P24L

Solid State Electronic Devices

The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Semester II, 2007
Dr. Paul Aiken
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
The bipolar junction transistor is a 3-terminal device consisting 2 layers of n-type
material sandwiching a thin p-type layer or 2 layers of p-type material sandwiching a
thin layer of n-type material. These structures are appropriately called npn transistor
and pnp transistor, respectively. The terminals are called Emitter, Base and
Collector. The emitter is heavily doped while the base and collector are lightly doped.
n p p
Collector Emitter
2 pn junctions
p
n
n
Collector Emitter
2 pn junctions
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Base
Circuit symbols
npn
pnp
B
C
E
B
C
E
Base
The thickness of
The base layer
Is ~0.0067 of that
Of the emitter or
collector layer
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Transistor Operation
For current to flow through the BJT its two p-n junctions (2 diodes back to back) must be
properly biased. Typically, one junction is forward bias while the other is reverse bias.
The figure below shows the biasing of a pnp transistor
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Notice that the emitter-base junction is forward biased while the collector-base junction is
reverse biased.
Majority carriers will flow from emitter to base across the forward biased junction. Because the base
layer is very thin and has a high resistance (lightly doped) most of these carriers will diffuse across the
reverse-biased junction into the collector in the same direction of the minority charges, and only tiny
amounts of current will flow out of the base terminal. Typically collector currents are of the order of mA
while base currents are A. Appling Kirchhoffs current law:
I
E
= I
C
+ I
B
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Transistor Configurations:
There are three types: Common-Base (CB), Common-Emitter (CE), and Common
Collector (CC).
The Common Base Configuration
The base is common to both the input and the output, usually at ground potential.
In Sat region, both BE and CB are forward biased
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pnp transistor npn transistor
Output or collector characteristics for CB transistor amplifier
In the active region base-emitter is forward-biased,
while collector-base is reverse-biased
In Cutoff region, both BE and CB are reverse-biased, I
C
=0
I
C
= I
E ,
where 1
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Common-Emitter Configuration
Emitter is common or reference to both input and output signal. This is the most
commonly used BJT configuration.
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In dc mode, IC and IB are related by
I
C
= I
B
is called the current amplification factor
B B B C E
B C
I I I I I
I I
+ = + =
=

( )
B E
I I 1 + =
therefore
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Common-Collector Configuration (or the Emitter follower)
Collector is common to both input and output. Mainly used for current amplification
and impedance matching. Characteristics curve is same as CE config.
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Emitter follower used
For impedance matching
A typical transistor power amp will have a CE stage followed by a CC stage
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Limits of Operation
Like all other electronics devices, transistors must not be operated outside of the
manufacturers absolute maximum ratings, otherwise malfunction or damage will
occur. Malfunction usually involve signal distortions (nonlinear behaviors) or unstable
operation.
C CE C
I V P =
max
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2N2222A npn transistor
Linear region of operation
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
DC Biasing
Design of transistor amplifiers requires knowledge of its circuit responses to both dc and
ac signals. DC signals are used for biasing and AC signals are usually amplified. The
energy (or power) required to amplify the ac signal is obtained from the dc voltages (bias
and power supply). In all our transistor designs in this class, V
BE
= 0.7 V. Like a diode
The dc current and voltages
establish an operating point,
or Quiescent point (Q-Point).
For stable operation, Q-points
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For stable operation, Q-points
are set within the active region
Q-Point Design Property
A No Bias
B
Allow +ve and -ve signal amplification.
Ensures linearity of wide range
C
Range of -ve excursion would be limited
since its cloise to cutoff region
D
limited power amplification since very
close to max power levels
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Fixed Bias Circuit
Fixed bias is the simplest dc biasing configuration.
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B
BE CC
B
BE B B CC
R
V V
I
V R I V

=
= 0
Base- emitter biasing
C C CC CE
CC C C CE
B C
R I V V
V R I V
I I
=
= +
=
0

Collector - emitter biasing

What is the function of C
1
and C
2
?
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Load Line Analysis
Load lines are used to determine the Q-point.
For the fixed bias circuit, we have just shown that
. We can represent this on the characteristic
curves plot as shown.
C C CC CE
R I V V =
I
B
= 60 A
I
B
= 50 A
I
B
increases
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I
B
= 20 A
I
B
= 30 A
I
B
= 40 A
I
B
= 10 A
R
C
increases
V
CC
reduces
Fixed bias config
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Fixed bias config
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Emitter Bias
A resistor may be added at the emitter to improve stability level over the fixed biased
configuration.
E E BE B B CC
R I V R I V 0 =
B-E loop
Using Kirchhoffs current law
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( )
( )
( )
E B
BE CC
B
E B BE B B CC
B E
E E BE B B CC
R R
V V
I
R I V R I V
I I
R I V R I V
1
0 1
1
0
+ +

=
= +
+ =
=

Note that R
E
increases the input
base resistance R
i
by (+1)R
E
Recall that
substituting
( )
E C C CC CE
E C
E E CE C C CC
R R I V V
I I
R I V R I V
+ =

= 0
C-E loop
Using Kirchhoffs current law
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Example 4.4 from text
Determine these values for the circuit below:
(a) I
B
(b) I
C
(c) V
CE
(d) V
C
(e) V
E
(f) V
B
(g) V
BC
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The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Voltage Divider Biasing
The previous bias configurations had bias currents and voltages that were dependent
on the value of . However, is temperature sensitive and sometimes not very well
defined, which leads to small instabilities in these bias setup. The voltage divider
configuration is one in which its DC bias values can be made independent of the
transistors .
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Recall that the input base resistance R
i
= (+1)R
E
R
E
. If this value is made very
large with respect to R
2
of the voltage divider network then the transistor biasing will
be strongly independent of . The analysis is on the next slide.
Temperature dependence of
Voltage Divider
Biasing
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Voltage Divider Analysis:
We can redraw the base bias circuit as shown below. If R
E
> 10R
2
, then the current
I
B
will be negligible with respect to R
2
, making the base voltage V
B
solely dependent
on the voltage divider effect of R
1
and R
2
.
E BE B
V
V V V + =
From the full voltage divider circuit
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2 1
2
R R
V R
V
CC
B
+
=
( )
E C C CC CE
E C
E E C C CC CE
E
E
E
R R I V V
I I
R I R I V V
R
V
I
+ =

=
=
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Example of voltage divider configuration:
Determine V
CE
and I
C
for the circuit below.
V
k k
V k
R R
V R
V
CC
B
2
9 . 3 39
22 9 . 3
2 1
2
=
+

=
+
=
mA
V V
I
V V V V
E
E
BE B E
87 . 0
3 . 1
3 . 1 7 . 0 2
= = =
= = =
Therefore,
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Check that R
E
> 10R
2
is true
140 x 1.5k > 10 x 3.9k
( )
( )
V
k k
R R I V V
I I
mA
k R
I
E C C CC CE
E C
E
E
03 . 12
5 . 1 10 10 87 . 0 22
87 . 0
5 . 1
3
=
+ =
+ =

= = =

The Bipolar Junction Transistor

The Transistor as a Switch
Another very common application of a
transistor is that of performing switching
actions. Note (as shown in the figure)
that there is no base-bias current, i.e
I
B
= 0.
For best design, the Q point must
switch from cutoff to saturation, as
shown on the load line plot. At
Saturation
Determine if I
B
is
adequate for this circuit
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Saturation
C
CC
C
R
V
I
Sat
=
and
Therefore for saturation to occur,
we must ensure that:
DC
C
B
Sat
I
I

max
DC
C
B
Sat
I
I

>
i.e. must have adequate base drive current
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Relay Driver
Current Mirrors
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Current Mirrors
Q1 and Q2 must match, i.e. they must have the
same exact parameter, etc, so that I
B1
= I
B2
.
R sets the I
B
and I
C
currents.
R
V
I I
CC
control load
7 . 0
= =
This is used extensively in
Integrated Circuit Designs
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Logic Gates
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The Bipolar Junction Transistor
AC Analysis of BJT transistors
Two types of analyses are usually used depending on the voltage and currents of the
input ac signal relative to the bias voltages and currents. They are small-signal
analysis and large-signal analysis.
To explain the transistor operation during small signal analysis, one of three models
are usually used: the r
e
model, the hybrid model, and the hybrid equivalent
model. The r
e
model is a reduced version of the hybrid model which is exclusively
used for high frequency analysis.
A device model is a combination of properly chosen circuit elements that best
approximates the actual behavior of the device under specific operating
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approximates the actual behavior of the device under specific operating
conditions.
The first step in modeling the ac behavior of the transistor is to determine its ac
equivalent circuit and use it to replace the transistor circuit symbol in the schematic.
Normal circuit analysis is then performed.
The next slide shows an example of how a typical CE circuit is usually converted to
its ac equivalent circuit. This is achieve by setting all DC sources as ground potential
(or ac ground) and capacitors as ac shorts.
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Small signal ac modeling of a transistor circuit
(a) Typical CE circuit
(b) Removal of dc supply and inserting
ac shorts for capacitors
Short out capacitors
Set Vdc to ac gnd
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(a) Typical CE circuit
ac shorts for capacitors
(c) Redrawn for small signal ac analysis
Re-arranging
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
The Hybrid Model
The hybrid model is used for high frequency modeling of the transistor. We will
apply this to frequency analysis discussions later on.
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The r
e
Model
This model is more suitable for when transistor circuit is used at dc and low
frequencies (e.g. audio). Its the same as the hybrid model except that the high
frequency components are not included
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Transistor Models
We will only be looking r
e
model, and later on at the hybrid model.
The r
e
Transistor Model for the CE Fixed Biased Configuration
and r
o
are given in spec sheet;
and r
e
is determined from dc
Analysis
e B i
r R Z // = but
e B
r R 10
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therefore
e i
r Z
The output impedance is determined
when there is no input
O C
r R Z //
0
=
but
C O
R r 10
therefore
C
R Z
0
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
The r
e
Transistor Model for the CE Fixed Biased Configuration
The resistors r
O
and R
C
are in parallel, therefore V
out
is
) // (
O C C O
r R I V =
but
B C
I I =
and
e
i
B
r
V
I

=
( )
O C
e
i
O
r R
r
V
V //
|
|

\
|
=

substituting
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We can now express this in terms of Gain = A
V
= V
o
/ V
i
( )
e
O C
i
O
V
r
r R
V
V
A
//
= =
But if
C O
R r 10
then
e
C
V
r
R
A =
Notice that although
is absent from these equation,
the value of r
e
is still dependent
E
e
I
mV
r
26
=
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Phase Relationship
The negative sign in the previous gain equation implies that the phase of the output
signal is the reversal of that of the input. That is, there is a 180
o
phase change.
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Ex. 5.4 in text
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The Bipolar Junction Transistor
The r
e
Transistor Model for the CE Voltage Divider Configuration
{ }
( )
|
|

\
|
=
=
=
O C
e
i
O
C O C O C O
e i
r R
r
V
V
R r if R r R Z
r R R Z
//
10 //
// //
2 1

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)
`

= =
C O
e
C
e
O C
i
O
V
R r if
r
R
r
r R
V
V
A 10
//
Example 5.5 from text
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What is the purpose of the
Emitter capacitor?
Read the analysis for CE emitter
Bias Config (page 261)
The Bipolar Junction Transistor
Darlington Transistors
Two BJT can be connected so that they act as one transistor with a very large B. This
B is the product of the two betas of the transistors. Such a setup is called a
Darlington Pair and is shown in the figure below.
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2 1 Q Q D
=
2
=
D
If the transistors are identical, then