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FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR

. BJT FET
It is current controlled device. It is voltage controlled voltage controlled
device.
It is bipolar. ( Current due to both holes and It is Unipolar.(Current only due to Majority
electrons) Carriers).
It consumes more power. It consumes less power.
It takes more space for fabrication. It takes less space for fabrication.
Thermal runaway is possible. Thermal runaway is not possible.
More Noisy Less Noisy

FETs are of two types: the junction field-effect transistor (JFET) and the metal-oxide-
semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). The MOSFET category is further broken down
into depletion and enhancement types, which are both described.

JFET (JUNCTION FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR):

The JFET can be divided into two categories:
1. N channel JFET
2. P channel JFET

The basic construction of N channel JFET is as shown. It consists of an N type semiconductor bar
with two P type heavily doped regions diffused on opposite sides of its middle part. Both the P
regions are connected internally and a single wire is taken out in the form of a terminal called the
gate (G). The P type regions form two PN junctions. The space between the junctions is known as
channel. The electrical connections or ohmic contacts are made to both ends of N type bar and
taken out in the form of two terminals called drain (D) and source (S). Now Source is the
terminal through which electrons enter the semiconductor and drain is a terminal through which
the electrons leave the semiconductor.

N CHANNEL JFET P CHANNEL JFET

The P channel JFET is also shown above. Its construction is similar to N channel JFET, except
that it consists of a P channel and N type gates. The current carriers in P channel JFET are the
holes, which flow through the P type channel.

UNBIASED JFET:
When no battery is connected to terminals of JFET, the JFET are known as unbiased JFET. This
results in the depletion region at each junction that resembles the same region of a diode under no
bias condition. As the P region in N channel JFET are heavily doped, the width of depletion layer
in P region will be very narrow and can be ignored. Similarly can be said for P channel JFET.
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N CHANNEL JFET P CHANNEL JFET

The batteries between Gate and Source are to be connected to in a manner in such that PN
junctions are reverse biased. The battery between source and drain is connected in such a manner
such that source should supply charge carriers and the charge carrier should leave from drain.
That means in case of N channel JFET, source is connected to negative end of supply and drain is
connected to positive end of supply. Reverse is the case for P channel JFET.

Working of N channel JFET with VGS = 0 v and VDS some positive supply:
In Fig A, a positive voltage VDS has been applied between source and drain and the gate has been
connected directly to the source to establish the condition VGS = 0 V. . The instant the voltage
VDS = VDD is applied, the electrons will be attracted to the drain terminal, establishing the
conventional current ID with the given direction. The path of charge flow clearly reveals that the
drain and source currents are equivalent (ID = IS).

FIGURE –A
1. Initially as the voltage VDS is increased from 0 to a few volts, the current will increase as
determined by Ohm’s law as more number of electrons will attracted towards drain.

2. If we further increase the VDS the PN Junction will be reverse biased and depletion layer
will increase which will reduce the width of channel and hence resistance in the channel
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increases and the current rises slowly. The depletion layer is wide at drain end as it is
more reverse biased.

3. As we further increase VDS, the depletion will get wide and at a point known as pinch off
voltage, the depletion layer will stop increasing and we will get a constant current.

4. If we further increase VDS, the breakdown will occur and current will rise sharply.

When VGS = - VE

1. When we apply some negative voltage at gate it will also reverse bias the PN junction
and will increase the depletion layer. Now as VGS is also increasing the depletion layer so
the pinch off will occur at lesser value of VDS and hence reducing the potential difference
between drain and source causing the drain current to decrease.

2. If we make VGS more negative, the pinch off will occur at even lesser value of VDS
causing current to decrease.

3. If we make VGS =VP, the drain current will become zero.

Drain or output Characteristics: It is curve drawn between ID and VDS when VGS is constant.
The working of JFET can be easily understood with the help of it.

DRAIN OR OUTPUT CHARATERISTICS FOR N CHANNEL JFET

Why depletion layer is wider at drain end:

Assuming the uniform resistance of N channel, the resistance of the channel can be
shown as in the diagram. The current ID will flow through this resistance cause voltage
drop across them. The result is that the upper region near drain end will be reverse biased
by more voltage while the lower region near the source end will be reverse biased by
lesser voltage. Hence Depletion region is wider near the drain End.

Voltage Variable Resistor:

In ohmic region we can use our JFET as a voltage variable resistor whose value is controlled by
gate to source voltage VGS . It is given by
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Where ro is the resistance with VGS = 0 V and rd the resistance at a particular level of VGS. We can
see that by changing the value of VGS we can change the value of resistance rd. Hence rd can be
treated as voltage variable resistor.

SHOCKLEY’S EQUATION:

TRANSFER OR TRANSCONDUCTANCE CHARACTERISTICS:

It is the graph drawn between ID and VGS for constant VDS. This can be plotted by using
Shockley’s equation. So at VGS = 0 V we get ID = IDSS . and at VGS = VP , ID = 0, as this equation
is of the form x2 = 4ay . Its shape will be as given below.

Transfer or Transconductance characteristics for N channel JFET

P CHANNEL JFET:
The p-channel JFET is constructed in exactly the same manner as the n-channel device
but with a reversal of the p- and n-type materials .
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The defined current directions are reversed, as are the actual polarities for the voltages VGS and
VDS. For the p-channel device, the channel will be constricted by increasing positive voltages
from gate to source and the negative voltages for VDS on the characteristics. Do not let the minus
signs for VDS confuse you. They simply indicate that the source is at a higher potential than the
drain.

DRAIN/ OUTPUT CHARACTERISTICS FOR P CHANNEL JFET

Note at high levels of VDS that the curves suddenly rise to levels that seem unbounded.
The vertical rise is an indication that breakdown has occurred and the current through the channel
.
TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS FOR P CHANNEL JFET:
The graph will be almost same as for except the VGS will become positive now.

SYMBOL FOR JFET:

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MOSFET (METAL OXIDE SEMICONDUCTOR FIELD EFFECT TRANSISTOR):

MOSFETs are further broken down into depletion type and Enhancement MOSFET.

DEPLETION-TYPE MOSFET(ALWAYS ON MOSFET):

The basic construction of the n-channel depletion-type MOSFET is provided in [Link]. A slab
of p-type material is formed from a silicon base and is referred to as the substrate. It is the
foundation upon which the device will be constructed. In some cases the substrate is internally
connected to the source terminal. The source and drain terminals are connected through metallic
contacts to n-doped regions linked by an n-channel as shown in the figure. The gate is also
connected to a metal contact surface but remains insulated from the n-channel by a very thin
silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer.
The insulating layer between the gate and channel has resulted in another name for the device:
insulated gate FET or IGFET.

BASIC OPERATION AND CHARACTERISTICS

The working of N channel Depletion MOSFET is very much similar to N channel JFET
when VGS =0V and VGS = -VE.

When VGS =0.

The gate-to-source voltage is set to zero volts by the direct connection from one terminal to the
other, and a voltage VDS is applied across the drain-to-source terminals. The positive terminal of
drain attracts the electrons and a current flows similar that of JFET.

When VGS =-VE

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If we set VGS at a negative voltage such as -1 V. The negative potential at the gate will tend to
pressure electrons toward the p-type substrate (like charges repel) and attract holes from the p-
type substrate (opposite charges attract) .Depending on the magnitude of the negative bias
established by VGS, a level of recombination between electrons and holes will occur that will
reduce the number of free electrons in the n-channel available for conduction. The more negative
the bias, the higher the rate of recombination. The resulting level of drain current is therefore
reduced with increasing negative bias for VGS for VGS = -1 V, -2 V, and so [Link] resulting
levels of drain current and the plotting of the transfer curve proceeds exactly as described for the
JFET.
Ohmic
Region Saturation Region

Enhancement
Mode

Depletion
Mode

(A) TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS (B) DRAIN CHARACTERISTICS

When VGS = + VE
For positive values of VGS, the positive gate will draw additional electrons (free carriers) from the
p-type substrate. So more number of free electrons will be present in the channel hence pinch off
will occur at higher value of VDS. Hence current will be increased.

It is particularly interesting and helpful that Shockley’s equation will continue to

be applicable for the depletion-type MOSFET.

Remember the transfer characteristics is given by Shockley’s equation similar to JFET except it is
extending in region where VGS is positive as well and current will be now more than IDSS.

P-CHANNEL DEPLETION-TYPE MOSFET

The construction of a p-channel depletion-type MOSFET is exactly the reverse of that
N channel. That is, there is now an n-type substrate and a p-type channel, as shown in Fig.. The
terminals remain as identified, but all the voltage polarities and the current directions are
reversed, as shown in the same figure. The drain characteristics would appear exactly as in N
CHANNEL but with VDS having negative values. and VGS having the opposite polarities as shown
in Fig. The reversal in VGS will result in a mirror image (about the ID axis) for the transfer
characteristics . Shockley’s equation is still applicable and requires simply placing the correct
sign for both VGS and VP in the equation.
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TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS

DRAIN CHARACTERISTICS

SYMBOLS:
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ENHANCEMENT MOSFET (NORMALLY OFF MOSFET)

The main difference between Depletion and Enhancement MOSFET is the absence of
channel between drain and source in enhancement MOSFET.

BASIC CONSTRUCTION OF N CHANNEL E - MOSFET:

BASIC OPERATION AND CHARACTERISTICS:

When VGS =0V:

If VGS is set at 0 V and a voltage applied between the drain and source of the device, the absence
of an n-channel will result in a current of effectively zero amperes.
When VGS = -VE
When VGS is set to negative value and a voltage is applied between a drain and source, the
current will again zero because negative gate will attract holes instead of electrons and the N
channel will not be formed.
When VGS = +VE
When VGS is set to some positive voltage and a voltage is applied between drain and source, the
positive potential at the gate will attract the electrons in the p-substrate and electrons accumulate
in the region near the surface of the SiO2 layer.
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As VGS increases in magnitude, the concentration of electrons near the SiO2 surface increases
and reach a level at which in this region the concentration of electrons becomes greater than
concentration of holes and this region behaves like a N type a semiconductor. This created N type
region is known as channel or inversion layer. The level of VGS that results in the formation of
inversion layer or significant increase in drain current is called the threshold voltage and is
given the symbol VT.

As VGS is increased beyond the threshold level, the density of free carriers in the induced channel
will increase, resulting in an increased level of drain current. However, if we hold VGS constant
and increase the level of VDS, the drain current will increase following ohms law and eventually
reach a saturation level as occurred for the JFET and depletion-type MOSFET.

DRAIN OR OUTPUT CHARACTERISTICS:

For values of VGS less than the threshold level, the drain current of an enhancement-
type MOSFET is 0 mA.
Figure clearly reveals that as the level of VGS increased from VT to 8 V, the resulting saturation
level for ID also increased from a level of 0 to 10 mA. In addition, it is quite noticeable that the
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spacing between the levels of VGS increased as the magnitude of VGS increased, resulting in ever-
increasing increments in drain current.
For levels of VGS >VT, the drain current is related to the applied gate-to-source voltage by the
following nonlinear relationship:

Where
where ID(on) and VGS(on) are the values for each at a particular point on the characteristics of the
device
TRANSFER CHARCTERISTICS:
It is the graph drawn between ID and VGS for constant VDS.

Which clearly shows that drain current is 0 till we reach at VGS = VT. Then it increases by
following the equation for drain current

P-CHANNEL ENHANCEMENT-TYPE MOSFET

The construction of a p-channel enhancement-type MOSFET is exactly the reverse of n-channel.
That is, there is now an n-type substrate and p-doped regions under the drain and source
connections. The terminals remain as identified, but all the voltage polarities and the current
directions are reversed. The drain characteristics will appear as shown, with increasing levels of
current resulting from increasingly negative values of VGS. The transfer characteristics will be the
mirror image (about the ID axis) of the transfer curve of that of N channel, with ID increasing with
increasingly negative values of VGS beyond VT.
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P Channel E- MOSFET Transfer Characteristics Drain characteristics

SYMBOL OF E – MOSFET: