UNIT-2

Fundamentals of
semiconductor devices
and digital circuits
Prepared By:
Pawandeep Kaur
Assistant Professor and Head-ECE
Content To be Discussed
• Types of BJT
• Construction of BJT
• Modes of Operation
• BJT configuration
• CE configuration and its characteristics
• BJT application as amplifier and Switch
 Transistors
• The scientists that were responsible for the 1947 invention of
the transistor were: John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and
William Shockley.
• In 1956, the group was awarded the Noble Prize in Physics for their
invention of the transistor.
 BJT Transistor Structure
BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor) is bipolar because both holes (+) and
electrons (-) will take part in the current flow through the device
– N-type regions contains free electrons (negative carriers)
– P-type regions contains free holes (positive carriers)
• 2 types of BJT
– NPN transistor
– PNP transistor
• The transistor regions are:
– Emitter (E) – send the carriers into the base region and then on to the
collector
– Base (B) – acts as control region.
– Collector (C) – collects the carriers
 BJT Transistor Structure
How many junction?
Terminals ?
Which current arrow
represents ?

ANALOGY

BJT Schematic
Symbol

Please
come IN
 QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
A transistor has …………………
A. one pn junction
B. two pn junctions
C. three pn junctions
D. four pn junctions
BJT Transistor Construction
 QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
The base of a transistor is ………….. doped
A. heavily
B. moderately
C. lightly
D. none of the above
 QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
The element that has the biggest size in a transistor is ………………..
A. collector
B. base
C. emitter
D. collector-base-junction
 RECAP .....QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
A heat sink is generally used with a transistor to …………
A. increase the forward current
B. decrease the forward current
C. compensate for excessive doping
D. prevent excessive temperature rise
Modes of Operation in a BJT
 Configuration of a Transistor
• Depending on the possibilities of circuit configurations transistor connections are of three types.
A. Common Base Transistor
Input and output Current
B. Common Emitter Transistor
current and voltages controlled Device
C. Common Collector Transistor.

Black Arrow (Emitter)

shows Direction of
conventional current ???
 Transistor as a Switch
• To act as a switch, transistor operates under the Saturation Region and
the Cut-off Region.
OFF state ON state
Use of Rb ??
Transistor Switch’s Working Regions or Operating Modes

Cut-Off Region

Poll
A) NPN
B) PNP

Saturation Region
 Transistor as an Amplifier
• The input signal or weak signal is applied
across the emitter base and the output is
obtained to the load resistor RC which is
connected in the collector circuit.
• When a weak signal is applied to the
input, a small change in signal voltage
causes a change in emitter current (or we
can say a change of 0.1V in signal voltage
causes a change of 1mA in the emitter
current) because the input circuit has very
low resistance. This change is almost the
same in collector current because of the
transmitter action.
 Transistor as an Amplifier
• In the collector circuit, a load resistor RC
of high value is connected.
• When collector current flows through
such a high resistance, it produces a large
voltage drop across it.
• Thus, a weak signal (0.1V) applied to the
input circuit appears in the amplified form
(10V) in the collector circuit.

What should be
the value of
RC ?..... So that
10V appear
across RC
 Transistor as an Amplifier
• The input signal or weak signal is applied
across the emitter base and the output is
obtained to the load resistor RC which is
connected in the collector circuit.
• When a weak signal is applied to the
input, a small change in signal voltage
causes a change in emitter current (or we
can say a change of 0.1V in signal voltage
causes a change of 1mA in the emitter
current) because the input circuit has very
low resistance. This change is almost the
same in collector current because of the
transmitter action.
 Transistor as an Amplifier
• In the collector circuit, a load resistor RC
of high value is connected.
• When collector current flows through
such a high resistance, it produces a large
voltage drop across it.
• Thus, a weak signal (0.1V) applied to the
input circuit appears in the amplified form
(10V) in the collector circuit.

What should be
the value of
RC ?..... So that
10V appear
across RC
 Transistor Operation (NPN)
• The BE junction is forward biased whereas the CB junction is
reversed biased. The width of the depletion region of the BE
junction is small as compared to that of the CB junction.
• The forward bias at the BE junction reduces the barrier
potential and causes the electrons to flow from the emitter
to the base.
• As the base is thin and lightly doped it consists of very few
holes so some of the electrons from the emitter (about 2%-
5%) recombine with the holes present in the base region
and flow out of the base terminal.
• The remaining large number of electrons will cross the
reverse-biased collector junction to constitute the collector
current.
• Therefore, KCL ,
• IC=αIE +ICO
𝐼𝐶
The current gain for a CB configuration is called Alpha, (α ).
• 𝛼=
𝐼𝐸
 QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
Most of the majority carriers from the emitter ………………..
A. recombine in the base
B. recombine in the emitter
C. pass through the base region to the collector
D. none of the above
 QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
A transistor is a …………… operated device
A. current
B. voltage
C. both voltage and current
D. none of the above
EXPLANATION
 Common Base Configuration
• Base is common to both the input and output sides of the configuration.
Direction of electron flow
indicated in below
figure(IE.IB.IC)

Direction of Conventional current

indicated in below fogure
(by IE,IB,IC)

Schematic of NPN Transistor

 Common Base Configuration
CB Input Characteristics:
• As the emitter-base junction is forward
biased, therefore the graph of is similar
to the forward characteristics of a p-n
diode.
• increases when increases (for a
fixed ).
 Explanation Slide
Early effect or base
width modulation
(Effect due to VCB)

FB Characteristics of
DIODE

More penetration of
the depletion region
in the base thus
effective width
reduces ,results less
recombination ,also
more external field
attract more electrons
IE=IB + IC
from base thus ……….
…IE .
Input
resistance ?
 Common Base Configuration
CB Output Characteristics:
• The output or collector set of
characteristics has three basic
regions of interest, as indicated in
Fig., active, cutoff, and saturation
regions.
• As the emitter current increases
above zero, the collector current
increases to a magnitude essentially
equal to that of the emitter current.
• Increasing levels of VCB have a small
effect on the characteristics
 Explanation Slide
What happened if
VCB Increases too
high ???

Decreasing VCB thus results

RB junction becomes ……….?
Thus which region operation
………,what happened to
depletion region ,IC
 Common Base Amplification Factor
• For a common base amplifier configuration, current gain, is given as
which itself is determined by the formula .
• The current gain for a CB configuration is called Alpha, ( α ).
i.e, 𝛼= 𝐼 𝐶
𝐼𝐸
• Thus the CB amplifier attenuates the current, with typical values of alpha
ranging from between 0.95 to 0.998
 QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
When transistors are used in digital circuits they usually operate in
the ………….
A. active region
B. breakdown region
C. saturation and cutoff regions
D. linear region
 Transistor Operation (PNP)
• The operation of the pnp transistor is exactly
the same if the roles played by the electron
and hole are interchanged.
• During forward bias, 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.
• During reverse bias, flow of majority carriers is
zero, resulting in only a minority-carrier flow.
• Therefore, from KCL:
 Transistor Operation (PNP)
• The operation of the pnp transistor is exactly
the same if the roles played by the electron
and hole are interchanged.
• From KCL:
• The collector current, however, is comprised
of two components—the majority and
minority carriers.
• The minority-current component is called the
leakage current and is given the symbol
( current with emitter terminal Open).
• The collector current, therefore, is
determined in total by:
 Common Emitter Configuration
• Emitter is common to both the input and output sides of the
configuration.
 Explanation Slide

Base width
modulation
makes IB …….?
 Common Emitter Configuration
CE Input Characteristics:
• The curve for common emitter
configuration is similar to a forward
diode characteristics.
• The base current increases with the
increase in the base-emitter voltage .
• With an increase in , the base current
decreases.
Relation between
 QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
If the value of α is 0.9, then value of β is ………..
A. 9
B. 0.9
C. 900
D. 90
 Common Emitter Configuration
CE Output Characteristics:
• In the active region, the collector current
increases slightly as collector-emitter
voltage increases.
• The slope of the curve is quite more than
the output characteristic of CB
configuration.
• The value of the collector current IC
increases with the increase in VCE at
constant current , the value β of also
increases.
 Common Emitter Amplification Factor
• The current in a bipolar NPN transistor is the ratio of these two currents
called the Current Gain of the device and is given the symbol of or
nowadays Beta, ( β ).
i.e,
• For practical devices the level of typically ranges from about 50 to over
400, with most in the midrange.
• For a device with a of 200, the collector current is 200 times the
magnitude of the base current.
Relation between
 QUICK QUIZ (POLL)
In a transistor, IC = 100 mA and IE = 100.2 mA. The value of β is …………
A. 100
B. 500
C. about 1
D. 200
 Transistor Testing

Recommended video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MSeDl3Bjd4

Transistor Testing