MODULE 2

TRANSISTORS

1. Junction Transistor
A transistor can be considered as combination of two diodes back to back. It consists of two
PN junctions formed by placing on opposite type of semiconductor between a pair of similar type
of semiconductor. It is a three terminal semiconductor device in which current conduction is due
to both electrons and holes therefore ordinary transistor is also known as Bi-polar junction
transistor (BJT) It has three terminals i.e. Emitter, Base, Collector.

It occupies less space and more life period compared to vacuum triode (tubes). It is used
as amplifiers, oscillators and in computers. Satellites and other modern communication systems.
There are two types of transistors NPN and PNP

Emitter is heavily doped and moderate in size. It injects charge carriers into
transistor. Base is lightly doped and low in size (thin).It is lightly doped to reduce no. of
recombinations since base and emitter are opposite type of semiconductor. Collector is moderately
depend and wider in size.

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 For an effective operation of transistor emitter base junction is forward based(low
resistance path) and base-collector junction is reverse biased (high resistance path).A transistor
transfers signal from low resistance path to high resistance path. The weak signal is introduced in
low resistance path and output is taken from high resistance path.

NPN transistor biasing.

PNP transistor biasing :

Working of NPN transistor :

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 The base to emitter junction is forward biased therefore the depletion region at the junction
is reduced The Collector Base junction is reverse biased therefore the depletion region at junction
increases. The forward biased Emitter Base junction causes the electrons in N-type emitter to flow
towards the base. This constitutes emitter current I E as the electrons flow through P-type base
they tend to combine with holes in p-type base. Since the base is very thin and lightly doped, very
few electrons (<5%) recombines with holes to constitutes I B (base current). The remaining large
number of electrons ( > 95%) crosses base region and moves through collector region which
constitutes collector current I C .

I E I B IC

But I B is small, and negligible

I E IC

Almost emitter current flows into collector current.

The arrow head in emitter lead indicates the direction of conventional current when emitter
to base is forward biased and Collector to Base is reverse biased.
Amplifier is an electronic device which raises the strength of weak signal. Common Emitter
configuration is mostly widely used for amplifier applications because it has high voltage and
current gain.
Transistor current components:

Forward Biased Emitter base junction is JE and reverse biased collector base junction is Jc
The emitter current I E has two components
I E I PE I nE
IPE - emitter current due to positive charges i.e., holes due to crossing from emitter to base

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InE- emitter current due to negative charges i.e., due to Electrons crossing from base to emitter.

The ratio of I PE and I nE is proportional to conductivity of p-type to conductivity of n-

type materials.
I PE conductivi ty of p type

I nE conductivi ty of n type

Not all holes that flow from the emitter reach the collector.
Bulk recombination occurs at the Base.
As base is lightly doped I PE I nE (hole is greater than electrons)

I nE is negligible in comparison with I PE

I PC I PE because of recombinations

Base current = recombination current I PE I PC

I PC is hole current on reaching the collector junction

I C0 (ideal)-reverse saturation current across CB junction

I C I PC I C0

If Emitter Base junction is open circuited then only I C0 flows and I PC is zero.

ICBO (physical transistor) Reverse Collector Saturation Current ; similar to ICO

ICBO > ICO

Emitter efficiency: (or) injection efficiency

current of injected carriers at J E

total emitter current
I PE
for PNP transistor
I PE I nE
I PE

IE
1

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Transportation factor :
For, PNP
current due to injected carriers reaching J C

current due to injected carriers reaching J E
I PC

I PE
Large signal current gain :
I C I C0 I C I CBO

IE IE
I PC

IE

Large signal current gain = transportation factor emitter efficiency

=

2. Transistor as an amplifier:

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 When a weak AC signal is applied to base of transistor a small base current flows.
Due to transistor action a large collector current flows because I C I B

where is common emitter current gain.

Large voltage appears across RC i.e., during positive half cycles of signal the forward bias

across Emitter Base junction increases.

Therefore charge carriers from emitter to collector increases and I C increases.

In negative half cycles the forward bias applied across Emitter Base junction decreases. So
collector current I C also decreases.

There is a phase shift of 180 0 between input and output signal. R1 , R3 , RE forms the biasing

and stabilization circuits and RC is collector resistance.

Input Capacitor Cin :

It is used to couple the signal to base of the signal. If it is not used the signal source
resistance RS and R3 will become parallel and then it changes the bias. Capacitor C in allows

only ac signal to flow but isolates signal source from R3 .

Emitter by pass capacitor C E :

It is used in parallel with R E to provide a low reactance path to amplified ac signal. If it

is not used the amplified ac signal flowing through R E causes voltage drop; decrease in output
voltage.
Coupling Capacitor CC :

It is used to couple R L to transistor collector. It isolates the DC of first stage from the
next stage but allows the passage of ac signal.

Punch-Through or Reach-Through

According to early effect, the width of the collector-base junction region increases with increased
collector junction voltage. As the voltage applied across the junction VCB increases the transition
region penetrates deeper into the base and will have spread completely across the base to reach the
emitter junction, as the base is very thin. Thus, the collector voltage has reached through the base

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region. This effect is known as reach- through, also affects the output characteristics of a transistor
since IC versus VCB curves are no longer horizontal but take on a positive slope indicating that the
device has a finite output impedance that is voltage dependent. Since the input characteristics are
also affected, the input impedance is also influenced by VCB.
It is possible to raise the punch through voltage by increasing the doping
concentration in the base, but this automatically reduces the emitter efficiency.
Punch-through takes place at a fixed voltage between collector and base and is not
dependent on circuit configuration, where as avalanche multiplication takes place at different
voltages depending upon the circuit configuration. Therefore, the voltage limit of a particular
transistor is determined by either of the two types of breakdown, whichever occurs at lower
voltage.

3. Common Base configuration

Fig1: Common Base configuration

Current amplification factor is defined as ratio of change in output current to change in

input current.
I C
ac
I E
IC
dc
IE

varies from 0.9 to 0.995

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Expression for collector current I C :

Total collector current consists of part of emitter current which reaches collector region.
I C I E
Reverse saturation current due to minority charge carriers due to Collector Base junction
is reverse biased. This leakage current is very much less than I E .
I C I E I leakage

When the emitter circuit is open circuited I E 0 I CBO which is leakage current due to minority

charge carriers which is reverse biased.

I CBo is collector to base current due to emitter is open circuited.

I C I E I CBo

Characteristics of common base configuration:

Input characteristics of common base configuration :

The input characteristics of CB is defined as curve drawn between emitter to base voltage
VEB and emitter current IE at constant collector to base voltage VCB.

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 CB input characteristics

As the emitter base junction is forward biased it behaves like a forward based diode. So
current I E increases rapidly with a small increase in VEB

When VCB increases the curve shift towards left side of VCB 0V i.e., we get the same value

of I E will less VEB . This is due to phenomenon Early effect or Base-width modulation

Early effect or Base-width modulation:

When VCB increases depletion region at CB junction increases. So effective base width

decreases. Change in effective base width due to VCB is known as base width modulation.

Consequences of base-width modulation:

i. There would be less recombinations as charge particles of base region reaches emitter fastly.
ii. There by I E and I C are increases.

Output characteristics of Common Base configuration:

It is curve between collector to base voltage VCB and collector current IC at constant emitter current

IE. To determine the output characteristics, the emitter current IE is kept constant at a suitable value
by adjusting the emitter-base voltage VEB . Then VCB is increased in suitable equal steps and the

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collector current IC is noted for each value of IE. This is repeated for different fixed values of IE.
Now the curves of IC versus VCB are plotted for constant values of IE and the output characteristics
thus obtained is shown in the figure below

Fig: Output characteristics of Common Base configuration

Cut off region: Emitter Base, Collector Base junctions are reverse biased. But small current flows
through transistor due to reverse saturation current but this current is not sufficient to drive the
transistor through application. So transistor should not be operated in cut-off region. The region
below I E 0 is called cut-off region.

Active region : Emitter Base junction is forward biased and Collector Base junction is reverse
biased. Generally transistors are operated in active region for amplifier application. Active region
corresponds to I E 0 .Even if I E 0 there is a small current which flows that is equal to I C0 and

this is represented by a horizontal straight line.But there is a slight increase in IC with VCB i.e., due

to early effect and then it becomes constant. Here I C is times I E which is almost equal to I E
.

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Saturation region: Here, both Emitter Base junction, Collector Base junction forward biased.
The region to the left of VCB 0 (positive ve VCB voltage) and above I E 0 called saturation

region.

Common emitter configuration

Common Emitter configuration

Emitter is common to both the input and output terminals.

Current amplification factor : (CE Configuration)

change in collector current (output )

change in base current (input )
I
C A.C.
I b
IC
D.C.
IB
Typical value of ranges from 20 to 500

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Expressions for collector current

Expression for collector current IC:

I E I B IC

But I C I E I CBO (from CB configuration)

I C 1 I B I CBO

1
I B I CBO
1

I CBO 1I CBO
1
I leakage in CE
1
I CEO is the leakage current in common emitter configuration which is nothing but the
collector to emitter current with base open circuit.

I CBO 1I CBO
1
I CEO
1
Ic I B I CEO

Circuit to determine CE static characteristics

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Input characteristics:

The curve drawn between VBE and IB i.e., emitter base voltage and base current by keeping
VCE (collector emitter voltage) constant. First keep VCE constant increase VBE and note down IB
this procedure is repeated for higher fixed values of VCE.

When VCE=0, the emitter-base junction is forward biased. The junction behaves like
forward biased PN junction.

When VCE is increased, the depletion region at reverse biased CB junction increases. The
effective base width decreases due to early effect there would be less recombinations in base
region. The base current IB increases.
To get the same value of IB (as IB when VCE=0) the VBE should be increased. Therefore
curve shifts to the right of VCE=0 as VCE increases.

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Output characteristics of common emitter characteristics:

The curve drawn between collector to emitter voltage VCE and collector current at

constant base current.

I B is kept constant at a suitable value by adjusting VBB . Then increase VCE and not down
I C . Repeat the same procedure for higher fixed values I B . then plot the graph VCE vs I C .

I C Varies as VCE increase (between c and VCE saturation) and after that almost becomes

constant and independent of VCE . When VCE increases there is a small increase in , but there is

large increase in .Output characteristics of VCE shows a larger slope when compared with CB.

Active region : Emitter Base junction forward and Collector Base junction reverse biased.
The central region where the curves are uniform is called active region. The region above
IB=0 is active region. Here I C depends on I B but independent of VCE .
Cutoff region : Both emitter base and collector base junctions are reverse biased. The region
below the IB=0 A is called cutoff region. There is a small current flow which is reverse saturation

current due to flow of minority charge carriers I C0

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Saturation region:
Both Emitter Base and Collector base junctions are forward biased. The region to left of VCE (Sat)

and above I B 0A is called saturation region.

Relation between alpha and beta:

Current amplification factor in common base configuration is represented by alpha and Current
amplification factor in common emitter configuration is represented by beta. Typically alpha
ranges from 0.9 to 0.995 and beta ranges from 20 to 500 .

I C

I b
I C

I E
I C

I E I C
I C
I E

I 1
1 C
I E

BJT Biasing

In order to produce distortion free output, in amplifier circuits the supply voltages and
resistances must be chosen properly. The process of giving proper supply voltages and resistances
to operate the transistor in active region is called biasing.
In transistor analysis it is generally required to select I C for different values of VCE . A

load line is drawn which is a straight line consisting of VCE , I C points. The best operating point

must be stable for proper operation of transistor But operating point or Q-point (quiescent) changes
with changes in transistor parameters such as , I CO , VBE & temperature .

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DC load line:
Dc load line is to be drawn by assuming the AC signal is adsqent. Then capacitor is open
circuited.

Apply KVL for collector circuit:

VCC I C RC VCE

The optimum Q point is located at midpoint of DC load line AB between saturation and
cutoff region.

AC load line:
Assume capacitors are short-circuited and VCC is absent
AC equivalent circuit for CE amplifier circuit is

Max VCE VCEQ I CQ Rac po int D

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 VCEQ
Max I C I CQ po int C
Rac
The intersection of AC load line and DC load line is operating point Q
V
VCEQ , I CQ CC , CC
V

2 2 RC
Bias stability:
Though Q point is fixed at centre of DC load line, it tends to shift due to following
(1) I C0 doubles for every 10C rise in temp

(2) VBE which decreases by 2.5mV / C

(3) Current gain

Criteria for fixing the operating point:

The Q-point must be will within the active region of transistor and this must be stable. If Q-
point shifts towards either saturation or cut-off the output voltage and current gets clipped and
output signal will be distortedThe Q-point can be selected at three different portions of DC load
line. One is near to saturation, near to cut off, near to centre. But Q-point is selected at centre to
prevent any possible distortions.
Case-1 : Operating point is at the location P

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 Operating point near the saturation gives Clipping at positive peaks .Though base current is full
sinusoidal, I C is clipped at positive half cycle. The operating point P is not a suitable Q-point.

Case-2: Operating point Q is at the location R.

Operating point near the cut off region gives Clipping at negative peaks
Case-3: The operating point is at Q

Operating point at the centre of active region is most suitable

Methods of bias stabilization:
To maintain Q-point stable by keeping I C constant so that that transistor works in active region.

Depending upon the type of parameter VBE , I C0 , with respect to which we define, there are

different methods of stabilization.

Stabilization factor (s) :
The stability factor indicates the degree of change in operating point due to I C0 . The extent to

which I C is established with varying I C0 is measured by stability factor(s). It is also defined as

rate of change of I C with respect to. I C0 by keeping VBE and constant

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 I C
S
I C 0
VEB ,cons tan t

or
I C

I C 0
VEB ,cons tan t

dI C

dI C 0
VEB ,cons tan t

Stability factor S :

S is defined as rate of change in I C w.r.t. change in VBE by keeping I C0 , constant.

I C I C
S
VBE I C 0 , cons tan t
VBE

Stability factor S :
S is defined as rate of change in I C with respect to change in at constant I C0 ,VBE by

keeping I C0 , constant.

I C I C
S
I C 0 ,VBE cons tan t

Ideally stabilization factor should be zero for good stabilized circuit to keep operating
point stable.
General expression for stability factor:
I C DI C
S
I C0 DI C0

Expression for Ic

I C I B 1I CO

dI B IC
1 1d 0
dI C dI C

dI B 1
1
dI C S

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 1
s
dI B
1
dI C
Bias stabilization techniques:
1. Fixed bias
2. Collector to base bias
3. Self bias

Fixed Bias :

This is also known as base-resistor method

Fig: Fixed bias circuit

Apply KVL to base circuit
VCC I B RB VBE

VCC VBE
IB 1
RB
General expression for S is
1
s
dI B
1
dI C

Differentiating equation (1) with respect to I C

dI B
0
dI C
S 1
As is large S is too high

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So fixed bias is poor stabilization technique

Advantages: The circuit is very simple and it requires less number of components only.

In fixed bias technique

S 1

S
RB

IC
S I C in mA

Collector-to-base technique:

In this technique stability factor value is less compared to fixed bias i.e., it has high degree
of stabilization. A common emitter amplifier using collector to-base circuit is shown in figure

If the collector current IC tends to increase due to either increase in temperature or the
transistor has been replaced by the one with a higher , the voltage drop across RC increases,

thereby reducing the value of VCE. Therefore, IB decreases which, in turn, compensates the increase
in IC. Thus, greater stability is obtained.

Apply KVL to base collector loop

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 VCC I C I B RC I B RB VBE
I B RB I B RC VCC VBC I C RC
VCC VBC I C RC
IB
RB RC

dI B RC

dI C RB RC
General expression for S is
1
S
dI
1 B
dI C
1
S
RC
1
RB RC

(1) When R B is small when compared to RC i.e,

RB RC
S 1
(2) RC is very small

S 1 (Like fixed bias)

So, RC RB for good stabilization and stability factor =1

Advantages:
Stability is good compared to fixed bias
Demerits:
1. Stability is good only when RC RB

2. It is not applicable to transformer coupled amplifier because RC is very small for this

amplifiers.

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Self bias technique for stabilization :

Fig (a) self bias circuit (b) Thevenins equivalent circuit

It is also called Emitter bias. This method is established to use for stable operating point.
It is also known as self bias or emitter resistor with potential divider network. It is independent of
RC i.e., it can also used for low resistance values. When collector current I C increases due to

temperature, current I E increases which makes VBE junction reverse bias. But for transistor
applications, Emitter Base junction must forward bias. The required bias is obtained from potential
divider network consisting of resistors R1 & R2 .

Stabilization factor S:

Apply thevenins theorem to above circuit to find base current. Replace voltage divider
network by thevenins equivalent circuit..As base current I B is very small current flows through

R2 is also represented by I 1 .
VCC
I1
R1 R2

Because of current flows through R2 the voltage developed across R2 is represented by

V2 I1 R2

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 VCC
Vth R2
R1 R2
Rth R1 // R2
R1 R2

R1 R2
Thevinins equivalent circuit is
VT I B RB VBE I B I C RE
I B I I
0 RB B 0 RE B RE
I C I C I C
I B RE

I C RB RE
1
General expression for S
dI
1 B
dI C

1

RE
1
RB RE

Dividing with R E

RB
1
1

S R E
R
1 B
RE

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Stabilization factor S :
Stabilization against variation in VBE :
Expression for S in self bias circuit

VT I B RB VBE I B I C RE

IC I
VT RB VBE C I C RE

Differentiate above equation with respect to VBE

RB dI C R dI
0 1 E RE C
dVBE dVBE
dI C RB R E
RE 1
dVBE
dI C 1

dVBE R RE
RE B


S
RB 1 RE

Stabilization factor S
Stabilization against variation in :
Expression for S

VT I B RB VBE I B I C RE

IC I
RB VBE C I C RE

Differentiate above equation with respect to

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 I C I
VT C RB RE VBE I C RE

I
C IC

0 R B R E R E
2

I C RE
IC 2
RB RE
I C RE
IC 2
RB RE
I C I C RE

RB RE

I C R B R E R E 2
S
RB RE

IC
S
RE
1
RE RB

IC S
S
1

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Compensation techniques:-

In these techniques, temperature sensitive devices such as diode, thermistor etc., which provides
compensating voltages and currents to maintain operating point stable. These techniques are
used for compensation against variation in VBE and I CO .

Diode compensation:-
( Compensation against variation in Ico)

Fig: Diode bias compensation

This circuit is mainly meant for compensation against variation in I CO . The diode D is

connected across base and emitter junction. The diode is reverse biased by base emitter voltage
VBE Therefore it allows reverse saturation current I CO flow through the diode. Then base current

of transistor, I B I I 0 where I O is reverse saturation current.

When temperature increases, I CO increases, then I C increases, then I B decreases( from

above equation). Hence to compensate for increase in I C , base current I B should decrease, so that

collector current I C becomes constant against the variations in I CO .As long as temperature is
constant, the diode D operates as a resistor.

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Thermistor compensation:
( Compensation against variation in VBE)

This compensation circuit is designed to make I C constant for variations in VBE

Fig: Thermistor Bias compensation

Thermistor RT has negative temperature coefficient of resistance which is connected in

parallel with R2 . If temperature increases, then resistance decreases exponentially.

When temperature increases , collector current Ic increases, then VBE decreases. But

voltage drop across R B will be less, then VBE increases. Therefore collector current I C becomes

constant against variations in VBE .To prevent the loss of the gain due to the feed back the emitter

resistance R E is shunted by emitter bypass capacitor C E .

Sensistor Compensation

This circuit is meant for compensation against VBE . Hence sensistor has positive

temperature coefficient. Here voltage across R1 R2 is VCC (constant), If temperature

increases, RS increases. Then R1 // RS also increases. So voltage drop across R1 // RS also

increase. Then voltage drop across R2 decreases, thereby I B also decreases. So I C decreases.

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Thermal runaway:

The reverse saturation current doubles for every 10C rise in temp
I C BI B I C0

When temperature increases, Ico increases, then collector current Ic increases, which
increases collector base junction temperature which further increase Ico, so collector current Ic
further increases
temperatureincreases I CO I C CB junction temp I CO I C

This process is cumulative. So transistor may reached to saturation point and get damaged
this is called Thermal runaway. The self-destruction of unstabilized transistor is known as
Thermal runaway.

Protective steps:
Collector is more wider so that it can dissipate. Heat sink, which is a metallic sheet fitted to
collector which radiates heat quickly to avoid thermal runaway.

Thermal Stability:

To protect the transistor from thermal runaway a condition which is to be satisfied for
thermal stability. The rate at which the heat is released at collector junction should not exceed the
rate at which the heat can be dissipated under steady state condition.
PC 1

T j

where - Constant of proportional also known as thermal resistance

If circuit is properly designed then the transistor can not run away below a specified temp.
or even under any conditions. Let us consider a transistor fused in a circuit where ambient temp.
of air around the transistor is TA C and temperature of Collector Base junction of transistor is TJ C
.

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 PC 1

T j

Due to heating within transistor

T j TA

As T j TA increases power dissipation PD increases i.e.,

T j TAPD

T j TA PD

T j TA

PD
For a self bias circuit the transistor is biased in active region the power generated of collector base
junction is represented by PC

PC I CVCE

KVL at collector junction

VCC I C RC VCC I E RE
VCE VCC I C RC I E RE
PC I C VCC I C RC I E RE

But I C I E

PC I C VCC I C RC I E RE
PC VCC I C I C RC RE 2
2

Condition to prevent thermal runaway

PC 1

T j

PC I C 1

I C T j

I C
As and are positive
T j

PC
is negative
I C

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In order to satisfy above equation
differentiate equation (2) with respect to I C

PC
VCC 2 I C RC RE 4
I C
PC
should be negative
I C
VCC 2 I C RC RE
VCC
IC
2RC RE
Now,
VCE VCC 2 I C RC RE
2VCC VCE
IC
RC R E
VCC
IC
2RC RE
2VCC VCE
IC
2RC RE

VCE VCC 2 I C RC RE
VCC
VCE VCC
2
VCC
VCE
2
The above all conditions are satisfied to avoid thermal runaway.

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