Bipolar Junction Transistors
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 1 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Transistor Construction
There are two types of transistors:
• pnp
• npn
pnp
The terminals are labeled:
• E - Emitter
• B - Base
• C - Collector
npn
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 2 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Transistor Operation
With the external sources, VEE and VCC, connected as shown:
• The emitter-base junction is forward biased
• The base-collector junction is reverse biased
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 3 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Currents in a Transistor
Emitter current is the sum of the collector and
base currents:
IE IC IB
The collector current is comprised of two
currents:
IC IC I CO
majority minority
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 4 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Common-Base Configuration
The base is common to both input (emitter–base) and
output (collector–base) of the transistor.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 5 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Common-Base Amplifier
Input Characteristics
This curve shows the relationship
between of input current (IE) to input
voltage (VBE) for three output voltage
(VCB) levels.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 6 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Common-Base Amplifier
Output Characteristics
This graph demonstrates
the output current (IC) to
an output voltage (VCB) for
various levels of input
current (IE).
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 7 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Operating Regions
• Active – Operating range of the
amplifier.
• Cutoff – The amplifier is basically
off. There is voltage, but little
current.
• Saturation – The amplifier is full on.
There is current, but little voltage.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 8 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Approximations
Emitter and collector currents:
I I
C E
Base-emitter voltage:
VBE 0.7 V (for Silicon)
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 9 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Alpha (a)
Alpha (a) is the ratio of IC to IE :
IC
αdc
IE
Ideally: a = 1
In reality: a is between 0.9 and 0.998
Alpha (a) in the AC mode:
ΔI C
αac
ΔI E
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 10 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Transistor Amplification
Currents and Voltages: Voltage Gain:
V 200mV VL 50V
I E Ii i 10mA Av 250
Ri 20Ω Vi 200mV
I I
C E
I I 10 mA
L i
V I R (10 ma )(5 kΩ) 50 V
L L
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 11 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Common–Emitter Configuration
The emitter is common to both input
(base-emitter) and output (collector-
emitter).
The input is on the base and the
output is on the collector.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 12 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Common-Emitter Characteristics
Collector Characteristics Base Characteristics
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 13 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Common-Emitter Amplifier Currents
Ideal Currents
IE = IC + IB IC = a IE
Actual Currents
IC = a IE + ICBO where ICBO = minority collector current
ICBO is usually so small that it can be ignored, except in high
power transistors and in high temperature environments.
When IB = 0 A the transistor is in cutoff, but there is some minority
current flowing called ICEO.
I CBO
I CEO I B 0 μA
1 α
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 14 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Beta ()
represents the amplification factor of a transistor. ( is
sometimes referred to as hfe, a term used in transistor modeling
calculations)
In DC mode:
IC
βdc
IB
In AC mode:
IC
ac VCE constant
IB
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 15 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Beta ()
Determining from a Graph
(3.2 mA 2.2 mA)
β AC
(30 μA 20 μA)
1 mA
V 7.5
10 μA CE
100
2.7 mA
β DC V 7.5
25 A CE
108
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 16 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Beta ()
Relationship between amplification factors and a
β α
α β
β1 α 1
Relationship Between Currents
I C βI B I E (β 1)I B
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 17 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Common–Collector Configuration
The input is on the
base and the output is
on the emitter.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 18 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Common–Collector Configuration
The characteristics are
similar to those of the
common-emitter
configuration, except the
vertical axis is IE.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 19 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Operating Limits for Each Configuration
VCE is at maximum and IC is at
minimum (ICmax= ICEO) in the cutoff
region.
IC is at maximum and VCE is at
minimum (VCE max = VCEsat = VCEO) in
the saturation region.
The transistor operates in the active
region between saturation and cutoff.
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 20 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Power Dissipation
Common-base:
PCmax VCB I C
Common-emitter:
PCmax VCE I C
Common-collector:
PCmax VCE I E
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 21 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Transistor Specification Sheet
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 22 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Transistor Specification Sheet
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 23 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Transistor Testing
• Curve Tracer
Provides a graph of the characteristic curves.
• DMM
Some DMMs measure DC or hFE.
• Ohmmeter
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 24 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.
Transistor Terminal Identification
Electronic Devices and Circuit Theory, 10/e 25 Copyright ©2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.
Robert L. Boylestad and Louis Nashelsky Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All rights reserved.