Chapter 3 – The Transistor

Experiment 3.1 – The Bipolar Transistor

Characteristics

Objectives:
 The bipolar transistor.
 The bipolar transistor characteristics.
 Operating line and operating point.

Equipment required:
 TPS-3321
 Power supply
 A multimeter
 Banana wires
 Transistor 1N2222
 Resistors: 100, 1K, 10K, 91K

Discussion:
3.1.1 The bipolar transistor
The bipolar transistor can be viewed as two p-n junctions connected back to back. There are two
types of bipolar transistors as shown in figure 3-1

NPN PNP

C N P N E C P N P E

B B

Figure 3-1
The transistor has three terminals:

C - Collector
B - Base
E - Emitter
Its symbols are:

C C

B B
E E

NPN PNP

Figure 3-2

Let us explain the transistor operation with the NPN transistor. The PNP transistor works the same,
only in opposite current flow and voltage bias.

The transistor is connected in two electrical circuits. One is using the CE junction and the VCC
voltage source. The second one is using the BE junction and a VBB voltage source as shown in the
following figure.

RC VCC
C

RB B N
P
VBB N
E

Figure 3-3
If BE circuit is not activated, the CE resistance is very high and current is very low.

In BE circuit the BE junction is in forward bias and electrons flow from E to B. Because of the base
is very thin, more electrons pass the BE junction than can be absorbed by the base. The base is
filled by free electrons, which are pulled by the positive potential of the C (collector) terminal.
That’s the reason why we get current through the collector and why we can’t implement a transistor
with two separate diodes.
The current through the emitter (IE) is divided into two currents - the base current (IB) and the
collector current (IC).

IE = IC + IB
Because of the thin layer of the base, IB is much smaller than the IC. The ratio between IC and IB is
fixed and one of the transistor parameters- .

IC
β
IB

3.1.2 The transition characteristic

The transistor’s transition characteristic describes the relationship between IC and IB shown in the
following figure.

The base of the transistor is significantly thinner than its collector and its emitter. A small change
of the base current, significantly affects the collector current. We can see this in the following
graph.

IC

1 2 3

IB

Figure 3-5

This graph has 3 regions:

1) The CUTOFF region. In this range VBE < 0.5V and IB and IC are very small.

2) The LINEAR region. In this range the transistor acts as a linear current amplifier and
I C  β  I B is one of the transistor's parameters, depending on the base width. Typical
values are in the range 50 - 200 but can be as high as 800. In the linear range VBE = 0.6 -
0.7V.

3) The SATURATION region. In this region, changes in IB do not affect the IC current. In this
range VBE = 0.7 - 0.8V.
Another important characteristic is the output characteristic, which describes the relationship
between IC and VCE for a certain IB.

IC
1 2 IB = 50A

VCE sat
VCE

Figure 3-6

In the output characteristic, we can find two regions.

1) The SATURATION region. In this range VCE < 0.2V (VCE sat) and the relationship between
IC and IB is not I C  β  I B .

2) The LINEAR region. In this range, IC is constant and depends on IB only and not on VCE.

If we change IB, we will get another output characteristic. The different output characteristics may
be drawn on a graph to show the relationship between IC, IB and VCE as shown in figure 3-7:

IC

1 IB = 50A
IB = 40A
IB = 30A 2
IB = 20A
IB = 10A

3
VCE

Figure 3-7
We can see how IC depends on IB and on VCE. In this graph we can find three regions:

1) The SATURATION region. In this range VCE < 0.2V (VCE sat) and I C  β  I B .

2) The LINEAR region. In this range IC does not depend on VCE, but on IB according to the
formula I C  β  I B .

3) The CUTOFF region. In this range, IB and IC are very small.

Load line and operating point

The idea is to determine the transistor operating point in the linear region. In this way, small
changes in IB will create big changes in IC.

In the following circuits, we will show NPN and PNP circuits in parallel. The calculations are the
same. Later we will use the NPN only because it is more popular in circuits. We will also use the
silicon parameters.

The basic bias circuit is the following one:

IE RC
VBB VBE
E VCC IC
VCE Q
RB IB B C
VCC
C RB IB B
VCE
IC
E
VBB VBE
RC IE

Figure 3-10

For example, to find the operating point (usually called the Q point) means to calculate or to
measure IC and VCE.

IC and VCE are parameters in a circuit called the output circuit and its equation is:

VCC  I C  R C  VCE
 VCE  VCC  I C  R C
This is a line equation, which describes the dependency between IC and VCE. RC is called the circuit
load and that’s why this line is called the load line.

When IC = 0, then:

VCE = VCC
When VCE = 0, then:

VCC
IC 
RC

VCE
VCC

Figure 3-11
Procedure:
Step 1: Connect TPS-3321 trainer to the power supply and connect the power supply to the
Mains.

Step 2: Implement the following circuit on the main plug in board.

+12V

1K

IC

VC
10K VB

VE
IE
VS
100
Step 3: Turn ON the power supply.

Step 4: Change VBB according to the following table and register the measured values of VB,
VC and VCE.

No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
VS [V] 0 0.3 0.6 0.9 1.2 1.5 1.8 2.1 2.4 2.7 3 3.3 3.6
VB [V]
VC [V]
VE [V]
VBE [V]
VCE [V]
IE [mA]
IC [mA]
IB [mA]
hFE

Step 5: Calculate VCE for every column according to the following formula:

VCE  VC  VE
Step 6: Calculate VBE for every column according to the following formula:

VBE  VB  VE

Step 7: Calculate IE for every column according to the following formula:

VE
IE 
RE
Step 8: Calculate IC for every value of VC according to the following formula:

IC = (VCC – VC )/RC
Step 9: Calculate IB for every column according to the following formula:

VB
IB 
RB
Step 10: Calculate HFE = IC/IB for each column in the table.

Step 11: Plot your results on the following graph.

IC

0 IB
0

Step 12: Mark the three regions on the graph:

 The cutoff region.

 The linear region.
 The saturation region.
Step 13: Plot your results on the following graph.

IC

0
0 VCE

Step 14: Mark the three regions on the graph:

 The cutoff region.

 The linear region.
 The saturation region.

Step 15: Implement the following circuit on the main plug in board.

+12V

R1 91K 1K RC

VC
2N2222
VB
VE

R2 10K 100 RE

Step 16: Measure VB, VC and VCE.

Step 17: Calculate IC = (VCC - VC) / RC.

Step 18: Mark the operating point on the graph that you plotted in step 13.
Step 19: Implement the following circuit on the main plug in board.

+12V

R1 91K 1K RC

VC
VB 2N2222
VE

R2 10K

Step 20: Measure VB, VC and VCE.

Step 21: Calculate IC = (VCC - VC) / RC.

Step 22: Mark the operating point on the graph that you plotted in step 13.