Practical : NPN/PNP Transistor

By

Dr. Vijendra Lingwal

Associate Professor
Department of Physics
Pt. L.M.S. Government PG College
Rishikesh, Dehradun
 Valence Core (+4) (nucleus and all
the orbiting
electron
electrons except
the valence
electrons)

Covalent
bond

Simplified representation of the crystalline structure of a

intrinsic semiconductor (Ge) [impurity content is less than one part
impurity in 100 million parts of semiconductor] at absolute zero.

 At absolute zero, all the valence electrons are tightly bound to

the parent atoms. No free electrons are available for electrical
conduction. The semiconductor therefore behaves as a perfect
insulator at absolute zero.
But what happens at room temperature ?

For silicon,
Eg = 1.12 eV

For germanium
Eg = 0.72 eV

Crystal structure Energy-band diagram

Generation of electron-hole par in an intrinsic semiconductor

 Free electrons and holes are always generated in pairs, i.e.,

concentration of free electrons and holes will always be equal in
an intrinsic semiconductor – Thermal Generation
Extrinsic semiconductor- The process of deliberately adding
impurities (1 atom per 108 semiconductor atom) to a semiconductor material is
called doping. A doped semiconductor is called extrinsic semiconductor.

N-Type semiconductor P-Type semiconductor

For N- Type semiconductor: Pentavalent impurities - Arsenic, Antimony,

phosphorus (donor impurities)
For P- Type semiconductor: Trivalent impurities – Gallium, Indium, boron
(acceptor impurities)
 Representation
of N-type and
P-type
semiconductor

PN-junction when just formed

 Space charge
region or
depletion region
is formed in the
vicinity of the
junction. Barrier
potential is about
0.7 V for Si and
0.3 V for Ge.

PN-junction showing forward bias PN-junction showing reverse bias

Transistor- Consist of two PN-junctions formed by sandwiching either P-
type or N-type semiconductor between a pair of opposite types.

NPN –Transistor Symbol

PNP –Transistor Symbol

A transistor has two PN-junctions. One junction is between the
emitter and the base (emitter-base junction or simply emitter
junction). The other junction is between the base and the collector
(collector-base or simply collector junction).

There are four possible ways of biasing these two junctions

Condition Emitter Collector Region of

junction junction operation
I FR Forward-biased Reverse-biased Active

II FF Forward-biased Forward-biased Saturation

III RR Reverse-biased Reverse-biased Cutoff

IV RF Reverse-biased Forward-biased Inverted

It is condition I (FR), where emitter junction is forward-biased and

collector junction is reversed-biased, which is of our interest.
Biasing an NPN transistor for active operation:

Close the switch S1

and keep switch S2
open, the emitter
junction will be
forward-biased- a
large current flows.
99% of the total
current is carried
by the electrons.
IE = IB and IC = 0
 Next, we close the
switch S2 and keep the
switch S1 open, the
collector junction is
reverse-biased- very
small current flows. The
reverse leakage current
is due to the movement
of minority carriers.
IC = IB and IE = 0

These carriers are accelerated by the potential barrier. This leakage current
is very much temperature dependent. The small collector current is called the
collector leakage current (ICBO). The subscript CBO in this symbol signifies
that it is a current between Collector and Base, when the third terminal (i.e.,
emitter) is Open.

What should we expect if both switches S1 and S2 are closed?

 The emitter current IE is large, as expected, but IB turns out to be very small
current, and IC turns out to be a large current.
 Electrons 1, 2, 3 and 4 crossing from emitter to base, and hole 7 from the
base to the emitter, the total sum of these charge-carrier movements
constitutes the emitter current IE.
 Only a portion of this current is due to the movement of electrons 1, 2, 3 and
4. These are the electrons injected by the emitter into the base.
 The ratio of the electron current to the total emitter current is known as
emitter injection ratio, or the emitter efficiency (), typically equals to 0.995.
 Since base is made very narrow and is very lightly doped, most of the
minority carriers (electrons) travelling from the emitter end of the base
region to its collector end do not recombine with holes in this journey.
 Only a few electrons (like 3) may recombine with holes (like 6). The ratio of
the number of electrons arriving at collector to the number of emitted
electrons is known as the base transportation factor (’), typically equals to
0.995.
 Movement of hole 8, from the collector region and electron 5 from the base
region constitute leakage current, ICBO.
 Movement of electron 3 and hole 7 constitute a part of emitter current IE.
This current is not equal to ICBO.
 Actually, the number of electrons (like 3) and hole (like 7) crossing the
emitter base junction is much more than the number of electrons (like 5)
and holes (like 8) crossing the collector-base junction. The difference of these
two currents in the base region makes the base current IB.
 IC is less than the IE. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, a part of the IE
consists of holes that do not contribute to the IC. Secondly, not all the
electrons injected into the base are successful in reaching the collector.
 The ratio of the IC to the IE is called dc alpha (dc = 0.99) of the transistor.
Relationship between different transistor currents

IE  IC  IB
IC
I C  α dc I E  I CO where α dc 
IE
A transistor is a three terminal device. If one of the terminals is considered
common to input and output, a transistor becomes a two-port device.

Common-Collector (CC)
configuration

Common-Base (CB)
configuration
Common-Emitter (CE)
configuration
Objective: To draw characteristics of a PNP/NPN transistor in common
base (CB) configuration and determine dynamic input resistance,
dynamic output resistance and current gain.
Apparatus required: PNP transistor, batteries (1V & 10V), voltmeters (0-
1V & 0-10V), ammeters (0-10 mA), rheostats.
Theory: (As explained earlier)
Input Characteristics: The common-base input characteristics
are plotted between emitter current iE and the emitter-base
voltage vEB, for different values of collector-base voltage vCB.
Output Characteristics: The common-base output characteristics
are plotted between collector current iC and the collector-base
voltage vCB, with the emitter current iE kept constant.
Δv EB
Dynamic input resistance : ri 
Δi E VCB  constant

ΔvCB
Dynamic output resistance : ro 
Δi C I E  constant
IC
DC current gain : α dc 
IE
 Circuit
diagram
for PNP
transistor

Circuit
diagram
for NPN
transistor
Observation table for input characteristics of PNP/NPN transistor:
S. VCB = 0V VCB = -10V
No. VEB IE VEB IE
1
2
3
4
-
-

Observation table for output characteristics of PNP/NPN transistor:

S. IE = 0.5 mA IE = 1 mA IE = 1.5 mA
N
o. VCB IC VCB IC VCB IC
1
2
3
4
-
-
Input characteristics of PNP transistor:

Dynamic input
resistance is given
by –
ΔvEB
ri 
Δi E VCB constant

ri is very low (20 to

100)

The input characteristics of NPN transistor are similar to those of PNP,

differing only in that both iE and vEB would be negative and VCB would be
positive.
Output characteristics of PNP transistor:

Dynamic output
resistance is given
by –
ΔvCB
ro 
ΔiC I E  constant

ro is very high (1 M)

DC current gain is
given by –
IC
α dc 
IE
 = 0.98 (approx.)
Objective: To draw characteristics of a PNP/NPN transistor in common
emitter (CE) configuration and determine dynamic input
resistance, dynamic output resistance and current gain.
Apparatus required: PNP transistor, batteries (1V & 10V), voltmeters
(0-1V & 0-10V), ammeters (0-500 A & 0-10mA ), rheostats.
Theory: (As explained earlier)
Input Characteristics: The common-emitter input characteristics
are plotted between base current iB and the base-emitter voltage
vBE, for different values of collector-emitter voltage vCE.
Output Characteristics: The common-emitter output characteristics
are plotted between collector current iC and the collector-emitter
voltage vCE, with the base current iB kept constant.
Δv BE
Dynamic input resistance : ri 
Δi B VCE  constant

ΔvCE
Dynamic output resistance : ro 
Δi C I B  constant
IC
DC current gain : β dc 
IB
 Circuit diagram
for PNP
transistor

Circuit diagram
for NPN
transistor
Observation table for input characteristics of PNP/NPN transistor:
S. VCE = -2V VCE = -6V VCE = -10V
No. VBE IB VBE IB VBE IB
1
2
3
4
-
-

Observation table for output characteristics of PNP/NPN transistor:

S. IB = 10 A IB = 20 A IB = 30 A
No. VCE IC VCE IC VCE IC
1
2
3
4
-
-
Input characteristics of PNP transistor:

Dynamic input resistance

is given by –
ΔvBE
ri 
Δi B VCE  constant

ri is typically 1 k but
can range from 800  to
3 k.
 Output
characteristics of
PNP transistor:

Dynamic output
resistance is given
by –
ΔvCE
ro 
ΔiC I B  constant DC current gain IC
ro is high (10 k) is given by – β dc 
 = 100 (approx.) IB
 Voltage source

Variable voltage
Rheostat