Unit 6. Introduction to bi-polar junction transistor (bjt).

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6.1 Basic structure of BJT, PNP and NPN type.
6.2 Biasing of PNP and NPN Transistor principles of operation.
6.3 Voltage and Current Characteristics. Input and Output Characteristics,
Collector current as a function of base current (Family of Collector
characteristics curve), Cutoff, Saturation and DC Load line.
6.4 Demonstration various types of Transistors, Transistor Rating and
interpretation of Transistor Data sheet.
6.5 Testing of Transistor by using Ohm meter.

Basic structure of BJT: A transistor is an electronic device that can be used as an amplifier or
as an electronic switch. Its ability to amplify a signal or to switch high power loads using a small
signal makes it very useful in the field of electronics.
 The bipolar junction transistor (BJT) is manufactured with three semiconductor regions that
are doped differently. These three regions that are doped differently are known as the base,
collector, and emitter. The base region is lightly doped and is very thin compared to the collector
and emitter regions. The collector region is moderately doped while the emitter region is heavily
doped.

 In a transistor there are three basic parts, they are emitter (E), base (B) and collector (C).
 Emitter(E): The heavily doped region of the transistor which supplies charge carriers is
known as emitter. For NPN transistor the emitter is of N type and for PNP transistor emitter of
P type thus for NPN transistor majority charge carriers are electrons and for PNP transistor
majority charge carriers are holes.
 Base: The lightly doped region or the middle region of the transistor is known as base. For
NPN the base is P-type and for PNP the base is N type.
 Collector: The moderately doped region of the transistor is called collector. It lies on the other
side of the emitter. For NPN transistor collector is of N type and for PNP transistor the
collector is of P type. The function of collector is to collect the charge carriers supplied by the
emitter. It is noted that transistor is unsymmetrical device. The size of collector is more than
the size of the emitter and the size of the base is the smallest one.
NPN and PNP BJT Physical Representation
 Bipolar junction transistors can be an NPN or a PNP type.
 The NPN type consists of two N regions separated by a P region.
 The base region is the P-type material while the collector and emitter regions are N-type
materials.
 In PNP type, the transistor consists of two p-type regions, the collector and emitter, separated
by an N-type base region.
 Regardless of the type, a BJT has two PN junctions that must be correctly biased with an
external DC voltage to operate properly. One of these junctions is called the base-emitter
junction, connecting the base and emitter regions and the other one is the base-collector
junction, connecting the base and collector regions.

Biasing of PNP and NPN Transistor principles of operation:

Applying external dc voltages to ensure that transistor operates in the desired region. Transistor
must be biased correctly to produce the desired circuit voltages and currents.
Transistor Biasing is the process of setting a transistor’s DC operating voltage or current
conditions to the correct level so that any AC input signal can be amplified correctly by the
transistor.
Transistors are one of the most widely used semiconductor devices which are used for a wide
variety of applications, including amplification and switching. However, to achieve these
functions satisfactorily, a transistor must be supplied with a certain amount of current and/or
voltage.

Biasing of NPN transistor principles of operation:

 Base-Emitter junction is forward biased by VEE.

 Collector- Base junction is reversed biased by VCC
 Forward bias causes electrons to flow towards base, this
constitutes emitter current IE. As the electrons flow into
the base, which is P type they combine with very few
holes as it is lightly doped and constitute base current IB.
 The remaining large amount of electrons cross the base
region and through the collector region to the positive terminal of VCC, constituting collector
current IC. IC>>IB.
 Electrons are majority charge carriers in NPN transistor.
IE = IB + IC
Biasing of PNP transistor principles of operation:

 Base-Emitter junction is forward biased by VEE.

 Collector- Base junction is reversed biased by VCC
 Forward bias causes holes to flow towards base, this
constitutes emitter current IE. As the holes flow into the
base, which is N type they combine with very few
 electrons as it is lightly doped and constitute base current IB.
 The remaining large amount of holes cross the base region and through the collector region
to the negative terminal of VCC, constituting collector current IC. IC>>IB.
 Holes are majority charge carriers in NPN transistor
IE = IB + IC
Need for biasing
If a signal of very small voltage is given to the input of BJT, it cannot be amplified. Because,
for a BJT, to amplify a signal, two conditions have to be met.
 The input voltage should exceed cut-in voltage for the transistor to be ON.
 The BJT should be in the active region, to be operated as an amplifier.
If appropriate DC voltages and currents are given through BJT by external sources, so that BJT
operates in active region and superimpose the AC signals to be amplified, then this problem can
be avoided. The given DC voltage and currents are so chosen that the transistor remains in
active region for entire input AC cycle. Hence biasing is needed.

Working modes of transistor: Transistor works in the following modes:

a) Active mode
b) Saturation mode
c) Cutoff mode
d) Inverse active mode

a) Active mode: When the emitter base junction is forward biased and the collector base
junction is reversed biased, the transistor is said to be operated in active mode. In this mode
transistor works as an amplifier.
b) Saturation mode: When the emitter base junction and collector base junction are both
forward biased the transistor is said to be operated in saturation mode. In this mode the
transistor works as ON stage of switch.
c) Cut off mode: When both emitter base junction and collector base junction are reversed
biased the transistor is said to be operated in cutoff mode. In this mode the transistor acts
as OFF stage of switch. The saturation and cut off modes of transistor are used to make the
transistor work as a switch.
d) Inverse active mode: When the emitter base junction is reverse biased and collector base
junction is forward biased, the transistor is said to be in inverse active mode. This mode has
very few applications and is used to remove the stored base charge during the saturation to
cut off transition of transistor in TTL(Transistor –Transistor logic).
Voltage and Current Characteristics:
 Input and Output Characteristics: Transistor is a three terminal non-linear device. To perform
a specific function a device should have input and output terminals. To give input to the
device we need two terminals and to take output from the device we need two terminals by
making one terminal common to both the input and output, we use transistor in a circuit.
There are three types of transistor configuration.
They are
1. Common base configuration
2. Common emitter configuration
3. Common collector configuration.
1. Common Base (CB) Configuration of Transistor
In CB Configuration, the base terminal of the transistor will be common between the input and
the output terminals as shown by Figure. This configuration offers low input impedance, high
output impedance, high resistance gain and high voltage gain.

Input Characteristics for CB Configuration of Transistor

Figure below shows the input characteristics of a CB configuration circuit which describes the
variation of emitter current, IE with Base-Emitter voltage VBE keeping Collector-Base voltage
VCB constant.

Output Characteristics for CB Configuration of Transistor

The output characteristics of CB configuration (Figure) show the variation of collector current, IC
with VCB when the emitter current, IE is held constant.

Current amplification factor ( ) : Current amplification factor ( ) for common base

configuration is defined as the ratio of change in output current ( ) to change in input current
( ) at constant collector base voltage VCB.
= at constant VCB.
Common Emitter (CE) Configuration of Transistor
In this configuration, the emitter terminal is common between the input and the output terminals
as shown by Figure. This configuration offers medium input impedance, medium output
impedance, medium current gain and voltage gain.

Input Characteristics for CE Configuration of Transistor

Figure shows the input characteristics for the CE configuration of transistor which illustrates the
variation in IB in accordance with VBE when VCE is kept constant.

Output Characteristics for CE Configuration of Transistor

The output characteristics of CE configuration (Figure 11) are also referred to as collector
characteristics. This plot shows the variation in IC with the changes in VCE when IB is held
constant.

Base current amplification factor: The base current amplification factor for common emitter
configuration is defined as the ratio of charge in the output current to the change in input
current at constant VCB.
= >>1
Common Collector (CC) Configuration of Transistor
This transistor configuration has the collector terminal of the transistor common between the
input and the output terminals (Figure) and is also referred to as emitter follower configuration.
This offers high input impedance, low output impedance, voltage gain less than one and a large
current gain.

Input Characteristics for CC Configuration of Transistor

Figure shows the input characteristics for CC configuration which describes the variation in IB in
accordance with VCB, for a constant value of Collector-Emitter voltage, VCE.

Output Characteristics for CC Configuration of Transistor

Figure below shows the output characteristics for the CC configuration which exhibit the
variations in IE against the changes in VCE for constant values of IB.
Current amplification factor for common collector configuration:
It is defined as the ratio of change in output current IB of common collector configuration.
Current amplification factor =

Relationship between , and of transistor:

We know that current amplification factor for common base is given by
=
Similarly, current amplification factor for common emitter is given by

=
And, current amplification factor for common emitter is given by
=
Also, ....................................(1)

Dividing equation 1 by on both sides

Or, = +1 .............................(2)

Or, =

Again from equation 2

=
Again

= = = ...................(3)

And from equation 3

Cutoff, Saturation and DC Load line analysis:

The biasing of transistor makes the transistor to work in four kinds of regions, active region,
saturation region, cutoff region and inverse active region.

The below Fig. (i) shows CE transistor circuit while Fig.(ii) shows the output characteristics
along with the d.c. load line.
(i) Cut off. The point where the load line intersects the IB = 0 curve is known ascut off. At this
point, IB = 0 and only small collector current (i.e. collector leakage current ICEO) exists. At cut
off, the base-emitter junction no longer remains forward biased and normal transistor action is
lost. The collector-emitter voltage is nearly equal to VCC i.e. VCE (cut off) = VCC

(ii) Saturation. The point where the load line intersects the IB = IB(sat) curve is
called saturation. At this point, the base current is maximum and so is the collector current. At
saturation, collector-base junction no longer remains reverse biased and normal transistor action
is lost.

If base current is greater than IB(sat), then collector current cannot increase because collector-
base junction is no longer reverse-biased.
(iii) Active region. The region between cut off and saturation is known as active region. In the
active region, collector-base junction remains reverse biased while base-emitter junction remains
forward biased. Consequently, the transistor will function normally in this region.
Note. We provide biasing to the transistor to ensure that it operates in the active region.

In saturation, the collector and emitter are, in effect, shorted together. That is the transistor
behaves as though a switch has been closed between the collector and emitter

Note. When the transistor is in the active state, IC = IB. Therefore, a transistor acts as an amplifier
when operating in the active state. Amplification means linear amplification. In fact, small signal
amplifiers are the most common linear devices.