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Early Effect in Transistor

The Early effect in bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and channel length modulation in MOSFETs describe how collector or drain current varies with collector-emitter or drain-source voltage, respectively, even when base or gate-source voltage is constant. In BJTs, this effect results from base-width modulation leading to increased collector current, while in MOSFETs, it arises from the reduction of effective channel length due to depletion region expansion. Both phenomena have significant implications for the performance of analog circuits, affecting output characteristics and current behavior in active and saturation regions.

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30 views2 pages

Early Effect in Transistor

The Early effect in bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and channel length modulation in MOSFETs describe how collector or drain current varies with collector-emitter or drain-source voltage, respectively, even when base or gate-source voltage is constant. In BJTs, this effect results from base-width modulation leading to increased collector current, while in MOSFETs, it arises from the reduction of effective channel length due to depletion region expansion. Both phenomena have significant implications for the performance of analog circuits, affecting output characteristics and current behavior in active and saturation regions.

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kk1982johnson
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© © All Rights Reserved
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The Early effect is a phenomenon observed in bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and is also

analogous to channel length modulation in MOSFETs. It describes the change in the collector
current (in BJTs) or drain current (in MOSFETs) with the variation in the collector-emitter voltage
(V_{CE}) or drain-source voltage (V_{DS}), respectively, even when the base current (in BJTs)
or gate-source voltage (in MOSFETs) is held constant.
Here's a breakdown for each type of transistor:

Early Effect in Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJTs)


The Early effect in BJTs, named after James M. Early, arises due to the base-width
modulation. Here's how it works:
1.​ Reverse Bias Increase: When the reverse bias voltage across the collector-base
junction (V_{CB}) increases (which corresponds to an increase in V_{CE} for a fixed
V_{BE}), the depletion region at the collector-base junction widens.
2.​ Base Width Reduction: Since the depletion region extends into both the collector and
the base, the increase in the depletion width effectively reduces the width of the neutral
base region.
3.​ Impact on Collector Current: This reduction in the base width has two main
consequences that lead to an increase in collector current (I_C):
○​ Reduced Recombination: There are fewer charge carriers in the narrower base
region, leading to a lower rate of recombination of electrons (in NPN transistors) or
holes (in PNP transistors) with the majority carriers in the base. This means more
carriers injected from the emitter reach the collector.
○​ Increased Concentration Gradient: The concentration gradient of minority
carriers across the base increases because the distance they need to diffuse
across is smaller. According to Fick's law of diffusion, a steeper concentration
gradient results in a larger diffusion current, which contributes to the collector
current.
4.​ Output Characteristics: As a result of the Early effect, the common-emitter output
characteristics (plot of I_C vs. V_{CE} for different constant values of base current I_B)
show a slight upward slope in the active region, rather than being perfectly horizontal.
5.​ Early Voltage (V_A): If the extrapolated I_C vs. V_{CE} curves for different I_B values
are extended backward, they tend to intersect the voltage axis at a negative voltage. The
magnitude of this voltage is called the Early voltage (V_A). A larger Early voltage
indicates a weaker dependence of the collector current on the collector-emitter voltage,
which is desirable for many applications.
The collector current in the active region, considering the Early effect, can be approximated by
the following equation: I_C = I_S e^{V_{BE}/V_T} (1 + \frac{V_{CE}}{V_A}) = \beta_{DC} I_B (1
+ \frac{V_{CE}}{V_A}) where:
●​ I_S is the saturation current.
●​ V_{BE} is the base-emitter voltage.
●​ V_T is the thermal voltage.
●​ \beta_{DC} is the DC common-emitter current gain (which itself can be slightly affected by
V_{CE} due to the Early effect).

Early Effect (Channel Length Modulation) in MOSFETs


In MOSFETs, a similar effect occurs, which is often referred to as channel length modulation
(CLM). While the physical mechanism is slightly different from base-width modulation, the result
is analogous: an increase in drain current (I_D) with increasing drain-source voltage (V_{DS}) in
the saturation region.
Here's how channel length modulation occurs:
1.​ Pinch-off Region: In the saturation region of a MOSFET, a pinch-off region is formed
near the drain end of the channel. The effective length of the conducting channel is the
region between the source and the point where pinch-off occurs.
2.​ Depletion Region Expansion: As the drain-source voltage (V_{DS}) increases, the
reverse bias across the drain-substrate junction also increases. This causes the depletion
region at the drain end to widen and extend further into the channel.
3.​ Effective Channel Length Reduction: The widening of the depletion region effectively
reduces the length of the conductive channel (L_{eff}).
4.​ Increased Drain Current: Since the resistance of the channel is directly proportional to
its length, a shorter effective channel length leads to a lower channel resistance. For a
given gate-source voltage (V_{GS}), this results in an increased drain current (I_D).
5.​ Output Characteristics: Similar to BJTs, the output characteristics of a MOSFET in
saturation (plot of I_D vs. V_{DS} for different constant values of gate-source voltage
V_{GS}) exhibit a non-zero slope due to channel length modulation.
6.​ Lambda (\lambda) or Early Voltage (V_A): The effect of channel length modulation is
often modeled by including a factor (1 + \lambda V_{DS}) in the drain current equation for
the saturation region: I_D = \frac{1}{2} \mu_n C_{ox} \frac{W}{L} (V_{GS} - V_{th})^2 (1 +
\lambda V_{DS}) where:
○​ \mu_n is the electron mobility.
○​ C_{ox} is the gate oxide capacitance per unit area.
○​ W is the channel width.
○​ L is the channel length.
○​ V_{GS} is the gate-source voltage.
○​ V_{th} is the threshold voltage.
○​ \lambda is the channel length modulation parameter (with units of V^{-1}).
Alternatively, the Early voltage concept is sometimes applied to MOSFETs as well, where a
larger V_A corresponds to a smaller \lambda and a weaker dependence of I_D on V_{DS}. The
relationship is approximately \lambda \approx 1/V_A.
In summary, the Early effect (in BJTs) and channel length modulation (in MOSFETs) are crucial
non-ideal effects that cause the output current of the transistor to be dependent on the output
voltage in the active/saturation region, which has significant implications for the performance of
analog circuits like amplifiers and current sources.

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