Electronic One

Lecture 6

Dr. Mohamed Shrud

Things to be covered

Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT)

“transferring current across a resistor”

 Introduction

 Let's begin. The transistor is undoubtedly the most important

modern electronic component because it has enabled great and
profound changes in electronics and in our daily lives since its
discovery in 1948.

 The transistor is our most important example of an “ Active

Component ”, a device that can amplify, producing an output signal
with more power in it than the input signal. The additional power
comes from an external source of power (the power supply, to be
exact). Note that voltage amplification isn't what matters, since, for
example, a step-up transformer, a “ Passive Component ” , just like a
resistor or capacitor, has voltage gain but no power gain. Devices with
power gain are distinguishable by their ability to make oscillators, by
feeding some output signal back into the input.ٌ Ref [ The Art of
Electronics - Horowitz & Hill ]
 Introduction

 Most transistors used in electronic circuits are Bipolar Junction

Transistors (BJT), commonly referred to as Bipolar Transistors,
Junction Field Effect Transistors (JFET), or Metal Oxide Silicon Field
Effect Transistors (MOSFET).

 You’ll see that the Bipolar Junction Transistors ( BJT ) is a 3-

terminal devices called, base, collector and emitter (often shortened to
B , C and E). Available in two type – NPN and PNP.
When you use transistors in electronic circuits it is essential that these
three terminals go the right way round.

 Notice, particularly, that the transistor is not a pump is a current-

flow control valve : it does not force current to flow, it permits it to
flow, to controllable degree, when the remainder of the circuit tries to
force current through the device.
 All shared the Nobel
Prize in 1956 for this
contribution.

Early History

This photograph taken in 1948 is of the three Bell Labs physicist-

engineers, John Bardeen, William Shockley, and Walter Brattain, who
invented the first transistor. Photo courtesy of AT&T Bell Laboratories.
 Transistor Early History

· First transistor was demonstrated by Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain in 1948

· Germanium point-contact transistor
Early history
Bipolar Junction Transistors

Bipolar transistors are three-terminal devices that act as electrically

controlled switches or as amplifier controls. These devices come in
either NPN or PNP configurations.

An NPN bipolar transistor uses a small input current and positive

voltage at its base (relative to its emitter) to control a much larger
collector-to-emitter current. Conversely, a PNP transistor uses a small
output base current and negative base voltage (relative its emitter) to
control a larger emitter-to collector current.

Bipolar transistors are incredibly useful devices. Their ability to control

current flow by means of applied control signals makes them essential
elements in electrically controlled switching circuits, current-regulator
circuits, voltage-regulator circuits, amplifier circuits, oscillator circuits,
and memory circuits.
Bipolar Junction Transistors

NPN Transistor N P P N
formation and
symbol Very thin
P region N P N
• Emitter (E), Base (B) and
Collector (C)
E B C
• These terms were coined by
Emitter Base Collector
John Bardeen
C

Since a transistor is a 3-terminal iC

device, there are three currents, the iB
B
base current, denoted as , iB, the
collector current, denoted as iC , and iE
the emitter current, denoted as iE iB + i C = i E E
 BJT
NPN

An ohmmeter's view of
NPN Transistor a transistor's terminals

Collector
+
(C) IC
C
Collector
VCB (C)

Base
N
P +
IB
Base
VCE ≈B
(B) N (B)
VBE
Emitter E
(E)
IE
Emitter
(E) _
{ for PNP simply reverse all polarities }
 NPN How Bipolar Transistors Work
Transistor OFF NPN

V Depletion Region
C V+

Collector Emitter
≈ 0V B

Electrons
N P N

Base E
0V

When no voltage is applied at the transistor’s base, electrons in the emitter are
prevented from passing to the collector side because of the PN junction.
(Remember that for electrons to flow across a PN junction, a biasing voltage is
needed to give the electrons enough energy to “escape” the atomic forces
holding them to the N side.) Notice that if a negative voltage is applied to the
base, things get even worse—the PN junction between the base and emitter
becomes reverse-biased. As a result, a depletion region forms and prevents
current flow.
 NPN
Transistor ON
Collector(C)
V+ V+
Conventional Current Flow Depletion Region C
IC Vanishes

IC
N P N
≈ V+ B

Electrons
IB E
Conventional Current Flow
Electrons + 0.7V IB
Holes V+
Base (B) Emitter(E)

If a positive voltage (of at least 0.7 V) is applied to the base of an NPN transistor,
the PN junction between the base and emitter is forward biased. During forward
bias, escaping electrons are drawn to the positive base. Some electrons exit
through the base, but—this is the trick— because the P-type base is so thin, the
electrons that leave the emitter get close enough to the collector side that they
begin jumping into the collector. Increasing the base voltage increases this
jumping effect and hence increases the emitter - to collector electron flow.
 T ransistor
Very close
Experiment

 Circuit to test what we have described so far

Multhmeter
NPN
IC
_ Transistor OFF
VBC C
+
9V
IB when base-to- emitter junction
A +B VCE is first connected to zero via the
100 kΩ + 100 kΩ resistor nothing is
VBE
_ E _ measured by the multimeter
IE
and to all intents and purposes
is Reverse Biased
Connection
Point
Base – Emitter
junction
 T ransistor
Very close Transistor ON
Experiment

 when the base resistor is

Multhmeter
connected to positive and the
base emitter junction is forward
IC
biased, the multi-meter shows a
_
VBC C
+ collector current flow.
9V In our experiment a collector
IB
A +B VCE
current (IC) of about 12 mA was
100 kΩ + measured.
VBE
_ E _
IE
So what? What use is this? Not
a lot as it stands, but it becomes
Connection
very important when we
Point
Base – Emitter calculate the currents involved
junction
 T ransistor
Very close
Experiment IC

 We already know the collector current (about 12 mA) but what about
the base-to-emitter current (shortened to base current)?

 We know the transistor’s base-to-emitter voltage. VBE (shortened to

base voltage) (0.7V) and we know the supply voltage (9V).
 From these we can calculate the voltage across the resistor, and from
Ohm’s law we can therefore calculate the current through the resistor

:The resistor voltage is 9V – 0.7V = 8.3V

:Ohm’s law again the current is IB = V / R = 8.3 / 100,000 = 8.3μA

Now we can begin to see the importance of the

transistor. A tiny base current (8.3 μA) can turn Not a lot!
on or off a quite large collector current (12mA)
 T ransistor
Very close
Summary

The beauty of transistors is the way they can control electric current flow in a manner
similar to the way a faucet controls the flow of water. With a faucet, the flow of water is
controlled by a control knob. With a transistor, a small voltage and/or current applied to a
control lead acts to control a larger electric flow through its other two leads.
Simulation of transistor as an amplifier
EXAMPLE
Consider the circuit shown. It uses only one
battery to supply voltage to both the base and
the collector portions of the circuit. The path
of the base current is shown in the diagram. Example

A. Name the components through which

the base current flows.

The battery, the resistor RB, and the transistor

B. Into which terminal of the transistor does the base current flow?
Base
?C. Out of which transistor terminal does the base current flow
Emitter
? D. Through which terminals of the transistor does base current not flow

Collector
E. When base current flows in the circuit, what other current will flow,
and which components will it flow through?

.Collector current will flow through the resistor RC and the transistor

A. List the components through which

the collector current flows.

The resistor RC, the transistor,

and the battery.

B. What causes the collector current to

flow?

Base current. (Collector current

doesn’t flow unless base current is
flowing.)
In circuit shown, draw the paths taken by the base and collector currents.

Assume that the transistor is made of silicon. Set RB = 27 kΩ and Vs =3V.

Find IB.
 Common Transistor
Configurations

Transistor Configuration

Common-Emitter Common-Base Common-Collector

Configuration Configuration Configuration
 Transistor Configurations
The three type are:
Common-Base (CB), Common-Emitter (CE), and Common Collector
(CC)

Both the input and Both the input and Both the input and
Output share the Output share the Output share the
base “in common” emitter “in common” Collector “in common”
 The Common-Emitter Configuration

 It is called common-emitter (CE) configuration since the

emitter terminal of the BJT is common across the input
(base) and output (collector) ports.

 - Emitter is usually the terminal closest to or at

ground potential.

 Two set of characteristics are necessary to describe the

behavior for CE ;

 - Input (base terminal)

 - Output (collector terminal)
 The Common-Emitter Configuration

IC
The bias voltage sources
are VBB for the base
Collector voltage and VCC for the
N collector voltage. Typical
Base values for VBB are about 1V
P OUTPUT VCC or less, and for VCC about
IB
Emitter 10V to 12V.
N The difference in these
VBB INPUT bias voltages is necessary
to cause current flow from
IE the collector to the emitter
in the NPN transistor
 IC
The Common-Emitter Configuration
VCC
IB
IC
VBB

C
B VCC
IB
OUTPUT
IC
E
VBB INPUT

IE

IB OUTPUT VCC

VBB
The emitter is common or INPUT IE
reference to both the input and
output terminals (in this case
common to both the base and
collector terminals)
 Gain
The Common-Emitter Configuration
NPN

GAIN is a term used to describe a Ratio Of Increase. The most

common types of gain are current gain, voltage gain, and power gain.
Gain is simply the ratio of the input (voltage, current, or power) to the
output (voltage, current, or power).
For example, if a 1V signal is applied to the input of a circuit and, on
the output, the signal amplitude has been increased to 10V, you say
that this circuit has a voltage gain of 10 (10V divided by 1V = 10V)

A very useful parameter in transistors is the Common-Emitter Current

Gain , a constant whose value typically ranges from 75 to 300. Its value
is specified by the manufacturer. The base current iB is much smaller
than the collector current iC and these two currents are related in terms
of the constant, hFE [ Hybrid parameter, Forward, common Emitter ] or
β, [ beta ], and is called a large-signal or DC current gain.
There is an AC current gain, hfe, that is used for small-signal AC circuit
analysis. It may vary from the hFE value because the variation of IB is in
very small increments.
 Gain
The Common-Emitter Configuration
NPN

hFE or β, is a physical property of transistors. You can find its value in

the manufacturers’ published data sheets, or you can determine it by
experimenting. In general, β or hFE is a different number from one
transistor part number to the next, but transistors with the same part
number have β values within a narrow range of each other.

One of the most frequently performed calculations in transistor work is

to determine the values of either collector or base current, when β and
the other current are known.
For example,
suppose a transistor has 500 mA of collector current flowing and you
know it has a β value of 100. Find the base current, IB. To do this, use
the following formula:
β = IC / IB

IB = IC / β = 500mA / 100 = 5mA

Finding β (h FE ) from the Datasheet

• Nominal values
•  is generally called hFE on datasheets

From On Semiconductor
 Gain
The Common-Emitter Configuration
NPN

Questions

:Calculate the following values

-------------- A. IC = 2 A, β = 20. A, Find

or 100
IB mA 0.1

--------------------------- B. IB = 1 mA, β = 100.mA 100

Find IC

----------------------- C. IB = 10 μA, β =μA,

250. Find
or 2.5 mA IC
2500

75
D. IB = 0.1 mA, IC = 7.5 mA. Find β ------------------
 Characteristic Curve
The Common Emitter
Input characteristic Configuration

Yes, like diodes, transistors have characteristic curves too, but as they
have three terminals they have correspondingly more curves.

RC

VCC RB
RB
VB
VCC
VBB IB
VBE
VE
IB
VBB
Input Circuit
Ohm’s law again the current IB is
IB = VBB – VBE / RB
Characteristic Curve
The Common Emitter
Input characteristic Configuration

The Common - Emitter Configuration

Base Current , IB , μA IB Versus VBE

VBE ≈ 0.7V ( Si)

Base – Emitter Voltage, VBE, V

 Characteristic Curve
The Common Emitter
Output characteristic Configuration

IC RC
RC

VC
VCC IC
RB
VB
VCE
RB
VBB IB VCC
VBE
VE
IB
VBB

Output Circuit
KVL: VCE = VCC – RC IC
IC = 1 / RC VCE + VCC / RC
 Characteristic Curve
The Common Emitter
Output characteristic Configuration

The actual characteristics of a BJT (IC versus VCE for various values of IB) are
shown below Ref[1]. The horizontal nature of the IC versus VCE curves indicates
that the device operates like a dependent current source when the base current
IB > 0 and the collector-to-emitter voltage (VCE) is greater than VCEsat.

Base current
IB
is our
control
parameter
 Transistor Regions of Operation
NPN Transistor

1- Cutoff region

IB = IC = IE =0 ,VBE < 0.7V and VCE = VCC

The transistor is essentially OFF.

2- Forward-active region
(FAR) or linear region

A small increase in base current IB results

In a relatively large increase in collector current IC
IB = IC / β and VBE = 0.7V or so.
Transistor amplifiers is used in this region
The transistor
has 3 regions
3- Saturation region
of operation
When IB > 0 , VCE is small
,the collector current, IC drops sharply
Transistor Regions of Operation
NPN Transistor

Example

For the circuit below, β = 150.Find IE , VE , IC , VC , IB

VCC
RC
10V Since the base is grounded, VB = 0 , the
5KΩ IC
emitter-base junction does not conduct,
VC VBE = 0, IB = 0 , IE = 0, and VE = 0
VB The collector current is also zero
VCE because
IB IC = IE – IB = 0
VE and thus
RE
VC = VCC – RC IC = 10V
3kΩ Under those conditions the transistor
IE
behaves like an open switch and thus it
is operating in the cutoff mode.
 The Common-Base Configuration

 Common-base terminology is derived from the fact that

the :
 base is common to both input and output of the
configuration.

 base is usually the terminal closest to or at ground

potential.

 All current directions will refer to conventional flow and

the arrows in all electronic symbols have a direction
defined by this convention.
 Note that the applied biasing (voltage sources) are
such as to establish current in the direction indicated
for each branch.
 The Common-Base Configuration

IC VC VE IE
E B C

RC RE
VEE INPUT OUTPUT
IB VCC VCC OUTPUT INPUT VEE
VB
IB

The Base is common or Output Circ uit Input Circ uit

reference to both the input and
output terminals (in this case Kirchoff’s Voltage Law (KVL) Kirchoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)
common to both the emitter and VCC = RC IC + VC VEE = RE IE + (-VE)
collector terminals) RC = VCC – VC / IC RE = VEE + VE / IE
Characteristic Curve
Input characteristic The Common-Base Configuration

Emitter Current , IE , mA
The input to common base
transistor is the emitter current, IE ,
and can be varied by altering the
base emitter voltage VBE.
The variation of the collector –
base voltage, VCB has a little effect VBE ≈ 0.7V (Si)

on the characteristic

Base – Emitter Voltage, VBE, V

 Characteristic Curve
Output characteristic The Common-Base Configuration

The value of the collector current, IC is very largely determined by the emitter
current , IE . For a given value of IE , the collector – base voltage VCB , can be varied
and has little effect on the value of IC . If VCB is made slightly negative , the collector
no longer attracts the majority carriers leaving the emitter and IC falls rapidly to
zero.
 Alpha (ά)
The Common-Base Configuration
Current Gain

Another important parameter in transistors is the

Common-Base Current Gain denoted as α

IE = IC + IB IE ≈ IC

αdc = IC ⁄ IE
 The Common Base Configuration

EXAMPLE

An NPN transistor is to operate in the common (grounded) base

configuration. A DC power supply at VS = ±12 V is available and with two
external resistors, one connected between the collector and VCC and the
other between the emitter and VEE, we want to find the values of the
resistors RC and RE.
IC VC VE IE

V B E = 0.708V
I C = 1.6 mA RC RE
VC = 4 V VCC OUTPUT INPUT VEE
α = 0.993 IB
VB
V CC = 12V
V EE = - 12V
 The Common Base Configuration

EXAMPLE

Application of Kirchoff’s Voltage Law (KVL) on the

collector side of the circuit with IC = 1.6 mA and VC = 4V

VCC = RC IC + VC
RC = VCC – VC / IC = 12 - 4 / 1.6 mA = 5kΩ

Next,
VBE = VB – VE

Since the base is grounded, VB = 0 , and VE = -VBE = -0.708

IE = IC / α = (1.6mA) / 0.993 = 1.61mA
Then by KVL,
-VE+RE IE = VEE

RE = VEE + VE / IE = 7kΩ
 The Formulas
β and α
For any transistor, NPN or PNP, the three currents are related as

iE = i B + i C
A very useful parameter in transistors is the Common-Emitter Current
Gain , a constant whose value typically ranges from 75 to 300. Its value
is specified by the manufacturer. The base current iB is much smaller
than the collector current iC and these two currents are related in terms
of the constant, hFE [ Hybrid parameter, Forward, Common Emitter ]
also called beta, β.

iC= hFE iB = β iB

iE = i B + iC = i C / β + iC = β + 1 / β i C
Another important parameter in transistors is the Common-Base
Current Gain denoted as α and it is related to as β

α=β/β+1

It is obvious that α < 1

iC = α i E

We can express β in terms of α by rearranging the above equation , then

β=α/1–α
 Example

A transistor manufacturer produces transistors whose α values vary

from 0.992 to 0.995. Find the β range corresponding to this α range.

:Solution

For α = 0.992 β = α / 1 – α = 0.992 / 1 - 0.992 = 124

For α = 0.995 β = α / 1 – α = 0.995 / 1 - 0.995 = 199

Therefore, for the range α ≤ 0.995 ≤ 0.992

The corresponding β range is β ≤ 199 ≤ 124

 E xample

For the circuit below, β = 120 and VB = 5V .Find VE , IE , IC and VC .

Determine whether this circuit with the indicated values operates in the
active, saturation, or cutoff mode.

VCC
RC
10V
4KΩ IC

VC V E = V B – V B E = 5 – 0.7V = 4.3V
RB I E = V E / R E = 4.3V/ 2.5×103 = 1.72 mA
VB It is given that β = 120, then
VCE
IB α = β / β+1 = 120/ 121= 0.992
I C = α I E = 0.992 ×1.72 = 1.71 mA
VCC VE I B = I E – I C = 1.72 mA - 1.71 mA = 10 μA
RE V C = V CC – I C R C = 10 – 1.71×10-3 × 4× 103 = 3.16V
2.5kΩ V CB = V C – V B = 3.16V – 5V = -1.84
IE
 Summary

•Transistors are three terminal devices that can be formed with the
combination of two separate PN junction materials into one block.
•An NPN transistor is formed with two PN junctions with the P-type
material at the center, whereas a PNP transistor is formed with two PN
junctions with the N-type material at the center.
•The three terminals of a transistor, whether it is an NPN or PNP
transistor, are identified as the emitter, the base, and the collector.
•Transistors are used either as amplifiers or as electronic switches.
•Like junction diodes, most transistors are made of silicon. Gallium
Arsenide (GaAs) technology has been under development for several
years and its advantage over silicon is its speed, about six times faster
than silicon, and lower power consumption. The disadvantages of
GaAs over silicon is that arsenic, being a deadly poison, requires very
special manufacturing processes.
Since a transistor is a 3-terminal device, there are three currents, the
base current, denoted as,IB the collector current, denoted as IC , and
the emitter current, denoted as IE • For any transistor, NPN or PNP, the
three currents are related as
IE = IB + IC
A very useful parameter in transistors is the common-emitter gain
(β), a constant whose value ranges from 75 to 300. Its value is
specified by the manufacturer. The base current is much smaller than
the collector current and these two currents are related in terms of the
constant as
IB = IC ⁄ β
Another important parameter in transistors is the common-base
current gain denoted as (α) and relates the collector and emitter
currents as
IC = α IE
The parameters (α) and (β) are related as
α=β/β+1
β=α/1–α
The operation of a simple transistor circuit can also be described
graphically using IB versus VBE and IC versus VCE curves.
TABLE : NPN and PNP Transistor Current - Voltage Characteristics

The relations in the Table are very useful in establishing voltage

and current levels at various points on an NPN or PNP transistor.
 Electronic One THE END
.