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Monday, September 15, 2014 2:45 PM: Electronics Page 1
Monday, September 15, 2014 2:45 PM: Electronics Page 1
Monday, September 15, 2014 2:45 PM: Electronics Page 1
BJT Relationships
NPN
RC
VCB
V BB
R B VB
IC
VC
Temperature Dependence
Since the transistor is a semiconductor with very
precise doping, variations in temperature can result
in unwanted changes in the output.
VCE
IB
VBE
VE
IE
PNP Transistor
In the case of a PNP transistor, the polarity of the
biasing voltages applied must be reversed. This
means that
should be applied to the collector
terminal and
to the base terminal.
Notice that at all times the emitter terminal is
connected to the positive terminal of the supply.
This means that, instead of applying a negative
voltage to the collector we can apply a positive
voltage to the emitter. For this reason, PNP
transistors are normally drawn vertically flipped.
Electronics Page 1
VCC
VCC
VC VCC
Open
Switch
Cutoff
VC 0
Closed
Switch
Saturation
Transistor as an Amplifier
Transistors are mainly used to amplify ac signals.
Proper dc biasing of a transistor is essential in
producing an amplified and undistorted replica of
the input signal. The transistor acts like a current
controlled device in the linear region. As long as
the transistor is in the linear region, changes in the
base current by the ac signal will correspond to
magnified changes in the collector current.
If proper dc biasing is not done, the transistor
might enter either the cutoff or saturation regions
temperature.
Due to unavoidable manufacturing variations, even
at a particular collector current and operating
temperature,
of transistors of the same type can
vary over a wide range (
and
).
This is usually written in the ratio form
and usually called the current
gain spread.
VCC
IC
I B
IE
IB
Ideally, if
is increased while is kept
constant, there will be no increase in (controlled
by ), instead the increase in
will be dropped
across the collector emitter terminals, causing
to increase.
Thermal Runaway
One of the major adverse effects of the increase in
temperature on transistors is that the collector
current will increase. This will cause the transistor to
heat up cause the collector current to continuously
increase until the transistor is damaged by the large
heat.
As
increases, the width of the collector
junction increases causing the base to become
thinner. This causes less electrons to recombine
with holes, thereby forcing almost all of the
emitter electrons to the collector. This effect is
called the Early Effect and causes
to increase.
For this reason, the relationship between
and
is not perfectly linear.
The maximum reverse-bias voltage,
, that the
collector diode can withstand before breakdown is
called
or the breakdown voltage (BV).
Electronics Page 2
VCC
RB
RC
RE
Transistor Troubleshooting
The forward resistances (
and
) must be
low.
The reverse resistances (
and
) must be
very high.
The collector emitter resistance should be very
high.
VCC
ro
I B
IB
rC
IC
IE
dropped across
and a little across . For this
reason,
is never at .
When
has become small enough, the collector
junction becomes forward-biased (
).
Characteristic Curves
Common-Emitter Configuration
Input Characteristics
The emitter diode
serves as the input
point, meaning that
the characteristic
curve is that of a
diode. Notice that
decreases as
increases.
Output Characteristics
The transistor variables that are changing in the
CE configuration are the collector current, , and
the voltage across its terminals,
.
Power dissipated by transistor:
.
Electronics Page 3
Common-Base Configuration
Here, the base terminal is grounded. Input is
applied to the emitter terminal.
Input Characteristics
The emitter diode defines the input characteristics
curve. It is the emitter current vs. the base-emitter
voltage. As
increases, fewer electrons
recombine in the base and so increases.
Output Characteristics
The transistor variables that are changing in the
CB configuration are the collector current, , and
the collector-base voltage,
, where
.
In the CB case,
Power dissipated by transistor:
.
Electronics Page 4