BC548

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BC548 transistor

The BC548 is a general purpose silicon, NPN, bipolar junction transistor found
commonly in European electronic equipment. It is electrically similar to the North
American 2N3904 and Japanese 2SC1815 but has different lead assignments.
If the TO-92 package is held in front of one's face with the flat side facing toward you
and the leads downward, (see picture) the order of the leads, from left to right is
collector, base, emitter. Note that the pin assignment of the complementary PNP device
BC558 is exactly the same.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Specifications
• 2 Relationships to the Family of "BC" Devices
• 3 Historical Roots

• 4 References

[edit] Specifications
The exact specs of a given device depend on the manufacturer. It is important to check
the datasheet for the exact device and brand you are dealing with. Philips and Telefunken
are two manufacturers of the BC548.
Vcbo = 30 Volts, Ic = 100mA, Ptotal = 50 mW and ft = 300 MHz[1]

[edit] Relationships to the Family of "BC" Devices

The BC548 is a member of a larger group of similarly numbered transistors. Its
complement is the BC558, which is similar to the North American 2N3906 and the
Japanese 2SA1015. The BC548 is flanked by two similar transistors, the BC547 and the
BC549. These are similar to the BC548 but the 547 has a greater Vcbo of 50 volts and the
549 has the same Vcbo of 30 volts but a lower noise figure. The 547 and 549 have
complementary PNP versions numbered 557 and 559. A 556 device also exists with a
Vcbo of 80 volts, which device finds extensive use in the current mirror input stages of
medium quality audio amplifiers with relatively high rail voltages. A family of older
"BC" transistors predates the TO-92 BC54x series, the BC107, 108 and 109, (with
complements BC177, 178 and 179). These are generally housed in the TO-18 metal
package, the same as what the North American 2N2222 uses. These older transistors have
similar characteristics as the TO-92 BC5xx devices and are generally interchangeable.
For example, a damaged BC178 could be replaced with a BC558, taking the usual
precautions to ensure that the three leads are correctly oriented.

The BC337, 338 and 339 are a range of higher current, slower devices with
complementary PNP versions BC327, 328 and 329. These are similar to the North
American 2N2222 and 2N2907 in Ic and ft values and have the same Vcbo ratings as the
BC547, 548 and 549. The BC635, 637 and 639 possess an Ic value of 1A, a Vcbo of
between 45 and 80 volts and an ft of 50 to 130 MHz. These devices have a different lead
configuration, with the collector lead in the middle. The complementary PNP versions are
BC636, BC638 and BC640. There are many other devices based on the BC54x family,
such as the surface-mount versions of the BC547, 548 and 549, the BC847, 848 and 849.

[edit] Historical Roots

Before the silicon "BC" devices were developed, the older germanium technology "OC"
series devices were used. These generally date between about 1958-1970. The most
commonly encountered are the glass encapsulated OC44, OC45, OC71 and OC75. These
were very low power devices with a Vcbo generally in the 12-16 volt range and Ic values
of less than 50mA. The OC44 and OC45 were the first common British/European radio
frequency devices with an ft around 1 MHz. The OC71 and OC75 were audio devices
with an ft of about 150 kHz. A "power" version, the OC25, with an Ic of 3 Amperes was
sometimes seen in a TO-3 package. All of these earlier germanium devices were
generally PNP, although NPN versions were made. These older germanium devices
contained indium, a metal with a very low melting point which limited the power
dissipation of the devices to a very low level and rendered them unreliable in harsh
environments, such as use in aircraft where wide temperature variations are encountered.
The silicon technology based "BC" devices appeared and superseded the older
germanium based devices. The doped silicon from which the newer devices were
fabricated could withstand much greater temperature variations and allowed much greater
power dissipations. The main limiting factor of the newer silicon BJTs was thermal
runaway, a condition where the current gain ("beta") of a BJT increases as it gets hotter.
This increases the collector current (Ic) despite the base current being constant. An
increase in Ic makes the chip "die" hotter, increasing the "beta" and thus Ic, and so on
until the transistor is cooled externally or it burns out. This thermal runaway can be
overcome by using an emitter resistor in combination with a voltage divider providing the
base bias current, or by using a resistor between the collector and the base (sliding bias),
we call all these measures against thermal runaway Bipolar transistor biasing.