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BJT
BJT
What is a Transistor?

A transistor is an electronic device composed of layers of a

semiconductor material which regulates current or voltage flow and acts
as a switch or gate for electronic circuit.

Applications
1. Switching
2. Amplification
3. Oscillating Circuits
4. Sensors
BJT

Transistor Types:

➢ BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor)

• Is a three-terminal electronic device constructed of doped
semiconductor material and may be used in amplifying or switching
applications
➢ FET (Field-effect Transistor)
• Relies on an electric field to control the shape and hence the
conductivity of a channel of one type of charge carrier in a
semiconductor material
BJT

BJT (Bipolar Junction Transistor)

• npn
• Base is energized to allow current flow
• pnp
• Base is connected to a lower potential to allow current flow
3 parameters of interest
• Current gain (β)
• Voltage drop from base to emitter when VBE=VFB
• Minimum voltage drop across the collector and emitter when
transistor is saturated
Emitter - Emits the majority charge carrier
Collector - Collects the majority charge carrier
Base - Controls the flow of the majority charge carrier
BJT

Transistor Currents

IB = Base Current
IC = Collector Current
IE = Emitter Current
ICBO = Leakage current due to
reverse bias base-collector
junction

IE = IB + IC + ICBO
BJT

Transistor Parameters

Alpha (α)
➢ It is the common base amplification factor. It is the ratio of the change in collector
current to the change in emitter current.

Beta (β)
➢ It is the common emitter forward current amplification factor. It is the ratio of change
in collector current to the change in base current.

Gamma (γ)
➢ It is the common collector forward current amplification factor. It is the ratio of
change in emitter current to the base current. This parameter is not common use.
BJT
𝛽 𝛼
𝛼= ;𝛽 = ;𝛾 = 1+𝛽
Transistor Parameters 1+𝛽 1−𝛼

Alpha (α)
𝑑𝐼𝐶 ∆𝐼𝐶 𝐼𝐶
𝛼= = = ; 𝐼𝐶 = 𝛼𝐼𝐸
𝑑𝐼𝐸 ∆𝐼𝐸 𝐼𝐸

Beta (β)
𝑑𝐼𝐶 ∆𝐼𝐶 𝐼𝐶
𝛽= = = ; 𝐼𝐶 = 𝛽𝐼𝐵
𝑑𝐼𝐵 ∆𝐼𝐵 𝐼𝐵

Gamma (γ)
𝑑𝐼𝐸 ∆𝐼𝐸 𝐼𝐸
𝛾= = = ; 𝐼𝐸 = 𝛾𝐼𝐵
𝑑𝐼𝐵 ∆𝐼𝐵 𝐼𝐵
Terminals and Operation

Three terminals:
• Base (B): very thin and lightly doped central region (little
recombination).
• Emitter (E) and collector (C) are two outer regions sandwiching B.

In terms of size: In terms of doping

1. Collector 1. Emitter
2. Emitter 2. Collector
3. Base 3. Base
Region of Operation
Voltage Relation NPN PNP
𝑉𝑒 < 𝑉𝑏 < 𝑉𝑐 Active Reverse
𝑉𝑒 < 𝑉𝑏 > 𝑉𝑐 Saturation Cutoff
𝑉𝑒 > 𝑉𝑏 < 𝑉𝑐 Cutoff Saturation
𝑉𝑒 > 𝑉𝑏 > 𝑉𝑐 Reverse Active

Saturation – The transistor acts like a short circuit

Cutoff – The transistor acts like an open circuit
Active – The current from the collector to the emitter is proportional to the current flowing
into the base by a certain amplification factor
Reverse – Similar to active, but the current is proportional to the base but flows in reverse
direction.
Region BE BC
Active FB RB
Saturation FB FB
Cut off RB RB
Reverse Active RB FB
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Circuit Configuration
BJT

Common Emitter
- Most Common Configuration
- Well suited for Voltage Amplification
- Inverses the Input Signal
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Common Collector
- “Emitter Follower”
- No Voltage Gain
- High Current Gain
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Common Base
- Least Popular
- No Current Gain
- Has decent Voltage Gain
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Power Dissipation – Output Voltage multiplied by the output current

𝐶𝐵: 𝑃𝐶𝑀𝐴𝑋 = 𝑉𝐶𝐵 𝐼𝐶

𝐶𝐸: 𝑃𝐶𝑀𝐴𝑋 = 𝑉𝐶𝐸 𝐼𝐶
𝐶𝐶: 𝑃𝐶𝑀𝐴𝑋 = 𝑉𝐶𝐸 𝐼𝐸
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Comparison of Amplifier Configuration

Characteristic Common Emitter Common Collector Common Base

Voltage Gain Moderate Low High
Current Gain Moderate High Low
Power Gain High Moderate Moderate
Input Impedance Moderate High Low
Output Impedance Moderate Low High
Phase Inversion 180 out of phase None None
Input Signal B B E
Output Signal C E C
Application Universal Isolation RF Amplifier
How much is the base-to-emitter voltage of a transistor in the "on" state?

A. 0V
B. 0.7V
C. 0.7 mV
D. undefined
How many layers of material does a transistor have?

A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
For what kind of amplifications can the active region of the common-emitter configuration be used?

A. Voltage
B. Current
C. Power
D. All of the above
For what kind of amplifications can the active region of the common-emitter configuration be used?

A. Voltage
B. Current
C. Power
D. All of the above
In the active region, while the collector-base junction is ________-biased, the base-emitter is ________-
biased.

A. forward, forward
B. forward, reverse
C. reverse, forward
D. reverse, reverse
In which region are both the collector-base and base-emitter junctions forward-biased?

A. Active
B. Cutoff
C. Saturation.
D. All of the above
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Amplifiers
– Are classified into classes according to their construction and operating characteristics
– Amplifier classes represents the amount of the output signal which varies within the
amplifier circuit.

Q-Point
- Is a line drawn joining the saturation and cutoff points, such a line can be called as
Load Line.
- This line when drawn over the output characteristic curve makes contact at a point
called a Operating Point
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Class A Amplifier
- Output Stage is Biased “ON” all the time
- The zero-signal idle current in the output stage must be equal to or greater than the
maximum load current required to produce the largest output signal
- Operates at the linear portion of its characteristic curve
- The single output device conducts a full 360 of output waveform
- Efficiency: 25% / 50%
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Class B Amplifier
- The transistor conduct only half of the time, either on positive or negative half cycle of the input
signal.
- Each transistor only conducts 180 deg of the output waveform in strict time alteration
- The two halves of the waveform are combined to produce a full linear output waveform
- Known as “Push-Pull” Amplifier
- Problem with Class B amplifier design, it can create distortion at zero crossing point of the waveform
due to transistors dead branch of input base voltages from -0.7V to +0.7V
- Efficiency: 78.5%
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Class AB Amplifier
- A combination of the Class A and the Class B type amplifiers
- Advantage of this is the small bias voltage provided by series diode or resistor is that the crossover
distortion created by the Class B amplifier is over come without the inefficiency of the Class A
amplifier
- Amplifiers conducts between 180 to 360 deg of the output waveform
- Efficiency: < 78.5%
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Class C Amplifier
- Has the greatest efficiency but the poorest linearity of the classes of amplifiers
- It is heavily biased so that the output current is zero for more than one-half of the cycle with the
transistor idling at its cutoff point
- The conduction angle is significantly less than 180, generally near 90 degrees
- Efficiency: > 90%
DISCUSSIONS BJT

Amplifier Class Summary

- By setting the position of the Q-point at half-way on the load of the amplifiers
characteristic curve, the amplifier will operate as a class A amplifier, by moving the Q-
point lower down the load line changes the amplifier into class AB, B or C amplifiers