Transistor 'alpha' and 'beta'

The proportion of electrons able to cross the base and reach the collector is a measure of the BJT efficiency. The heavy doping of the emitter region and light doping of the base region cause many more electrons to be injected from the emitter into the base than holes to be injected from the base into the emitter. The common-emitter current gain is represented by F or hfe; it is approximately the ratio of the DC collector current to the DC base current in forward-active region. It is typically greater than 100 for small-signal transistors but can be smaller in transistors designed for high-power applications. Another important parameter is the commonbase current gain, F. The common-base current gain is approximately the gain of current from emitter to collector in the forward-active region. This ratio usually has a value close to unity; between 0.98 and 0.998. Alpha and beta are more precisely related by the following identities (NPN transistor):

Beta is current gain of that transistor, whatever be the input the transistor. we will get the output multiplied by the beta. for example in CE amplifier if Base current is 10 microampere and beta of that transistor is 100 then collector current would be 1mA i.e. 100 times greater than input current
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 called the DC Current Gain of the device and is given the symbol of hfe or nowadays Beta, ( ). 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, ( ), 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 is very close to unity, and for a typical low-power signal transistor this value ranges from about 0.950 to 0.999.

and Relationships

By combining the two parameters and 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, ( 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.