Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

Lab 08-Characteristics of BJT

Name Roll Number

1. 1.

2. 2.

Faculty Member : Dr. Abdul Rahman Kashif Dated:

Lab Engineer 1: Noman Aslam Lab Engineer 2: Zafarullah

Session: Summer 2017 Marks Obtained:

57
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

1. Introduction
This lab will familiarize students with the characteristics of BJT.
2. Objectives
1. Identification of transistor type and its terminals
2. To observe the action of a Transistor as an electronic switch.
3. To measure the voltage across the transistor when it is ON and when it is OFF.
4. To understand DC load line and its importance.
3. Equipment
1. Power Supply
2. DMM
3. Transistor: 2N3904
4. Resistors: 180 k, 10 k, 680 k, 4.7 k, 2.2 k, 220 k, 1 k
5. LED
6. Breadboard
7. Connecting wires
4. Conduct of Lab
Students are required to perform this experiment using the equipment provided.
Students are required to work in a group of two.
Students are advised to seek help from the course instructor, lab engineers, assigned
teaching assistants (TA) and lab attendants.
5. Theory and Background
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to amplify and switch electronic signals and
electrical power. It is composed of semiconductor material with at least three terminals for
connection to an external circuit. It is used widely in electronic circuits.

The collector, emitter and base terminals of transistors are usually not labeled.
Additionally, putting a transistor into a circuit in the wrong orientation can cause the circuit
not to function or can permanently damage the transistor. For these reasons, it is important
to be able to identify the terminals of a transistor. To do this, however, you must first
identify whether the transistor is PNP or NPN.
In NPN transistor both diodes point away from base as shown below.

Figure: Schematic of NPN Transistor

58
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

In PNP transistor both diodes point towards the base.

Figure: Schematic of PNP Transistor

Transistor as a switch
A transistor can switch a flow of electricity, just like a relay. But its much more sensitive
and versatile. In their passive state, both types block the flow of electricity between the
collector and emitter, just like an SPST relay in which the contacts are normally open.
(Actually a transistor allows a tiny bit of current known as leakage.)
You can think of a bipolar transistor as if it contains a little button inside, as shown in
figure below. When the button is pressed, it allows a large current to flow. To press the
button, you inject a much smaller current into the base by applying a small voltage to the
base. In an NPN transistor, the control voltage is positive. In a PNP transistor, the control
voltage is negative.

Q point or quiescent or operating point of BJT

Qpoint is an acronym for quiescent point. Qpoint is the operating point of the
transistor (ICQ, VCEQ) at which it is biased. The concept of Qpoint is used when transistor act
as an amplifying device and hence is operated in active region of input output
characteristics. To operate the BJT at a point it is necessary to provide voltages and currents
through external sources.
DC load line
The dc load line is the locus of IC and VCE at which BJT remains in active region i.e. it
represents all the possible combinations of IC and VCE for a given amplifier.

59
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

How to draw DC load line?

To draw DC load line of a transistor we need to find the saturation current and cutoff
voltage. The saturation current is the maximum possible current through the transistor and
occurs at the point where the voltage across the collector is minimum. The cutoff voltage is
the maximum possible voltage across the collector and occurs at zero collector current.

Figure: Common Emitter Circuit Diagram for load line

The two points on the line are found as follows

Cutoff point:
To find the cutoff point equate the collector current to zero. In equation
= + , equating IC to zero, the cutoff point is (VCC, 0).
Saturation point:
To find the saturation point equate the collector voltage to zero. In equation =
+ , equating VCE to zero the cutoff point is (0, VCC / RC).
(VCC, 0) is cut off point where transistor enters in to cut off region from active region and
(0, VCC/RC) is saturation point where the transistor enters saturation region.

Figure: Load Line of transistor

60
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

6. Tasks
1. You have provided 2N3904 or any other transistor, fill the table below and write
down the conclusion for this transistor either it is NPN of PNP and identify the
terminals.

Reading Using
Positive probe Negative probe
Diode Test Mode
Terminal 1 Terminal 2

Terminal 1 Terminal 3

Terminal 2 Terminal 1

Terminal 2 Terminal 3

Terminal 3 Terminal 1
Terminal 3 Terminal 2

Result:

Transistor is _________________________________

Label the terminals below:

Terminal 1:
Terminal 3:

Terminal 2:

61
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

2. Now use the breadboard to construct the circuit in figure below with R1 = 180 , R2 =
10 k, R3 = 680 , and VCC = 12 V.

Initially, the LED should be dark. Now press the pushbutton and the LED should glow
brightly. Electricity is following two paths here. Weve shown positive at the top and
negative at the bottom (the way most schematics do it) because it helps to clarify the
function of this particular circuit.
Through R1, voltage reaches the top pin (the collector) of the transistor. The transistor
only lets a tiny trickle of it pass through, so the LED stays dark. When you press the button,
voltage is also applied along a separate path, through R2 to the middle pin (the base) of the
transistor. This tells the transistor to open its solid-state switch and allow current to flow
out through its third pin (the emitter), and through R3, to the LED.

3. IB Control Method:
a) Connect the circuit as shown in circuit diagram figure below.

62
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

b) Initially adjust VCC and VBB to zero volts.

c) Start VBB increasing slowly till IB become 10 A.
d) Increase VCE in step of 2 V up to 18 V by increasing VCC.
e) For each value of VCE, measure IC and VCC and record it in the table below.
f) Now repeat step (d) and (e) for IB = 70 A.
g) Draw load line on graph given below for VCC maximum 20 V.
h) Draw graph between VCE and IC on same graph sheet for each value of IB. You will
have 2 curves.

IB=10 A IB=70 A
VCC IC IC
VCE (V) VCE (V)
(mA) (mA)
2 2
4 4
6 6
8 8
10 10
12 12
14 14
16 16
18 18

63
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

64
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

4. VB Control Method:
a) Connect the circuit as shown in circuit diagram figure below.

b) Initially Adjust VCC and VBB to zero volts.

c) Adjust VB = 1 V.
d) Increase VCE in step of 2 V up to 18 V by increasing VCC.
e) For each value of VCE, measure IC and VCC and record it in the table below.
f) Now repeat step (d) and (e) for VB = 5 V.
g) Draw load line on graph given below for VCC maximum 20 V.
h) Draw graph between VCE and IC on same graph sheet for each value IB. You will
have 2 curves.

VB=1V VB=5V
VCC IC VCE IC
VCE (V)
(mA) (V) (mA)
2 2
4 4
6 6
8 8
10 10
12 12
14 14
16 16
18 18
Observation Table for Transistor Load Line

65
Department of Electrical Engineering Electronic Devices and Circuits Lab Manual

Figure: Graph for Transistor Load Line

66