Transistors
Transistors
IB
P Base
Base 1%
N
Emitter
Symbol
IE
Emitter Flow of Electrons
Flow of holes
A. Operating Principle of BJT (NPN) …
• Forward bias is applied to emitter – base
junction and reverse bias is applied to
collector – base junction.
• Forward bias in the emitter – base junction
will cause electrons to move toward base.
• This current constitute to emitter current,
I E.
• As electrons flow towards p-type base, they
try to recombine with holes.
• Since the base is lightly doped, only few
electrons recombine with holes in the base.
A. Operating Principle of BJT (NPN) …
• The recombined electrons contributes to
small base current, IB.
• The remaining electrons crosses base and
constitute to collector current, IC.
• IE = IB + IC
B. Operating Principle of BJT (PNP)
• Forward bias is applied to emitter – base
junction and reverse bias is applied to
collector – base junction.
• Forward bias in the emitter – base junction
will cause holes to move toward base.
• This current constitute to emitter current,
I E.
• As holes flow towards n-type base, they try
to recombine with electrons.
• Since the base is lightly doped, only few
holes recombine with electrons in the base.
B. Operating Principle of BJT (PNP) …
• The recombined holes contributes to small
base current, IB.
• The remaining holes crosses base and
constitute to collector current, IC.
• In the circuit, arrows represent the
direction of the electric or conventional
current.
• The flow of electrons is in the opposite
direction of the arrows because
electrons carry negative electric charge.
Regions of operation
• Bipolar transistors have three
distinct regions of operation,
defined mostly by applied bias:
• Active Mode:
• The emitter-base junction is forward
biased and the base-collector
junction is reverse biased.
• This is a region transistor operates as
an amplifier.
Regions of operation cont. …
• Saturation Region:
• Both BE and CB junctions are
forward-biased.
• When BJT is in saturation mode,
facilitates high current conduction from
the emitter to the collector.
• This mode corresponds to a logical
“ON", or a closed switch.
Regions of operation cont. …
• Cutoff region:
• BE and CB are reverse biased.
• No current flow in collector, only
leakage current.
• The transistor acts as an open
switch.
BJT Configurations
• Depending on which of the three terminals
is used as common terminal.
• There are three different configurations:
– common emitter (CE)
– Common base (CB), and
– Common collector (CC)
Common Emitter
Common-Base (CB)
• Base terminal is grounded.
• Input voltages is applied between emitter and base, VBE.
• The output is collected between collector and base, VCB.
• The BE junction is forward biased while the CB junction
is reversing biased.
• Has Voltage Gain but NO Current Gain.
Common-Collector configuration
• Input signal is applied between base and
collector
• Output signal is taken out from emitter-
collector circuit.
• This type of configuration is commonly known as
a Voltage Follower or Emitter Follower circuit.
• This configuration is very useful for impedance
matching applications because of the very high
input impedance.
• Conventionally speaking, here IB is the input
current and IE is the output current.
• Has Current Gain but no Voltage Gain
Common-Collector configuration
cont. …
IE
IB
IC
Current Gain
• The ratio of IC/IE is called α, the common-
base current gain.
IC
• i.e. α =
IE
• The ratio of IC/IB is called β, common-
emitter current.
IC
• i.e. β =
IB
Current Gain cont. …
• The two equations can be combined as
follows;
• We know that α= IC/IE by definition.
• It is also evident that IE = IC + IB (By
Kirchoff’s Law).
IC
α=
IC + IB
Dividing by IB throughout;
Current Gain cont. …
IC
IB
=
IC
+1
IB
β
α=
β +1
β = α(β + 1) α β
and also β = , α=
1− α β +1
If β = 100 then α = 100/101 ≈ 0.99, if β = 500 then α = 500/501 ≈ 0.998
Load Lines and DC Biasing of BJT’s
• To make a BJT operational, dc supply voltage must be
applied to the emitter, base and collector.
• The procedure is called biasing.
• DC bias sets the operating point of the BJT.
• Biasing is used by means application of dc voltages to
establish a fixed levels of currents and voltages (i.e.
IB, IC, VCE and VBE).
• The resulting d.c. current and voltages establish an
operating point of the output characteristics.
• Since the operating point is a fixed point on the
characteristics it is also called QUISCENT POINT
abbreviated as Q - POINT.
• For the normal operation of the BJT two conditions
must be satisfied;
– The base-emitter junction must be forward biased.
– The collector-base junction must be reverse biased.
Load Lines and DC Biasing of BJT’s cont. …
• For drawing a dc load line of a transistor,
one need to know only its cut-off and
saturation points.
• It is a straight line joining these two lines.
• For a common-emitter circuit, the dc line
is drawn as in the following figure.
• A is the cut-off point and B is the
saturation point.
• The voltage equation of the collector-
emitter is given below;
Load Lines and DC Biasing of BJT’s cont.
…
VCC = I C R L + VCE
VCC VCE
IC = −
RL RL
Consider the following two particular case:
Saturation
B
Active
Region
D
IC
Cut-off
A
0
VCE VCC
IC
IB = 12μA
1200μA
1000μA IB = 10μA
800μA IB = 8μA
600μA IB = 6μA
400μA IB = 4μA
200μA IB = 2μA
VCE
Transistor characteristics
IC
ICQ
VCE
VCEQ
Q - point
Active Region
• All operating points (like C, D, E, etc) lying
between cut-off and saturation points
from active region of the transistor.
• In this region E/B junction is forward-
biased and C/B junction is reverse-
biased (condition necessary for the proper
operation of a transistor).
Quiescent Point
• A point on the load line representing the values
of IC and VCE when no input signal is applied
to a transistor.
• It is also known as the dc operating point or
working point.
• The best position for this point is mid-way
between cut-off and saturation points where
VCEQ = 1/2VCC (like point D in figure above)
Quiescent Point …
Different Methods for Transistor
Biasing
• Some of the methods used for providing bias
for a transistor are:-
• Base bias or fixed current bias
• Base bias with emitter feedback
• Base bias with collector feedback
• Base bias with collector and emitter
feedbacks
• Emitter bias with two supplies
• Voltage divider bias
Base bias or fixed current bias
VCC
RB RC
ac output
C1
C2
ac
input
signal
Base-Emitter loop
VCC
IC
RB RC
B
VCE
VBE
IB
E
Base-emitter loop …
VCC = I B R B + VBE
VCC − VBE
IB =
RB Input equation
Collector-emitter loop
VCC = I C R C + VCE
VCC − VCE
IC =
RC
I C = I Bβ
VCE = VCC − I C R C Output Equation
VCC
IC
RB RC
IB
VCE
C1
VBE
Uin
RE
IC
6 Q+P
IB = 6μA
4
IB = 4μA
Q
IB = 2μA
2 Q-P
+P
-P
ΔI B = (6 − 2)μA = 4A
RB RC
Vout
Uin
C1
RE
IC
RB RC
IB
VCE
VBE
RE
Base-emitter loop
VCC = I B R B + VBE + I E R E
IE = IC + IB and I C = βI B
I E = βI B + I B = I B (1 + β )
VCC = I B R B + VBE + (1 + β )I B R E
VCC - VBE
IB =
R B − (1 + β )R E
IC IC
VCC = R B + VBE + I C + R E
β β
VCC - VBE
IC =
RB 1
− 1 +
R
β β
E
Collector-emitter loop
VCC = I C R C + VCE + I E R E
IC
VCC = I C R C + VCE + I C + R E
β
IC
VCC = I C R C + VCE + I C + R E
β
VCC = βI B R C + VCE + (I B + βI B )R E
R1 RC
Vout
C
Uin 2
C1
R2 RE
In the previous circuit
I C = f (β ) and VCE = f (β )
DC equivalent cct is:-
VCC
R1 RC
Input
R2 RE
To analyse the cct; the
Thevenin’s equivalent
cct is used
Consider the input;
R1
VCC R2 RE
VBE IE
ETh RE
VCC
E Th = R2
R1 + R 2
R 1R 2
R Th = = R 1 //R 2
R1 + R 2
E Th = I B R Th + VBE + I E R E
But I E = (1 + β )I B
IE
IB =
1+ β
R Th
E Th = I E R E + + VBE
1+ β
R Th
For R E
1+ β
Then E Th = I E R E + VBE
E Th − VBE
also I C I C f (β )
RE
Voltage divider bias cont. …
• Under the indicated condition β does not
appear in the equation
• The biasing is popular since it provides
good stability
• Q-point which is defined by IC and VCE will
be stable
VCE = VCC − (I C R C + I E R E )
Approximation
From the input side
VCC
R1
B
VB
R2
RE
RIN(Base)
VIN IIN
βdc
VBE
RE
RIN(Base)
VIN
R IN(Base) =
I IN
VIN = VBE + I E R E
For VBE I E R E
VIN = I E R E
For I E I C = β dc I B
Then VIN = β dc I B R E I IN = I B
VIN β dc I B R E
Then =
I IN IB
R IN(Base) β dcR E
VCC
R1
VB
R2//RIN(Base)
VCC (R 2 //R IN(Base) )
VB =
R 1 + R 2 //R IN(Base)
VCC (R 2 //β dc R E )
VB =
R 1 + R 2 //β dc R E
VB = VBE + I E R E
VB − VBE
IE IC =
RE
VCC (R 2 //β dc R E )
− VBE
R 1 + R 2 //β dc R E
IC =
RE
For R 2 β dc R E
Then R 2 //β dc R E = R 2
VCC R 2
− VBE
R1 + R 2
IC = approximat e
RE
Small signal amplifier (ac signal)
• The purpose of biasing is to establish a Q-
point about which variations in current and
voltage can occur in response to an ac
signal.
• Here the ac signal is known as a small
signal.
VCC
IC
RC
R1
VB
IB + i B
VCE
VB + Uin
C1
Uin R2 RE
VCE = VCC − (I C R C + I E R E )
IC
12mA 6μA
8mA
ICQ 4μA
4mA
2μA
Load Line
VCE
VCEQ
VB + Uin
VB
I B = 6 A − 2 A
ΔIC = 12mA − 4mA
ΔIC IC
β ac = Recall β dc =
ΔI B IB
8mA
β ac = = 2000
4 10 mA
−3
Small signal amplifier cont. …
• IC increases as VCE decreases
• IC varies above and below Q-point in phase with
IB.
• in order to visualise the operations of transistor
in an amplifier circuit is useful to represent the
device by an equivalent circuit.
• An equivalent cct with various internal transistor
parameters to present the transistor operation.
• Two types of equivalent cct representations
used which are based on an r-parameter and h-
parameters.
r-parameters
• There are five r-parameters
i. βac (ac Beta)
ic IC
β ac = compare β dc =
ib IB
ii. αac (ac Alpha)
ic IC
ac = compare dc =
ie IE
r-parameters
iii. rb = ac base resistor
iv. rc = ac collector resistor
v. re = ac emitter resistor
C
rc
rb
re
E
ic = acib
− ic is controlled by ib
ic = acib rc
rb
ic = acib
re
- rb is very small can be ignored (replaced with a short)
- rc is very large (Mega Ohms) (replaced with an open)
ic = acib
B
re
26mV
re =
IE
Example (CE Amplifier)
VCC
R1 RC C2
C1
RL UO
R2 RE CE
Uin
Given:
DC Analysis
VCC R 2
− VBE
R1 + R 2
IC =
RE
VCC
R1 RC
R2 RE
DC equivalent Circuit
12V 4.7kΩ
− 0.7V
IC = 22kΩ + 4.7kΩ
560Ω
I C 2.52mA
VCE = VCC − (I C R C + I E R E )
= VCC − IC R C − (I B + IC )R E
IC
= VCC − IC R C − + IC R E
β dc
2.52mA
= 12V − 2.52mA 1kΩ − + 2.52mA 560Ω
150
= 8.06V
If I E IC
VCE = VCC − I C (R C + R E )
RC RL
R1 R2
Uin
ic
c
Ub
re
RL UO
R1 R2 RC
E
Uin
ie
Zout
Zin Zin(Base)
Input Impedance
Ub
Z in( Base) =
ib
where U b = ie re
ie
ib
ac
ie re
Z in( Base) =
ie ac
Z in( Base) = ac re
Zin = R1//R 2 //Zin(Base)
Output Impedance
Zout = R L //R C
Voltage Gain
UO
Au =
U in
U in = U b = ie re ic re
U O = −(RL // RC ) ic
− (RL // RC ) ic − (RL // RC )
Au = =
ic re re
26mV 26mV
Recall re = = 10.32Ω
IE 2.52mA
− (2.2kΩ.2kΩ/ )
Au =
10.32Ω
2.2kΩ 1kΩ
A u = − 2.2kΩ + 1kΩ = −66.63
10.32Ω
Two port
Ui Network Uo
U i ii h11 h12
=
io U o h21 h22
U i = h11ii U O =0
Ui
h11 = (Ohms) ..........................(3)
ii U O =0
iO
h21 = (unit less ) ..........................(4)
ii U O =0
- h21 is called the short cct forward transistor ratio
or forward current gain
- Lets open the input circuit i.e. ii = 0
- From equation (1);
U i = h12U o ii = 0
Ui
h12 = (unit less ) ..........................(5)
UO ii =0
io = h22U o ii = 0
io 1
h22 = ..........................(6)
UO i =0
i
Input side: ii
h11[Ω]
Ui
h12UO
[unit less]
Output side:
io
h22UO
1/h22 UO
h21ii
Complete cct:
ii h11
io
h22UO