ES -112 Basic Electronics (Theory)

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BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR
(BJT CLO-3)
What is transistor?

• A transistor is a three-terminal semiconductor device ,that

amplifies the electronic signals such as radio and television
signals.

• Before the transistors came into existence, vacuum tubes are

used to amplify the electronic signals.

• But nowadays vacuum tubes are replaced by transistors

because of its various advantages over vacuum tubes
Advantages of transistors
• Low power consumption
• Low cost
• Small size
• Higher efficiency
• Low voltage is needed to operate the transistors
• High physical ruggedness than vacuum tubes
• Produce far less heat than vacuum tubes
• Transistors are lighter than vacuum tubes
Disadvantages of transistors
• Less tolerant of overloads and voltage spikes than vacuum tubes
• Maintenance is very difficult
• It is difficult to replace the transistor
Classification of transistors

• JFET stands for Junction Field Effect Transistor

• MOSFET stands for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
 Bipolar junction transistor

• A bipolar junction transistor or BJT is a three terminal

electronic device that amplifies the flow of current.

• It is a current controlled device.

• In bipolar junction transistor, electric current is conducted by

both free electrons and holes.

• The term bipolar refers to the use of both holes and electrons as
current carriers in the transistor structure.
Both electrons and holes current carrier
• The bipolar junction transistors are formed by sandwiching either n-
type or p-type semiconductor layer between pairs of opposite polarity
semiconductor layers. Schematic Symbol of BJT as shown below
Transistor Structure of NPN and PNP
 Transistor Structure

• BJT is constructed with three doped

semiconductor regions separated by two PN
junctions, as shown
• The three regions emitter, base, and collector
as shown.
Terminals of BJT

• Emitter: As the name suggests, the emitter section supplies the

charge carriers.

• The emitter is heavily doped.

• so that it can inject a large number of charge carriers into the base.

• The size of the emitter is always greater than the base.

• Base: The middle layer is called base.

• The base of the transistor is very thin as compared to emitter and

collector.

• It is very lightly doped.

• Collector: The function of the collector is to collect charge carriers.

• It is moderately doped.

• The doping level of the collector section is in between emitter and base.

• The size of the collector is always greater than emitter and base.

• The collector area in the transistor is considerably larger than the emitter area.

• The collector region necessity handle more power than the emitter

• More surface area is required for heat dissipation.

Transistor Structure

The base region is

lightly doped and
very thin compared
to the heavily doped
emitter and the
moderately doped
collector regions
• The PN junction joining the base region and the emitter region is
called the base-emitter junction

• The PN junction joining the base region and the collector region is
called the base-collector junction
current Direction
 Transistor Current

• The total current flowing into the transistor must be equal to the
total current flowing out of it.

𝐼𝐸 = 𝐼𝐶 + 𝐼𝐵
 Transistor Applications

• Switching
• Amplification
• Variable Resistor
• Impedance Matching
• Voltage Regulation
Basic circuits of BJT
 Basic BJT Operation

• In order for a BJT to operate properly as an amplifier, the two pn

junctions must be correctly biased with external dc voltages.

• Figure(next slide) shows a bias arrangement for both npn and pnp
BJTs for operation as an amplifier.

• In both cases the base-emitter (BE) junction is forward-biased and

the base-collector (BC) junction is reverse-biased. This condition is

called forward-reverse bias.

• The heavily doped n-type emitter region has a very
high density of conduction-band (free) electrons.

• These free electrons easily diffuse through the forward

based BE junction into the lightly doped and very thin
p-type base region

• The base has a low density of holes

• A small percentage of the total number of free

electrons injected into the base region recombine with
holes and move as valence electrons through the base
region and into the emitter region as hole current
• When the electrons that have recombined with holes as valence
electrons leave the crystalline structure of the base, they become
free electrons in the metallic base lead and produce the external
base current.

• Most of the free electrons that have entered the base do not
recombine with holes because the base is very thin.

• As the free electrons move toward the reverse-biased BC junction,

they are swept across into the collector region by the attraction of
the positive collector supply voltage

• The free electrons move through the collector region, into the
external circuit, and then return into the emitter region along with
the base current, as shown in the figure(next slide )

• The emitter current is slightly greater than the collector current

because of the small base current that splits off from the total
current injected into the base region from the emitter
 BJT CHARACTERISTICS AND
PARAMETERS
• When a transistor is connected to dc bias voltages, as shown in
Figure for both npn and pnp types’s, VBB forward-biases the base-
emitter junction, and VCC reverse-biases the base-collector junction
 DC Alpha (αDC)

• The ratio of the dc collector current (IC) to the dc emitter current (IE)
is the dc alpha (αDC).
• The alpha is a less-used parameter than beta in transistor circuits.

• Typically, values of αDC range from 0.95 to 0.99 or greater, but αDC is
always less than 1. The reason is that IC is always slightly less than
IE by the amount of IB
 DC Beta (𝜷DC)

• The dc current gain of a transistor is the ratio of the dc

collector current (IC) to the dc base current (IB) and is
designated dc beta (𝛽𝐷𝐶 ).

• Typical values of βDC range from less than 20 to 200 or

higher. βDC is usually designated as an equivalent hybrid
(h) parameter, hFE, on transistor datasheets.
 Relation Ship of 𝛼& β(derivation on Board )
𝛽
𝛼=
1+𝛽
𝛼
𝛽=
1−𝛼
IE=IC+IB ……………(i)

As we know

α=IC/IE & β=IC/IB IC =βIB

IE= βIB+IB …………(ii)

so Eq(iii) becomes by putting value of IB

IE=(β+1)IB …………(iii)
Example: Determine the dc current gain βDC and the
emitter current IE for a transistor where IB =50 µA and IC
=3.65 mA.
 BJT Circuit Analysis

• Consider the basic transistor bias circuit configuration in Figure

• Three transistor dc currents and three dc voltages ,three terminal
voltages ad supply voltage can be identified
• IB: dc base current ,
• IE: dc emitter current
• IC: dc collector current
• VBE: dc voltage at base with respect to emitter
• VCB: dc voltage at collector with respect to base
• VCE: dc voltage at collector with respect to emitter
• Transistor supply voltages: VCC ,VBB
• Transistor terminal voltages: VB ,VC , VE
• When the base-emitter junction is forward-biased, it is
like a forward-biased diode and has a nominal forward
voltage drop of

• Since the emitter is at ground (0 V), by Kirchhoff’s

voltage law, the voltage across RB is
Example: Determine IB, IC, IE, VBE, VCE, and VCB for the figure. The
transistor has a βDC = 150

Practice Problem : Determine IB, IC, IE, VBE, VCE, and VCB for same figure. The
transistor has a βDC = 90, RB=22k, RC=220 , VBB=6v and ,Vcc=9v
BJT operation modes
The transistor can be operated in three modes:
 Operation of BJTs

• Cutoff region (for digital circuit)

• Saturation region (for digital circuit)
• Linear (active) region (to be an amplifier)
• Breakdown region (always be a disaster)
 Operation region summary

Operation IB or VCE BC and BE Mode

Region Char. Junctions
Cutoff IB = Very Reverse & Open Switch
small Reverse
Saturation VCE = Small Forward & Closed
Forward Switch
Active VCE = Reverse & Linear
Linear Moderate Forward Amplifier

Break-down VCE = Large Beyond Overload

Limits
 DC Analysis of BJTs
• The voltage divider biasing is widely used
• Input resistance is:

RIN  DCRE

• The base voltage is approximately:

VB  VCCR2/(R1+R2)

• Transistor Currents:
IE = IC + IB
• alpha (DC)
IC = DCIE
• beta (DC)
IC = DCIB
 DC Analysis of BJT

• DC voltages for the biased transistor:

• Collector voltage
VC = VCC - ICRC
• Base voltage
VB = VE + VBE

➢ for silicon transistors, VBE = 0.7 V

➢ for germanium transistors, VBE = 0.3 V
 THE BJT AS A SWITCH
• In part (a), the transistor is in the cutoff region because
the base-emitter junction is not forward-biased. In this
condition, there is, ideally, an open between collector
and emitter, as indicated by the switch equivalent
• In part (b), the transistor is in the saturation region
because the base emitter junction and the base-
collector junction are forward-biased and the base
current is made large enough to cause the collector
current to reach its saturation value. In this
condition, there is, ideally, a short between collector
and emitter, as indicated by the switch equivalent
Conditions in Cutoff

Conditions in Saturation
 Switching conditions/DC Load Line
• Figure shows a dc load line
connecting the cutoff point
and the saturation point.

• The bottom of the load line

is at ideal cutoff where IC =0
and VCE =VCC

• The top of the load line is at

saturation where IC =IC(sat)
and VCE =VCE(sat).

• In between cutoff and

saturation along the load
line is the active region of
the transistor’s operation
Determine whether or not the transistor in saturation.
Assume VCE(sat) = 0.2 V.
Example:
(a) For the transistor circuit in Figure, what is
VCE when VIN =0 V?
(b) What minimum value of IB is required to
saturate this transistor if βDC is 200? Neglect
VCE(sat).
(c) Calculate the maximum value of RB when
VIN = 5 V
Solution
 Reference books
• Principles of Electronics by V.K.Mehta

• Electronic devices by floyd

• Electronic Devices and circuit Theory by Robert Boylestad

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