Lecture 18

The Bipolar Junction Transistor (II)

Regimes of Operation

Outline

Regimes of operation
Large-signal equivalent circuit model
Output characteristics

Reading Assignment:
Howe and Sodini; Chapter 7, Sections 7.3, 7.4 & 7.5

Announcement:
Quiz #2: April 25, 7:30-9:30 PM at Walker. Calculator
Required. Open book.

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 1

 1. BJT: Regions of Operation

VBE

C
- +
VBC forward saturation
active
+
B VCE
+ VBC
VBE
- - cut-off reverse
E

Forward active: device has high voltage gain and

high ;
Reverse active: poor ; not useful;
Cut-off: negligible current: nearly an open circuit;
Saturation: device is flooded with minority
carriers;
takes time to get out of saturation

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 2

 Forward-Active Regime: VBE > 0, VBC <0
n-Emitter p-Base n-Collector

IC>0
IE<0

IB>0

VBE > 0 VBC < 0

Minority Carrier profiles (not to scale):

emitter base collector

pnE npB pnC

pnCo
pnEo npBo
x
-WE-XBE -XBE 0 WB WB+XBC WB+XBC+WC

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 3

 Forward-Active Regime: VBE > 0, VBC < 0

Emitter injects electrons into base, collector extracts

(collects) electrons from base:

I C = I Se
[ ];
VBE
Vth
IS =
qAE npBo Dn
WB
Base injects holes into emitter, holes recombine at
emitter contact:

IB =

IS
e
[ ]
VBE
Vth

1;
IS
=
qAE pnEo D p

F F WE

Emitter current:

I E = IC I B = I Se
[ ] VBE
Vth


IS
e
[ ]1
VBE
Vth

F

State-of-the-art IC BJTs today: IS 0.1 - 1 fA
F 50 - 300.

F hard to control tightly: circuit design techniques

required to be insensitive to variations in F.
Dn
npBo
I WB NdE Dn WE
F = C = =
IB p Dp NaB Dp WB
nEo
WE
6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 4
 Reverse-Active Regime: VBE < 0, VBC > 0
n-Emitter p-Base n-Collector

IE>0 IC<0

IB>0

VBE < 0 VBC > 0

Minority Carrier Profiles (not to scale):

emitter base collector
pnE npB pnC

pnCo
pnEo npBo
x
-WE-XBE -XBE 0 WB WB+XBC WB+XBC+WC

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 5

 Reverse-Active Regime: VBE < 0, VBC > 0

Collector injects electrons into base, emitter extracts

(collects) electrons from base:

IE = IS e
VBC
Vth
;
[ ] IS =
qAC n pBo Dn
WB
Base injects holes into collector, holes recombine at
collector contact and buried layer:

IB =

IS
e
( )1;
VBC
Vth IS
=
qAC pnCo D p

R R WC

Collector current:

I C = I E I B = I Se
[ ]
VBC
Vth


IS
e
[ ]1
VBC
Vth

R

Typically, R 0.1 - 5 << F .

Dn
npBo
I WB NdCDn WC
R = E = D =
IB p p NaB Dp WB
nCo
WC

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 6

 Cut-Off Regime: VBE < 0, VBC < 0
n-Emitter p-Base n-Collector

IE>0 IC>0

IB<0

VBE < 0 VBC < 0

Minority Carrier Profiles (not to scale):

emitter base collector

pnE npB pnC

pnCo
pnEo npBo
x
-WE-XBE -XBE 0 WB WB+XBC WB+XBC+WC

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 7

 Cut-Off Regime: VBE < 0, VBC < 0

Base extracts holes from emitter:

IS
I B1 = = I E
F
Base extracts holes from collector:

IS
I B2 = = I C
R

These are tiny leakage currents (10-15 A).

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 8

 Saturation Regime: VBE > 0, VBC > 0
n-Emitter p-Base n-Collector

IE IC

IB<0

VBE > 0 VBC > 0

Minority Carrier profiles (not to scale):

emitter base collector
pnE npB pnC

pnCo
pnEo npBo
x
-WE-XBE -XBE 0 WB WB+XBC WB+XBC+WC

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 9

 Saturation Regime: VBE > 0, VBC > 0
Saturation is superposition of forward active + reverse
active:

[ ] e[ ]
I C = I S e
VBE
Vth
VBC
Vth
I
S e [ ] V BC
Vth

1

R

IB =

IS
e
[ ]
VBE
Vth

I

1 + S e
[ ] 1
VBC
Vth

F R

I E = I S e
[ ] e[ ]
VBE
Vth
VBC
Vth
I
S

[ ]1
e
VBE
Vth
F

IC and IE can have either sign, depending on relative

magnitudes of VBE and VBC and F and R.

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 10

 Saturation - The Flux Picture
Both junctions are injecting and collecting.
Electrons injected from emitter into base are
collected by the collector as in Forward Active case.
Electrons injected from collector into the base are
collected by the emitter as in Reverse Active case.

;;;
Holes injected into emitter recombine at ohmic
contact as in Forward Active case.
Holes injected into collector recombine with
electrons in the n+ buried layer

n+ polysilicon
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;
hole diffusion flux

majority
n+emitter

majority hole flux from base contact electrons

p-type base
electron
diffusion

n-type collector
majority electron flux from collector
minority hole diffusion flux contact supplying injection into base

n+ buried layer
;

majority electron flux

to collector contact
majority electron flux from collector contact
;

to recombine with hole diffusion flux

;

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 11

 2. Large-signal equivalent circuit model
System of equations that describes BJT operation:

[ ] [ ]
VBE VBC
I V BC
I C = I S e Vth e Vth S e Vth 1
[ ]
R

IB =
V
I S VBE [ ]
I
VBC
e th 1 + S e Vth 1

[ ]
F R



[ ] [ ]
VBE
V
VBC
V I VBE
I E = I S e th e th S e th 1
V

[ ]
F

Equivalent-circuit model representation (non-linear
hybrid- model) [particular rendition of Ebers-Moll
C
model in text]: -
IC

VBC

IS/R

+ IR FIF - RIR
B
IF =IS[exp(qVBE/kT) - exp(qVBC/kT)]
+ IB
IS/F

VBE
IE
-
E

Three parameters in this model: IS, F, and R.

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 12
 Simplification of equivalent circuit model:
Forward-active regime: VBE > 0, VBC < 0
C
C

B B
Ie
[ ]
VBE
Vth
S
VBE,on

E E

For todays technology: VBE,on 0.7 V. IB depends on

outside circuit.

Reverse-active regime: VBE < 0, VBC > 0

C C

VBC,on

B B
Ie
[ ]
VBC
Vth
S

E E

For todays technology: VBC,on 0.6 V

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 13

 Simplification of equivalent circuit model:
Saturation regime: VBE > 0, VBC > 0
C C C

VBC,on VBC,on

B B B
VCE,sat

VBE,on VBE,on

E E E

For todays technology: VCE,sat 0.1 V. IC and IB depend

on outside circuit.

Cut-off regime: VBE < 0, VBC < 0

C

Only negligible leakage currents.

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 14

 3. Output Characteristics

Common-emitter output characteristics:

IC

IB

IB=0

0
0 VCE=VCB+VBE
VCE,sat

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 15

 Common-Emitter Output Characteristics

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 16

 What did we learn today?
Summary of Key Concepts

Forward-active regime: For bias calculations:

B C

VBE,on
I Se
[ ]
VBE
Vth

Saturation Regime: For bias calculations:

C

VBC,on

B
VCE,sat

VBE,on

Cut-off Regime: For bias calculations:

C

6.012 Spring 2007 Lecture 18 17