Ceferino Kevin A.

Tan
Activity 6 BJT Characteristics

Objectives
1. To obtain a graph of the input and output characteristics of a bipolar junction transistor.
Basic Concept
Introduction to BJTs
Previously, we have obtained knowledge of how the basic p-n junction diode works. Indeed, we have
observed how a diode works as a switch, especially when used under time-varying and oscillating
voltage sources, but it does not really give us an effective control over when the diode should
conduct and when it shouldnt. The on and off switching of the diode is dependent solely on the
voltage of its terminals.
This is where we begin to discuss about the Bipolar Junction Transistor, and the great switching
ability it can provide that the basic p-n junction diode cannot.
A Bipolar Junction Transistor is a device with three terminals and you can think of one of the
terminals as a control terminal. Ideally, if a current is present in the control terminal, the device will
act as a closed switch between the other two terminals. Conversely, if no current is present in the
control terminal, the device will act as an open switch between the other two terminals.
The symbol for the Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) and two of its common packages is shown in
figure 6.1 (a) and (b). The BJTs come in two major types: the PNP and the NPN. A simplified
schematic of the internal structure of a BJT transistor is shown in figure 6.1 (c).

Figure 6.1 (a) Two different symbols used for BJTs in circuits: left NPN, right PNP. (b) Two
different packages for discrete low power BJT. (c) A simplified view of the internal structure of a BJT:
left NPN, right PNP The names of the terminals are abbreviated as: B for base, C for collector and
E for emitter.

The three terminals of a BJT are called emitter, base and collector as shown in fig. 6.1. The
arrowhead on the emitter points in the conventional flow direction. The base of a BJT is the control
terminal mentioned earlier.
Although one of the applications of the BJT is an electronically controlled switch in a circuit, the BJT
is mostly used in amplifiers. In order to understand how the BJT can operate as an amplifier, we first
need to learn about the regions of operation of the BJT and its characteristic curves.

Operation Regions and Characteristic Curves

Figure 6.2 The BJT can be viewed as two diodes with a common terminal. These diodes are
referred to as collector diode (DC) and Emitter diode (DE) throughout this experiment.
Each of the collector and emitter diodes can be forward or reverse biased, thus there are four
regions of operation for a BJT. Table 6.1 depicts these regions. The two cases where both DC and DE
are forward biased or both reverse biased, work as you may expect. When both diodes are in
reverse-bias, almost no current passes through any of the terminals of the BJT. When both diodes
are in forward-bias, a large current exists in each diode.

Table 6.1 The operating regions of the BJT

The region of special interest is the active region, where DE is forward-biased and DC is reversebiased. Although you may expect that there should be a large current in the emitter and a small
current in the collector, this is not the case. Instead, the current in the collector will be almost
equally large as the emitter current. The active region is where the BJT can function as an amplifier.
In order to make sure the BJT is in the desired region of operation and will remain in the region for a
known set of input signals, it is necessary to know the concept of characteristic curves of the BJT. In
this experiment, you will only encounter the curves that are obtained for the common emitter
configuration of the BJT. The common emitter configurations are shown in figure 6.3. As you can see
the emitter is common to both voltage sources. This configuration is the most widely used
configuration of the BJT.

If the collector-emitter voltage is kept constant, the curve of the base current, IB, versus VBE is called
the input characteristic of the BJT (figure 6.4 left). As expected, this curve is similar to the
characteristic curve of the p-n junction diode.
The other set of characteristic curves are the output characteristic curves. These curves are more
important since they define the region of operation of the BJT. As you can see in figure 6.4 right,
these curves show the relation between collector current and collector emitter voltage for each
value of the base current, IB. As you can see, IB controls the collector current.

Figure 6.4 Left The input characteristic curve, IB vs. VBE. Right The output characteristic curve, IC
vs. VCE @ certain IB.
An interesting feature of the output curves makes clear how a BJT can be used as an amplifier. As
you can see in these curves, after a certain VCE voltage, the value of IC remains almost constant. This
suggests the definition of:

Which is the DC gain of the BJT. Note that a small base current results in a much larger collector
current, thus the signal is amplified.
The operating regions of the BJT can also be seen in the output characteristic curves. Figure 6.5
shows which part of the curve represents which region of operation.

Figure 6.5 The operating regions of the BJT.

Materials
There are several ways to conduct this experiment. But for this one, we will simulate via MultiSim.
This experiment can be replicated in actual. For the list of equipments,
(1) Digital Multitester (DMM)
(1) 2N3904 NPN Transistor or any general-purpose NPN BJT
(1) 2N3906 PNP Transistor or any general-purpose PNP BJT
(2) Variable DC power source
(1) 100K Resistor
(1) 1K Resistor
(1) 100K Potentiometer
(1) 5K Potentiometer
Procedure
1. Construct the circuit in Figure 6.3

Figure 6.3 Common emitter configuration used in experiment. Note that XMM1 and
XMM4 are used as voltmeters in measuring VCE and VBE, respectively. On the other hand,
XMM2 and XMM3 are ammeters used in measuring IC and IB, respectively. Key A controls
VCC, while key B controls VBB. There are many ways to control the voltage across VCE and VBE
one way would be to attach a suitable variable potentiometer in the collector and in the
base nodes.
2. Gradually increase the voltages VCC and VBB.
3. Record values in Table 6.2 for NPN transistor and graph. Include the load line in your
graph. Use VCC = terminal voltage for VCC.
4. Assemble circuit in Figure 6.4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the PNP Transistor. Record in Table 6.3.

Figure 6.6 Common emitter configuration for PNP transistor analysis.

VCC

VBB
VCE (V)
IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

0
0
0
0
0

3
1.27E-02
-1.27E-05
5.74E-01
2.44E-05

6
1.70E-02
-1.70E-05
5.99E-01
5.42E-05

9
1.87E-02
-1.87E-05
6.12E-01
8.53E-05

12
1.96E-02
-1.96E-05
6.22E-01
1.15E-04

15
2.01E-02
-2.01E-05
6.28E-01
1.42E-04

VCE (V)
IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

3
4.48E-07
4.08E-07
-4.08E-12

1.82E-01
2.82E-03
6.94E-01
2.31E-05

1.28E-01
2.87E-03
6.95E-01
5.33E-05

1.12E-01
2.89E-03
6.96E-01
8.35E-05

1.03E-01
2.90E-03
6.97E-01
1.14E-04

9.60E-02
2.90E-03
6.98E-01
1.42E-04

VCE (V)
IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

6
8.88E-07
8.15E-07
-8.15E-12

2.421
3.58E-03
6.99E-01
2.31E-05

1.30E-01
5.83E-03
7.14E-01
5.33E-05

1.42E-01
5.86E-03
7.15E-01
8.35E-05

1.30E-01
5.87E-03
7.15E-01
1.14E-04

1.21E-01
5.88E-03
715.795
1.42E-04

VCE (V)
IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

9
0
1.22E-06
-1.22E-11

5.286
3.71E-03
6.99E-01
2.31E-05

6.03E-01
8.40E-03
7.24E-01
5.33E-05

1.70E-01
8.83E-03
7.26E-01
8.35E-05

1.51E-01
8.85E-03
7.27E-01
1.14E-04

1.41E-01
8.86E-03
7.27E-01
1.42E-04

12

VCE (V)
IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

12
1.78E-06
1.63E-06
-1.63E-11

8.151
3.85E-03
6.99E-01
2.31E-05

3.297
8.70E-03
7.24E-01
5.33E-05

2.13E-01
1.18E-02
7.34E-01
8.35E-05

1.73E-01
1.18E-02
7.35E-01
1.14E-04

1.58E-01
1.18E-02
7.35E-01
1.42E-04

15

VCE (V)
IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

15
1.78E-06
2.04E-06
-2.04E-11

11.015
3.99E-03
6.99E-01
2.31E-05

5.991
9.01E-03
7.24E-01
5.33E-05

1.697
1.33E-02
7.37E-01
8.34E-05

2.01E-01
1.48E-02
7.42E-01
1.14E-04

1.77E-01
1.48E-02
7.42E-01
1.42E-01

18

VCE (V)
IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

18
0
2.44E-06
-2.44E-11

13.88
4.12E-03
6.99E-01
2.31E-05

8.685
9.32E-03
7.24E-01
5.33E-05

4.245
1.38E-02
7.37E-01
8.35E-05

4.69E-01
1.75E-02
7.47E-01
1.14E-04

2.00E-01
1.78E-02
7.48E-01
1.42E-04

21

VCE (V)
IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

21
3.55E-06
2.85E-06
-2.85E-11

16.744
4.26E-03
6.99E-01
2.31E-05

11.379
9.62E-03
7.24E-01
5.33E-05

6.793
1.42E-02
7.37E-01
8.35E-05

2.893
1.81E-02
7.47E-01
1.14E-04

2.44E-01
2.08E-02
7.52E-01
1.42E-04

Table 6.2 Experiment Data for 2N3904 Transistor. Notice that with increasing VCE or increasing IB
comes increasing IC.

VCC

12

15

18

21

VBB

12

15

VCE (V)

-4.075m

-4.507m

-4.653m

-4.73m

-4.78m

IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

0
0
0

-4.075u
-653.722m
23.537u

-4.507u
-675.634m
53.291u

-4.653u
-687.596m
83.489u

-4.73u
-695.921m
113.687u

-4.78u
-702.345m
142.109u

VCE (V)

-3

-129.938m

-84.446m

-70.112m

-61.727m

-55.94m

IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

444.089n
-60.3n
-602.995f

2.87m
-735.351m
22.649u

2.916m
-737.564m
53.291u

2.93m
-739.366m
83.489u

2.939m
-741.035m
113.687u

2.944m
-742.614m
142.109u

VCE (V)

-6

-1.876

-129.606m

-103.634m

-91.494m

-83.644m

IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

888.178n
-120.571n
-1.206p

4.125m
-742.357m
22.649u

5.871m
-755.265m
52.403u

5.897m
-756.442m
83.489u

5.909m
-757.514m
113.687u

5.917m
-758.54m
142.109u

VCE (V)

-9

-4.36

-556.901m

-136.902m

-117.601m

-107.001m

IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

0
-180.842n
-1.808n

4.642m
-742.357m
22.649u

8.433m
-764.411m
52.403u

8.864m
-767.171m
83.489u

8.884m
-768.04m
113.687u

8.894m
-768.859m
142.109u

VCE (V)

-12

-6.843

-2.617

-197.437m

-145.709m

-129.825m

IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

1.776u
-241.113n
-2.411p

5.159m
-742.357m
22.649u

9.384m
-764.411m
52.403u

11.804m
-775.009m
83.489u

11.855m
-775.879m
113.687u

11.871m
-776.601m
142.109u

VCE (V)

-15

-9.327

-4.676

-1.629

-188.19m

-155.131m

IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

1.776u
-301.384n
-3.014p

5.674m
-742.357m
22.649u

10.326m
-764.411m
52.403u

13.372m
-776.388m
83.489u

14.813m
-782.133m
113.687u

14.847m
-782.841m
142.109u

VCE (V)

-18

-11.81

-6.736

-3.411

-1.046

-191.02m

IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

0
-361.655n
-3.617p

6.192m
-742.357m
22.649u

11.266m
-764.411m
52.403u

14.591m
-776.388m
83.489u

16.954m
-784.712m
113.687u

17.81m
-788.069m
142.109u

VCE (V)

-21

-14.294

-8.796

-5.193

-2.63

-702.424m

IC (A)
VBE (V)
IB (A)

3.553u
-421.927n
-4.219p

6.711m
-742.357m
22.649u

12.207m
-764.411m
52.403u

15.81m
-776.388m
83.489u

18.375m
-784.712m
113.687u

20.3m
-791.131m
142.109u

Table 6.3 - Experiment Data for 2N3906 Transistor.

0.025

0.02
Ib = 0
0.015

Ib = 23u
Ib= 53u

0.01

Ib = 85u
Ib = 113u
Ib = 142u

0.005

Load line
0
-5

10

15

20

25

-0.005

Figure 6.7 Experiment Output for NPN Transistor

0.025

0.02
Ib = 0
Ib = 53u

0.015

Ib = 23u
0.01

Ib = 83u
Ib = 113u

0.005

Ib= 142u
Load line

0
-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

-0.005

Figure 6.8 Experiment Output for PNP Transistor

Conclusions and post-experiment notes

After obtaining graphs for our experimental data, we have indeed noticed a familiar output
characteristic curve for both npn and pnp BJTs.
We have also confirmed for ourselves the BJTs controllable characteristic, that is, the ability to
control it via the control terminal or the base terminal. As you can see, the collector current IC is
directly affected by the base current IB, that is, increasing the base current results in a much greater
magnitude of IC.
We have also obtained a rough idea of where the regions of operation are. Notice that when IB=0,
IC=0 (Cutoff region). And when VCE = 0, IC is at a maximum.
We may continue further on to acquire graphs for the different regions as shown in Figure 6.9 [2],
but the goal of this experiment has been fulfilled we have obtained the necessary output graph of
both NPN and PNP BJTs.

Figure 6.9 Helpful guide in acquiring the different boundary curves of the different regions of
operation

Sources:
1. Michigan Tech Course manuals for EE3305
(http://www.ece.mtu.edu/labs/EElabs/EE3305/Bipolar_Junction_Transistors.pdf)
Dated Oct. 8, 2014
2. Berkeley Univ. EE 130 Course notes
http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ee130/sp03/lecture/lecture15.pdf