Bipolar Junction Transistor

(BJT)
Dr. Prasanta Kumar Guha
Autumn Semester(2021)
pkguha@ece.iitkgp.ac.in

IIT Kharagpur, Autumn 2021 1

 BJT Invention

Bardeen, Brattain and Shockley

John Bardeen & Walter Brattain
achieve transistor action in a
germanium point-contact device
(December 1947)
Bell Labs invented BJT
Awarded Nobel Prize 1956
“their researches on
semiconductors and their discovery
of the transistor effect”
William Shockley conceived a
distinctly different transistor
based on the p-n junction
(January 1948)

http://www.computerhistory.org/semiconductor/timeline.html#1940s
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BJT Application

• Amplifier

• Switch

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 BJT Basics
The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) was named because its operation involves conduction by two carriers: electrons
and holes

npn BJT pnp BJT

BJT is a three terminal device - Emitter (E), Base (B) and Collector (C)

The symbol for a BJT includes an arrow for the emitter terminal, its direction indicating the current direction when the transistor is
in active mode.
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 BJT Structure and Operation
• BJT is a three layer semiconductor, where Base is sandwiched between Emitter and Collector

• Though it looks like two back to back diodes - but the middle layer, the Base, as thin as possible. However the
Base width will be such that depletion region from two sides should not touch each other.

• There will be two depletion regions, (i) between E-B junction and (ii) B-C junction

• The doping concentration E>B>C

• The area is maximum for C and minimum for B

: Collector maximum ensures collection of all the carriers crossing Base
: Base minimum ensures most carriers from Emitter goes to Collector without recombination at the Base
(Base width should be less than that of minority carrier diffusion length)

• BJT with two pn junctions, therefore four possible modes of operation.

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 +

npn BJT transistor cross-section

BJT device construction is not symmetric

• Thin Base region (between E&C)

• Heavily doped Emitter
• Large area Collector (source: snappygoat.com)
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BJT TWO back-to-back diode

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BJT TWO back-to-back diode

A BJT is NOT the same as two diodes connected back-to-back

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Four Possible Modes of BJT Operation

BASE-EMITTER BASE-COLLECTOR
JUNCTION JUNCTION

Forward Active Saturation

Region: Region:
Amplifier Switch on
Cutoff Region: Reverse Active
Region
Switch off

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 npn & pnp transistor forward active mode

npn transistor pnp transistor

Two external voltage sources set the bias conditions for active mode
– Note BE junction is forward biased and CB junction is reverse biased
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
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BJT Currents

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 Current Relationships

Using Kirchhoff’s current law

IC and IB are linearly related, because both are

If transistor is biased in forward active mode
proportional to exponential function of B-E voltage

therefore

 - common emitter current gain (few 100’s), is a function of IC and temperature. However, we will generally treat it as a constant
 - common base current gain (slightly less than 1) IIT Kharagpur, Autumn 2021 12
 I-V characteristics of BJT
Common Base Configuration

VBB

In CB Configuration, the Base terminal of the transistor will be common between the input and the output terminals
Saturation
VCB2>VCB1 region
Active
region

Dynamic input resistance

Dynamic output resistance

Input Characteristics

Current gain Cut off region

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 I-V characteristics of BJT
Common Base Configuration

Input Characteristics: (1) This is IE vs VBE for different values of VCB

(2) Emitter current varies with VBE exponentially, because BE is a pn junction
(3) Emitter current increases with increase in VCB: because of reduction in effective base width

Output Characteristics: (1) This is IC vs VCB for different values of IE

(2) The characteristics has three regions:

Active region: BE forward bias, CB reverse bias

(a) Here IC is nearly equal to IE (IC=IE)
(b) IC almost does not depend on VCB (so it acts like a constant current source)

Saturation region: BE forward bias, CB forward bias

(a) The linear relationship between IC and IE no longer valid, IC very quickly drops to zero

Cut off region: BE reverse bias, CB reverse bias

(a) Here IC is almost equal to zero

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 I-V characteristics of BJT
Common Base Configuration

Breakdown
• Breakdown occurs at large value of VCB, often designates as BVCBO

• For increasing IE, breakdown is occurring earlier (i.e. lower VCB). The larger number of carriers flowing
across the junction initiates the avalanche process at somewhat lower voltage

Leakage Currents

• ICBO is the collector leakage current. This occurs due to reverse bias at the CB junction.
• The direction of the ICBO is same as IC
• This is visible when transistor is at cut off (i.e. IE=0)

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 I-V characteristics of BJT
Common Emitter Configuration

In CE Configuration, the Emitter terminal of the transistor will be common between the input and the output terminals

(µA)
Active
Mode

Input Characteristics
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 I-V characteristics of BJT
Common Emitter Configuration

Input Characteristics: (1) This is IB vs VBE for different values of VCE

(2) Base current varies with VBE exponentially, because BE is a pn junction
(3) Base current decreases with increase in VCE: because of reduction in effective base width

Output Characteristics: (1) This is IC vs VCE for different values of IB

(2) The characteristics has three regions:

Active region: BE forward bias, CB reverse bias

(a) IC almost does not depend on VCE (so it acts like a constant current source)
(b) But in true sense there will be tilt in the graph because of Early effect (Early voltage: VA)

Saturation region: BE forward bias, CB forward bias (i.e. VCE < VBE(on))
(a) IC very quickly drops to zero
(b) The rule of thumb is in saturation region VCE = 0.2 V* and also IC<IB

Cut off region: BE reverse bias, CB reverse bias

(a) Here IC is almost equal to zero

*the base-emitter diode to be forward biased with 0.8V while the base-collector diode is forward biased with 0.6V, so that
VCE=0.2V. But the base-collector diode cannotAutumn
IIT Kharagpur, be more
2021 forward biased than the base-emitter diode. Because 17
doing so
would require the BJT to present an impossible collector voltage…
 I-V characteristics of BJT
Common Emitter Configuration
Exaggerated view of I-V at constant B-V voltages Early effect modifies the IV characteristics in the active mode

iC (mA)
vBE4
vBE3
(at constant vBE) vBE2
vBE1

vCE
(early voltage)

• Increase in vCE increases the reverse bias at CB junction, thus depletion width increase. This reduces the
effective Base width
• This in-turn increases the iE (hence iC)
• When the curves are extrapolated to zero current, they meet a point on the negative voltage axis, at vCE=-VA

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 DC Analysis of Transistor Circuits
B C

IB IC
RB RC

VBB VCC
IE

Common –emitter circuit with npn transistor

dc equivalent circuit

Resistors: Use “subscript” of BJT terminal: RC , RB

DC voltages: Use “Double subscript” of BJT terminal: VCC , VBB

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 DC Analysis of Transistor Circuits
• Assuming BE junction is forward biased, so voltage drop across the junction is VBE(on)

• When the transistor is biased in forward active mode, then the Collector current is represented as a dependent
current source that is a function of Base current (IC=IB)

• We are neglecting the reverse-biased junction leakage current and Early effect.
VBB− VBE(on)
• The Base current is
IB =
RB
VCE VCC
IC = − +
RC RC
VCE = VCC − I C RC We are also implicitly assuming that VCE>VBE(on),
which means BC junction is reverse biased

Power dissipated in a transistor is given by, P = IBVBE(on) + ICVCE

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 Load Line

VCC/RC Active
Mode

VBB/RB

Q point
Q point

VBB VCC

Input characteristics & load line Output characteristics & load line

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