TRANSISTORS

A bipolar transistor consists of a three-

layer "sandwich" of doped (extrinsic)
semiconductor materials, either P-N-P
or N-P-N. Each layer forming the
transistor has a specific name (Emitter,
Base and Collector), and each layer is
provided with a wire contact for
connection to a circuit
PNP transistor

construction
NPN transistor

construction
FORWARD & REVERSE BIASED
(a) The majority carriers in the emitter p-type material are holes

(c) The base-emitter junction is forward biased to the majority

carriers and the holes cross the junction and appear in the base
region

(c) The base region is very thin and is only lightly doped with
electrons so although some electron-hole pairs are formed, many
holes are left in the base region

(d) The base-collector junction is reverse biased to electrons in the

base region and holes in the collector region, but forward biased
to holes in the base region; these holes are attracted by the
negative potential at the collector terminal

(e) A large proportion of the holes in the base region cross the base
collector junction into the collector region, creating a collector
current; conventional current flow is in the direction of hole
movement.
(a) The majority carriers in the n-type emitter material are electrons

(c) The base-emitter junction is forward biased to these majority

carriers and electrons cross the junction and appear in the base
region

(c) The base region is very thin and only lightly doped with holes, so
some recombination with holes occurs but many electrons are left
in the base region

(d) The base-collector junction is reverse biased to holes in the base

region and electrons in the collector region, but is forward biased
to electrons in the base region; these electrons are attracted by
the positive potential at the collector terminal

(e) A large proportion of the electrons in the base region cross the
base collector junction into the collector region, creating a
collector current.
TRANSISTOR AS A SWITCH
Any sufficient source of DC current may be
used to turn the transistor on, and that
source of current need only be a fraction of
the amount of current needed
Construction Stage
Operation
• The base of the
NPN transistor
must be positive
with respect to
the emitter,

• And the
collector must
be more positive
than the base.
Operation
Biasing
Biasing
METER CHECK
OF A
TRANSISTOR
 Testing of Transistor
• TESTING A TRANSISTOR to determine if it is good or
bad can be done with an ohmmeter or transistor tester or
by the substitution method.
• PRECAUTIONS should be taken when working with
transistors since they are susceptible to damage by
electrical overloads, heat, humidity, and radiation.
• TRANSISTOR LEAD IDENTIFICATION plays an
important part in transistor maintenance because before a
transistor can be tested or replaced, its leads must be
identified. Since there is NO standard method of
identifying transistor leads, check some typical lead
identification schemes or a transistor manual before
attempting to replace a transistor.
Multimeter without diode check
 Meter readings will be
exactly opposite, of
course, for an NPN
transistor, with both PN
junctions facing the
other way
If a multimeter with a “Diode Check" function is
used in this test, it will be found that the
emitter-base junction possesses a slightly
greater forward voltage drop than the
collector-base junction. This forward voltage
difference is due to the disparity in doping
concentration between the emitter and collector
regions of the transistor: the emitter is a much
more heavily doped piece of semiconductor
material than the collector, causing its junction
with the base to produce a higher forward
voltage drop.
 Using multimeter with “Diode Check”, the data
obtained:

Meter touching wire 1 (+) and 2 (-): "OL"

Meter touching wire 1 (-) and 2 (+): "OL"
Meter touching wire 1 (+) and 3 (-): 0.655 volts*
Meter touching wire 1 (-) and 3 (+): "OL"
Meter touching wire 2 (+) and 3 (-): 0.621 volts*
Meter touching wire 2 (-) and 3 (+): "OL"

* Indicating forward biasing of the emitter-to-base

junction and the collector-to-base junction
Wire 3 is common to both sets of conductive readings.
Thus it must be the base connection of the transistor,
because the base is the only layer of the three-layer
device common to both sets of PN junctions.
In both those sets of meter
readings (*), the black (-) meter
test lead was touching wire 3,
which tells us that the base of this
transistor is made of N-type
semiconductor material (black =
negative). Thus, the transistor is
an PNP type with base on wire 3,
emitter on wire 1 and collector on
wire 2.
 Identification
An easy way to identify a specific transistor
configuration is to follow three simple steps:
• Identify the element (emitter, base, or
collector) to which the input signal is applied.
• Identify the element (emitter, base, or
collector) from which the output signal is
taken.
• The remaining element is the common
element, and gives the configuration its name.
 TRANSISTOR RATINGS
Power dissipation
Transistors are rated in terms of how many watts they
can safely dissipate without sustaining damage. High
temperature is the mortal enemy of all semiconductor
devices, and bipolar transistors tend to be more
susceptible to thermal damage than most.
Reverse voltages
As with diodes, bipolar transistors are rated for
maximum allowable reverse-bias voltage across their PN
junctions.

Collector current
A maximum value for collector current will be given by
the manufacturer in amps.
Saturation voltages
Ideally, a saturated transistor acts as a closed switch
contact between collector and emitter, dropping zero
voltage at full collector current.

Beta: The ratio of collector current to base current, β is

the fundamental parameter characterizing the
amplifying ability of a bipolar transistor.
 Transistor as Amplifier
• The key to understanding how
amplifiers can exist without
violating the Law of Conservation
of Energy lies in the behavior of
active devices.

• The result is a device that appears

to magically magnify the power
of a small electrical signal
(usually an AC voltage
waveform) into an identically-
shaped waveform of larger
magnitude.
 Perfect or Imperfect Machine
• There does exist, however, a class of machines known as
amplifiers, which are able to take in small-power signals and
output signals of much greater power.

• The Law of Conservation of Energy is not violated because :

- The additional power is supplied by an external source, usually

a DC battery or equivalent.
- The power output of a machine can approach, but never exceed,
the power input for 100% efficiency as an upper limit.
-A realistic machine most often loses some of its input energy as
heat in transforming it into the output energy stream.
- Hypothetical “perpetual motion machine” powers itself?
 Amplifier
• Amplifier can scale a small input signal to large
output, its energy source is an external power supply.
• Amplifiers, like all machines, are limited in efficiency
to a maximum of 100 percent.
• Usually, electronic amplifiers are far less efficient
than that, dissipating considerable amounts of energy
in the form of waste heat.
• Because the efficiency of an amplifier is always 100
percent or less, one can never be made to function as
a “perpetual motion” device.
 Amplifier
• The requirement of an external source of power is common to
all types of amplifiers, electrical and non-electrical.
• A common analogy of a non-electrical amplification system
would be power steering in an automobile, amplifying the
power of the driver's arms in turning the steering wheel to
move the front wheels of the car. The source of power
necessary for the amplification comes from the engine. The
active device controlling the driver's “input signal” is a
hydraulic valve shuttling fluid power from a pump attached to
the engine to a hydraulic piston assisting wheel motion. If the
engine stops running, the amplification system fails to amplify
the driver's arm power and the car becomes very difficult to
turn.
Connection
COMMON-BASE AMPLIFIER

Both the signal source and the load share the

base lead as a common connection point
 Gain
• The term hfe used in place of b. The terms hfe and b are
equivalent and may be used interchangeably. This is because
"hfe" means:
h = hybrid (meaning mixture)
f = forward current transfer ratio
e = common emitter configuration
The resistance gain of the common emitter can be found in a
method similar to the one used for finding beta:
• Once the resistance gain is known, the voltage gain is easy to
calculate since it is equal to the current gain multiplied by the
resistance gain (E = bR).
• And, the power gain is equal to the voltage gain multiplied by
the current gain b (P = bE).
Example: Measurements at several points of interest
using oscilloscope
COMMON-EMITTER AMPLIFIER

Both the signal source and the load share the

emitter lead as a common connection point
Example: Measurements at several points of interest
using oscilloscope
 COMMON-COLLECTOR
AMPLIFIER

Both the signal source and the load share the

collector lead as a common connection point
Example: Measurements at several points of
interest using oscilloscope
Transistor's Characteristic Curves
ACTIVE MODE OPERATION
When a transistor is in
the fully-off state (like
an open switch), it is
said to be cutoff.

Conversely, when it is
fully conductive
between emitter and
collector (passing as
much current through
the collector as the
collector power supply
and load will allow), it is
said to be saturated.
CLASS A AMPLIFIER
Class A operation is
where the entire
input waveform is
faithfully
reproduced.

Class A operation
can only be obtained
when the transistor
spends its entire
time in the active
mode, never
reaching either
cutoff or saturation
CLASS B AMPLIFIER
Class B operation is
the transistor spent
half its time in active
mode and the other
half in cutoff

with the input

voltage too low (or
even of the wrong
polarity!) to
forward-bias its
base-emitter
junction.
Class Input and Output
• FIDELITY and EFFICIENCY
are two terms used in
conjunction with amplifiers.

• Fidelity is the faithful

reproduction of a signal, while
• Efficiency is the ratio of output
signal power compared to the
total input power.

• The class A amplifier has the

highest degree of fidelity, but
the class C amplifier has the
highest efficiency.
Typical Configuration
• This illustration is a class A amplifier
configured as a common emitter
using fixed bias. From this, you
should be able to conclude the
following:

• Because of its fixed bias, the

amplifier is thermally unstable.
• Because of its class A operation, the
amplifier has low efficiency but good
fidelity.
• Because it is configured as a common
emitter, the amplifier has good
voltage, current, and power gain.
• In conclusion, the type of bias, class
of operation, and circuit configuration
are all clues to the function and
possible application of the amplifier.
 Example
• If the input current (IB) in a common emitter changes
from 75 mA to 100 mA and the output current (IC)
changes from 1.5 mA to 2.6 mA, the current gain (b)
will be 44.

• This simply means that a change in base current

produces a change in collector current which is 44
times as large.
 Amplifier Rating
• Because amplifiers have the ability to increase the
magnitude of an input signal, it is useful to be able to
rate an amplifier's amplifying ability in terms of an
output/input ratio.
• The technical term for an amplifier's output/input
magnitude ratio is gain.
• As a ratio of equal units (power out / power in,
voltage out / voltage in, or current out / current in),
gain is naturally a unitless measurement.
• Mathematically, gain is symbolized by the capital
letter “A”.
 Example
• If an amplifier takes in • If an amplifier with an
an AC voltage signal AC current gain of 3.5
measuring 2 volts RMS is given an AC input
and outputs an AC signal of 28 mA RMS,
voltage of 30 volts the output will be 3.5
RMS, it has an AC times 28 mA, or 98 mA:
voltage gain of 30
divided by 2, or 15:
 Rating…
• Amplifiers often
amplify changes or
variations in input
signal magnitude
(AC) at a different
ratio than steady
input signal
magnitudes (DC).
Rating
 Multistage Amplifier
• If multiple amplifiers are staged, their respective
gains form an overall gain equal to the product
(multiplication) of the individual gains. (Figure
below)

• A 1 V signal were applied to the input of the gain of

3 amplifier in Figure above, a 3 V signal out of the
first amplifier would be further amplified by a gain of
5 at the second stage yielding 15 V at the final output.
Heat Sink
 Application of Electronics
• From electric to electronic
• Active versus passive devices
• Diode
• Transistor

• MICROELECTRONICS is a broad term used to describe the use of integrated

circuits to miniaturize electronic equipment.
• A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD (PCB) is a flat, insulating surface upon which
printed wiring and miniaturized components are connected in a
predetermined design and attached to a common base.
• MODULAR CIRCUITRY is an assembly technique in which printed circuit
boards are stacked and connected together to form a module. This technique
increases the packaging density of circuit components and results in a
considerable reduction in the size of electronic equipment.
• An INTEGRATED CIRCUIT is a device that integrates (combines) both
active components (transistors, diodes, etc.) and passive components (resistors,
capacitors, etc.) of a complete electronic circuit in a single chip.