Chapter Two: Transistor

Transistor is one of two principle semiconductor devices used for

amplification and switching.
Transistor Definition: A semiconductor device which transfers a signal from a
low resistance to high resistance.
Basics: The transistor, like a diode, can conduct the current in one direction. It
regulates whether a current can flow and how strong the current is. This is why you
can use it as a switch or as an amplifier.

NPN: a small input current and a positive voltage applied @ its base (with
VB>VE) allows a large current to flow from collector to emitter.
PNP: a small output current and a negative voltage @ its base (with VB<VE)
allows a much larger current to flow from emitter to collector.

E = Emitter (emits electrons)

B = Base (controls the flow of the electrons)
C = Collector (collects the electrons)

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 Transistor Structure:
A transistor has three doped regions.
 For both types, the base is a narrow region sandwiched between the larger
collector and emitter regions.

 The emitter region is heavily doped and its job is to emit carriers into the
base.
The base region is very thin and lightly doped.

 Most of the current carriers injected into the base pass on to the collector.

 The collector region is moderately doped and is the largest of all three regions.

Transistor is analogous to a faucet.

Turning faucet’s control knob alters the flow rate of water coming out
from the faucet.
A small voltage/current applied at transistor’s control lead controls a
larger current flow through its other two leads.

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 Introduction to Transistor (operation and properties)

Beside diodes, the most popular semiconductor device is transistors.

It is a three terminal device whose output current, voltage and power are
controlled by its input current.
Most important feature: can amplify signals and as switch.

Transistors are used in digital computers, satellites, mobile phones and other
communication systems, control systems etc.

The barrier potential of three layers is approximately 0.7v for silicon transistor
and 0.3v for germanium transistor

 Since the regions have different doping levels therefore the layers do not
have the same width

 The PNP transistor is a complement of the NPN transistor

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How (NPN)Transistor works?
- When no voltage is applied at transistor’s base, electrons in the emitter
are prevented from passing to the collector side because of the pn junction.
- If a negative voltage is applied to the base, things get even worse as the pn
junction between the base and emitter becomes reverse-biased resulting in
the formation of a depletion region that prevents current flow.

- If a positive voltage (>0.6V) is applied to the base of an npn transistor, the

pn-junction between the base and emitter becomes forward- biased.

- Some electrons exit through the base, but because the p-type base is so
thin, the onslaught of electrons that leave the emitter get close enough to
the collector side that they begin jumping into the collector. Increasing
the base voltage increases the emitter- to-collector electron flow.

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bipolar junction transistor (BJT)
In practice, npn transistors are much more popular than pnp transistors because
electrons move faster in a semiconductor. As a result, a npn transistor has a
faster response time compared to a pnp transistor. If KCL is to be satisfied, we
must have:

The most important property of the BJT is that the small base current controls the
much larger collector current.

Here β is a current amplification factor (DC current gain ) dependent on the

physical properties of the BJT and is called the static forward-current
transfer ratio. Typical values of β range from 20 to 200. Note that β is not a
parameter you want to design your circuit around. In other words, you want to
make your BJT circuit amplify independent of β.

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 Basic Circuit Configurations:

In any transistor circuit design you must supply a DC bias current and voltage to
operate in the linear region of the characteristic curve. The DC operating point
is defined by the values of ,IC ,VBE and VCE . Small voltage changes in
the base-emitter junction will produce large current changes in the collector and
emitter, whereas small changes in the collector-emitter voltage have little effect
on the base.
To determine these I-V characteristics, consider the I-V curves of two figures
below. In the first figure below the collector is open and the BE junction is
shown to be very similar to a diode. The ideal current source I BB injects a base
current, which causes the junction to be forward-biased. By varying IBB , one can
obtain the open-collector BE junction I-V curve .

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Transistor three operating regions
1. The cutoff region where both junctions are reverse-biased, the base current
is very small, essentially no collector current flows and the transistor is off.
2. The saturation region, in which both junctions are forward biased.
3. The active linear region, in which the transistor can act as a linear amplifier
(more on this later), where the BE junction is forward-biased and the CB
junction is reverse-biased.

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The Emitter Current :
Since the current that enters a transistor must leave it, it can be seen from figure
below that the emitter current iE is equal to the sum of the collector current iC and
the base current iB ; that is,

The result is that the base is always part of the input to a four-terminal network.

There are three common configurations: common emitter (CE), common

collector (CC) and common base (CB), as below.

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 Common-Base (CB) Configuration
The circuit is drawn in Figure shown. Unless otherwise mentioned the transistor is npn

The EB junction is a forward-biased diode. A typical characteristic to scale is

presented Figure shown. It is found that it is practically independent of VCB. It can
be approximated as a diode characteristic. Conduction begins for VBE = 0.7 V as
shown in Figure below (b). The current IE is controlled by adding a resistance in
series with VEE, while it will be assumed that VBE = 0.7 V at any value of IE, once
the transistor starts conducting, ON state is shown in Figure below (c).

Output (Collector) Characteristics:

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 Common-Emitter (CE) Configuration:
It is the most frequently used configuration. Its circuit is drawn in Figure below.

Input (Base) Characteristics:

IB vs VBE for varying VCE is drawn in Figure below (b).
Output (Collector) Characteristics:
IC vs VCE for various values of IB is drawn in Figure below (a).

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 Common Collector (CC) Configuration

Limits of Operation:
For each transistor, there are limits of operation which identify the region on its
characteristics within which the signal exhibits least distortion. As shown in Figure
below , the region is bounded by cut-off region, saturation region IC(max) ,
maximum power dissipation PD(max) = VCE IC , an inverse hyperbola and VCE(max).

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Example:
a. Using the characteristics of Figure (a) below to determine the resulting
collector current if IE = 3 mA and VCB = 10 V.
b. Determine the resulting collector current if IE remains at 3 mA but VCB is
reduced to 2 V.
c. Determine VBE if IC = 4 mA and VCB = 20 V. using the characteristics of
Figures(a & b)
d. Repeat part (c) using the characteristics of Figures(a & c)

(b) (a)

(c)

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Solution:
a. The characteristics clearly indicate that IC = IE= 3 mA .
b. The effect of changing VCB is negligible and IC continues to be 3 mA .
c. From Figure (a), IE = IC = 4 mA. In Figure (b) the resulting level of VBE is about
0.74 V .
d. Again from Figure (a), IE = IC = 4 mA. However, on Figure (c),VBE is 0.7 V.

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 The ideal current-controlled source
Electronic amplifier and switches exploit the properties of controlled source
to achieve their function. Transistor are extensively used in such circuits because they
exhibit controlled- source characteristics. An ideal current-controlled current source
depicted in figure shown, is a circuit element consisting of three terminals, one of
which is common to both input and output.

The input terminal pair (1-3) provides the control current ἱ1 and a current source
strength A. ἱ1 acts as the output terminal pair (2-3). Parameter A relates the strength of
the source to the control current and is often referred to as the current gain.

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Transistor Parameters:

- Input Resistance :It is the ratio of change input voltage to the change in input
current.
- Output Resistance : It is the ratio of change output voltage to the
change in output current.

Relation between α , β & γ :

Current Amplification Factor in common Base(β):

Defined as the ratio of change in collector current to the change in base

current is known as current amplification facto in CB configuration.

Mathematically,

Current Amplification Factor in common Emitter(α ):

Defined as the ratio of change in collector current to the change in base

current is known as current amplification factor in CE configuration.

Mathematically,

Current Amplification Factor in common Collector (γ):

Defined as the ratio of change in emitter current to the change in base

current is known as current amplification factor in CC configuration.

Mathematically,

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Relation between α , β & γ :

Transistor DC Models :-

The model for the forward-active region is displayed in figure below

and is based on equation

Because reverse saturation currents are generally negligibly small, their effect is
usually omitted. The battery in the base-emitter circuit is VBE and is usually 0.7
V. the controlled current source ( β IB ) related IC and IB in the active region.

The resistance Ro is sufficiently larger than the external resistance.

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In saturation, the equivalent circuit in figure below is useful for
determining values of the terminal voltage VBE(sat) and VCE(sat).

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DC LOAD LINE & BIAS POINT:

DC Load Line:

For drawing the dc load line of a transistor, one need to know only its cut-
off and saturation points.

DC load line of a transistor is a straight line joining cut-off & saturation points.
The load line is drawn in Figure below. A is the cut-off point and B is the
saturation point. The voltage equation of the collector-emitter is:

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The dc load line can be drawn if only VCC and RL are known. Slope of the load line:
AB = -1/RL

Active Region:

All operating points (like C, D, E etc., in Figure above) lying between cut-off and saturation
points form the active region of the transistor. In this region, E-B junction is forward-biased and
C-B junction is reverse biased- which are the conditions necessary for the proper operation of a
transistor.

The BJT as an Amplifier :-

The circuit in figure below is an elementary CE amplifier transistor with VCC =10 volt and
RL =500Ω.

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 The output characteristics and load line are shown in figure below.

- RB=232.5 kΩ is selected to bias the device in the forward-active region at Q,

corresponding to IB=40 µA, ICQ=8 mA, and VCEQ=6 volt.

- The capacitor CB (called a blocking capacitor) is used to isolate the dc bias from the signal
source vS=VS sinωt and its source resistance RS. this capacitor acts as an open-circuit under
quiescent conditions (no input signal) because the reactance of a capacitor is infinite at zero
frequency (dc).
- The amplitude VS is chosen to provide a signal component of base current i b=Ibm sinωt, where
Ibm =20 µA. The total instantaneous base current iB is the superposition of the dc bias level and
the signal current. Hence.

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Example :-
Determine the region of operation and the values of IB, IC, and VCE for the circuit shown in figure
below for
(a) RB=300 kΩ, and (b) RB=150 kΩ. The transistor used has βF=100. Neglect the reverse
saturation currents.
VCC=10 volt

RB RC=2 kΩ

Solution:-

Observation of the circuit makes it evident that, with the base referred to a positive potential and
the emitter at ground, VBE>0, thus we can safety state that the emitter-base junction is forward-
biased. Consequently, the BJT is either in its forward-active mode or saturated. We assume
forward active mode and the equivalent circuit is

To verify our assumption, the values of VCE is computed; if VCE>0.3 volt, our assumption is
correct.
A value of VCE<0.3 volt indicates an incorrect guess, the BJT is in saturation.

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(a) The KVL expression for the emitter-base loop is:

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