Silicon Transistor What is Silicon

Silicon is the most popular semiconductor material in the world.

It is a gray, crystalline element. It has four electrons, thus
possessing the material characteristics of a semiconductor. It is
never found as a free element in nature, but its dioxide and other
compounds constitute nearly 9/10ths of the earth's crust. Its most
common form is sand or sandstone. Initially, it was very hard to
use to create transistors due to its high melting point, brittleness,
and other difficult characteristics. But, with advanced silicon
processing techniques developed in the 1950's (many developed
at Bell Labs) silicon eventually became the semiconductor
material of choice over germanium, in no small part due to its
abundance and durability.
The Junction Transistor

A bipolar junction transistor

consists of three regions of
doped semiconductors. A small
current in the center or base
region can be used to control a
larger current flowing between
the end regions (emitter and
collector). The device can be
characterized as a current
amplifier, having many
applications for amplification
and switching.
Transistor Structure
PNP Junction Transistor Amplifiers

Since a transistor is a three-

terminal device and there are four
input-output terminals, one of the
transistor terminals must be
common to the input and output
circuits. This leads to the names
"common emitter", etc for the
three basic types of amplifiers.
NPN Junction Transistor Amplifiers

Since a junction transistor is a

three-terminal device and there
are four input-output terminals,
one of the transistor terminals
must be common to the input and
output circuits. This leads to the
names Common Emitter,
Common Collector, Common
Base for the three basic types of
amplifiers.
 NPN CB Mode
This configuration is 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 CC Mode
The common collector amplifier,
often called an emitter follower
since its output is taken from the
emitter resistor, is useful as an
impedance matching device since
its input impedance is much higher
than its output impedance. It is also
termed a "buffer" for this reason.
 NPN CE Mode

The common emitter

configuration lends itself to
voltage amplification and is
the most common
configuration for transistor
amplifiers.
 Transistor Operation
A transistor in a circuit will be in one of three conditions

1. Cut off (no collector current), useful for switch operation.

2. In the active region (some collector current, more than a
few tenths of a volt above the emitter), useful for amplifier
applications
3. In saturation (collector a few tenths of a volt above
emitter), large current useful for "switch on" applications.
Constraints on Transistor Operation
Transistor Switch Example

There is no current to the

base, so the transistor is in
the cut off condition with
no collector current. All the
voltage drop is accoss the
transistor.
 Transistor Switch Example
The switch is open

The base resistor is chosen small

enough so that the base current
drives the transistor into saturation.
In this example the mechanical
switch is used to produce the base
current to close the transistor
switch to show the principles. In
practice, any voltage on the base
sufficient to drive the transistor to
saturation will close the switch and
light the bulb.
 Transistor as Current Amplifier

The larger collector current IC is proportional to the

base current IB according to the relationship IC=βIB, or
more precisely it is proportional to the base-emitter
voltage VBE . The smaller base current controls the larger
collector current, achieving current amplification.
Transistor CE Amplifier
Transistor CE Amplifier without component
value
 CE MODE :INPUT CHARACTERSTIC
Base-Emitter Voltage
The entire normal range of silicon
transistor operation involves a change
in base-emitter voltage of only about
two-tenths of a volt. This is because
the base-emitter diode is forward
biased. One of the constraints on
transistor action is that this voltage
remains at about 0.6 volts (often
referred to as the diode drop). A small
change in VBE can produce a large
change in collector current and achieve
current amplification.
CE MODE :OUTPUT CHARACTERSTIC
CE MODE :OUTPUT CHARACTERSTIC

Transistor Characteristic Curves

(Approximate for 2N2222)
Quiescent point
Base bias
 Voltage Divider Bias

Use RC = 1 kΩ, RE = 100 Ω,

R2= 2.2 kΩ, VCC = 15 V.