Chapter 1

EN564 Analogue Electronics

EUE3233 Analogueand Instrumentation
Electronics
The term “bipolar” was tagged onto the name to
distinguish the fact that both carrier types play
important roles in the operation
In communication systems → used as the primary
component in the amplifier, to increase the strength
of an ac signal
In digital computer systems → used as a high-speech
electronic switch, capable of switching between two
operating states at a rate of several billions of times
per second
BJT is bipolar because both holes (+) and electrons (-)
will take part in the current flow through the device
ↄ N-type regions contains free electrons (negative carriers)
ↄ P-type regions contains free holes (positive carriers)
2 types of BJT
ↄ NPN transistor
ↄ PNP transistor
npn pnp

E n p n C E p n p C

B B
The transistor regions are:
ↄ Emitter (E) – send the carriers into the base region and
then on to the collector
ↄ Base (B) – acts as control region. It can allow
none,some or many carriers to flow
ↄ Collector (C) – collects the carriers
 The transistor has two junction:
 between the emitter and base
 between the collector and base
 BJT is a 3 terminal device consisting of two P-N
Junction diodes placed back-to-back
 There is a P region between the two N regions for
NPN type transistor.
 PNP transistor is
complement of the NPN
transistor
 A PNP transistor has an N
region between two P region
Emitter (E)
ↄ heavily doped
ↄ emit/inject electrons into base
B (B)
ase very thin and lightly doped
ↄ Most of the electrons pass through the base to
collector
ↄ from emitter
Collector (C)
ↄ Moderately doped
ↄ It collects the electrons from base
Mode BE junction BC junction

cutoff reverse biased reverse biased

linear(active) forward biased reverse biased

saturation forward biased forward biased

 At 25°C , the barrier potential is approximately
ↄ 0.7V for a silicon transistor
ↄ 0.3V for a germanium transistor
 Silicon devices are more widely used than
germanium devices because it is less sensitive to
temperature compared to germanium.
 The arrow on the schematic symbol is important for 3
reasons:
• Identifies the component terminals – always drawn
on the emitter terminal
• Always points toward the
n-type material
• Indicates the direction of
the emitter current –
electron flow is against the
arrow
 NPN and PNP transistor are similar in terms of their
ability to amplify voltage, current, or power
 Each type requires different polarities of operating
voltage
 NPN transistor → collector-emitter voltage (VCE)
must be positive
 PNP transistor → collector-emitter voltage (VCE)
must be negative
 The 3 primary currents which flow in a properly-
biased transistor are IE, IB, and IC
 Conventional current flow is in the direction of the
motion of holes (opposite direction to electron flow)
 Around 98~99% of the electrons leaving the emitter
will cross the base-collector junction
Only 1~2% of the electrons
will recombine with holes in
the narrow base region
 Transistor is a current-controlled device
 A transistor current is calculated:
IE = I B + I C
Where IB = Base current (μA)
IC = Collector current (mA)
IE = Emitter current (mA)
 About 1 ~ 2% of emitter
current goes to supply
base current
 The basic guideposts about all transistor circuits are:
 EB junction is forward bias
 CB junction is reverse bias
 Conventional current flows along the arrow where as
electrons flow against it

IE = IB + IC
 Under normal circumstances, I E has the greatest value
followed by IC
 IB normally has a much lower value
 The values of the collector & emitter currents are
determined primarily by the base current
 3 types of circuit connections for operating a transistor.
 common-base (CB)
 common-emitter (CE)
 common-collector (CC)

 Frequently referred as
 grounded-base
 grounded-emitter Mostly Used:
 grounded- CE Connection
collector
 IE (input current)→applied between the
emitter and base
 IC (output current) → taken out from the
collector and base
 Dc alpha → the ratio of the IC to the IE

 Typically range from 0.95 – 0.99 or greater

 Always less than 1 → IC is always slightly less
than IE by the amount of IB
 IB (input current)→applied between the base and
emitter
 IC (output current) → taken out from the collector and
emitter
 DC beta → ratio of the IC to IB

 Typical range from 20 to 200 or higher

 Usually designated as an equivalent hybrid (h)
parameter, hFE (Forward Current Gain)
Determine the value of IC and IE for the BJT circuit where
IB = 125μA, β = 200
Determine the value of IB and IE for the BJT circuit where
the IC = 50mA and β = 400
If dc beta is known,
the dc alpha:

If dc alpha is known,
the dc beta:
Determine the value of alpha for the transistor circuit where
IB = 248μA, IE = 30mA and β = 120.
Then determine the value of IC using both the alpha and the
beta rating of the transistor.
 There are of three types
 Common base (CB) OR grounded base
 Common emitter (CE) OR grounded emitter
 Common collector (CC) OR grounded collector
 Common is the term used to denote the electrode that is
common to the input and output circuits and it is generally
grounded
 Common-Base Biasing (CB) : input = VBE & IE
output = VCB & IC

 Common-Emitter Biasing (CE): input = VBE & IB

output = VCE & IC

 Common-Collector Biasing (CC): input = VBC & IB

output = VEC & IE
 RE

Apply KVL on each closed-loop:

Loop 1: 𝑽 𝒊𝒏 =𝑽 𝑩𝑬 + 𝑰 𝑬 𝑹 𝑬
 

Loop 2: 𝑽 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚 =𝑰 𝑪 𝑹 𝑪 + 𝑽 𝑪𝑩
 
 Set Vin = 3 V

RE 3 = 0.7 + 𝐼𝐸 (100)

3 − 0.7
𝐼𝐸 = = 23 mA
100
 From previous slide, we have
IE = 23 mA
Hence,
 = =  𝛽 𝐼 𝐸 = 22.55mA
𝛽 +1

24 = 22.55𝑚 800 + 𝑉  𝐶𝐵
  = 24 − 18.04 = 5.96 V
For the circuit shown in Figure E1, calculate VR1 and VCB.
Given that Vin = 2 V, and β = 80.

1 kΩ

VR1 = 1.3 V
Figure E1
VCB = 8.58 V
Apply KVL on each closed-loop:

Loop 1: 𝑽 𝑩𝑩=𝑰 𝑩 𝑹 𝑺 +𝑽 𝑩𝑬
 

Loop 2:  𝑽 𝑪𝑪 = 𝑰 𝑪 𝑹 𝑪 +𝑽 𝑪𝑬
Given that Vsupply = 10 V and Vin is set at 1.5 V.
Determine the collector current, IC and the voltage drop
across collector-emitter, VCE if β = 100.
Determine IB, IC, IE, VBE, VCE and VCB in the circuit. The
transistor has a βDC = 150
The
  Si transistor in the figure has a of 100. Determine the
collector current, the base current and the resistance R B if
Vc is 60% of Vcc.
The
  Si transistor in the figure has a of 100.
(a) Calculate IB, IC, VC. State any assumption made.
(b) Find the new RB if Vc = 1/2 Vcc, where it is still using the
same RC.
IB

VBE=0.7
VBE
  
𝑞𝑉
𝐼 𝐸=𝐼 𝑆
( ( ) )
exp
𝑘𝑇
−1

IS= saturation current

IE is proportional to exp(qVBE/kT)
This suggests IE is set by VBE but only up until the BJT
is in saturation or the “full-on” state and VBE
becomes fixed at about 0.7V
A set of curves could be
generated to show the
relationship between IC and
VCE for various values of IB
The curve is known as
collector characteristic
curves
 IC
IC
IB>0

IB=0 VCE

VCESAT
 Modes of Operation

Active: • Most important mode of operation

• Central to amplifier operation
• The region where current curves are practically flat

Saturation: • Barrier potential of the junctions cancel each other

out causing a virtual short

Cutoff: • Current reduced to zero

• Ideal transistor behaves like an open switch
If Vcc = 0, the IC and VCE= 0
As VCC ↑IC and VCE ↑
When VCE >= 0.2V the
base-collector junction
becomes reverse-
biased and IC reaches its
full values
 The DC load line is a graph that represents all the possible
combinations of IC and VCE for a given amplifier.
 The dc load line represents all the IC and VCE combinations
for the particular circuit.
 The dc load line drawn on a
family of curves connecting the
cutoff point and the saturation
point
 The bottom of the load
line is at ideal cutoff
IC = 0 & VCE = VCC
 The top of the load line is
at saturation
IC = IC(sat) & VCE = VCE(sat)
 Active region → between
cuoff and saturation along
the load line
 Amplification of a relatively small ac voltage can be had by
placing the ac signal source in the base circuit.
 Recall that small changes in the base current circuit causes
large changes in collector current circuit.
 The small ac voltage causes the base current to increase
and decrease accordingly and with this small change in
current the collector current will mimic the input only
with greater amplitude.
 Transistor Switch
A transistor when used as a switch is simply being biased so
that it is in cutoff (switched off) or saturation (switched on).
Remember that the VCE in cutoff is VCC and 0 V in saturation.