Faculty of Engineering

Subject: Basic of electrical Engineering

Bipolar Junction Transistors
(BJTs)
Brief Introduction of Transistor

• Invented by a team of
• Three men at Bell Laboratories in 1947.
• Although it was not a BJT but it was the beginning of a
technological revolution that is still continuing.
• Almost all the electronic devices and systems today are an
outgrowth of early developments in semiconductor transistors.
Two Basic Types

• Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

• Field-Effect Transistor (FET)

• Applications of BJTs
• Used in two broad areas
• As a linear amplifier to boost or amplify an electrical signal
• As an electronic switch
Transistor Structure

• BJT is constructed with three doped semiconductor regions

separated by two pn junction.
• The three regions are called emitter, base and collector.
• One type consists of two n-regions separated by a p region (npn) and
the other type consists of two p regions separated by an n region
(pnp).
Junctions in BJTs
Base-emitter junction: the pn junction joining the base region & the
emitter region.
Base-collector junction: the pn junction joining the base region & the
collector region.

A wire lead connects to each of the 3 regions. These leads labeled as;
E: emitter
B: base
C: collector
BASE REGION: lightly doped, & very thin

EMITTER REGION: heavily doped

COLLECTOR REGION: moderately doped

Standard BJT Symbols
BASIC BJT OPERATION
For a BJT to operate properly as an amplifier, the two pn junctions must be correctly
biased with external dc voltages.

Figure: shows a bias arrangement for npn BJTs for operation as an amplifier.

In both cases, BE junction is forward-biased & the BC junction is reverse-biased. 

called forward-reverse bias.

Look at this one circuit as two separate

circuits, the base-emitter(left side) circuit and
the collector-emitter(right side) circuit. Note
that the emitter leg serves as a conductor for
both circuits. The amount of current flow in
the base-emitter circuit controls the amount of
current that flows in the collector circuit.
Small changes in base-emitter current
yields a large change in collector-current.
Transistor operation

•The proper bias arrangement for both npn and pnp transistors for active
operation as an amplifier is shown above.

•In both cases the base-emitter (BE) junction is forward-biased and the base-
collector (BC) junction is reverse-biased.
Transistor operation
Working …

• The forward bias from base to emitter narrows the BE depletion

region, and the reverse bias from base to collector widens the BC
depletion region, as depicted in figure.

• The heavily doped n type emitter region is teeming with conduction-

band (free) electrons that easily diffuse through the forward-biased
BE junction into the p-type base region where they become minority
carriers.

• The base region is lightly doped and very thin so that it has a limited
number of holes. Thus, only a small percentage of all the electrons
flowing through the BE junction can combine with the available holes
in the base. These relatively few recombined electrons flow out of
the base lead as valence electrons causing small base electron
current as shown above.
Transistor Currents
 Transistor Currents
The directions of the currents in both npn and pnp transistors and their schematic
symbol are shown in Figure (a) and (b). Arrow on the emitter of the transistor symbols
points in the direction of conventional current. These diagrams show that the emitter
current (IE) is the sum of the collector current (IC) and the base current (IB), expressed
as follows:
IE = I C + I B
Contd…
 Ex 4-1 Determine βDC and IE for a transistor where IB = 50 μA and IC = 3.65 mA.

I C 3.65mA
 DC    73
IB 50 A
IE = IC + IB = 3.65 mA + 50 μA
= 3.70 mA

I C 3.65mA
 DC    0.986
I E 3.70mA
 BJT Circuit Analysis
There are three key dc voltages and three key dc currents to be considered. Note
that these measurements are important for troubleshooting.

IB: dc base current

IE: dc emitter current
IC: dc collector current
VBE: dc voltage across base-
emitter junction

VCB: dc voltage across

collector-base junction

VCE: dc voltage from collector

to emitter
When the base-emitter junction is forward-biased,
VBE ≅ 0.7 V
VRB = IBRB : by Ohm’s law
IBRB = VBB – VBE : substituting for VRB
IB = (VBB – VBE) / RB : solving for IB
VCE = VCC – VRc : voltage at the collector with respect to the
grounded emitter
VRc = ICRC
VCE = VCC – ICRC : voltage at the
collector with
respect to the emitter

The voltage across the reverse-biased

collector-base junction

VCB = VCE – VBE where IC = βDCIB

 Ex 4-2 Determine I , I , I , VB C E BE, VCE, and VCB in the circuit of Figure. The
transistor has a βDC = 150.

When the base-emitter junction is forward-biased, IC = βDCIB

= (150)(430 μA)
VBE ≅ 0.7 V = 64.5 mA
IB = (VBB – VBE) / RB IE = IC + IB
= 64.5 mA + 430 μA
= (5 V – 0.7 V) / 10 kΩ = 430 μA = 64.9 mA

VCE = VCC – ICRC

= 10 V – (64.5 mA)(100 Ω)
= 3.55 V
VCB = VCE – VBE
= 3.55 V – 0.7 V
= 2.85 V

Since the collector is at a higher

voltage than the base, the collector-
base junction is reverse-biased.
 Collector Characteristic Curves
Gives a graphical illustration of the
relationship of collector current and
VCE with specified amounts of base
current. With greater increases of
VCC , VCE continues to increase
until it reaches breakdown, but the
current remains about the same in
the linear region from 0.7V to the
breakdown voltage.
Sketch an ideal family of collector curves for the circuit in Figure for IB = 5 μA to 25 μA in 5
μA increment. Assume βDC = 100 and that VCE does not exceed breakdown.

IC = βDC IB

IB IC
5 μA 0.5 mA
10 μA 1.0 mA
15 μA 1.5 mA
20 μA 2.0 mA
25 μA 2.5 mA
Cutoff
With no IB , the transistor is in the cutoff region and just as the name implies
there is practically no current flow in the collector part of the circuit. With the
transistor in a cutoff state, the full VCC can be measured across the collector
and emitter(VCE).

Cutoff: Collector leakage current (ICEO) is extremely small and is usually

neglected. Base-emitter and base-collector junctions are reverse-biased.
Saturation
Once VCE reaches its maximum value, the transistor is said to be in saturation.

Saturation: As IB increases due to increasing VBB, IC also increases and VCE

decreases due to the increased voltage drop across RC. When the transistor reaches
saturation, IC can increase no further regardless of further increase in IB. Base-
emitter and base-collector junctions are forward-biased.
DC Load Line
The dc load line graphically illustrates IC(sat) and cutoff for a transistor.

Active region
of the
transistor’s
operation.

DC load line on a family of collector characteristic curves illustrating the

cutoff and saturation conditions.
 Ex 4-4 Determine whether or not the transistors in Figure is in saturation.
Assume VCE(sat) = 0.2 V.

First, determine IC(sat)

VCC  VCE ( sat)

I C ( sat) 
RC
10 V  0.2 V
  9.8 mA
1.0 k
Now, see if IB is large enough to produce IC(sat).

VBB  VBE 3V  0.7 V 2.3V

IB     0.23 mA Thus, IC greater than IC(sat).
RB 10k 10 k Therefore, the transistor is
saturated.
I C   DC I B  (50)(0.23 mA)  11.5 mA