BJT

Construction, Working and Characteristics

 History
• Bipolar junction transistor (BJT) was invented by William Shockley and
John Bardeen.

• While the first transistor was invented 70 years ago but till now it changed
the world from mysterious big computers to small smartphones.

• The invention of transistor changed the concept of electrical circuits

to integrated circuits (IC).

• Nowadays, the use of BJT is decreasing because CMOS technology took

place in the design of digital ICs.
 What is BJT – Bipolar Junction Transistor?
• Bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is a bidirectional device that uses
both electrons and holes as charge carriers.
• While Unipolar transistor i.e. field effect transistor uses only one type of
charge carrier.
• BJT is a current controlled device.
• The current flows from emitter to collector or from collector to emitter
depending on the type of connection.
• This main current is controlled by a very small current at the base terminal.
 Construction
• Bipolar junction transistor is formed by the combination of two back-to-back
doped semiconductor materials.

• In other words, BJT is formed by the “sandwich” of back to back extrinsic

semiconductor materials.

• These extrinsic semiconductors are PN junction diodes.

• Two PN junctions’ diodes are sandwiched together to form a three-terminal

device knows as BJT transistor.

• BJT is a three-terminal device having two junctions.

 • BJT transistors are formed after connecting two PN junctions back to back. These
transistors are known as PNP or NPN bipolar junction transistors depending on whether P
or N-type is sandwiched.

• Basically, transistors have three portions and two

junctions. These three portions are
alled Emitter, Collector, and Base.
• The emitter and collector sandwich the base in between
them. The middle portion (base) forms two junctions with
the emitter & collector.
• The junction of the base with emitter is known as
the Emitter-Base junction while the junction of the base
with the collector is known as the Collector-Base junction.
 Terminals of BJT

Emitter

• The emitter is the portion on one side of the transistor which emits electrons or holes to
the other two portions.

• It is the most heavily doped region of the BJT.

• The emitter-base junction should be always forward bias in both PNP and NPN
transistors.

• Emitter supplies electrons to the emitter-base junction in NPN while it supplies holes into
the same junction in PNP transistor.
 Collector

• The portion on the opposite side of the Emitter that collects the emitted charge carriers (i.e.
electrons or holes) is known as collector.

• The collector is heavily doped but the doping level of the collector is in between the lightly
doping level of base and heavily doped level of emitter.

• Collector-base junction should be always reversed biased in both PNP and NPN
transistors.

• The reason for reverse biasing is to remove charge carriers (electrons or holes) from the
collector-base junction.

• The collector of NPN transistor collects electrons emitted by emitter. While in PNP
transistor, it collects holes emitted by emitter.
 Base

• The base is the middle portion between collector and emitter & it forms two
PN junctions between them.

• The base is the most lightly doped portion of the BJT.

• Being the middle portion of the BJT allows it to control the flow of charge
carriers between emitter and collector.

• The base-collector junction shows high resistance because this junction is

reversed bias.
 Type of BJT – PNP or NPN
PNP Construction
• In PNP bipolar transistor, the N-type
semiconductor is sandwiched between two P-
type semiconductors.
• PNP transistors can be formed by connecting
cathodes of two diodes.
• The cathodes of the diodes are connected
together at a common point known as base.
• While the anodes of the diodes that are on the
opposite sides are known as the collector and
the emitter.

The emitter-base junction is forward bias while collector-base junction is reverse bias. So, in PNP type current
flows from emitter to collector. The emitter, in this case, is at high potential to both collector and base.
• NPN Construction
• NPN type is exactly opposite to PNP type. In NPN
bipolar transistor, the P-type semiconductor is
sandwiched between two N-type semiconductors.

• When the anodes of two diodes are connected

together it forms an NPN transistor.

• The current will flow from the collector to emitter

because the collector terminal is more positive than
emitter in NPN connection.

• The difference between PNP and NPN symbol is the arrow mark at the emitter which shows the direction of flow
of current.
• The current will either flow from emitter to collector or from collector to emitter.
• The arrow mark in PNP transistor is inward, which shows the flow of current from emitter to collector.
• In case of NPN collector, the arrow mark is outward, which shows the flow of current from collector to emitter.
 Working of BJT

• The word “transistor” is the combination of two words, “Trans” (Transform) and “istor”
(Varistor). So, it means the transistor can transform its resistance.

• The resistance varies in such way that it can either act as an insulator or conductor
by applying small signal voltage.

• This changing ability makes it able to perform both as an “Amplifier” or a “Switch”.

• It can be used either as a switch or an amplifier at a single time.

• Therefore, BJT can operate in three different regions to perform the said operation.
 Active Region:
• In Active region, one of the junctions is in a forward bias while the other is in reverse
bias.

• Here, the base current Ib can be used to control the amount of collector current Ic.

• Therefore, the active region is used for amplification purposes where the BJT acts as an
amplifier with a gain β using the equation;

• ic = β x Ib

• It is also known as linear region. This region is in between the cutoff region and
the saturation region.

• The normal operation of BJT occurs in this region.

 Saturation Region:

• In saturation region, both of the junctions of the BJT are in forward bias. This
region is used for the ON-state of a switch where;

• ic = isat

• Isat is the saturation current & it is the maximum amount of current flowing
between emitter and collector when BJT is in saturation region.

• Since both junctions are in forward bias so, BJT acts as a short circuit.
 Cutoff Region:

• In cutoff region, both junctions of a BJT are in reverse bias. Here the BJT work as off
state of a switch where

• ic = 0

• The operation in this region is completely opposite to the saturation region. There are
no external supplies connected. There’s no collector current and hence no emitter
current.

• In this mode, transistor acts as an off-state of the switch. This mode is achieved by
reducing base voltage less than both emitter and collector voltage.

• Vbe < 0.7

 Working Principle of BJT

• BJT have two junctions formed by the combination of two back to back PN junctions.

• Base-Emitter junction (BE) is forward bias while collector-emitter junction (CE) is reverse bias.

• At BE junction, the potential barrier decreases with forward bias. So, electron start flowing from emitter
terminal to base terminal.

• As the base is lightly doped terminal, so very little number of electrons from emitter terminal combine
with holes in base terminal.

• Due to combination of electrons and holes, current from base terminal will start flowing known as Base
current (ib).

• Base current is only 2% of the emitter current Ie while the remaining electrons will flow from the reverse
bias collector junction known as Collector current (ic).
The total emitter current will be the combination of base current & collector current given by;
ie = ib+ic
Where ie is approximately equal to ic because Ib is almost 2% of the IC.
 BJT Configuration

• BJT is three-terminal device so

there are three possible ways to
connect BJT in a circuit with one
terminal being common among
others.

• In other words, one terminal is

common between input and
output.

• Each connection responds

differently to input signal as
shown in the table below.
 Common Base Configuration:

• In common base configuration, the base terminal is common between the input and output signals.
The input signal is applied between base and emitter terminal while output is taken between the
base and collector terminal.

• The output signal at collector side is less than the input signal at emitter. So, its gain is less than 1.
In other words, it “attenuates” the signal.
• It has a non-inverting output that means that both input and output signals are in-phase. This type of
configuration is not commonly used because of its high voltage gain.
• Due to its very high-frequency response, this configuration is used for single stage amplifier. These
single stage amplifiers can be used as radio frequency amplifier, microphone pre-amplifier.
 Common Emitter Configuration
• As its name suggests, in common emitter, the emitter is common between input and output.

• The input is applied between base & emitter while output is taken between collector & emitter.

• It can be simply recognized by looking at the circuit. If the emitter is grounded while input and
output are taken from the base and collector respectively.
• This configuration has the highest current and power gain among all three configurations.

• The reason is because the input is at forward bias junction, so its input impedance is very low.
While output is taken from reverse bias junction, so its output impedance is very high.

• The emitter current in this configuration is equal to the sum of base and collector currents. Given in
equation as;

Ie = ic + ib

Where ie is the emitter current.

• This configuration has high current gain which is ic/ib. The reason for this tremendous current
gain is that the load resistance is connected in series with collector. It can be seen from the
equation that minute increase in base current will result in extremely high current at output side.

• This configuration acts as an inverting amplifier where the output signal is completely opposite in
polarity to the input signal. Therefore, it shifts the output signal at 180° with respect to its input
signal.
 Common Collector Configuration

• Common collector configuration known as voltage follower or emitter follower has a grounded collector.

• In Common collector configuration, the collector terminal is grounded to the supply. So the collector
terminal is common to both input and output.

• The output is taken from the emitter terminal with load connected in series while the input is given to
base terminal directly.

• It has high input impedance and low output

impedance. This enables it to perform as an
impedance matcher.
• So, this configuration is very helpful in the
impedance matching technique.
 Characteristics of BJT
• Common Base (CB) Configuration
• Input characteristics
• The input Characteristic curve for the Common Base configurations is drawn between the emitter current
IE and the voltage between the base and emitter VEB.

• During the Common base configuration, the Transistor gets forward biased hence it will show
characteristics similar to that of the forward characteristics of a p-n diode where the IE increases for fixed
VEB when VCB increases.
• Output Characteristics
• The output characteristics of the Common
Base configuration are given between the
collector current IC and the voltage between
the collector and base VCB, here the emitter
Current IE is the measuring parameter.

• Based on the operation, there are three different regions in the curve, at first, the active region,
here the BJT will be operating normally and the emitter junction is reverse biased.
• Next comes the saturation region where both the emitter and collector junctions are forward
biased.
• Finally, the cutoff region where both emitter and the collector junctions are reverse biased.
 Common Emitter (CE) Configuration
• The Common Emitter Configuration is also called the
grounded emitter configuration where the emitter
acts as the common terminal between the input
applied between the base and emitter and the output
obtained between the collector and the emitter.
• This configuration produces the highest current and
power gain when compared with the other two types
of configurations, this is because of the fact that the
input impedance is low as it is connected to a
forward-biased PN junction whereas the output
impedance is high as it is obtained for the reverse-
biased PN junction.
 Input Characteristics

• The input characteristics of the Common Emitter configuration are drawn between the base current
IB and the voltage between the base and emitter VBE. Here the Voltage between the Collector and the
emitter is the most common parameter.
 Output Characteristics

• The output characteristics are drawn between the Collector

Current IC and the voltage between the collector and the
Emitter VCE.

• The CE configuration also has the three different regions, in

the active region the collector junction is reverse biased and
the emitter junction is forward biased,

• in the cut-off region, the emitter junction is slightly reverse

biased and the collector current is not completely cut off, and

• finally, in the saturation region, both the collector and the

emitter junctions are forward biased.
 Common Collector (CC) Configuration
• The Common Collector Configuration is also called the
grounded Collector configuration where the collector
terminal is kept as the common terminal between the
input signal applied across the base and the emitter, and
the output signal obtained across the collector and the
emitter.

• This configuration is commonly called as the Voltage

follower or the emitter follower circuit.

• This configuration will be useful for impedance matching

applications as it has very high input impedance, in the
region of hundreds of thousands of ohms while having
relatively low output impedance.
 Application of Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT)

BJT can be used in various kinds of applications such as logic circuits,

amplification circuits, oscillation circuits, multi-vibrator circuits, clipping

circuits, circuits of the timer, time delay circuits, switching circuits, etc.