AVT 3103: ELECTRONIC

FUNDAMENTALS

Transistors

Dr. Rita Aljadiri

1) Bi-Polar Junction
Transistors
(BJT)
 Transistors
The importance of the transistor in the modern
world cannot be overstated. They form the
core of every modern processor, logic chip and
memory device. Advances in manufacturing
techniques and miniaturisation have resulted in
processor chips containing billions of transistors
in a tiny area of silicon

Example – Intel i5 has 1.16 Billion transistors in

216mm2
BJT Types
There are 2 main types of Transistor:
NPN
PNP
They are known as Bi-Polar transistors or Bi-Polar
junction transistors (BJT) as both electrons and holes
play a part in the conduction process
The materials are split into 3 layers creating 2 PN
junctions.
Each of the layers has a lead which is connected into
the circuit.
They are called:
Base
Collector
Emitter
 Emitter Bas Emitter Bas
e e
N P

P N

N P

Collector Collector

NPN Transistors are PNP Transistors are

constructed with a constructed with a
thin layer of P-Type thin layer of N-Type
material between two material between two
thicker Layers of N- thicker Layers of P-
Type material. Type material.
Emitter Collector Emitter Collector
(E) N P N (C) (E) P N P (C)

Base Base
(B) (B) E
E

B B

C C
C
C

B B

E
E
Transistor terminal
identification
Small Base/Emitter Current
C
controls larger

Collector/Emitter current.
B
+
-

E
 BJT Operation

5V

Collecto
r

N
Electron Flow
0.7V
P
Base

Emitter
 BJT Operation

5V

Collecto
r

N
Conventional Current Flow
0.7V
P
Base

Emitter
 BJT Operation
99% of the Emitter electrons travel through the
Collector with 1% leaving the Base terminal

5V

Collecto
99%
r

N
Applying Kirchoff’s Current Law
IE = IB + IC
0.7V
P 1%
Base

Emitter
 NPN Silicon

I
C
B
+
0.7V
E

0V
Germanium

C
B
+
V 0.3V
0.3 0.7 E
V V

0V
 PNP
Silicon

I
C
B
- 0.7V

0V
Germanium

C
B
- 0.3V
V
0.3 0.7 E
V V

0V
Current and Voltage
Notations

DC AC
Transistor Thermal Runaway
Because transistors are made from semi-conductor
material, they are susceptible to temperature.

As the temperature increases the semiconductor

material conducts more.

This causes more heat to be generated which in turn

causes higher conduction of current.

At the least this could cause the biasing points to

move.

At worst this could cause destruction of the transistor.

Different types of cooling can be used.

Transistor Cooling

Common methods are

Heat Sinks, but more
power systems may use
liquid cooling.
Transistor Testing
As transistors are constructed with 2 PN junctions
they can be tested in the same way as diodes.

e.g. Forward biased NPN

Silicon Transistor

- E - E

Ω V
When measuring + When measuring +
resistance, there voltage, there will B
B
will be a low be a reading of
+ +
reading between 0.7V between
Base/Emitter and Base/Emitter and
Ω V
Base/Collector. - Base/Collector. -

C C
Transistor Testing
e.g. Reverse biased NPN Silicon
Transistor

+
E +
E

Ω Ω
When measuring - When measuring -
resistance, there voltage, there will
B B
will be a High be a reading of
reading between + Meter Voltage +

Base/Emitter and between

Ω Ω
Base/Collector. - Base/Emitter and -
Base/Collector.
C C
Transistor Testing
E E E E

+ - + -
B B B B
Ω- Ω V- V
+ +

C C C C

When measuring resistance, When measuring resistance,

there will be a High there will be a reading of
reading in both directions Meter Voltage in both
between Collector/Emitter directions between
and Emitter/Collector. Collector/Emitter and
Emitter/Collector.
Note: A Transistor can only be determined either serviceable or
unserviceable by checking between ALL terminals.
 2) Thyristor
(Silicon Controlled
Rectifier)
 Thyristor
The Thyristor is a semiconductor device having
three terminals, Anode, Cathode and Gate

Anode Cathod
e

Gate

This device can be thought of as a diode with

an additional control terminal. A normal diode
will conduct when forward biased – the thyristor
requires both forward bias and a Gate input to
conduct.
 Thyristor
The Thyristor is composed of 4 layers of doped
semiconductor
Anode Cathod
P N P N e

Gate

There are 3 P-N Junctions in this device.

Using the coding system, a thyristor part
number will start with 3N...
 Thyristor Operation
In order to make the Thyristor conduct, two
things must be present:
• The device must be forward biased
(Anode positive compared to cathode)
• A positive pulse must be applied to the
Gate

Once Triggered, the thyristor will Latch and

continue to conduct even though the Gate
+
pulse has been removed. -
 Thyristor Operation
(a) Unbiased (b) Biased

OFF OFF

Open Open

Open Closed

(c) Biased + (d) Latched

triggered

ON ON

Closed Open

Closed Closed
 Thyristor Operation
In normal operation the Thyristor requires a
Gate pulse to conduct. However if the forward
bias is increased sufficiently the device can be
forced to conduct without a Gate pulse. The
point at which this occurs is called the
Breakover Voltage
 Thyristor Applications
The Thyristor is commonly used in high current
and voltage applications.
• Typical uses include lighting dimmers and
motor speed control.
• The thyristor is also used as a solid-state
switch with the benefits of no arcing, low
control current and high speed operation.
• In AC applications the amount of conduction
on each half-cycle can be varied by adjusting
the timing of the Gate pulse
 Thyristor Applications
AC Power can be controlled by moving the
position of the gate pulse

AC Input

Trigger Pulse

Thyristor
Output
SCR
 Triac
The limitation of the thyristor is that it can only
conduct on one half-cycle. The Triac is the
equivalent of two thyristors in reverse parallel
with a common gate terminal.
Gat
e

MT1 MT2

Triac Equivalent Triac Symbol

Circuit
The Triac is able to conduct on both half-cycles,
controlled by a single Gate pulse
• UJT
• FET
• MOSFET
• SHOCKLEY DIODE
UJT
UNIJUNCTION TRANSISTORS (UJT)

The physical arrangement of the

materials in relation to each
other yields devices with unique
behaviors and applications. The
transistors described above
having two junctions of P-type
and N-type materials (PN) are
known as bipolar junction
transistors.
If no potential difference exists between its
emitter and either of its base leads, there is an
extremely small current from B1 to B2. On the
other hand, if a large voltage relative to its base
leads, known as the trigger voltage, is applied
to its emitter, then a very large current from its
emitter joins the current from B1 to B2, which
creates a larger B2 output current.
UJTs transistors of a wide variety of designs
and characteristics exist. In general, UJTs
have some advantages over bipolar
transistors. They are stable in a wide range
of temperatures. In some circuits, use of
UJTs can reduce the overall number of
components used, which saves money and
potentially increases reliability. They can be
found in switching circuits, oscillators, and
wave shaping circuits. However, four-
layered semiconductor thyristors that
function the same as the UJT are less
expensive and most often used.
Field Effect Transistors
(FET)
 Field Effect
Transistors
Field Effect Transistors are voltage controlled
devices.
The amount of current flow, through the device,
is varied by altering a conductive channel.
The conductive channel width is controlled with
an electric field.
Like the BJT, the FET has 3 terminals:
Gate (G) – equivalent to Base
Drain (D) – equivalent to Collector
Source (S) – equivalent to Emitter
The main current flow is from the Source to the
Drain (electron flow) or Drain to Source
(conventional flow).

This main current flow is controlled by applying

a voltage at the Gate.

G G
P N
S D S P D
N
P N
 Field Effect
Transistors
We know that when a PN junction is reverse
biased the depletion zone gets wider.

The larger or smaller the reverse bias potential

is the wider or narrower the depletion zone
gets.

By using this we can control the conduction

channel between the drain and source.
Small reverse bias at Large reverse bias at
gate causes narrow gate causes Wide
depletion zone between depletion zone between
P-type and N-type P-type and N-type
material and so the material and so the
conduction channel is conduction channel is

-
quite wide. quite narrow.
-PG P
G

-S N D+ -S N D+
-
P
-P
 FET
Characteristics
• FETs can be made much smaller than BJTs.
• They also have much lower power
consumption than BJTs as they are voltage
controlled devices.
Both of these characteristics make them ideal
for Integrated Circuits (ICs).
• Another big advantage is the input
impedance is extremely high, compared to
BJTs, which makes them very sensitive to
detect small input signals.
The disadvantage of the high impedance
MOSFE
T
MOSFETs are Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors.
The Gate connection is insulated by a layer of Metal Oxide
Substrate.
This makes the input impedance extremely high.
There are 2 types of MOSFET:
Enhancement Mode
Depletion Mode

Enhancement Mode
In this mode the FET is normally switched off and is switched on
with the application of a Gate voltage.
Depletion Mode
In this mode the FET is normally switched on and is switched off
and the application of a Gate voltage closes the conduction
channel.
 The D-MOSFET
The D-MOSFET can
be operated in
depletion or
enhancement
modes. To be
operated in
depletion mode the
gate is made more
negative effectively
narrowing the
channel or depleting
the channel of
electrons.
 The D- MOSFET
To be operated in the
enhancement mode
the gate is made more
positive, attracting
more electrons into the
channel for better
current flow.
Remember we are
using n channel
MOSFETs for discussion
purposes. For p
channel MOSFETs,
polarities would
change.
 The E- MOSFET
The E-MOSFET or
enhancement
MOSFET can
operate in only
the enhancement
mode. With a
positive voltage
on the gate the p
substrate is
made more
conductive.
 Applications
Amplifier
• Common gate
• Common drain
• Common source
Switch
• CMOS IC’s
• DC to DC converters
 Amplifiers

CS

C
G

C
D
CMOS IC- Inverter
DC to DC converter – Step up
SHOCKLEY DIODE
Combination of semiconductor materials is
not limited to a PN junction diode or a two
type, three layer sandwich transistor.
By creating a four layer sandwich of
alternating types of semiconductor material
(i.e., PNPN or NPNP), a slightly different
semiconductor diode is created.
As is the case in a two layer diode, circuit
current is either blocked or permitted to flow
through the diode in a single direction.
Within a four-layer diode, sometimes known
as a Shockley diode, there are three
junctions. The behavior of the junctions and
the entire four layer diode can be
understood by considering it to be two
• Transistor behavior includes no current flow
until the base material receives an applied
voltage to narrow the depletion area at the
base emitter junction.
• The base materials in the four layer diode
transistor model receive charge from the
other transistor's collector. With no other
means of reducing any of the depletion areas
at the junctions, it appears that current does
not flow in either direction in this device.
• However, if a large voltage is applied to
forward bias the anode or cathode, at some
point the ability to block flow breaks down.
• Current flows through whichever transistor is
charged. Collector current then charges the
base of the other transistor and current flows
through the entire device.
• The transistors that comprise this four-
layer diode must be constructed of
material similar to that described in a
zener diode. That is, it must be able to
endure the current flow without burning
out.
• In this case, the voltage that causes the
diode to conduct is known as breakover
voltage rather than breakdown voltage.
• Additionally, this diode has the unique
characteristic of allowing current flow to
continue until the applied voltage is
reduced significantly, in most cases,
until it is reduced to zero.