds making them ideal for use in Inverter circuits and DC
motor or stepper motor control applications.
One difference to consider when using Darlington transistors over the conventional single bipolar
transistor type is that the Base-Emitter input voltage Vbe needs to be higher at approx 1.4v for
silicon devices, due to the series connection of the two PN junctions.
Then to summarise when using a Transistor as a Switch.
• Transistor switches can be used to switch and control lamps, relays or even motors.
• When using bipolar transistors as switches they must be fully "OFF" or fully "ON".
• Transistors that are fully "ON" are said to be in their Saturation region.
• Transistors that are fully "OFF" are said to be in their Cut-off region.
• In a transistor switch a small Base current controls a much larger Collector current.
• When using transistors to switch inductive relay loads a "Flywheel Diode" is required.
• When large currents or voltages need to be controlled, Darlington Transistors are used.
The Field Effect Transistor
In the Bipolar Junction Transistor tutorials, we saw that the output Collector current is
determined by the amount of current flowing into the Base terminal of the device and thereby
making the Bipolar Transistor a CURRENT operated device. The Field Effect Transistor, or
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 77
simply FET however, use the voltage that is applied to their input terminal to control the output
current, since their operation relies on the electric field (hence the name field effect) generated by
the input voltage. This then makes the Field Effect Transistor a VOLTAGE operated device.
The Field Effect Transistor is a unipolar device that has very similar properties to those of the
Bipolar Transistor ie, high efficiency, instant operation, robust and cheap, and they can be used in
most circuit applications that use the equivalent Bipolar Junction Transistors, (BJT). They can be
made much smaller than an equivalent BJT transistor and along with their low power consumption
and dissipation make them ideal for use in integrated circuits such as the CMOS range of chips.
We remember from the previous tutorials that there are two basic types of Bipolar Transistor
construction, NPN and PNP, which basically describes the physical arrangement of the P-type and
N-type semiconductor materials from which they are made. There are also two basic types of Field
Effect Transistor, N-channel and P-channel. As their name implies, Bipolar Transistors are
"Bipolar" devices because they operate with both types of charge carriers, Holes and Electrons. The
Field Effect Transistor on the other hand is a "Unipolar" device that depends only on the conduction
of Electrons (N-channel) or Holes (P-channel).
The Field Effect Transistor has one major advantage over its standard bipolar transistor cousins, in
that their input impedance is very high, (Thousands of Ohms) making them very sensitive to input
signals, but this high sensitivity also means that they can be easily damaged by static electricity.
There are two main types of field effect transistor, the Junction Field Effect Transistor or JFET
and the Insulated-gate Field Effect Transistor or IGFET), which is more commonly known as
the standard Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor or MOSFET for short.
The Junction Field Effect Transistor
We saw previously that a bipolar junction transistor is constructed using two PN junctions in the
main current path between the Emitter and the Collector terminals. The Field Effect Transistor has
no junctions but instead has a narrow "Channel" of N-type or P-type silicon with electrical
connections at either end commonly called the DRAIN and the SOURCE respectively. Both P-
channel and N-channel FET's are available. Within this channel there is a third connection which is
called the GATE and this can also be a P or N-type material forming a PN junction and these
connections are compared below.
Bipolar Transistor Field Effect Transistor

Emitter - (E) Source - (S)
Base - (B) Gate - (G)
Collector - (C) Drain - (D)
The semiconductor "Channel" of the Junction Field Effect Transistor is a resistive path through
which a voltage Vds causes a current Id to flow. A voltage gradient is thus formed down the length
of the channel with this voltage becoming less positive as we go from the drain terminal to the
source terminal. The PN junction therefore has a high reverse bias at the drain terminal and a lower
reverse bias at the source terminal. This bias causes a "depletion layer" to be formed within the
channel and whose width increases with the bias. FET's control the current flow through them
between the drain and source terminals by controlling the voltage applied to the gate terminal. In an
N-channel JFET this gate voltage is negative while for a P-channel JFET the gate voltage is
positive.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 78

Bias arrangement for an N-channel JFET and corresponding circuit symbols.
The cross sectional diagram above shows an N-type semiconductor channel with a P-type region
called the gate diffused into the N-type channel forming a reverse biased PN junction and its this
junction which forms the depletion layer around the gate area. This depletion layer restricts the
current flow through the channel by reducing its effective width and thus increasing the overall
resistance of the channel.
When the gate voltage Vg is equal to 0V and a small external voltage (Vds) is applied between the
drain and the source maximum current (Id) will flow through the channel slightly restricted by the
small depletion layer. If a negative voltage (Vgs) is now applied to the gate the size of the depletion
layer begins to increase reducing the overall effective area of the channel and thus reducing the
current flowing through it, a sort of "squeezing" effect. As the gate voltage (Vgs) is made more
negative, the width of the channel decreases until no more current flows between the drain and the
source and the FET is said to be "pinched-off". In this pinch-off region the gate voltage, Vgs
controls the channel current and Vds has little or no effect. The result is that the FET acts more like
a voltage controlled resistor which has zero resistance when Vgs = 0 and maximum "ON" resistance
(Rds) when the gate voltage is very negative.
Output characteristic voltage-current curves of a typical junction FET.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 79

The voltage Vgs applied to the gate controls the current flowing between the drain and the source
terminals. Vgs refers to the voltage applied between the gate and the source while Vds refers to the
voltage applied between the drain and the source. Because a Field Effect Transistor is a
VOLTAGE controlled device, "NO current flows into the gate!" then the source current (Is) flowing
out of the device equals the drain current flowing into it and therefore (Id = Is).
The characteristics curves example shown above, shows the four different regions of operation for a
JFET and these are given as:
• Ohmic Region - The depletion layer of the channel is very small and the JFET acts like a
variable resistor.
•
• Cut-off Region - The gate voltage is sufficient to cause the JFET to act as an open circuit
as the channel resistance is at maximum.
•
• Saturation or Active Region - The JFET becomes a good conductor and is controlled by
the gate-source voltage, (Vgs) while the drain-source voltage, (Vds) has little or no effect.
•
• Breakdown Region - The voltage between the drain and source, (Vds) is high enough to
causes the JFET's resistive channel to break down and pass current.
The control of the drain current by a negative gate potential makes the Junction Field Effect
Transistor useful as a switch and it is essential that the gate voltage is never positive for an N-
channel JFET as the channel current will flow to the gate and not the drain resulting in damage to
the JFET. The principals of operation for a P-channel JFET are the same as for the N-channel JFET,
except that the polarity of the voltages need to be reversed.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 80

The MOSFET
As well as the Junction Field Effect Transistor, there is another type of Field Effect Transistor
available whose Gate input is electrically insulated from the main current carrying channel and is
therefore called an Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor. The most common type of insulated
gate FET or IGFET as it is sometimes called, is the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect
Transistor or MOSFET for short.
The MOSFET type of field effect transistor has a "Metal Oxide" gate (usually silicon dioxide
commonly known as glass), which is electrically insulated from the main semiconductor N-channel
or P-channel. This isolation of the controlling gate makes the input resistance of the MOSFET
extremely high in the Mega-ohms region and almost infinite. As the gate terminal is isolated from
the main current carrying channel ""NO current flows into the gate"" and like the JFET, the
MOSFET also acts like a voltage controlled resistor. Also like the JFET, this very high input
resistance can easily accumulate large static charges resulting in the MOSFET becoming easily
damaged unless carefully handled or protected.
Basic MOSFET Structure and Symbol
We also saw previously that the gate of a JFET must be biased in such a way as to forward-bias the
PN junction but in a MOSFET device no such limitations applies so it is possible to bias the gate in
either polarity. This makes MOSFET's specially valuable as electronic switches or to make logic
gates because with no bias they are normally non-conducting and the high gate resistance means
that very little control current is needed. Both the P-channel and the N-channel MOSFET is
available in two basic forms, the Enhancement type and the Depletion type.
Depletion-mode MOSFET
The Depletion-mode MOSFET, which is less common than the enhancement types is normally
switched "ON" without a gate bias voltage but requires a gate to source voltage (Vgs) to switch the
device "OFF". Similar to the JFET types. For N-channel MOSFET's a "Positive" gate voltage
widens the channel, increasing the flow of the drain current and decreasing the drain current as the
gate voltage goes more negative. The opposite is also true for the P-channel types. The depletion
mode MOSFET is equivalent to a "Normally Closed" switch.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 81

Depletion-mode N-Channel MOSFET and circuit Symbols
Depletion-mode MOSFET's are constructed similar to their JFET transistor counterparts where the
drain-source channel is inherently conductive with electrons and holes already present within the N-
type or P-type channel. This doping of the channel produces a conducting path of low resistance
between the drain and source with zero gate bias.
Enhancement-mode MOSFET
The more common Enhancement-mode MOSFET is the reverse of the depletion-mode type. Here
the conducting channel is lightly doped or even undoped making it non-conductive. This results in
the device being normally "OFF" when the gate bias voltage is equal to zero.
A drain current will only flow when a gate voltage (Vgs) is applied to the gate terminal. This
positive voltage creates an electrical field within the channel attracting electrons towards the oxide
layer and thereby reducing the overall resistance of the channel allowing current to flow. Increasing
this positive gate voltage will cause an increase in the drain current, Id through the channel. Then,
the Enhancement-mode device is equivalent to a "Normally Open" switch.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 82

Enhancement-mode N-Channel MOSFET and circuit Symbols
Enhancement-mode MOSFET's make excellent electronics switches due to their low "ON"
resistance and extremely high "OFF" resistance and extremely high gate resistance. Enhancement-
mode MOSFET's are used in integrated circuits to produce CMOS type Logic Gates and power
switching circuits as they can be driven by digital logic levels.
MOSFET Summary
The MOSFET has an extremely high input gate resistance and as such a easily damaged by static
electricity if not carefully protected. MOSFET's are ideal for use as electronic switches or common-
source amplifiers as their power consumption is very small. Typical applications for MOSFET's are
in Microprocessors, Memories, Calculators and Logic Gates etc. Also, notice that the broken lines
within the symbol indicates a normally "OFF" Enhancement type showing that "NO" current can
flow through the channel when zero gate voltage is applied and a continuous line within the symbol
indicates a normally "ON" Depletion type showing that current "CAN" flow through the channel
with zero gate voltage. For P-Channel types the symbols are exactly the same for both types except
that the arrow points outwards.
This can be summarised in the following switching table.
MOSFET type Vgs = +ve Vgs = 0 Vgs = -ve

N-Channel Depletion ON ON OFF
N-Channel Enhancement ON OFF OFF
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 83
P-Channel Depletion OFF ON ON
P-Channel Enhancement OFF OFF ON
The MOSFET as a Switch
We saw previously, that the N-channel, Enhancement-mode MOSFET operates using a positive
input voltage and has an extremely high input resistance (almost infinite) making it possible to
interface with nearly any logic gate or driver capable of producing a positive output. Also, due to
this very high input (gate) resistance we can parallel together many different MOSFET's until we
achieve the current handling limit required. While connecting together various MOSFET's may
enable us to switch high current or high voltage loads, doing so becomes expensive and impractical
in both components and circuit board space. To overcome this problem Power Field Effect
Transistors or Power FET's where developed.
We now know that there are two main differences between FET's, Depletion-mode for JFET's and
Enhancement-mode for MOSFET's and on this page we will look at using the Enhancement-mode
MOSFET as a Switch.
By applying a suitable drive voltage to the gate of an FET the resistance of the drain-source channel
can be varied from an "OFF-resistance" of many hundreds of kΩ's, effectively an open circuit, to an
"ON-resistance" of less than 1Ω, effectively a short circuit. We can also drive the MOSFET to turn
"ON" fast or slow, or to pass high currents or low currents. This ability to turn the power MOSFET
"ON" and "OFF" allows the device to be used as a very efficient switch with switching speeds much
faster than standard bipolar junction transistors.
An example using the MOSFET as a switch

In this circuit arrangement an Enhancement-mode
N-channel MOSFET is being used to switch a
simple lamp "ON" and "OFF" (could also be an
LED). The gate input voltage VGS is taken to an
appropriate positive voltage level to turn the device
and the lamp either fully "ON", (VGS = +ve) or a
zero voltage level to turn the device fully "OFF",
(VGS = 0).
If the resistive load of the lamp was to be replaced
by an inductive load such as a coil or solenoid, a
"Flywheel" diode would be required in parallel
with the load to protect the MOSFET from any
back-emf.
Above shows a very simple circuit for switching a resistive load such as a lamp or LED. But when
using power MOSFET's to switch either inductive or capacitive loads some form of protection is
required to prevent the MOSFET device from becoming damaged. Driving an inductive load has
the opposite effect from driving a capacitive load. For example, a capacitor without an electrical
charge is a short circuit, resulting in a high "inrush" of current and when we remove the voltage
from an inductive load we have a large reverse voltage build up as the magnetic field collapses,
resulting in an induced back-emf in the windings of the inductor.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 84

For the power MOSFET to operate as an analogue switching device, it needs to be switched
between its "Cut-off Region" where VGS = 0 and its "Saturation Region" where VGS(on) = +ve. The
power dissipated in the MOSFET (PD depends upon the current flowing through the channel ID at
saturation and also the "ON-resistance" of the channel given as RDS(on). For example.
Example No1
Lets assume that the lamp is rated at 6v, 24W and is fully "ON", the MOSFET has a channel "ON-
resistance" ( RDS(on) ) value of 0.1ohms. Calculate the power dissipated in the MOSFET switch.
The current flowing through the lamp is calculated as:
The power dissipated in the FET is given as:
You may think, well so what!, but when using the MOSFET as a switch to control DC motors or
high inrush current devices the "ON" channel resistance ( RDS(on) ) is very important. For example,
motor control MOSFET's are subjected to high in-rush currents as the motor first begins to rotate. A
high RDS(on) channel resistance value would simply result in power being dissipated within the
MOSFET resulting in an excessive temperature rise which could result in the MOSFET becoming
too hot and damaged due to thermal overload. A low RDS(on) value on the other hand is also
desirable to help reduce the effective saturation voltage VDS(sat) = ID x RDS(on)) across the MOSFET.
When using MOSFET´s or any type of Field Effect Transistor as a switch, it is always advisable to
use ones with very low RDS(on) values or to mount them onto suitable heatsinks to help reduce any
thermal runaway and damage.
Power MOSFET Motor Control
Because of the extremely high input gate resistance of MOSFET´s, its very fast switching speeds
and the ease at which they can be driven makes them ideal to interface with op-amps or standard
logic gates. However, care must be taken to ensure that the gate-source input voltage is correctly
chosen because when using the MOSFET as a switch the device must obtain a low RDS(on) channel
resistance in proportion to this input gate voltage. For example, do not apply a 12v signal if a 5v
signal voltage is required. Power MOSFET´s can be used to control the movement of DC motors or
brushless stepper motors directly from computer logic or Pulse-width Modulation (PWM) type
controllers. As a DC motor offers high starting torque and which is also proportional to the
armature current, MOSFET switches along with a PWM can be used as a very good speed
controller that would provide smooth and quiet motor operation.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 85

Simple Power MOSFET Motor Controller
As the motor load is inductive, a simple "Free-

wheeling" diode is connected across the load to
dissipate any back emf generated by the motor
when the MOSFET turns it "OFF".
The Zener diode is used to prevent excessive gate-
source input voltages.
Summary of Bipolar Junction Transistors

• The Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) is a three layer device constructed form two
semiconductor diode junctions joined together, one forward biased and one reverse biased.
• There are two main types of bipolar junction transistors, the NPN and the gate transistor.
• Transistors are "Current Operated Devices" where a much smaller Base current causes
a larger Emitter to Collector current, which themselves are nearly equal, to flow.
• The most common transistor connection is the Common-emitter configuration.
• Requires a Biasing voltage for AC amplifier operation.
• The Collector or output characteristics curves can be used to find either Ib, Ic or β to
which a load line can be constructed to determine a suitable operating point, Q with variations
in base current determining the operating range.
• A transistor can also be used as an electronic switch to control devices such as lamps,
motors and solenoids etc.
• Inductive loads such as DC motors, relays and solenoids require a reverse biased
"Flywheel" diode placed across the load. This helps prevent any induced back emf's
generated when the load is switched "OFF" from damaging the transistor.
• The NPN transistor requires the Base to be more positive than the Emitter while the PNP
type requires that the Emitter is more positive than the Base.
Summary of Field Effect Transistors

• Field Effect Transistors, or FET's are "Voltage Operated Devices" and can be divided
into two main types: Junction-gate devices called JFET's and Insulated-gate devices called
IGFET´s or more commonly known as MOSFET's.
• Insulated-gate devices can also be sub-divided into Enhancement types and Depletion
types. All forms are available in both N-channel and P-channel versions.
• FET's have very high input resistances so very little or no current (MOSFET types) flows
into the input terminal making them ideal for use as electronic switches.
• The input impedance of the MOSFET is even higher than that of the JFET due to the
insulating oxide layer and therefore static electricity can easily damage MOSFET devices so
care needs to be taken when handling them.
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 86

• FET's have very large current gain compared to junction transistors.
• They can be used as ideal switches due to their very high channel "OFF" resistance, low
"ON" resistance.
The Field Effect Transistor Family-tree
Field Effect Transistors can be used to replace normal Bipolar Junction Transistors in electronic
circuits and a simple comparison between FET's and transistors stating both their advantages and
their disadvantages is given below.
Field Effect Transistor (FET) Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

1 Low voltage gain High voltage gain
2 High current gain Low current gain
3 Very input impedance Low input impedance
4 High output impedance Low output impedance
5 Low noise generation Medium noise generation
6 Fast switching time Medium switching time
7 Easily damaged by static Robust
8 Some require an input to turn it "OFF" Requires zero input to turn it "OFF"
9 Voltage controlled device Current controlled device
10 Exhibits the properties of a Resistor
11 More expensive than bipolar Cheap
12 Difficult to bias Easy to bias
A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 87

PHYS 331 Electronics

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Prof. Dr. Ali S. Hennache, Department of Physics, Al-Imam Muhammad Ibin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh,-KSA.

Phys. 331 (Electronics)

Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, Riyadh-KSA

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 1

ALTERNATING CURRENT (AC) CIRCUITS

Alternator voltage as function of shaft position (time).

vins = Vmax sin(2πft),

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 2

• Voltmeters and ammeters are designed to measure rms quantities.

1.2 CIRCUIT ELEMENTS IN AN AC CIRCUIT

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 3

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 4

 A capacitor acts as a form of resistance on the current in an AC circuit, expressed in terms

 Capacitive reactance (the opposition to the flow of an alternating current generated by a

 A variant of Ohm’s law is also valid for this circuit element:

1.3 THE RLC CIRCUIT

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 5

Note: Resistance is the opposition to the flow of a direct current.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 6

1.4 POWER AND RESONANCE IN AC CIRCUITS

Pav = I rms × Vrms × cos(φ )

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 7

• AC produced by an electromechanical alternator follows the graphical shape of a sine

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 8

Perfect resistor, inductor, and capacitor.

Reactance is of two types, inductive and capacitive.

• If X = 0, then the circuit is purely resistive (i.e. it has no reactance).

• If X < 0, it is said to be capacitive.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 9

The electrical Resistance of an electrical or electronic component or device is generally defined as

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 10

Notice also that there is a small margin

The Effects of temperature on a conductor

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 11

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 12

2.2.1- N-type Semiconductor.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 13

N-type (e.g. add Antimony)

In these types of materials are:

• 1. The Donors are positively charged.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 14

P-type (e.g. add Boron)

In these types of materials are:

• 1. The Acceptors are negatively charged.

and both P and N-types as a whole, are electrically neutral.

2.3- THE JUNCTION DIODE

Diode representations: PN-junction model, schematic symbol, physical part.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 15

2.3.1 The Basic Diode Symbol and Static I-V Characteristics.

1. Zero Bias - No external voltage potential is applied to the PN-junction.

2.3.2- Zero Bias.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 16

2.3.3- Zero Biased Diode.

2.3.4- Reverse Bias.

A Reverse Biased Junction showing the Increase in the Depletion Layer.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 17

Reverse Characteristics Curve for a Diode.

2.3.5- Forward Bias.

Forward Characteristics Curve for a Diode.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 18

Forward Biased Junction Diode showing a Reduction in the Depletion Layer.

A.S.H. Oct. 22, 2009 19

2.4- THE SIGNAL DIODE

2.4.1- Silicon Diode V-I Characteristic Curve

A capacitor acts as a form of resistance on the current in an AC circuit, expressed in terms

Capacitive reactance (the opposition to the flow of an alternating current generated by a

A variant of Ohm’s law is also valid for this circuit element: