Introduction to Electronics

Engineering

UNIT – II
Transistors
 Chapter Outline

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 Transistor
 Transistor→ Transfer of Resistance
 Transistor is a 3 terminal semiconductor device, which can
be used to control the flow of electric current. The 3
terminals are base, emitter & collector.
 There are two basic types
❖ npn transistor
❖ pnp transistor

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Various types of transistors:
➢ Bipolar junction transistor
➢ Unipolar junction transistor
➢ Field-effect transistor
➢ Avalanche transistor
➢ Insulated-gate bipolar transistor
➢ Phototransistor
➢ Schottky transistor

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 Construction of npn and pnp BJT
Transistors
BJT:
 Bipolar junction transistor is a bidirectional device that uses both
electrons and holes as charge carriers.
 BJT is a current controlled device.
Construction:
BJT is formed by the combination of two back-back PN-junction
diodes.

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 a)PNP construction
 In PNP BJT, the N-type material is sandwiched between two P-type
material.
 The cathode of two diode are connected at a common point is known as base
while the anodes of the diodes on the opposite sides are known as collector
and emitter.
 The emitter-base junction is forward biased while collector-base junction is
reverse biased. Hence in PNP current flows from emitter to collector.

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 a)NPN construction
 In NPN BJT, the P-type material is sandwiched between two N-type
material.
 The anode of two diode are connected at a common point is known as
base while the cathodes of the diodes on the opposite sides are known
as collector and emitter.
 The emitter-base junction is reverse biased while collector-base
junction is forward biased. Hence in PNP current flows from collector
to emitter.

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  In either NPN or PNP, the emitter I heavily dopped, base is
lightly dopped and the collector is moderately doped.

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 TRANSISTOR OPERATION
 Biasing of a transistor

Forward and reverse biased junction of a pnp transistor

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 • One p-n junction of a transistor is reverse biased, while the other is forward
 biased.
• When FB: The depletion region has been reduced in width due to the applied
bias, resulting in a heavy flow of majority carriers from the p- to the n-type
material
• When RB: the flow of majority carriers is zero, resulting in only a minority-
carrier flow
• the sandwiched n-type material is very thin and has a low conductivity, a very
small number of these carriers will take this path of high resistance to the base
terminal.
• The magnitude of the base current is typically on the order of microamperes as
compared to milliamperes for the emitter and collector currents.
• The larger number of these majority carriers will diffuse across the reverse-
biased junction into the p-type material connected to the collector terminal
• Minority carriers in the depletion region will cross the reverse-biased junction of
a diode causing minority current flow.

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• Applying Kirchhoff’s current law to the transistor

• Applying Kirchhoff’s current law to the transistor

• The emitter current is the sum of the collector and base currents.
• Collector current is comprised of two components—the majority and minority
carriers

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 Common Base Configuration

pnp transistor npn transistor

• The arrow in the graphic symbol defines the direction of emitter current
(conventional flow) through the device.

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 Input characteristics for a common
base transistor amplifier

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 • Input or driving point characteristics
• Input characteristics will relate an input current (IE) to an input voltage
 (VBE) for various levels of output voltage (VCB).
• For fixed values of collector voltage (VCB), as the base-to-emitter voltage
increases, the emitter current increases in a manner that closely
resembles the diode characteristics

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 Output characteristics for a common
base transistor amplifier

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 • Three basic regions of interest: the active, cut off, and saturation regions.
• In the active region the collector-base junction is reverse-biased, while the
base-emitter junction is forward-biased.
• In the saturation region both the collector-base and base-emitter
 junctions are forward-biased
• In the cutoff region both the collector-base and base-emitter junctions are
reverse-biased.
• At higher temperatures the effect of ICBO may become an important factor
since it increases rapidly with temperature.
• negligible effect of VCB on the collector current for the active region
• IE and IC in the active region is given by

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 Alpha ( ): Common Base Current Gain
• In the dc mode the levels of IC and IE due to the majority carriers are
 related by a quantity called alpha

• The level of alpha typically extends from 0.90 to 0.998

• ICBO (Collector to base current when emitter open)

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 Common Emitter Configuration

(a) npn transistor (b) pnp transistor

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 Input Characteristics for CE
configuration
• The input characteristics are a plot of the input current
IB verses the input voltage VBE for a range of values of
output voltage VCE.

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 Output characteristics of CE
configuration
• The output characteristics are a plot of the output current (IC)
versus output voltage (VCE) for a range of values of input
current (IB).

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  Leakage Current in CE configuration
• For linear (least distortion) amplification purposes, cutoff for the common
emitter configuration will be defined by IC = ICEO

• Hence, 𝐼𝐶 = 𝛽𝐼𝐵 + (𝛽 + 1)𝐼𝐶𝐵𝑂

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 Beta ( ): Common Emitter Current Gain
• In the dc mode the levels of IC and IB are related by a quantity called beta

• the level 𝛽 of typically ranges from about 50 to over 400

• is usually included as hFE with the h derived from an ac hybrid
equivalent circuit [large signal (dc) forward current gain]

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 Relation between Alpha ( ) and
Beta ( )

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 Transistor as switch
 A transistor can be used as a solid-state switch.
 If the transistor is operated in saturation region →closed switch
cut-off region→ open switch
a)Cut-off mode(Open switch):

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 In the cut-off region, the operating conditions of transistor are

b)Saturation mode(closed switch):

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  In the saturation region, the operating conditions of transistor are

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 Transistor amplification action
 A transistor acts as an amplifier by raising the strength of a weak
signal.

 The DC bias voltage applied to the emitter base junction, makes it

remain in forward biased condition.
 This forward bias is maintained regardless of the polarity of the signal.
 The low resistance in input circuit, lets any small change in input
signal to result in an appreciable change in the output.

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  The emitter current caused by the input signal contributes the
collector current, which when flows through the load resistor RL,
results in a large voltage drop across it.
 Thus, a small input voltage results in a large output voltage, which
shows that the transistor works as an amplifier.
Example
 Let there be a change of 0.1v in the input voltage being applied,
which further produces a change of 1mA in the emitter current. This
emitter current will obviously produce a change in collector current,
which would also be 1mA.
 A load resistance of 5kΩ placed in the collector would produce a
voltage of
 5 kΩ × 1 mA = 5V
 Hence it is observed that a change of 0.1v in the input gives a
change of 5v in the output, which means the voltage level of the
signal is amplified.

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 Problem solving
Q1)If α for a transistor is 0.99, the base current is 100uA,estimate
the collector current.
Solution
Wkt,

=0.99/1-0.99=99
therefore Ic=99x100x10-6
=9.9mA

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 Q2)If a transistor collector current ia 1mA and base current is
10uA, determine its α and β.
Solution:
WKT,

=100

=0.99

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 Q3)A transistor amplifier connected in CE mode has β =100 &
IB=50uA. Compute the values of IC,IE & α.
Solution:

IC= β IB =5mA
IE=IC+IB=5.05mA
=0.99

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Q4) In a common base connection, current amplification factor is 0.9. If
the emitter current is 1mA, determine the value of base current.
Solution:

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 Q5)In a common base connection, IC = 0.95 mA and IB =
0.05 mA. Find the value of α.
Solution :

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 Transistor Biasing
Biasing:
 The dc voltages are applied to the transistor in order to turn it on so that it
 can amplify the ac signal.
 Application: Amplification (raise the strength or amplitude of the weak
signal without any change in its original shape)
• For proper amplification two necessary criteria are
 1) The transistor must operate in the active region
• EB junction is FB (forward-bias voltage of about 0.6 to 0.7 V )and CB
junction is RB (reverse-bias voltage being any value within the maximum
limits of the device)
• Amplification is a linear process and the transistor operates linearly only in
the active region

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 2) Should have a fixed dc collector current at a fixed dc collector voltage
• Fixed values of dc collector current and dc collector voltage are
expressed
 by a term called operating point or quiescent point or Q-point.
• The operating point defines where the transistor will operate on
its characteristic's curves under dc conditions
• For linear (minimum distortion) amplification, the dc operating point
should not be too close to the maximum power, voltage, or current
rating and should avoid the regions of saturation and cut-off.

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 Various operating points within the limits of
operation of a transistor

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 Types of biasing circuits
1) Fixed bias circuit
2) Emitter bias circuit
3) Collector to base bias circuit
4) Voltage divider bias circuit

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 Fixed bias circuit

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 • For dc analysis, the capacitor is open circuit (As f= 0, XC = ∞)
Base-Emitter Loop
• To find IB: Applying Kirchhoff’s voltage equation to the base-emitter circuit
loop

• Since the supply voltage VCC and the base-emitter voltage VBE are
constants, the selection of a base resistor, RB, sets the level of base current
(IB)for the operating point.

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 Collector-Emitter Loop
• To find VCE: Applying Kirchhoff’s voltage equation to the collector-emitter
 circuit loop

• Also, IC is given by
• Since the base current is controlled by the level of RB and IC is related to IB
by a constant, the magnitude of IC is not a function of the resistance RC.
• Change in RC will not affect the level of IB or IC as long as we remain in the
active region of the device.

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 Emitter bias circuit

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  In the emitter bias circuit, the fixed bias circuit is modified to include a small
 resistance RE in the emitter.
Base-Emitter Loop
• Applying Kirchhoff’s voltage equation to the base-emitter circuit loop

• Also,
• Substituting for IE,

Collector-Emitter Loop
• Applying Kirchhoff's voltage equation to the collector-emitter circuit loop

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 • Substituting IE ≅ IC and grouping terms

• The addition of the emitter resistor to the dc bias of the BJT provides
improved stability
• The dc bias currents and voltages remain closer to where they were set by
the circuit when outside conditions, such as temperature, and transistor
𝛽, change.

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 Voltage divider bias circuit
i)Exact Analysis:
Thévenin equivalent network

Calculating current from the Thevenin equivalent circuit of

input side, we get

Where,

Also,
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 ii) Approximate Analysis:

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 Problem solving
Q1) Determine the following for the fixed-bias configuration of
Fig. 4.7 .

46 Introduction to Electronics Engineering 3/31/2024

 Q2) For the emitter-bias network of Fig. 4.23 , determine:

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 Q3) Determine the dc bias voltage V CE and the current I C for the
voltage-divider configuration of Fig. 4.35. using exact and
approximate method and compare the results.
Solution:
i) Exact method

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 ii)Approximate method:

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 MOSFET
 Metal Oxide Silicon Field Effect Transistors commonly known as MOSFETs are electronic
devices used to switch or amplify voltages in circuits. It is a voltage-controlled device and is
constructed by three terminals. The terminals of MOSFET are named as follows:
➢ Source
➢ Gate
➢ Drain
➢ Body
 The body (B) is frequently connected to the source terminal, reducing the terminals to three.
 It is used for switching or amplifying signals. The ability to change conductivity with the
amount of applied voltage can be used for amplifying or switching electronic signals.

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 Construction of n-channel depletion
MOSFET
• A slab of p -type material is formed from a
silicon base and is referred to as the substrate.
The source and drain terminals are connected
through metallic contacts to n -doped regions
linked by an n -channel.
• The gate is also connected to a metal contact
surface but remains insulated from the n -
channel by a very thin silicon dioxide (SiO 2 )
layer.

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 Basic Operation and Characteristics

• On applying positive VDS, the electrons in the N

channel will move towards the positive drain
terminal, and the drain current will start flowing
from drain to source.
• On increasing VDS further, keeping VGS 0, a time
will come where ID will become constant, and that
value of drain current is called saturation current.
• We can conclude from this discussion that
when VGS = 0 and VDS > 0, current ID flows from
drain to source, and on increasing VDS further, ID =
IS = IDSS, as shown in the figure below.

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 • Apply VGS < 0. Holes from the P-type substrate
will attract towards the negative gate terminal
and recombine with electrons in the N channel,
forming electron-hole pairs.
• On increasing negative potential at the gate,
more electron-hole combinations will occur,
decreasing the number of free electrons in the N
channel.
• As a result, ID decreases. A time will come when
the drain current will become zero.
• The negative gate voltage at which the drain
current is zero is called pinch-off voltage or VP.
• We can conclude from this discussion at pinch-
off, VGS = VP, VDS > 0, and ID = 0.

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 Characteristics

 The graph shows that the current ID will flow for both positive and negative values of VGS.
 We can see from the graph that the drain current is less than the saturation current for the
negative value of gate voltage, whereas for the positive value of gate voltage, the drain
current exceeds the saturation current.
 VGS = VP is also represented in this graph for which drain current is zero irrespective of
drain to source voltage.

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