Trans across

istor resistor

The transistor can be thought of as a device whose
resistance (across collector-emitter) varies with input
current (at the base).

A water pipe analogy
The collector (C) collects
water at the top, the
emitter (E) emits water
at the bottom, and the
flow of water current is
controlled by a small tap
and valve, similar to the
base lead (B) of a
transistor.
Water Pipe model (cont)


When the tap is jammed on (valve vertical), maximum
water flows. Analogous to transistor saturation.
IC = IE at all times.
When the tap is jammed off (valve horizontal), no
current flows. Analogous to transistor cut off.
These two states are used in all digital circuitry using
transistors. Only ON or OFF (1-0) states are possible.
Analogue Transistor Action
If we turn the tap half on
and then continuously
twist the tap clockwise
and anticlockwise, then
the change in water
current flowing from
collector to emitter will
be proportional to the
twisting action.



This is analogous to a transistor operating in the linear
region. Small changes in the base current cause much
larger but directly proportional changes in the current
flowing from collector to emitter.
The transistor can be biased using a DC power supply
and resistors to act as an amplifier.
Small AC signals are applied via the input capacitor,
which allows AC but not DC to flow through it.
This is what it looks like on
breadboard

Two main categories of transistors:
bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and
field effect transistors (FETs).
Transistors have 3 terminals where the application of
current (BJT) or voltage (FET) to the input terminal
increases the amount of charge in the active region.
The physics of "transistor action" is quite different for the
BJT and FET.
In analog circuits, transistors are used in amplifiers and
linear regulated power supplies.
In digital circuits they function as electrical switches,
including logic gates, random access memory (RAM),
and microprocessors.

Terminals and 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
Transistors
Circuit Symbol
Circuit Configuration
Common-emitter
It is called the common-emitter configuration because (ignoring the power
supply battery) both the signal source and the load share the emitter lead as
a common connection point
Common-collector
aAlso called an emitter foll
ctd
Also called as emitter follower as the output is taken
from emitter resistor, used as an impedance matching
device, since its input impedance is much higher than
output impedance.
Common-base
ctd
This configuration is more complex than the other
two, and is less common due to its strange
operating characteristics.
Used for high frequency applications because the
base separates the input and output, minimizing
oscillations at high frequency. It has a high voltage
gain, relatively low input impedance and high
output impedance compared to the common
collector.

NPN Characteristic Curves
PNP Characteristic Curves
Common Emitter Characteristics
B C E I I I + =
co E C I I I + =
CO B C C I ) I I + + ( =
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
.
|

\
|
1
=
- 1
ICO
C B I I
o
o
|
.
|

\
|

=
1

|
.
|

\
|
+ =
- 1
I
I I
CO
B C

Ideal CE Input (Base) Characteristics
Ideal CE Output (Collector) Characteristics
Avoid this
saturation region
where we try to
forward bias both
junctions
IDEAL CE OUTPUT
Avoid this cut-off region where we try to reverse
bias both junctions (I
C
approximately 0)
Actual ce output characteristics
I
B
=
Salient features are:
The finite slope of the plots (I
C
depends on V
CE
)

A limit on the power that can be dissipated.
The curves are not equally spaced (i.e varies with
base current, I
B
).

Operation Mode
Operation Mode
Active:
Most important 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.

BJT in Active Mode
Active Mode
Operation
Forward bias of EBJ injects electrons from emitter into base (small
number of holes injected from base into emitter)
Most electrons shoot through the base into the collector across the
reverse bias junction
Some electrons recombine with majority carrier in (P-type) base
region

Operation Mode

Bringing it Together
Type Common
Base
Common
Emitter
Common
Collector
Relation
between
input/output
phase
0 180 0
Voltage Gain High Medium Low
Current Gain Low (o) Medium (|) High ()
Power Gain Low High Medium
Input Z Low Medium High
Output Z High Medium Low
Load line
Load line-To draw load line find saturation current and cut off voltage.
After plotting these values on the vertical and horizontal axis, a line is
drawn joining these two points, which represents DC load line . It
represents all possible combinations of the collector current and
collector voltage for the given load resistor Rc.

Saturation point-the point at which load line intersects the
characteristic curve near the collector current axis is saturation point.
At this point current is maximum and the voltage across the collector is
minimum for a given value of load.
Ic (sat)= Vcc/Rc

ctd
Cut off point- the point where the load line intersects cut off region of
collector curves is refered to as the cut off point. At this point collector
current is approximately zero and emitter is grounded for fixed bias
circuit.
Vce(cut)= Vc =Vcc

Operating point- the Q-point for a transistor amplifier circuit is the
point along its operating region in a quiescent , where no input signal
gets amplified.