Analogue Electronics

Project

Date:
/3/2015
Submitted By:

Bilal Sarwar

B-17707

Signal Switches

A mechanical switch has the desirable characteristics of practically zero resistance when ON,
and practically infinite resistance when OFF, providing a complete break in the conducting
path. However, it has to be operated mechanically and slowly, bounces when closed, and
deteriorates with use. Transistor switch, which is close to ideal and can handle large currents,
but nevertheless has a finite voltage across it when closed, and does not give perfect isolation
when open. On the other hand, it operates very rapidly, and does not deteriorate with use.

Another class of switches can be called signal or analog switches. Here, we do not handle
power but signal levels, and what is desired is a high resistance, almost perfect isolation,
when OFF. A reasonable amount of resistance can be tolerated in the ON state, up to a few
hundred ohms or so. The switch should be able to control signals at any reasonable voltage
level (which is why they are called analog) and not be tied to ground or the positive supply.

Bipolar Junction Transistor as a Switch

Solid state switches are one of the main applications for the use of transistors, and transistor
switches can be used for controlling high power devices such as motors, solenoids or lamps,
but they can also used in digital electronics and logic gate circuits.
If the circuit uses the Bipolar Transistor as a Switch, then the biasing of the transistor, either
NPN or PNP is arranged to operate the transistor at both sides of the I-V characteristics
curves we have seen previously.
The areas of operation for a Transistor Switch are known as the Saturation Region and
the Cut-off Region. This means then that we can ignore the operating Q-point biasing and
voltage divider circuitry required for amplification, and use the transistor as a switch by
driving it back and forth between its fully-OFF (cut-off) and fully-ON (saturation)
regions as shown below.

Operating Regions

The pink shaded area at the bottom of the curves represents the Cut-off region while the
blue area to the left represents the Saturation region of the transistor. Both these transistor
regions are defined as:

1. Cut-off Region
Here the operating conditions of the transistor are zero input base current ( IB ), zero output
collector current ( IC ) and maximum collector voltage ( VCE ) which results in a large
depletion layer and no current flowing through the device. Therefore the transistor is
switched Fully-OFF.
Cut-off Characteristics
The input and Base are grounded ( 0v )
Base-Emitter voltage VBE < 0.7v
Base-Emitter junction is reverse biased
Base-Collector junction is reverse biased
Transistor is fully-OFF ( Cut-off region )
No Collector current flows ( IC = 0 )
VOUT = VCE = VCC = 1
Transistor operates as an open switch

Then we can define the cut-off region or OFF mode when using a bipolar transistor as a
switch as being, both junctions reverse biased, VB < 0.7v and IC = 0. For a PNP transistor, the
Emitter potential must be negative with respect to the Base.

2. Saturation Region
Here the transistor will be biased so that the maximum amount of base current is applied,
resulting in maximum collector current resulting in the minimum collector emitter voltage
drop which results in the depletion layer being as small as possible and maximum current
flowing through the transistor. Therefore the transistor is switched Fully-ON.

Saturation Characteristics

 The input and Base are connected to VCC

Base-Emitter voltage VBE > 0.7v
Base-Emitter junction is forward biased
Base-Collector junction is forward biased
Transistor is fully-ON ( saturation region )
Max Collector current flows ( IC = Vcc/RL )
VCE = 0 ( ideal saturation )
VOUT = VCE = 0
Transistor operates as a closed switch

Then we can define the saturation region or ON mode when using a bipolar transistor as
a switch as being, both junctions forward biased, VB > 0.7v and IC = Maximum. For a PNP
transistor, the Emitter potential must be positive with respect to the Base.

Then the transistor operates as a single-pole single-throw (SPST) solid state switch. With a
zero signal applied to the Base of the transistor it turns OFF acting like an open switch and
zero collector current flows. With a positive signal applied to the Base of the transistor it
turns ON acting like a closed switch and maximum circuit current flows through the
device.

Circuit Illustrating Switch Turned OFF

Circuit Illustrating Switch Turned ON

BJT Switch Summary:

BJT transistor switches can be used to switch and control lamps, relays or even
motors.

When using the bipolar transistor as a switch they must be either fully-OFF or
fully-ON.

Transistors that are fully ON are said to be in their Saturation region.

Transistors that are fully OFF are said to be in their Cut-off region.

When using the transistor as a switch, a small Base current controls a much larger
Collector load current.

When using transistors to switch inductive loads such as relays and solenoids, a
Flywheel Diode is used.

When large currents or voltages need to be controlled, Darlington Transistors can

be used.

The MOSFET as a Switch

Enhancement-mode MOSFET (e-MOSFET) operates using a positive input voltage and has
an extremely high input resistance (almost infinite) making it possible to interface with
nearly any logic gate or driver capable of producing a positive output. Also, due to this very
high input (Gate) resistance we can parallel together many different MOSFETs until we
achieve the current handling limit required.

Because of the extremely high input or gate resistance that the MOSFET has, its very fast
switching speeds and the ease at which they can be driven makes them ideal to interface with
op-amps or standard logic gates. However, care must be taken to ensure that the gate-source
input voltage is correctly chosen because when using the MOSFET as a switch the device
must obtain a low RDS(on)channel resistance in proportion to this input gate voltage.

The operation of the Enhancement-mode MOSFET, or e-MOSFET, can best be

described using its I-V characteristics curves shown below. When the input voltage,
( VIN ) to the gate of the transistor is zero, the MOSFET conducts virtually no current
and the output voltage ( VOUT ) is equal to the supply voltage VDD. So the MOSFET is
fully-OFF and in its cut-off region.

MOSFET Characteristics Curves

The minimum ON-state gate voltage required to ensure that the MOSFET remains
fully-ON when carrying the selected drain current can be determined from the V-I
transfer curves above. When VINis HIGH or equal to VDD, the MOSFET Q-point
moves to point A along the load line. The drain currentID increases to its
maximum value due to a reduction in the channel resistance. ID becomes a
constant value independent of VDD, and is dependent only on VGS. Therefore, the
transistor behaves like a closed switch but the channel ON-resistance does not
reduce fully to zero due to itsRDS(on) value, but gets very small.
Likewise, when VIN is LOW or reduced to zero, the MOSFET Q-point moves
from point A to point B along the load line. The channel resistance is very high so
the transistor acts like an open circuit and no current flows through the channel.
So if the gate voltage of the MOSFET toggles between two values, HIGH and
LOW the MOSFET will behave as a single-pole single-throw (SPST) solid state
switch and this action is defined as:

1. Cut-off Region
Here the operating conditions of the transistor are zero input gate voltage ( VIN ),
zero drain currentID and output voltage VDS = VDD. Therefore the enhancement
type MOSFET is switched Fully-OFF.

Cut-off Characteristics

The input and Gate are grounded ( 0v )

Gate-source voltage less than threshold

voltage VGS < VTH

MOSFET is fully-OFF ( Cut-off region )

No Drain current flows ( ID = 0 )

VOUT = VDS = VDD = 1

MOSFET operates as an open switch

Then we can define the cut-off region or OFF mode when using an eMOSFET as a switch as being, gate voltage, VGS < VTH and ID = 0. For a Pchannel enhancement MOSFET, the Gate potential must be more positive with
respect to the Source.

2. Saturation Region
In the saturation or linear region, the transistor will be biased so that the
maximum amount of gate voltage is applied to the device which results in the
channel resistance RDS(on being as small as possible with maximum drain current
flowing through the MOSFET switch. Therefore the enhancement type MOSFET
is switched Fully-ON.

Saturation Characteristics

The input and Gate are connected to VDD

Gate-source voltage is much greater than

threshold voltage VGS > VTH

MOSFET is fully-ON ( saturation region

)

Max Drain current flows ( ID = VDD / RL )

VDS = 0V (ideal saturation)

Min channel resistance RDS(on) < 0.1

VOUT = VDS = 0.2V due to RDS(on)

MOSFET operates as a low resistance

closed switch

Then we can define the saturation region or ON mode when using an eMOSFET as a switch as gate-source voltage, VGS > VTH and ID = Maximum. For a
P-channel enhancement MOSFET, the Gate potential must be more negative with
respect to the Source.
By applying a suitable drive voltage to the gate of an FET, the resistance of the
drain-source channel, RDS(on) can be varied from an OFF-resistance of many
hundreds of ks, effectively an open circuit, to an ON-resistance of less than
1, effectively a short circuit.

When using the MOSFET as a switch we can drive the MOSFET to turn ON
faster or slower, or pass high or low currents. This ability to turn the power
MOSFET ON and OFF allows the device to be used as a very efficient switch
with switching speeds much faster than standard bipolar junction transistors.

Simple Power MOSFET Motor Controller:

As the motor load is inductive, a simple diode is connected across the inductive load to
dissipate any back emf generated by the motor when the MOSFET turns it OFF. A
clamping network formed by a diode in series with the diode can also be used to allow for
faster switching and better control of the peak reverse voltage and drop-out time.

JFET As a Switch
JEFT as Analog Switch:
JFET can be used as an analog switch as shown in figure below It is the major application of
a JFET. The idea is to use two points on the load line: cut off and saturation. When JFET is
cut off, it is like an open switch. When it is saturated, it is like a closed switch.

When VGS =0, the JFET is saturated and operates at the upper end of the load line. When
VGS is equal to or more negative than VGS(off) , it is cut off and operates at lower end of the
load line (open and closed switch).This is shown in fig. 4.
Only these two points are used for operation when used as a switch. The JFET is normally
saturated well below the knee of the drain curve. For this reason the drain current is much
smaller than IDSS .

FET as a Shunt Switch:

FET can be used as a shunt switch as shown in figure. When Vcont=0, the JFT is saturated and
the switch is closed When Vcont is more negative FET is like an open switch. The equivalent
circuit is also shown in figure.

FET as a series switch:

JFET can also be used as series switch as shown in figure. When control is zero, the FET is a
closed switch. When Vcon= negative, the FET is an open switch. It is better than shunt switch.

Conclusion:
BJTs are characterized by linear current transfer function between the collector current and
the base current. They have much larger transconductance and they can achieve much higher
input signal gain thanks to their current control. In addition, they have higher speeds and
higher maximum operating frequency. Consequently , they are preferred in the amplifier
circuits and in the linear integrated circuits as well as high frequency and high power
applications. When BJTs are operated as switches, they consume appreciable power and
therefore they are less suitable in VLSI integrated circuits. They are used in very high speed
logic circits such as TTL and ECL.They consume more area on the chip than the mosfet
transistors.
The FETs are characterized by high input impedance and some types of FETS operate as a

relay such as the enhancement MOSFETS making them superior as switches.Their nonlinear
transfer characteristics between the drain current and the gate to source voltage and their
smaller trans conductance makes them less suitable in amplifier circuits. Therefore, we see
that the dominating logic family for implementing memories, CPUs and DSPs are made of
MOS transistors especially the complementary CMOS transistors which have good logic
performance parameters.The static power consumption of the CMOS is negligible.
In summary, the applications of a device and its dominance in some applications stem from
its characteristics , availability, cost and familiarity.