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Introduction
The purpose of this page is to try and explain the transistor.
The audience to which it is aimed, is anyone who has or hasn't a clue to how these little Buggers
work and/or how to use them. A real problem with some other explanations: for the sake of
"fidelity" authors' include confusing details until the concept, or thread--of how they actually work
& how to use them--is lost.

No claim to scholarship is made, but you may end up knowing just a little more than before--or
NOT!

The following is comprised of several different explanations. They should be read several times,
because any insight gained from one may help in understanding another. The "List of
Characteristics" should be read for parts of the puzzle, not for insights: however, "you-takes-
what-you-gets."

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Good luck! Inrush Current

glen Limiters
Power
Thermistors - To
-A Transistor is a Current In/Current Out Device 40 Amp
-
Manufactured in
A Transistor can be thought of as a device that is active in only One Direction: It can draw USA - Free
more or less current through its load resistor (sometimes referred to as a pull-up resistor). Samples
www.ametherm.com

Load Cells, Force

Gage
Force and
Pressure
Measurement
Compression and
Tension Systems
www.CooperInstruments.

Dynamic Braking
Resistors
It can either Source Current or it can Sink Current, it Cannot do Both.- 40 + Years of
Experience
Custom
..
Engineering
Since the Transistor is a Current device, any signal Voltage must first be Solutions
Converted to a Current. www.mosebachresistors.

MOSFET Arrays,
Matched
pair MOSFET,
N-Channel,
P-Channel EPAD,
depletion mode.
Voltage to Current Convertor Dual/Quad
First, you must convert the input voltage to a current www.aldinc.com
by
using a Voltage to Current Convertor--a resistor.

Since the Transistor is a Current in/Current out device, any Current Output is
Converted to a Voltage Drop by the Current flowing thru a Load Resistor.

Current to Voltage Convertor

Next, you convert the output current into a voltage
by
using a Current to Voltage Convertor in the collector
circuit--you guessed it--a resistor.

..

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Mouse-Over image to see Animation

Note voltage to current convertor in the base circuit. A.K.A., current limiting resistor.

..

Mouse-Over image to see Animation

The Results when driving the transistor's base directly with no voltage to current convertor.
.

If a picture is worth 1024 words, how many words if it moves?

Click-it to make it Bigger
Spring as Load Analogy Common Emitter Common Base

Differential Amplifier Differential input Common Mode input

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.
Transistor Models-
The Rheostat as a Transistor
The transistor can be thought of as a device that is like a rheostat
(potentiometer). If you think of a pot tied to a fixed resistor as a
transistor amplifier: the pot is working against the fixed resistor--the
collector load resistor. This means the transistor cannot generate a
positive and a negative signal, it can only draw more or less current,
e.g., the pot decreases its resistance, causing more current through
the "load" resistor, thus causing the voltage dropped across that
resistor to increase; the pot increases its resistance, causing less
current through the load resistor, and this causes less voltage to be
dropped across the load resistor. If we think of the extremes of
current as being the equivalent of the positive and negative
alternations of a sine wave, then it follows that the equivalent of
zero is some current equidistant between the two.
There's an Echo in Here
A NPN transistor connected as a common emitter amplifier: the base needs current to do its
thing.
The collector cannot output voltage, it can only cause more or less current to be drawn through
its load resistor. If a voltage is applied to the base resistor a current now flows into the base (base
emitter junction). If a resistor is connected between the collector and a positive supply voltage:
the collector current flowing through the collector or load resistor causes a voltage to be dropped
across said load resistor.

Diodes as Transistor
We can simulate a NPN transistor using two diodes and connecting both anodes together. One
cathode is tied to common (the emitter); the other cathode (the collector) goes to a load resistor
tied to the positive supply. Now connect a 1k resistor to the junction of the two anodes (the base),
and using a signal generator, apply a 0 to 2 volt P-P sine wave to the other end. Using a dual
beam oscilloscope, observe the signal at both ends of the resistor, i.e., the generator and the
"base."

The results should resemble the figure: the diode

signal starts up unimpeded until it reaches ~ 0. 6
volts peak (1.2 volts P - P), at which point the
voltage at the "base" appears to stop increasing,
even though the signal generator is still increasing
in amplitude. No matter how much the voltage
applied from the generator increases (within
reason), the "base" voltage appears to not
increase. However, the current into that junction
(two anodes) increases linearly: I = [E - 0.6]/R.

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Now at this point, the analogy falls apart:

these two diodes have no gain, as the
transistor we are trying to simulate would
have. However, let us pretend that it does:
the "collector" is a high impedance current
source and if a resistor (the load resistor) is
connected between the "collector" and the
positive supply, a voltage is seen at the
collector. This changing voltage drop
across the resistor--caused by the changing
collector current--will change
correspondingly to the "base" current.

Now follow me, just a few more words,

and You've got it! As the voltage at the
generator goes more positive; the base
current increases; the collector current
increases; the voltage drop across the
collector resistor increases; and the voltage
at the collector goes less positive or lower.
Hang on! Stay with me!
Conversely, when the voltage at the generator goes less positive; the base current decreases; the
collector current decreases; the voltage drop across the collector resistor decreases; and the
voltage at the collector goes more positive or higher. Feel better now OK, So I Lied: There is just
a little more to the story. Remember when the base reached ~0.6 volts? well the collector output
is only that part of the signal that caused the base to conduct current. In other words: until the
base rises to ~ 0.6 volts and there is base current, there is no change at the collector--no collector
output.

The following list of attributes may, at first glance, seem confusing and contradictory, however
they are all true and are offered as clues to the puzzle of: 'how does a transistor really work?'

Abstractly, here are some Characteristics:

1. An equivalent circuit of a NPN transistor is two diodes tied anode to anode; one cathode
being the emitter, the other the collector, and the junction of the anodes is the base.

2. When a NPN transistor is doing-its-thing, there is always a constant 0.6 volt drop between the
base and emitter, i.e., the base is always ~ 0.6 volts more positive than the emitter--always!

3. There is no output at the collector, until the base has reached ~ 0.6 volts and the base is
drawing current, i.e., any signal that appears at the base that is not up to ~ 0.6 volts (and not
drawing base current), is never seen at the collector.

4. The base requires a current, not a voltage to control the collector current.

5. The collector is a current source: it does not source a voltage.

6. The collector appears to output a voltage when a resistor is connected between it and power.

7. The collector is a high impedance when compared to the emitter.

8. The transistor can output an amplified signal either from the collector or the emitter (or
both).

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9. When operating with a collector resistor (RL): the output voltage from the collector is an
amplified voltage.

10. When operating with only an emitter resistor (Re ): the output voltage from the emitter is not
an amplified voltage, because it is always ~ 0.6 volts, below the input (base) voltage--hence the
name voltage follower. But because the emitter can source large amounts of current to the
"LOAD," it can be said, there was CURRENT amplification.

11. The collector--being high impedance--cannot drive a low impedance load.

12. The emitter--being a low impedance--can drive a low impedance load.

13. The voltage gain from the collector is greater than one (Gv > 1).

14. The voltage gain from the emitter is less than one (Gv < 1).

15. Both the collector and the emitter: output ~ the same power: E x I = P.

One More Explanation of How a Transistor Works.

Mouse-Over image to see Animation

Because a transistor is a current device: if you cause some current to flow in the base, a larger
amount of current is caused to flow in the collector. There's that pesky echo again.

Looking at the common emitter circuit in the figure: while measuring the voltage and the
current, one starts to apply a voltage to the base of the transistor through the base resistor.

As the voltage increases from, zero there is no current

flowing. At 0.1 volt, no current; 0.2 volt, no current; 0.5
volt, still no current; as the voltage at the base approaches
0.6 volts--where there was no current--all of a sudden a
small current starts to be drawn by the base, and the
voltage at the base slows its rate of increase--and remains
at ~ 0.6 volts. As the voltage from the source increases,
the voltage at the base remains ~ 0.6 volts, and the
current increases--as well as the corresponding collector
current.
At some point, as the currents increase, the increase in the collector current starts to slow, until
it stops increasing altogether, at this point it is said to be in Saturation (if this transistor was

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being used as a switch or as part of a logic element, then it would be considered to be switched
on).

Mouse-Over image to see Animation

Mouse-Over image to see Animation

Mouse-Over image to see Animation

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What have we learned?

First, as the input voltage is
increased from 0 volts towards Direct Coupled Amplifier (A.K.A., D.C. Coupled)
0.6 volts, there is an abrupt
change in current, i.e., from zero
current to some small current
flow. Just below this point where
there is no current flow, the
device is said to be in Cutoff.
This low end region is considered
a nonlinear part of the operating
curve (see the curves). Next,
consider the other extreme: as
the currents in the base and
collector are increasing (base and
collector are tracking), and the
collector current is starting to no
longer track the input base
current: this too is considered a
nonlinear part of the operating Common Emitter Amplifier
curve, and is in saturation (again
refer to the curves).

Now, to the heart of the matter!

We have an operating curve consisting of a fairly linear
segment bounded by two nonlinear ends: cutoff and
saturation.

Operating in the Middle

The transistor will operate very nicely if one could insure
that no input voltage, i.e., signal voltage--would cause the
collector current to ever operate beyond either end of the
linear portion of the operating curve.

Base Current verses Collector Current

.
Sorry, But I Have a Bias
Along comes bias. You have heard A.C. Coupled Amplifier
about it, you've read about it, you
may have even dreamed about it:
now is your chance to see-for-
yourself--up close and personal.
Before one applies a signal voltage
to the base circuit, an arrangement
for a steady voltage to be applied to
the base, such that--with no input
signal--the collector current is the
same as when it is about half way
up, or center of--the linear part of
the curve. Now if we apply, say, an
AC sinusoid to the base circuit
(through a capacitor), the collector Common Emitter Amplifier
current--when seen as a large AC

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signal voltage at the collector--will

be linear and undistorted.

.
A.C. Coupled Amplifier

Hit 'em Again, While He's Down

To further beat a point into the
ground: if one increased the input
signal beyond this level, the output
signal would now start to "Clip"
and cause distortion (sine wave gets
flat on top and/or bottom). If the
bias point were set either too low or
too high, then the sine wave would
start to clip on the top before the
bottom, or visa versa (asymmetric
clipping).

Common Emitter Amplifier

Hint #31, Active in Only One Direction
The transistor can be thought of as a device that is active in only one direction: it can draw
more or less current through its load resistor. In the case of a NPN transistor tied as a common
emitter amplifier: the device can only actively sink current through the load resistor (otherwise
known as a pull-up resistor) it cannot source current.
.

Effects of different Bias Settings

Near Cutoff Linear Portion Near Saturation

.
Let Me Count The Ways
By now you have probably guessed that there are several other ways to "hook-up" the
transistor. In the previous 3 volumes we have discussed using the, so called, common emitter
amplifier: where the only output is at the collector. Now we will introduce you to an interesting
arrangement: the common collector, otherwise known as an Emitter Follower, or voltage
follower.
Now gang, this is where it gets sticky: Emitter Follower
The definition of an "ideal" voltage source is a
source having zero output impedance, i.e., infinite
current can be drawn, and the voltage stays the

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same.

Where the common emitter amplifier required a

voltage to current convertor for its current input
requirement, this configuration requires voltage
input only.

And because there is always a ~ 0.6 volt offset

between the base/emitter junction (as did the
common emitter), the emitter sources a voltage that
reflects the input voltage, minus this offset, times
the voltage gain:
Vout = [Vin - 0.6 volts] x [Gv = .95].
A.K.A., Common Collector
Lets see if I have this right: "Voltage in, voltage out; and it's a current Amplifier?"
Bingo! Think about it:

1) The voltage-in is not amplified (Gv ~ .95);

2) There is impedance transformation--high to low; there is power amplification: Therefore

there must be current amplification.

.
Some other attributes are:
It has a voltage gain of less than one (Gv ~ .95); it is not easy to cutoff, or saturated the
transistor. Unlike the common emitter, it does not invert the polarity of the input signal; it is
among the most stable of amplifiers--yes it is an amplifier, even if it has a voltage gain below
one. Because it has high input impedance, and low output impedance, it is often used for
transforming a high impedance output, to a low impedance output: it is often used to drive
transmission lines, e.g., video cable from camera to monitor. Also, it is often used as the output
stage (pass transistor) of linear voltage regulators. If a 5.6 volt voltage source (low impedance)
is connected to the base, the emitter output will try to maintain that voltage minus 0.6 volts:
5.60 - 0.6 = 5.0 volts (how well it maintains this voltage is dependent on the transistor's gain:
Hfe = large number).

Another attribute is its excellent high frequency response. Because there is no voltage gain, or
because it has a gain of ~ 1, the bandwidth is equal to the cutoff frequency of the transistor, Ft
(where Ft = [Hfe = 1]: BW = Ft).

Note: because there is no voltage gain, there is no multiplication of the base/collector

capacitance (Co) which reduces the high frequency response of common emitter amplifiers;
see, also: Miller effect.
Why a Voltage Gain of Less-Than-One? Good question.
Here goes! In an emitter follower configuration, as voltage equal to--or greater than--0.6 volts is
applied directly to the base, a current is caused to flow through the the emitter resistor resulting
in a commensurate voltage drop. This voltage drop is always equal to the input minus ~0.6 volts
multiplied by some value slightly less than one. e.g., .95.

In the previous common emitter amplifier the current into the base was determined by the
relative difference between the base and emitter--above 0.6 volts.

In the case of the emitter follower, as the base voltage is increased, there is a corresponding
tracking of the base/emitter differential: the emitter rises to--or follows--the base's change. If
the output follows the input, there can never be enough current drawn by the base to cause a
voltage drop across the emitter which exceeds the input voltage--hence no voltage gain. This is

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an elegant case of (internal) negative feedback.

The amount of base current required to cause some larger current to flow through the emitter
resistor (and corresponding voltage drop) is dependent on the gain--Hfe--of the transistor and
the emitter load (emitter resistor and load).

Another way of thinking about this relationship, is as input impedance: if the transistor had
infinite gain, there would be no base current, resulting in infinite input impedance.

If the transistor had zero gain, the input impedance would be directly dependent on the emitter
resistor, i.e., base current = emitter current.

If the transistor had some finite gain, the input impedance would be finite, i.e., base current
would be dependent on the emitter resistor modified by the transistor's finite gain (Hfe), i.e.,
base current ~= emitter current/Hfe.

In all of this, one can think of it as a sort of internal feedback, or bootstrapping of the input
impedance.

Why is an emitter follower so stable? Another good question. Easy to answer: As long as the
gain is 1 or less than 1, it can never oscillate. Oscillation requires a positive feedback and a gain
of greater than 1 to sustain oscillation (of which instability is a precursor).

.
That Pair's DARLINGton Darlington Pair
The maximum input impedance one can expect from an
emitter follower, is limited by the finite gains of individual
transistors (~ 50 to ~ 350). However, there is a way to
increase the effective gain or transistors by using two
transistors. The total gain of this transistor pair is Gv1 x
Gv2 = Gv total (Gv ~ 2k - 100k). This is achieved by
arranging the transistors such that the emitter of one is
driving the base of the next and connecting the collectors
together. This is known as a Darlington pair, and can be
used as any single transistor would be: common emitter,
emitter follower, etc.

The down side of this arrangement, is reduced speed:

because of the very high gain's effect on the collector to
High Input Impedance,
base capacitance, Co (Ctotal = Co x Hfe).
Very High Gain Stage

An Ideal Amplifier
An ideal amplifier is one that is made up of some gain device (transistors) that has very much
more gain than the finished amplifier. If this gain device had infinite gain, then the amplifier's
gain would be completely dependent on the gain setting resistors: which set the gain by
determining the amount of feedback used to overcome the amplifier's open loop gain (e.g., Op
Amps). In the case of simple single transistor gain stages, the control exerted by the gain setting
resistors is limited and has less effect on the stage's overall performance, i.e., the transistor's
inherent gain is dominant. However, realize that the greater the ratio of final amplifier gain to
the maximum possible gain (no feedback) of the transistor, the less vulnerable the gain of the
amplifier is to variations of the individual transistor's gain (within limits).

. .
A.C. Coupled Common Emitter Amplifier A Common Emitter Amplifier
Without Feedback
A simple common emitter

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transistor amplifier--having no
negative feedback--is not an ideal
amplifier. This is because of the
variability of gain from one
transistor to another making
uniform gain from amplifier to
amplifier impossible. Also,
without feedback some
amplifiers--having transistors
with excessive gain--might be
unstable and prone to be
oscillate, as well as, poor signal
to noise and distortion ratios
(S/N+D); low input impedance
(poor impedance matching
between stages, etc.), and
susceptibility to temperature
extremes. Without negative
feedback, high ambient
No Feedback temperatures can raise the
operating point, thus heating the
device further; ending with this
positive (thermal) feedback,
bringing on the transistor's
permanent failure.

.
Phase Invertor

So That's Feedback, ah...

When (negative) feedback is introduced,
most of these problems diminish or
disappear, resulting in improved performance
and reliability. There are several ways to
introduce feedback to this simple amplifier,
the easiest and most reliable of which is
accomplished by introducing a small value
resistor in the emitter circuit. The amount of
feedback is dependent on the relative signal
level dropped across this resistor, e.g., if the
resistor value approached that of the
collector load resistor, the gain would
approach unity (Gv ~ 1).

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And to beat a simple point

into Terra firma: with no
emitter feedback (no Re),
the gain would be essentially
that of the transistor.

Emitter and Collector Feedback
Another feedback
technique is the introduction
of some fraction of the
collector signal back to the
base circuit. This is most
easily done via the positive
biasing resistor (Rb1) --as in
the figure. A third --but by
no means last --approach is
to use a combination of
feedback techniques.

The Miller Effect

It's Miller Time
In a gain stage (common emitter) there is a
limit to the achievable bandwidth at some
set gain: i.e., the higher the gain, the lower
the bandwidth; conversely, the lower the
gain, the wider the bandwidth. This is the
now famous, Gain Bandwidth Product. The
dominant mechanism for this is found in the
intrinsic feedback capacitance, Ccb,
between the collector and the base. The
effect--as frequency increases--is to
increase feedback via Ccb's capacitive
reactance, XCcb, thus reducing the overall
gain. To compound this problem: XCcb is
dependent on the intrinsic capacitance, Ccb,
multiplied by the gain, i.e., as the gain is
reduced, the bandwidth is increased. There
are ways of reducing this effect, such as The Miller Effect
peaking coils in the collector (Xl cancels
Xc); pre-emphasis of the signal's higher
frequencies at the input; frequency selective
feedback, etc...

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Gain Bandwidth Product

Using several lower gain stages in cascade is
a strategy that also works. And, a very
direct and effective solution is a common
base configuration, in which the input signal
drives the emitter, and the base is grounded,
which has the effect of breaking the
collector/base feedback path. Frequency
dependent feedback In the figure, the
capacitor, Ce, across the emitter resistor,
Re, causes the gain of this device to be
greater at higher frequencies. As capacitive
reactance, Xc, approaches the value of Re,
a rapid increase in gain occurs. The effect,
of course, is to reduce the negative feedback
at higher frequencies. This is often done to
compensate for the limited bandwidth of the
transistor stage.

Common Base Stage

Because the base is "grounded", this

configuration does not suffer from the Miller
Effect, thus yielding the widest bandwidth of all
configurations. Note that the drive is to the
Emitter, and there is no signal inversion.

Video Amplifiers
A video amplifier is used to amplify video Non-Inverting Video Amplifier
from TVs, cameras, computer graphic
devices, etc. Aside from having sufficient
bandwidth and the ability to drive long
cables: they cannot invert the signal's
polarity; if they did: unless you were using
an even number of amplifiers in cascade,
the image would end up a negative. If you
wanted a gain stage, but didn't want the
signal to be inverted, you would drive the
emitter instead of the base. This works, but
as you might imagine, the input impedance
is quite low. So by using what we learned
about emitter followers back in chapter 219,
we can "transform impedances," and now
the noninverting video amplifier looks High Frequency Compensation: Ccp
better.

The Differential Amplifier

Differential amplifiers are everywhere: input stages of Op Amps; comparator inputs; some
video amps; balanced line receivers for digital data transmission ; etc... It is not one of the more
easily understood combinations of transistors, however, I shall attempt to explain this "not-so-
little-bugger."

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A differential amplifier is an amplifier that has two inputs, each of which is sensitive to the
opposite polarity of the other, i.e., if the inverting input has a positive going signal, and the
non-inverting input has the negative version, then there is an output equal their difference
(multiplied by some gain, Gv). Conversely, if both inputs happen to be at the same value, then
there is no output signal: they cancel one another, i.e., both signals (being the same polarity and
amplitude) make no change is the shared emitter resistor's current, therefore, neither signal
affects the other: there is "cancellation," otherwise known as Common Mode Rejection, CMR.
Another way of saying the same thing is: if both inputs have the opposite polarity (or phase)
signal, the shared emitter resistor draws current equal to the algebraic summation of both
transistors.

Deja vu All Over Again

You may have noticed that the configuration of the transistors in a differential amplifier are a
combination of common emitter and emitter follower. OK? OK.

OK, Point #1:

A signal into either input's base, causes an inverted
signal at its collector, and simultaneously, a
smaller, non-inverted output at the (shared) emitter
resistor.

OK, Point #2:

Any signal at the emitter will appear at the
collector as a non-inverted version of this
signal--but amplified (remember the video amp?).

OK, Point #3:

Therefore, any signal at one transistor's input is not
only seen at its collector, but is also seen at the
other transistor's collector, enabled by the action of
the shared emitter resistor (Points #1 & #2).

What, Not a Restatement of the Same Old Thing!

This amplifier consists of two or three transistors (two in the simple version, three or more in
the more precision version). These two input transistors are coupled to each other, via each's
emitter, and share the same emitter resistor . At this common connection each input transistor
affects the output of itself, as well as, the other transistor's output.

"I Lied." Or Did He? Now that you think you understand Click Me!
how a "Differential Pair" works, there is just a little more to
the story. Previously I said that the two input transistors
share the same emitter resistor, leaving the impression that a
signal voltage was at the junction of the emitters and Re. If
you think about it, when one transistor is increasing in
current, e.g., positive alternation of a sine wave; the other
transistor is decreasing in current, by an equal amount, for
the negative alternation. Since the pair is sharing the one
resistor, one can deduce that, ideally, there is always a
constant current in that resistor. Ideally, it is desired that the
emitters transfer all of their signal to the other transistor's
emitter. see a constant current source
..

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Enter the Oft-Maligned Constant Current Source

Because of a non-ideal world and the non-ideal transistors
that cohabit it, a constant current source (generator) is
substituted for Re. A constant current generator is a circuit
in which a fixed voltage source (Zener diode) is applied to
the base, along with some current determining resistor in the
emitter circuit. The result is a collector that will furnish a
constant current over a wide range of voltages.

On the Level -----------------------------------------

Differential stages are also useful for level translation. Either input can be driven (biased) to
affect the operating point of both transistors in a complementary fashion, and therefore the
output (collector) offset voltage. This is what allows the Op Amp's offset voltages to be
trimmed to zero. (See figures)

Don't lose your Temperature

As mentioned, one of the features of a differential amplifier is its ability to reject common mode
signals (CMRR), i.e., if the same signal is on both inputs in equal amounts the output does not
change. This works because of "common" signal cancellation that occurs within that first
differentail stage, between the inverting & non-inverting inputs. The degree of precision of this
effect is dependent directly on how closely the two transistors are matched (gain, etc.).
Typically both transistors share the same substrate and/or package; these appear as one
transistor but are, in fact, a pair--sometimes refereed to as a "differential pair."

As you might guess, when packaged like this, they also share the same temperature gradients.
However, if the two transistors are separated, the slightest change in temp that is not shared can
cause a large shift in offset voltages as seen at the output (e.g., between both collectors). This
might appear as a change in gain, but it is really more a "shift" in its quiescent voltages.
However, if there is any cancellation going on, this shift might reduce the cancellation which
would appear as a change in gain...

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