Subject Code: 3110016

Subject Name: BASIC ELECTRONICS

2. Bipolar junction transistors and its biasing

• BJT operation
• BJT voltages and currents,
• CE, CB and CC characteristics,
• DC load line and bias point,
• base bias,
• emitter feedback bias,
• collector feedback bias,
• voltage divider bias,
• Thermal stability,
• biasing BJT switching circuits,
• transistor power dissipation and switching time,
• Testing of bipolar junction transistor with multi-meter,
• Reading datasheet of BJT.
 Working of Bipolar Junction Transistor (NPN)
• Emitter-Base junction is forward biased; Collector-Base junction is reverse biased.
• As emitter is heavily doped, large number of electrons crosses the BE junction and enters
into base region. As base is lightly doped, fewer electrons recombines with holes in the
base region. Remaining large number of electrons travels to reverse-biased CB junction
quickly as base region is very narrow.
• These electrons then encounter the high positive force from
positively charged collector and hence they gain energy to cross
the reverse biased CB junction and collected by collector. These
electrons forms the collector current IC in the outer circuit.
• Due to V1, the electrons from the base is pulled into base lead,
constituting small base current IB, in order to maintain the
number of free holes into the base region. Otherwise, base
region becomes more negative (electrons and holes combine
with each other leaving only negatively charged acceptor ions
in p-type base) and repel further movement of electrons from
emitter into the base region.
• Free electrons in the emitter region constitute emitter current
IE .
• The conventional directions of current (opposite to flow of Operation of NPN transistor and
conventional direction of
electron) is shown in figure. current flow
 Working of Bipolar Junction Transistor: Summary
IE IC
C
p B
I
B
E
Heavily doped
region

IE IC
C

B
n

IB E
 How the BJT works
• Figure shows the energy levels
in an NPN transistor under no
externally applying voltages.
• In each of the N-type layers
conduction can take place by
the free movement of electrons
in the conduction band.
• In the P-type (filling) layer
conduction can take place by
the movement of the free holes
in the valence band.
• However, in the absence of any
externally applied electric field,
we find that depletion zones
form at both PN-Junctions, so
no charge wants to move from
NPN Bipolar Transistor one layer to another.
 How the BJT works
• What happens when we apply
a moderate voltage between
the collector and base parts.
• The polarity of the applied
voltage is chosen to increase
the force pulling the N-type
electrons and P-type holes
apart.
• This widens the depletion
zone between the collector
and base and so no current
will flow.
• In effect we have reverse-
biassed the Base-Collector
Apply a Collector-Base voltage diode junction.
 • What happens when we apply a
Charge Flow relatively small Emitter-Base voltage
whose polarity is designed to forward-
bias the Emitter-Base junction.
• This 'pushes' electrons from the Emitter
into the Base region and sets up a
current flow across the Emitter-Base
boundary.
• Once the electrons have managed to get
into the Base region they can respond to
the attractive force from the positively-
biassed Collector region.
• As a result the electrons which get into
the Base move swiftly towards the
Collector and cross into the Collector
region.
• Hence a Emitter-Collector current
Apply an Emitter-Base voltage magnitude is set by the chosen Emitter-
Base voltage applied.
• Hence an external current flowing in the
circuit.
 Charge Flow • Some of free electrons crossing
the Base encounter a hole and
'drop into it'.
• As a result, the Base region loses
one of its positive charges (holes).
• The Base potential would become
more negative (because of the
removal of the holes) until it was
negative enough to repel any
more electrons from crossing the
Emitter-Base junction.
• The current flow would then stop.

Some electron fall into a hole

 Charge Flow • To prevent this happening we use
the applied E-B voltage to remove
the captured electrons from the
base and maintain the number of
holes.
• The effect, some of the electrons
which enter the transistor via the
Emitter emerging again from the
Base rather than the Collector.
• For most practical BJT only about
1% of the free electrons which try
to cross Base region get caught in
this way.
• Hence a Base current, IB, which is
typically around one hundred
Some electron fall into a hole
times smaller than the Emitter
current, IE.
Terminals & Operations

• Three terminals:
– Base (B): very thin and lightly doped central region (little
recombination).
– Emitter (E) and collector (C) are two outer regions sandwiching
B.
• Normal operation (linear or active region):
– B-E junction forward biased; B-C junction reverse biased.
– The emitter emits (injects) majority charge into base region and
because the base very thin, most will ultimately reach the
collector.
– The emitter is highly doped while the collector is lightly doped.
– The collector is usually at higher voltage than the emitter.
Terminals & Operations
Operation Mode
Operation Mode

• Active:
– Most importance mode, e.g. for amplifier operation.
– The region where current curves are practically flat.
• Saturation:
– Barrier potential of the junctions cancel each other out
causing a virtual short.
– Ideal transistor behaves like a closed switch.
• Cutoff:
– Current reduced to zero
– Ideal transistor behaves like an open switch.
Operation Mode
Circuit Symbols
Circuit Configuration
 Common Base Input Characteristics

Independent Variables : Input Current IE and Output Voltage VCB

Dependent Variables : Input Voltage VBE and Output Current IC
 Common Base Output Characteristics

EB – Forward Bias
CB – Reverse Bias

EB – Forward Bias
CB – Forward Bias

EB – Reverse Bias Ico

CB – Reverse Bias
Important Points of Common Base Input Characteristics:

1. Input Characteristics are similar to that of Forward Biased Diode, that for
Small Change in VBE, Large Change in Emitter Current IE.
2. If a Piecewise Linear Approximation with Low Forward resistance is assumed,
then once Transistor is in Active Region, VBE=0.7 V
3. Input Characteristics Change due to VCB is so little that can be ignored.

Important Points of Common Base Output Characteristics:

1. Three Regions – Active, Saturation, Cut-Off.

2. Active Region – Used for Linear Amplification Purpose.
3. In Active Region – for IE = 0 mA , IC = ICBO
4. For IE > 0 mA, IC ≈ IE, with negligible effect of VCB.
 Transistor as an Amplifier

• Small Change in Input Voltage ∆VEB gives Large change in Emitter Current
∆IE as per the Forward Bias Characteristics. ( Low Resistance)
• Collector Current due to this change in Emitter current is
∆IC = α∆IE
• Let IE = 1 mA. So IC= 1 mA.
• For the change of ∆VEB =0.1 Volt, ∆IE = 1 mA. For α = 0.95, ∆IC ≈ 1 mA
• For RL = 5 kΩ , VL = 5 kΩ X 1 mA = 5 V to changes to VL = 5 kΩ X 2 mA = 10 V
• So, Input Voltage Change of 0.1 Volts gives Output Voltage Change of 5
Volts.
• Gain = 50 . Transfer of Current from Low Resistance to High Resistance ckt.
 Common Base Transfer Ratio ( α )

Alpha () is the ratio of IC to IE :

IC
αdc 
IE
Ideally: a = 1
In reality: a is between 0.9 and 0.998

Alpha () in the AC mode:

ΔIC
αac
ΔIE
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.

Input Characteristics for

Base – Emitter Terminals and

Output Characteristics for

Collector-Emitter Terminals.

Independent Variables : Input Current IB and Output Voltage VCE

Dependent Variables : Input Voltage VBE and Output Current IC
 Common Emitter Characteristics :

Collector Characteristics Base Characteristics

 Common Emitter Characteristics : Active Region:
Right to Vertical Line of VCEsat and above current IB=0.

CB: Junction is Reverse Biased

BE: Junction is Forward Biased

For Fixed IB, IC is not as constant as in CB Configuration,

because of influence of VCE.

Saturation Region :
Left to the Vertical Line of VCEsat.

Cut-off Region:
Different compared to CB Configuration.
In CB Configuration for IE=0, IC = ICBO ≈ 0,
So Characteristic Curve for IE=0 was almost Voltage Axis
line.

But here in CE Configuration:

For IB= 0 μA, IC is not Zero.

As, And, IE = IC + IB gives

Which by simplifying gives

 Common-Emitter Amplifier Currents
Ideal Currents

IE = I C + I B IC =  IE
Actual Currents

IC =  IE + ICBO where ICBO = minority collector current

In terms of Base Current IB

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 Which shows ICEO > ICBO
ICEO  CBO
I B 0 μA
1 α In CE Configuration IC Cutoff = ICEO
Common Emitter Characteristics :

 represents the amplification factor of a transistor.

In DC mode: IC
β dc 
IB
In AC mode:
IC
 ac  VCE  constant
 IB
 typically ranges from about 50 to over 400.
On Specification Sheet dc is displayed as hFE where h stands for Hybrid
Parameter, F for Forward Current Transfer and E for Common Emitter
Configuration Respectively.

ac is referred as common emitter forward current amplification factor. It is

displayed as hfe. Where small letters used for subscript are for AC quantities.
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 CE  7.5
25  A
 108
Relation between α and β

β
α
β 1
α
β
1- α
 Relation between ICBO and ICEO

Beta is a particularly important

parameter because it provides a direct
link between current levels of the
input and output circuits for a
As common-emitter configuration.
 Common Collector Configuration

Characteristics are quite similar to CE Configuration. Only Load Resistor

in Emitter Circuit.
 Biasing

Biasing: The DC voltages applied to a transistor in order to turn it on so that

it can amplify the AC signal.
 Operating Point

The DC input establishes an

operating or quiescent point
called the Q-point.
 The Three States of Operation
• Active or Linear Region Operation
Base–Emitter junction is forward biased
Base–Collector junction is reverse biased

• Cutoff Region Operation

Base–Emitter junction is reverse biased

• Saturation Region Operation

Base–Emitter junction is forward biased
Base–Collector junction is forward biased
 DC Biasing Circuits

• Fixed-bias circuit
• Emitter-stabilized bias circuit
• Collector-emitter loop
• Voltage divider bias circuit
• DC bias with voltage feedback
Fixed Bias
 The Base-Emitter Loop

From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:

+VCC – IBRB – VBE = 0

Solving for base current:

V CC  V BE
IB 
RB
 Collector-Emitter Loop

Collector current:

I C  I B

From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:

VCE  VCC  I C R C
 Saturation

When the transistor is operating in saturation, current through the transistor

is at its maximum possible value.

V CC
I Csat 
RC

VCE  0 V
 Load Line Analysis

The end points of the load line are:

ICsat
IC = VCC / RC
VCE = 0 V
VCEcutoff
VCE = VCC
IC = 0 mA

The Q-point is the operating point:

• where the value of RB sets the value of IB
• that sets the values of VCE and IC
Circuit Values Affect the Q-Point

more …
Circuit Values Affect the Q-Point

more …
Circuit Values Affect the Q-Point
 Emitter-Stabilized Bias Circuit

Adding a resistor (RE) to

the emitter circuit
stabilizes the bias circuit.
 Base-Emitter Loop

 VCC -IERE - VBE -IERE  0

From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
 VCC - I E R E - VBE - I E R E  0

Since IE = (b + 1)IB:
VCC - I B R B - (  1)IB R E  0

Solving for IB:

VCC - VBE
IB 
R B  (  1)R E
 Collector-Emitter Loop

VE  I E R E
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
I R V
E E
I R V
CE C C CC
0

VC  VCE  VE  VCC - I C R C
Since IE  IC:
VCE  VCC – I C (R C  R E )

Also:

VB  VCC – I R R B  VBE  VE
VE  I E R E
VC  VCE  VE  VCC - I C R C
VB  VCC – I R R B  VBE  VE
 Improved Biased Stability

Stability refers to a circuit condition in which the currents and voltages

will remain fairly constant over a wide range of temperatures and
transistor Beta () values.

Adding RE to the emitter improves the stability of a transistor.

 Saturation Level

The endpoints can be determined from the load line.

VCEcutoff: ICsat:
VCE  VCC VCE  0 V
I C  0 mA VCC
IC 
RC  RE
 Voltage Divider Bias

This is a very stable bias

circuit.

The currents and voltages

are nearly independent of
any variations in .
 Approximate Analysis
Where IB << I1 and I1  I2 :
R 2 VCC
VB 
R1  R 2

Where bRE > 10R2:

VE
IE 
RE
VE  VB  VBE

From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:

VCE  VCC  I C R C  I E R E
IE  IC
VCE  V CC I C (R C  R E )
 Voltage Divider Bias Analysis

Transistor Saturation Level

V
ICsat ICmax  CC
R C 
RE

Load Line Analysis

Cutoff: Saturation:
VCC
VCE  VCC IC 
RC  RE
I C  0mA
VCE  0V
 DC Bias with Voltage Feedback

Another way to
improve the stability
of a bias circuit is to
add a feedback path
from collector to
base.

In this bias circuit

the Q-point is only
slightly dependent on
the transistor beta, .
 Base-Emitter Loop
From Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
VCC – I C R C – I B R B – VBE – I E R E  0

Where IB << IC:

I'  I  I  I
C C B C

Knowing IC = IB and IE  IC, the loop

equation becomes:
VCC –  I B R C  I B R B  VBE   I B R E  0

Solving for IB:

VCC  VBE
IB 
R B  (R C  R E )
 Collector-Emitter Loop

Applying Kirchoff’s voltage law:

IE + VCE + I’CRC – VCC = 0

Since IC  IC and IC = IB:

IC(RC + RE) + VCE – VCC =0

Solving for VCE:

VCE = VCC – IC(RC + RE)

 Base-Emitter Bias Analysis
Transistor Saturation Level
V CC
ICsat ICmax 
R C 
RE

Load Line Analysis

Cutoff: Saturation:
V
VCEVCC I  CC
C R R
IC 0mA C E
VCE  0 V
 BIAS STABILITY

 Through proper biasing, a desired quiescent operating point of the transistor

amplifier in the active region (linear region) of the characteristics is obtained. It is
desired that once selected the operating point should remain stable. The maintenance
of operating point stable is called Stabilisation.

 The selection of a proper quiescent point generally depends on the following factors:
(a) The amplitude of the signal to be handled by the amplifier and distortion level
in signal
(b) The load to which the amplifier is to work for a corresponding supply voltage

 The operating point of a transistor amplifier shifts mainly with changes in

temperature, since the transistor parameters — β, ICO and VBE (where the symbols carry
their usual meaning)—are functions of temperature.

54
The DC Operating Point
For a transistor circuit to amplify it must be properly biased with dc
voltages. The dc operating point between saturation and cutoff is
called the Q-point. The goal is to set the Q-point such that that it
does not go into saturation or cutoff when an a ac signal is applied.
Requirements of biasing network

• Ensuring proper zero signal collector current.

• Ensuring VcE not falling below 0.5V for Ge transistor and 1V for Silicon transistor at
any instant.
• Ensuring Stabilization of operating point. (zero signal I C and VcE)
 The Thermal Stability of Operating Point (SIco)
Stability Factor S:- The stability factor S, as the change of collector current
with respect to the reverse saturation current, keeping β and VBE constant.
This can be written as:
The Thermal Stability Factor : SIco
SIco = ∂Ic
∂Ico Vbe, β

This equation signifies that Ic Changes SIco times as fast as Ico

Differentiating the equation of Collector Current I C = (1+β)Ico+ βIb &

rearranging the terms we can write
SIco ═ 1+β
1- β (∂Ib/∂IC)

It may be noted that Lower is the value of SIco better is the stability
 Transistor Switching Networks

Transistors with only the DC source applied can be used as electronic switches.
 Switching Circuit Calculations

Saturation current:
VCC
I Csat 
RC

To ensure saturation:
I Csat
IB 
 dc

Emitter-collector resistance
at saturation and cutoff:

VCEsat
R sat 
I Csat

VCC
R cutoff 
I CEO
 Switching Time

Transistor switching times:

t on  t r  t d

t off  t s  t f
• The areas of operation for a transistor switch are known as
the Saturation Region and the Cut-off Region.
• This means then that we can ignore the operating Q-point biasing and
voltage divider circuitry required for amplification, and use the
transistor as a switch by driving it back and forth between its “fully-
OFF” (cut-off) and “fully-ON” (saturation) regions.
 Cut-off Characteristics

• The input and Base are grounded ( 0v )

• Base-Emitter voltage VBE < 0.7v
• Base-Emitter junction is reverse biased
• Base-Collector junction is reverse biased
• Transistor is “fully-OFF” ( Cut-off region )
• No Collector current flows ( IC = 0 )
• VOUT = VCE = VCC = ”1″
• Transistor operates as an “open switch”