STATE BOARD OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

AND TRAINING ANDHRA PRADESH

Name of the faculty : T. Madhavi Kumari
Designation : Lecturer
Branch : Electronics &Communication Engg
Institute : Govt. Polytechnic ,Vijayawada
Seme1 1 1 ster : III Semester
Subject : Electronics –I
Subject Code : EE-305
Topic : Introduction to Amplifiers
Duration : 50 Minutes
Sub Topic : List The Causes for Instability of
Bias in Transistor Amplifier
Teaching Aids : PPT, Animations, Diagrams
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 Recap

• Already we discussed about the

Operating point

Zero signal collector current and collector emitter voltage

Biasing

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 Objectives

On completion of this period , student would be

able to know.

• Various factors responsible for shift of operating point.

• Concept of thermal runaway.

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Causes for shift of operating point

• Temperature dependence of Ic.

• Transistor Replacement
(Variations in transistor parameters β,ICBO,IB)

3. Thermal runaway

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Causes for shift of operating point

• Temperature dependence of Ic.

Collector current Ic for CE circuit is

IC=βIB+ICEO

IC =βIB+(β+1)ICBO

Contains three variables β, ICBO, IB all dependent upon

temperature.

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• ICBO –Collector Leakage Current.
ICBO doubles in value for every 100C increase in
temperature for Ge transistor.

• β– increases with increase in temperature.

• |VBE| decreases about 7.5 mV per degree Celsius (oC)

increase in temperature IB decreases.

• Any or all of these factors can cause the bias point to

shift (drift) from the designed point of operation.

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Variation of Silicon Transistor parameters
with temperature

T o( c ) ICBO (nA) ß VBE(V)

-65 0.2X10-3 20 0.85

25 0.1 50 0.65

100 20 80 0.48

175 3.3X10-3 120 0.3

At room temperature (about 25°c) ICO=0.1nA ,
At 100°c (boiling point of water ) ICBO is about 20 times
larger . 7
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Shift in Q point due to change in temperature

Q point at 100°c
Q point at 25°c

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At 25°c
EE-305.65 At 100°c
 Transistor Replacement

• The value of β and VBE are not exactly the same for any
two transistors even of the same type.

• When a transistor is replaced by another of the same

type, operating point will shift

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 Collector characteristics and operating point

Solid curves for

original transistor

Dotted curves with

lower β
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 Temperature
continues to
increase
Thermal runaway

ICBO
ICBO
T T T ICEO ICEO

IC
IC
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 Thermal runaway

• The self-destruction of an unstabilised transistor is

known as thermal runaway.

• In order to avoid thermal runaway and consequent

destruction of transistor ,it is very essential that
operating point is stabilized i.e. IC is kept constant

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 Bias Stabilisation

• The process of making operating point independent of

temperature changes or variations in transistor

parameters( β, ICBO, IB ) is known as stabilisation.

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 Summary

We have discussed about the

• Causes for instable operating point in transistor amplifier.

• Thermal runaway.

• Stabilisation.

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 QUIZ

• Thermal runaway occurs when

(a) collector is reversed biased

(b) Transistor is not biased

(c) Emitter is forward biased

(d) Junction capacitance is high

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2. When the temperature changes the operating point is

shifted due to

(a) change in ICBO

(b) change in VCC

(c) change in values of circuit resistances

(d) None of the above

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 Frequently Asked questions

1. What is thermal runaway?

2. Explain the need for stabilization.

(or)
List the reasons for instability of transistor bias in
transistor amplifier.

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