Bipolar Junction Transistor

(BJT)
Chapter 4
 Objectives
Describe the basic structure of a
bipolar junction transistor (BJT)

Explain & analyze basic

transistor bias & operation

Objectives
Discuss on different functions of
a transistor – as an amplifier &
as a switch

Discuss the parameters &

characteristics of a transistor
and its application on electrical
circuits
 Bipolar Junction Transistor

Design & Analysis

Operational of Biasing Circuits
Regions

Configuration & Bias stability

Current
Relationship

BJT
Amplification
Basic Structure
Concept
& Operation
(graphical)
 Basic Structure
• A transistor is a device
that can be used as an
amplifier or a switch

• Has 3 terminals:

• Base, B

• Collector, C

• Emitter, E

• ‘Bipolar’ - current
conduction is due to • 2 types: npn and pnp
both the majority and • There are three layers and two p-n
minority carriers. junctions
Basic Structure - npn
• Arrow points from p to n.

• Base is very thin with very small

amount of majority carrier.

• Emitter is wider with the most

number of majority carrier.

• Collector is wider than emitter but

with little majority carrier.

• Emitter : emits charge

• Collector : collects charge

• Base : a gate that controls the

flow of current
Basic Structure - pnp
• Arrow marks emitter
points from p to n

• Base layer is thin with

little majority carrier.

• Emitter is thicker with

the most majority
carrier

• Collector is thickest
with little majority
carrier
 Diode Analogy
 npn transistor

 pnp transistor
 Bipolar Junction Transistor

Design & Analysis

Operational of Biasing Circuits
Regions

Configuration & Bias stability

Current
Relationship

BJT
Amplification
Basic Structure &
Concept
Operation
(graphical)
 npn Transistor Structure

The collector is lightly doped. N C

The base is thin and B

P
is lightly doped.

N E
The emitter is heavily doped.
 npn Transistor’s
Operation IC

Current flows
N C
everywhere.

When; P B
BE – forward biased
IB
BC – reverse biased +
VBE
- N E
Note that IB is smaller
than IE and IC. IE
Current Flow in npn BJT
 Current in a Transistor

 Emitter current is the sum

of the collector and base
currents:

I E  IC  I B
Transistor’s Characteristic & Parameters

• VBB forward biases the BE

junction.

• VCC reverse-biases the CB

junction.

• β or DC current gain is the ratio

between IC and IB.
(Typical value: 20-200)
IC
 DC 
IB
Transistor’s Characteristic & Parameters
3 key Currents

IE – dc IC - dc
IB- dc base
emitter collector
current
current current

3 key
Voltages

VBE - dc VCB - dc
VCE - dc
voltage voltage
voltage from
across base- across
collector to
emitter collector-
emitter
junction base junction
Transistor’s Characteristic & Parameters
For proper operation,

• base-emitter junction is forward

biased by VBB.

• the collector-base junction is n

reverse biased by VCC and blocks
current flow through it’s junction p
just like a diode. n

• Current flow through the base-

emitter junction will help establish
the path for current flow from the
collector to emitter.
Transistor’s Characteristic & Parameters
 Application of these laws
begins with the base circuit to
determine the amount of base
current.
 Using Kirchhoff’s voltage law:
VRB = VBB – VBE

Ohm’s Law,
VRB = IBRB

So,
IB = (VBB –VBE)/RB
VBE  0.7, will be used in most
analysis examples
I C IC = β IB
 DC 
IB
Transistor’s Characteristic & Parameters
 In the collector circuit -
determine that VCC is
distributed proportionally
across RC and the
transistor(VCE).
 Find VCE and VCB.

VCE  VCC  VRC

VRC  I C RC
VCE  VCC  I C RC
VCB  VCE  VBE
 Basic Operation
4 Possible
Modes of
Operation

Forward - Inverse active

Saturation – Cutoff – switch
active – or Reverse
switch (on) (off)
amplifier active – (off)

B-E junction B-E & B-C B-E & B-C B-E junction
forward biased junctions are junctions are reverse biased
forward biased reverse biased

B-C junction B-C junction

reverse biased forward biased
 Forward Active (npn)

• Transistor currents in BJT in Forward-Active

(npn)
 Forward Active (npn)
• B-E junction forward biased
• Electrons (majority) from emitter
injected into base through B-E junction.

• Become minority in base

• C-B junction reversed biased

• Base very thin, therefore get swept
across C-B junction to become
collector current

• Very little electrons left in base to

become base current
 Collector’s Characteristic Curve
 A graphical illustration of the
relationship between the
collector’s current, IC and VCE
with specified amounts of IB.

 With greater increases of VCC,

VCE continues to increase until
it reaches breakdown, but the
current remains about the
same in the linear region from
0.7V to the breakdown
voltage.
 Cut-off
 With no IB, the transistor is in the cut-off region - no
current flow in the collector part of the circuit.
 With the transistor in a cut-off state, the full VCC can be
measured across the collector and emitter (VCE).
 ICEO is due to the minority carriers.
 Saturation
 Once IC maximum is reached, the transistor is said to
be in saturation. Note that saturation can be
determined by applying Ohm’s law. IC(sat)=VCC/RC
 The measured voltage across, VCE now “shorted”
collector and emitter, VCE is 0V.
 Bipolar Junction Transistor

Design &
Operational Analysis of
Regions Biasing Circuits

Configuration & Bias stability

Current
Relationship

Amplification
Basic Structure
& Operation BJT Concept
(graphical)
 Transistor Configuration

Common Common Common

Base Emitter Collector
The base is the The emitter is the The collector is
common terminal common terminal the common
between input between input terminal between
and output and output input and output
 Common Base Configuration
• Input is at the emitter terminal and output is at the collector
terminal

• The base is common to both input (emitter–base) and output

(collector–base) of the transistor.
 Common Base Configuration

Input Characteristics

• This curve shows the

relationship between of
input current (IE) to input
voltage (VBE) for various
levels of output voltage
(VCB).
 Common Base Configuration
Output Characteristics

• This graph demonstrates

the relationship between
the output current (IC) to
an output voltage (VCB)
for various levels of
input current (IE).
 Common Base Configuration
• Active region:
• BE forward biased, CB reverse biased
• IC ~ IE and independent of VCB
• Cut-off :
• under IE =0. Both BE and CB reverse biased. Only
ICBO exist.

• Saturation:
• Both BE and CB forward biased. Left of VCB=0.
• Small changes in VCB cause big changes on IC.
 Common Base Configuration
Operational regions
• Active

• Operating range of the amplifier

Approximation
• Cutoff Emitter and collector
currents:
• Amplifier is basically off
IC  I E
• There is voltage but little current.
Base-emitter voltage:
• Saturation

• Amplifier is fully on VBE  0.7V

• There is current but little voltage
 Common Base Configuration
Alpha (α)
• Alpha (α) relates the DC currents IC and IE :
IC
 dc 
IE
• Ideally: α = 1
• In reality: a is between 0.9 and 0.998
I C
• Alpha (α) in the AC mode:
 ac 
I E
 Common Emitter Configuration

• The input is the base terminal

and the output is the collector
terminal.
• The emitter is common to both
input (base-emitter) and
output (collector-emitter).
• Usually used as an amplifier
circuit.
 Common Emitter Configuration

Input Characteristics

• At a fixed VBE, IB
decreases as VCE
increases.
 Common Emitter Configuration
Output Characteristics

• For VCE < VCEsat, IC increases linearly.

• Once VCE > VCEsat, IC not influenced by
VCE.

• IB (μA) is small compared to IC (mA).

• Small increase in IB causing a big
change in IC.

• When IB=0, IC exists which is ICEO.

Common Emitter Configuration
Common-Emitter Amplifier Currents
• Ideal Currents
I E  IC  I B I C  I E
where ICBO = minority collector current.
• Actual Currents This is usually so small that it can be
ignored, except in high power transistors

I C  I E  I CBO and in high temperature environments.

I CBO
I CEO 
1
• When IB = 0 μA the transistor is in cut-off, but there is
some minority current flowing called ICEO.
 Common Emitter Configuration
Beta (β)
• β represents the amplification factor of a transistor. (β
is sometimes referred to as hfe, a term used in
transistor modeling calculations)

In DC mode:
IC
 dc 
IB
I C
 ac  (VCE = constant)
In AC mode: I B
Common Collector Configuration

• Input is at the base terminal and output is at the emitter terminal

 Common Collector Configuration
• The characteristics are similar to those of the common-
emitter configuration, except the vertical axis is IE.

IE (mA)
 Transistor Switch
• When a transistor is used as a switch, it is simply being
biased so that it is in cut-off (switched off) or saturation
(switched on) region.
 Power Dissipation

Common-base PC max  VCB I C

Common-emitter PC max  VCE I C

Common-collector PC max  VCE I E