INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING

UNIT II -TRANSISTORS
 a) PNP CONSTRUCTION:
 In PNP BJT, the N-type material is sandwiched between two P-type material.
 PNP transistors can be formed by connecting cathodes of 2 diodes.
 The cathode of two diodes is connected at a common point is known as base while the
anodes of the diodes on the opposite sides are known as collector and emitter.
 The emitter-base junction is forward biased while collector-base junction is reverse
biased. Hence in PNP current flows from emitter to collector.
 So, in PNP type, current flows from emitter to collector.

b) NPN CONSTRUCTION
 In NPN BJT, the P-type material is sandwiched between two N-type material.
 PNP transistors can be formed by connecting anodes of 2 diodes.
 The anode of two diodes is connected at a common point is known as base while the
cathodes of the diodes on the opposite sides are known as collector and emitter.
 The emitter-base junction is forward biased while collector-base junction is reverse
biased. Hence in PNP current flows from collector to emitter.
 So, in NPN type, current flows from collector to emitter.
 • In either NPN or PNP, the emitter I heavily dopped, base is lightly dopped and the collector
is moderately doped.

TRANSISTOR OPERATION
Working of PNP transistor:

Fig. Forward and reverse biased junction of a PNP transistor

• Emitter-base p-n junction of a transistor is forward biased, while the Collector-base is reverse
biased.

When FB:

• The depletion region has been reduced in width due to the applied bias, resulting in a heavy
flow of majority carriers from the p- to the n-type material.

When RB:

• The flow of majority carriers is zero, resulting in only a minority- carrier flow.

• The sandwiched n-type material is very thin and has a low conductivity, a very small number
of these carriers will take this path of high resistance to the base terminal.

• The magnitude of the base current is typically in the order of microamperes as compared to
milliamperes for the emitter and collector currents.

• The larger number of these majority carriers will diffuse across the reverse- biased junction
into the p-type material connected to the collector terminal.

• Minority carriers in the depletion region will cross the reverse-biased junction of a diode
causing minority current flow.
 Applying Kirchhoff’s current law to the transistor

•
• The emitter current is the sum of the collector and base currents.

• Collector current is comprised of two components—the majority and minority carriers.

COMMON BASE CONFIGURATION

PNP transistor NPN transistor

• In this configuration, input is applied between emitter and base & output is taken from the collector
and base.
• Here, the base is common to both input and output circuits hence the name is common base
configuration.

To understand complete electrical behaviour of a transistor it is necessary to study the interrelation

of the various currents and voltages. These relationships can be plotted graphically which are
 commonly known as the characteristics of transistor. The most important characteristics of transistor
are,
❖ input characteristics
❖ output characteristics
a) Input characteristics for a common base transistor amplifier:
The curve describes the changes in the values of input current with respect to the values of input
voltage, keeping the output voltage constant.

Curve is plotted between an input voltage VBE and input current IE at constant collector-base voltage VCB.

The IE is taken along Y-axis and VBE is taken along X-axis.

Input or driving point characteristics:

1.After the cut-in-voltage (0.7 for Si.0.3 for Ge), the IE increases rapidly with small increase in VBE. Thus,
the input resistance is very small.

2.There is slight increase in IE with increase in VCB. This is due to change in the width of the depletion
region in the base region under reverse biased condition.

3. For fixed values of collector voltage (VCB), as the base-to-emitter voltage increases, the emitter current
increases in a manner that closely resembles the diode characteristics.

4. Voltages VBE and VCB are positive for NPN transistors & they are negative for PNP transistors.

b) Output characteristics for a common base transistor amplifier:

The curve is obtained by plotting the output current against the output voltage, keeping input current
constant.
Output curve is plotted between Collector current IC and Collector-base voltage VCB at constant emitter
current IE.
The output characteristics has 3 basic regions,

➢ Active region
➢ Saturation region
➢ Cutoff region

i)Active region:

• In the active region the collector-base junction is reverse-biased, while the base-emitter
junction is forward-biased.

• In this region, Collector current IC is approximately equal to the emitter current IE and transistor
works as an amplifier.

•
• In active region, IE is almost constant. Hence transistors work as a constant current source.

ii) Saturation region

• In the saturation region both the collector-base and base-emitter junctions are forward-biased.

• Here, IE is increasing. IC is independent of IE.

iii) Cutoff region

• In the cutoff region both the collector-base and base-emitter junctions are reverse-biased.

• The region below the curve IE=0 is known as the cut-off region where the IC is nearly zero.

Alpha (α): Common Base Current Gain

In the dc mode the levels of IC and IE due to the majority carriers are related by a quantity called
alpha.
The level of alpha typically extends from 0.90 to 0.998

ICBO (Collector to base current when emitter open)

COMMON EMITTER CONFIGURATION

(a) npn transistor (b) pnp transistor

In this configuration, input is applied between base and emitter and output is taken from collector and
emitter. Here, emitter is common to both input and output circuits hence the name is common-emitter
configuration.

a) Input Characteristics for CE configuration:

• The input characteristics are a plot of the input current IB verses the input voltage VBE for a
constant output voltage VCE.
 Input or driving point characteristics:

1.After the cut-in-voltage (0.7 for Si.0.3 for Ge), the IB increases rapidly with small increase in VBE.
Thus, the input resistance is very small.

2.There is slight decrease in IB with increase in VCB.

3. Voltages VBE and VCE are positive for NPN transistors & they are negative for PNP transistors.

b) Output characteristics of CE configuration:

The output characteristics are a plot of the output current (IC) versus output voltage (VCE) for
a constant values of input current (IB).

The output characteristics has 3 basic regions,

➢ Active region
➢ Saturation region
➢ Cutoff region

i)Active region:

• In the active region the collector-base junction is reverse-biased, while the base-emitter
junction is forward-biased.

• The collector current IC rises more sharply with increasing VCE in the active(linear) region.

ii) Saturation region

• In the saturation region both the collector-base and base-emitter junctions are forward-biased.

• Here, VCE(Sat) usually ranges between 0.1V to 0.3V.

iii) Cutoff region

• In the cutoff region both the collector-base and base-emitter junctions are reverse-biased.

• The region below the curve IB=0 is known as the cut-off region where the IB is nearly zero.
Beta (β): Common Emitter Current Gain
• In the dc mode the levels of IC and IB are related by a quantity called beta.

• The level 𝛽 of typically ranges from about 50 to over 400.

• It is usually included as hFE with the h derived from an ac hybrid equivalent circuit [large
signal (dc) forward current gain].

Relation between Alpha (α) and Beta (β)

Problem solving
Q1) If α for a transistor is 0.99, the base current is 100uA, estimate the collector current.
Q2) If a transistor collector current is 1mA and base current is 10uA, determine its α and β.

Q3) A transistor amplifier connected in CE mode has β =100 & IB=50uA. Compute the values of IC, IE & α.

Q4) In a common base connection, the current amplification factor is 0.9. If the emitter current is 1mA,
determine the value of base current.

Q5)In a common base connection, IC = 0.95 mA and IB = 0.05 mA. Find the value of α.
TRANSISTOR AS SWITCH
 A transistor can be used as a solid-state switch.
 If the transistor is operated in saturation region it acts as closed switch and if the
transistor is operated in cut-off region it is acting as open switch.

a) Cut-off mode (Open switch):

In the cut-off region, the operating conditions of transistor are

b) Saturation mode(closed switch):

In the saturation region, the operating conditions of transistor are,

TRANSISTOR AMPLIFICATION ACTION

 A transistor acts as an amplifier by raising the strength of a weak signal.
  The DC bias voltage applied to the emitter-base junction, makes it remain in forward
biased condition.
 This forward bias is maintained regardless of the polarity of the signal.
 The low resistance in input circuit, lets any small change in input signal to result in an
appreciable change in the output.
 The emitter current caused by the input signal contributes to the collector current,
which when flows through the load resistor R L, results in a large voltage drop across
it.
 Thus, a small input voltage results in a large output voltage, which shows that the
transistor works as an amplifier.
Example
Let there be a change of 0.1v in the input voltage being applied, which further produces
a change of 1mA in the emitter current. This emitter current will obviously produce a
change in collector current, which would also be 1mA.

A load resistance of 5kΩ placed in the collector would produce a voltage of

5 kΩ × 1 mA = 5V
Hence it is observed that a change of 0.1v in the input gives a change of 5v in the output,
which means the voltage level of the signal is amplified.

TRANSISTOR BIASING
Biasing:
The dc voltages are applied to the transistor in order to turn it on so that it can amplify the
ac signal.

Application: Amplification (raise the strength or amplitude of the weak signal without
any change in its original shape)
For proper amplification two necessary criteria are
i) The transistor must operate in the active region
• Emitter Base junction is Forward Biased (forward-bias voltage of about 0.6 to 0.7 V)
and Collector Base junction is Reverse Biased.
• Amplification is a linear process, and the transistor operates linearly only in the active
region.
ii) Should have a fixed dc collector current at a fixed dc collector voltage
• Fixed values of dc collector current and dc collector voltage is expressed by a term
called operating point or quiescent point or Q-point. The operating point defines
where the transistor will operate on its characteristic’s curves under dc conditions.
• For linear (minimum distortion) amplification, the dc operating point should not be
too close to the maximum power, voltage, or current rating and should avoid the
regions of saturation and cut-off.
Various operating points within the limits of operation of a transistor

Types of biasing circuits

1) Fixed bias circuit

2) Emitter bias circuit

3) Collector to base bias circuit

4) Voltage divider bias circuit

 1) FIXED BIAS CONFIGURATION:

For dc analysis, the capacitor is open circuit (As f= 0, XC = ∞)

DC analysis:
a) Input circuit (Base-Emitter Loop):

Also, IC is given by
b) Output circuit (Collector-Emitter Loop):

• Since the base current is controlled by the level of RB and IC is related

to IB by a constant, the magnitude of IC is not a function of the
resistance RC.
• Change in RC will not affect the level of IB or IC as long as we remain
in the active region of the device.
 2) EMITTER BIAS CONFIGURATION:

In the emitter bias circuit, the fixed bias circuit is modified to include a small resistance RE in
the emitter.
DC analysis:
a) Input circuit (Base-Emitter Loop):

b) Output circuit (Collector-Emitter Loop):

Substituting IE ≅ IC and grouping terms

VCE=VCC-IC(RC+RE)

• The addition of the emitter resistor to the dc bias of the BJT provides improved
stability.
• The dc bias currents and voltages remain closer to where they were set by the circuit when
outside conditions, such as temperature, and transistor 𝛽, change.
 3) VOLTAGE DIVIDER BIAS CONFIGURATION:

In this circuit, biasing is provided by 3 resistors R1, R2 & RE. R1 and R2 are acting as a
potential divider giving a fixed voltage to point B which is base. This circuit provides improved
stability against variation in the temperature and transistor gain.
i)Exact Analysis:
• This method uses Thevenin’s equivalent theorem.
The input section of the circuit can be redrawn Thevenin’s equivalent circuit of input
section as below. can be redrawn as below,

a) Input circuit (Base-Emitter Loop):

Apply KVL to the base-emitter loop,
VTH-IBRB-VBE-IERE=0-------------------equ 1
Sub IE=(1+β)IB in equ 1
→VTH-VBE=IB[RTH+(1+β)RE]
 IB=

IC= βIB
b) Output circuit (Collector-Emitter Loop):
Applying KVL to collector-emitter loop
VCC-ICRC-VCE-IERE=0

Substituting IE ≅ IC and grouping terms

VCE=VCC-IC(RC+RE)

ii) Approximate Analysis:

Problem solving
MOSFET
 Metal Oxide Silicon Field Effect Transistors commonly known as MOSFETs are
electronic devices used to switch or amplify voltages in circuits. It is a voltage-
controlled device and is constructed by three terminals. The terminals of MOSFET are
named as follows:
➢ Source
➢ Gate
➢ Drain
➢ Body
 The body (B) is frequently connected to the source terminal, reducing the terminals
to three.
It is used for switching or amplifying signals. The ability to change conductivity with the
amount of applied voltage can be used for amplifying or switching electronic signals.
CONSTRUCTION OF N-CHANNEL DEPLETION MOSFET

An N-channel DE-MOSFE is consists of a lightly doped P-type substrate into which two
blocks of heavily doped N-type material are diffused forming the source and drain.
An N-channel is formed by diffusion between the source and drain.
The type of impurity for the channel is the same as for the source and drain.
Now a thin layer of SiO2 dielectric is grown over the entire surface and holes are cut
through the SiO2 (silicon dioxide) layer to make contact with the N-type blocks (Source and
Drain).
Metal is deposited through the holes to provide drain and source terminals, and on
the surface area between drain and source, a metal plate is deposited.
This layer constitutes the gate. SiO2 layer results in an extremely high input impedance
of the order of 1010 to 1015 Ω for this device.
The chip area of a MOSFET is typically 0.003 μm2 or less which is about only 5% of the
area required by a BJT.
BASIC OPERATION AND CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics

• The graph shows that the current ID will flow for both positive and negative values
of VGS.
• We can see from the graph that the drain current is less than the saturation current
for the negative value of gate voltage, whereas for the positive value of gate voltage,
the drain current exceeds the saturation current.
• VGS = VP is also represented in this graph for which drain current is zero irrespective
of drain to source voltage.