FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS

• Field effect Transistor is a semiconductor device which depends on electric field for its
operation on the control of current.
• The Field Effect Transistor is a three terminal unipolar semiconductor device.
• “Unipolar” device that depends only on the conduction of electrons (N-channel) or holes
(P-channel) that is conduction depends on the majority carriers.
 FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR
Field Effect Transistor

JFET MOSFET

N channel P channel Depletion Enhancement

P
N channel
PP channel N channel P channel
 CONSTRUCTION OF FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR

• A JFET consists of a p-type or n-type silicon bar containing

two pn junctions at the sides as shown in the figure .The bar
forms the conducting channel for the charge carriers.
• If the bar is of p-type, it is called p-channel JFET as shown in
figures and if the bar is of n-type, it is called n-channel JFET
as shown in figure.
• The two pn junctions forming diodes are connected internally
and a common terminal called gate is taken out.
• Other terminals are source and drain taken out from the bar
as shown in figure
• Thus a JFET has three terminals such as , gate (G), source (S)
and drain (D)
 CONSTRUCTION OF FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR

Source : The source is the terminal through which majority carriers enter the
Silicon Bar
Drain : Terminal through which Majority carriers leave the bar
Gate: controls Drain current and is always reverse biased
JFET POLARITIES

In each case, the voltage between the gate and source

is such that the gate is reverse biased.
The source and the drain terminals are
interchangeable.
The following points may be noted:
1.The input circuit ( i.e. gate to source) of a JFET is
reverse biased. This means that the device has high
input impedance.
2.The drain is so biased w.r.t. source that drain
current ID flows from the source to drain.
3.In all JFETs, source current IS is equal to the drain
current i.e IS = ID.
WORKING OF JFET

Case-i:
When a voltage VDS is applied between drain and source
terminals and voltage on the gate is zero as shown in figure the
two pn junctions at the sides of the bar establish depletion
layers.
The electrons will flow from source to drain through a channel
between the depletion layers.
The size of the depletion layers determines the width of the
channel and hence current conduction through the bar.
PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION OF JFET

• Analogy : The operation of FET can be

compared to the water flow through a
flexible pipe
• When One end is pressed the cross
sectional area decreases hence water
flow decreases
• In a FET drain is similar to outlet
• Gate is similar to control
WORKING OF JFET

When a reverse voltage VGS is applied between gate and source

terminals, as shown in fig.3(ii),  the width of depletion layer is
increased.
This reduces the width of conducting channel, thereby
increasing the resistance of n-type bar.
Consequently, the current from source to drain is decreased.
On the other hand, when the reverse bias on the gate is
decreased, the width of the depletion layer also decreases.
This increases the width of the conducting channel and hence
source to drain current.
A p-channel JFET operates in the same manner as an n-channel
JFET except that channel current carriers will be the holes
instead of electrons and polarities of VGS and VDS are reversed.
CHARACTERISTICS OF JUNCTION FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTORS
DRAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF JFET
 TERMINOLOGIES INVOLVED IN JFET DRAIN CHARACTERISTICS

1.Knee Point: There exists a point in the characteristics curve where the variation of drain current with drain-
source voltage appears to be linear. But after this point, the linearity changes into a curve.
2.Channel Ohmic Region: The region to the left of the knee point in the characteristics curve is the channel
ohmic region.
3.Pinch-off point: The point in the curve above which the drain current does not increases further no matter
how much we are increasing the drain to source voltage, this point is termed as the pinch-off point.
4.Pinch-off Voltage: The voltage at the pinch-off point is termed as pinch-off voltage because at this voltage the
current is completely turned to be constant.
5.Drain-Source Saturation Current: The drain to source saturation current is the current which becomes
constant or completely enters a saturation state.
The region after the pinch-off point in the curve is termed as saturation region. When the JFET is allowed to
work as an amplification device, the JFET utilizes this region for operation.
DRAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF JFET
 TRANSFER OR TRANSCONDUCTANCE
CHARACTERISTICS OF JFET
The transfer characteristic for a JFET can be determined
experimentally, keeping drain-source voltage, VDS constant and
determining drain current, ID for various values of gate-source
voltage, VGS.
The curve is plotted between gate-source voltage, V GS and drain
current, ID. It is similar to the transconductance characteristic of
a vacuum tube or a transistor. It is observed that
(i) Drain current decreases with the increase in negative gate-
source bias
(ii) Drain current, ID = IDSS when VGS = 0
(iii) Drain current, ID = 0 when VGS = VD
JFET are (i) a.c. drain resistance (ii) transconductance (iii)
amplification factor. (iii) Amplification factor ( μ ). It is the ratio of
(i) a.c. drain resistance (rd). Corresponding to the a.c. plate change in drain-source voltage (ΔVDS) to the
resistance, we have a.c. drain resistance in a JFET. It may be change in gate-source voltage (ΔVGS) at
defined as follows : constant drain current i.e.
It is the ratio of change in drain-source voltage (ΔVDS) to the
change in drain current (ΔID) at constant gate-source voltage
i.e.

ii) Transconductance ( g f s ). The control that the gate voltage

has over the drain current is measured by transconductance gf s It
is the ratio of change in drain current (ID) to the change in
gate-source voltage ( VGS) at constant drain-source voltage
COMPARISON OF N AND P CHANNEL JFET

  N-channel P-channel

Current carriers Electrons Holes

Mobility of electrons Large Poor

Input noise Less More than that of P channel

JFET

Trans conductance Large lesser

COMPARISON OF FET AND BJT

FET
It is a uni polar device that is current is carried either
by electrons or holes
It is a voltage controlled device that is voltage at the
gate terminal controls the amount of current flowing
through the device
BJT
It is a bipolar device that is current is carried by both the
electrons and holes
It is a current controlled device that is base current
controls the amount of collector current

It is less noisy than BJT It is comparatively more noisy than a field effect
transistor.
It has a negative temperature co efficient It has a positive temperature co efficient

Its input resistance is very high of the order of several Its input resistance is of the order of few kilo ohms
mega ohms
It is much simple to fabricate as integrated circuit and It is comparatively difficult to fabricate as an integrate
occupies less space on IC chip than that of BJT circuit and occupies more space on IC chip than that of
FET
APPLICATIONS OF JFET

The high input impedance, low output impedance and low noise level make
FET for superior of the bipolar transistor.
Applications
As a buffer amplifier which isolates the preceding stage from the following
stage.
Phase shift oscillators: The high input impedance of FET is especially
valuable in phase shift oscillator to minimize the loading effect.
In voltmeters: The high input impedance of FET is useful in voltmeters to act
as an input stage.
 DRAWBACK OF JFET

The main drawback of JFET is that its gate must be reverse biased for proper
operation of the device i.e. it can only have negative gate operation for n-channel and
positive gate operation for p-channel.

This means that we can only decrease the width of the channel

This type of operation is referred to as **depletion-mode operation.

Therefore, a JFET can only be operated in the depletion-mode.

 MOSFET( METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD
EFFECT TRANSISTOR )

FET that can be operated to enhance (or increase) the width of the channel (with consequent
increase in conductivity of the channel) i.e. it can have enhancement-mode operation. Such a FET is
called MOSFET.
A field effect transistor (FET) that can be operated in the enhancement-mode is called a MOSFET.
There are two basic types of MOSFETs
1. Depletion-type MOSFET or D-MOSFET. The D-MOSFET can be operated in both the depletion-
mode and the enhancement-mode. For this reason, a D-MOSFET is sometimes called
depletion/enhancement MOSFET.
2. Enhancement-type MOSFET or E-MOSFET. The E-MOSFET can be operated only in enhancement-
mode.
 DEPLETION MOSFET

• The n-channel D-MOSFET is a piece of n-type material with a p-type

region (called substrate)on the right and an insulated gate on the left
• The free electrons flowing from source to drain must pass through the
narrow channel between the gate and the p-type region (i.e. substrate).
• A thin layer of metal oxide (usuallysilicon dioxide, SiO2) is deposited
over a small portion of the channel. A metallic gate is deposited
• over the oxide layer. As SiO2 is an insulator, Therefore, gate is
insulated from the channel. the arrangement forms a capacitor. One
plate of this capacitor is the gate and the other plate is the channel
with SiO2 as the dielectric.
SYMBOL OF DEPLETION MOSFET
 WORKING OF DEPLETION MOSFET IN TWO
MODES

When gate voltage is changed, the electric field of the capacitor changes which in
turn changes the resistance of the n-channel.
Since the gate is insulated from the channel, we can apply either negative
or positive voltage to the gate.
The negative-gate operation is called depletion mode whereas positive-
gate operation is known as enhancement mode.
Since gate is negative, it means electrons are on the
gate as shown in the figure
These electrons repel the free electrons in the n-
channel, leaving a layer of positive ions in a part of
the channel .

In other words, we have depleted (i.e. emptied) the n-

channel of some of its free electrons. Therefore, lesser
number of free electrons are made available for
current conduction through the n-channel.

The greater the negative voltage on the gate, the lesser

is the current from source to drain. Thus by changing
the negative voltage on the gate, we can vary the
resistance of the n-channel and hence the current from
source to drain.
Enhancement mode.
 The gate acts like a capacitor. Since the gate
is positive, it induces negative charges
in the n-channel as shown in Fig .
 These negative charges are the free electrons
drawn into the channel. Because these free
electrons are added to those already in the
channel, the total number of free electrons in
the channel is increased. Thus a positive
gate voltage enhances or increases the
conductivity of the channel.
 The greater the positive voltage on the gate,
greater the conduction from source to drain.
Thus by changing the positive voltage on
the gate, we can change the conductivity
of the channel.
Depletion MOSFET transfer Transfer characteristics of JFET
characteristics
E-MOSFET. The constructional details of
n-channel E-MOSFET.
Its gate construction is similar to that of D-
MOSFET.

The E-MOSFET has no channel between

source and drain unlike the D-MOSFET.

The substrate extends completely to the

SiO2 layer so that no channel exists.
The E-MOSFET requires a proper gate
voltage to form a channel called induced
channel.

It is reminded that E-MOSFET can be

operated only in enhancement mode
SYMBOL FOR ENHANCEMENT MOSFET
E-MOSFET operates only in the enhancement mode and
has no depletion mode.
Secondly, the E-MOSFET has no physical channel from
source to drain because the substrate extends completely
to the SiO2 layer
It is only by the application of VGS (gate-to-source voltage)
of proper magnitude and polarity that the device starts
conducting. The minimum value of VGS of proper polarity
that turns on the E-MOSFET is called Threshold voltage
[VGS (th)].
Operation. (i) When VGS = 0V there is no channel
connecting the source and drain. The
p substrate has only a few thermally produced free
electrons (minority carriers) so that drain current
is essentially zero.
For this reason, E-MOSFET is normally OFF when VGS =
0V
The minimum value of VGS that turns the E-MOSFET ON is
called threshold voltage [VGS (th)].
(iii) When VGS is less than VGS (th), there is no
induced channel and the drain current ID is zero.
When VGS is equal to VGS (th), the E-MOSFET is
turned ON and the induced channel conducts drain
current from the source to the drain. Beyond VGS
(th), if the value of VGS is increased, the newly
formed channel becomes wider, causing ID to
increase.
If the value of VGS decreases [not less than VGS
(th)], the channel becomes narrower and ID will
decrease.
PARAMETER DEPLETION TYPE ENHANCEMENT TYPE
Channel Exists permanently Channel is physically absent. It
is induced after the application
of positive gate voltage above
threshold value for n channel
enhancement type MOSFET
and negative voltage above
threshold value for p channel
enhancement type MOSFET
Operation Can be operated in depletion Can only be operated in
mode as well as in enhance mode
enhancement mode
Current flow Drain current flows on Practically no drain current
application of drain to source flows on application of drain to
voltage at VGS=0 source at VGS=0 current flows
only when VGS is above
threshold level
Advantages of N-channel MOSFETS over P channel MOSFETS ?
*For the same value of current and on resistance N channel requires less area
than that of P- channel therefore. N- channel MOSFETS are Smaller in size
than that of P channel .
*Switching speed is higher in N channel MOSFET than P channel MOSFET
Handling precautions of MOSFETs
To protect MOSFET from damaging it is kept with its terminal shorted by a ring
.This ring is removed at the time of soldering MOSFET in a circuit.
MOSFETS are protected by keeping them in a conducting foam.
MOSFET’S should never be inserted or removed from the circuits with the power
on.
MOSFETS have a built in gate protection known as integral gate protection.