EXPERIMENT 2

EE-207 Analog Circuits Lab

-METER
Submitted by – Shirin Jain
Roll No. - 190102069
24 January 2021

Abstract
The objective of this experiment is to design a circuit that measures β of NPN BJTs by
outputting a voltage equal to “β” mV that can be displayed on a DVM.

INTRODUCTION:
β is the factor of proportionality between the base current and the collector current of a
bipolar junction transistor that is operating in the forward active mode. β (beta) of a
transistor is the gain or amplification factor of a transistor. It is the factor by which current is
amplified in the circuit.

THEORY:
The basic idea is to measure voltage across a suitable resistor that will represent the β value
in millivolts.
We know that for a BJT,
𝐼c
𝛽=
𝐼b
If IB is kept constant and voltage (Vo) across Rc is observed as shown in the above figure,
then Vo ∝ 𝛽 .By choosing suitable values of IB and Rc we can obtain Vo = “β” mV. We
measure the voltage across Rc using LtSpice software.

For choosing the values of IB and Rc, we need to take special care about the power
dissipation capacity of the components. The resistors in our circuit can only dissipate power
P0, which according to our question is 250 mW. For the worst case, in the saturation
condition the emitter and collector terminals of the BJT are short circuited and hence the
voltage across the resistor Rc becomes Vcc. So, the minimum Rc is given by,
𝑉𝑐𝑐 2
𝑃𝑜 ≥ 𝑅𝑐

𝑉𝑐𝑐 2
This implies, 𝑅𝑐 ≥ 𝑃𝑜

Further from this we can get,

V0 = CRC

Implies, V0 = RC
For displaying Vo = “β” mV we need that, IBRC should be 1 mV.
10−3
𝐼B =
𝑅𝑐
A constant current source is required to make IB immune to disparity in VBE of the
transistors being tested. We used the following simple transistor based current source for this
purpose.

We therefore propose a circuit for the constant current source. DZ is a zener diode which,
when reverse biased has a constant voltage drop across it no matter what the current
through it is. Thus, as long as the zener current (IZ) is above a certain level (IZ‐min, called
holding current or breakdown current), the voltage across the zener diode (VZ) will be
constant. Resistor R1 supplies the zener current and the base current (I’B) of PNP transistor.
Base resistance of PNP transistor is kept high so that extremely less current pass through
the base and most of the current goes from emitter to collector.
Voltage across R2 (VR2) is given by VZ + VBE, where VBE is the base‐emitter drop of the
transistor. The emitter current of PNP transistor which is also the current through R2 is given
by

Since VZ is constant zener voltage and VBE is also nearly constant at constant temperature, so
it implies that VR2 is constant and hence the current through emitter I’E is constant. As the
base resistance is kept very high, the emitter current is nearly equal to the collector current
which is the current through the load and hence the base current of our NPN transistor .
As long as the temperature remains constant, the load current will be independent of the
supply voltage, R1 and the transistor's gain. R2 can be chosen by using the equation:

To choose resistor R1, the current through R1 is basically the zener holding current, therefore:

Circuit Design:
Case 1: 100-ohm resistance is in series with the constant current source.
,
 Case 2: when 100-ohm resistance is removed.

CALCULATION:
1. We vary our supply voltage from 7V to 12V.
2. Vcc is the same as the effective supply voltage, therefore
Vcc = 12V
3. For calculating the collector resistance Rc, we need to keep in mind that during
the variation of supply voltage from 7V to 12V, the power of the circuit does not
exceed 0.25W. And hence we use supply voltage as 12 to calculate Rc, because if
it does not exceed for 12V, it will definitely not exceed for values smaller than it.
This can be seen from the inequality:

𝑉𝑐𝑐 2 122
𝑅𝑐 ≥ = =576 Ω
𝑃𝑜 0.25

Hence, we choose Rc = 600 Ω

4. Constant current IB is given by the equation:

10−3
𝐼B =
𝑅𝑐

10−3
𝐼B = = 1.667 × 10−6 A.
600

5. Our PNP transistor has a VBE = -0.5V (according to the data sheet and verified
using LtSpice). In our case we have taken a Zener diode whose Vz is 6.2 V.
 6.2−0.5
R2 = .
1.667×10−6

R2 = 3433 K Ω
6. Resistor (R1) in CCS:

IZ‐min = 5 × 10−3 𝐴
Now so that the power does not exceed 0.25W and also the following inequality
is satisfied, for this calculation we choose Vcc as 7V, so that if R1 is smaller than
this value, it will definitely be smaller than the values calculated using Vcc
greater than 7V.

7−6.2
R1 ≤ . This gives R1 = 160Ω
5×10−3

OBSERVATION:
Testing the constant current source and measuring the corresponding values of : -

S.NO Source Load IB (µA)  (measured) %Error in

voltage Resistance measured 
(Vcc) (R3)

1 7 - 1.661 309 3%
2 7 100 1.661 309 3%
3 9 100 1.667 319 6.33%
4 10 100 1.668 320 6.66%
5 11 100 1.670 325 8.33%
6 12 - 1.672 330 10%
7 12 100 1.671 330 10%

Here we can see that our IB value comes out approximately same for different values of VCC
and also on the same voltage when the load resistance is removed.

Also, the theoretical  for the used NPN transistor is approximately 300 and our measured
 comes out to be in the range of  ± 𝟏𝟎%
RESULTS:
1.  (measured): 309

2. IB when there is no resistance in series, and supply voltage is 7V: 1.66 µA

3. IB when there is no resistance in series, and supply voltage is 12V: 1.67 µA

4. IB when there is 100-ohm resistance in series, and supply voltage is 7V: 1.66 µA
CONCLUSION:
1. The  meter was successfully constructed and simulated in LtSpice and demonstrated
using various values of Vcc.
2. When the input voltage VCC was changed we saw that the base current (IB) remains
constant and even when the load resistance was removed.

3. The theoretical  of the used NPN transistor was approximately 300 and our measured
 comes in the range of  ± 𝟏𝟎%

 To obtain further voltage stability, we add a zener diode parallel to the whole circuit, this
makes the circuit further independent of the voltage, provided it is higher than the
breakdown voltage of the zener diode.
5. Temperature changes will change the output current delivered by the circuit because VBE
is sensitive to temperature.
 Department of Electronics & Communication Engineering
EC207 : Analog Circuits Lab
Results verification sheet
Experiment No. 2 : β meter Group No. 5

This sheet is to be filled in by the TA, only after the students in the group have completed the experiment,
noted down the observations in their notebook, and verified themselves the results as given in their handout.
If the circuit needs modification, all the items in the sheet have to be checked again.

1. Is only one power supply required? Yes

2. Is constant current source made correctly? Yes

3. a) The designed value of constant current (IB) = 1.66 uA

b) The designed value of collector resistance (RC) = 600 ohm

c) Check if IB  RC = 10-3 Yes

4. Worst case power dissipation in RC = PD = VCC2 / RC = 0.24

Is PD < ¼ W ? Yes

5. a) The value of β read on the digital voltmeter = 309

7. The students (not the TA) should perform the following part, write the observations in
their notebook, and demonstrate it to the TA.
a) Simulated value of constant current (IB) using an ammeter.
Experimental IB = 1.66 uA

b) Simulated value of IB after increasing VCC by 5 V,

IB = 1.67uA

c) Simulated value of IB after adding a small resistance (100 Ω) in series,

IB = 1.661uA

d) Check if IB in a), b), c) are equal. Yes

Signature of the TA Date

Submitted By- Shirin Jain

Roll No. 190102069