Experiment # 4

Unijunction Transistor Characteristics, UJT Oscillator and Timer Circuits

Student Name: _________________

Student ID: ____________________
Date: _________________________

Reading:

Timothy, Modern Industrial Electronics: Chapter 5, Sections 5-1 to 5-3

Objective:
4. Understanding the construction and characteristics of a UJT.
5. Understanding the operation and the two transistor equivalent of a UJT.
6. Measuring the characteristics of a UJT.
7. Constructing and measuring basic UJT application circuits.

Apparatus:
- Power supply unit KL 51001
- Isolation Transformer KL 58002
- Module KL 53001
- Analog multimeter
- Digital multimeter
- Oscilloscope

Summary of theory:
The Unijunction transistor (UJT) was originally called a double base diode due to the presence of two base
contacts.
The interbase resistance RBB is the resistance of the device between terminals B2 and B1 when IE = 0, and can
be considered as consisting of the resistors rB1 and rB2 in series. In equation form,

R BB rB1 rB 2 I E 0

The magnitude of rB1 is typically from 5 to 12 k . The resistance is fairly distributed between B1 and B2 when
the emitter is open circuited (IE = 0). Due to the position of the emitter is closer to the base 2 contact than the

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base 1 contact, the magnitude of rB1 is slightly larger than the rB2 value. The resistance rB1 is shown as a variable
resistor since its magnitude will vary with emitter current IE. For example, the rB1 values of 2N492 UJT are 4.6
k at IE = 0, 2 k at IE = 1 mA, 150 at IE = 10 mA, and 40 at IE = 50 mA.
With IE = 0, the voltage drop on the resistor rB1 is determined by the voltage-divider rule:

rB1
Vr V
B1 R BB B 2 B1 I E 0

VrB1 V
B 2 B1 I E 0

The intrinsic standoff ratio of the UJT, , is typically within the range of 0.5 to 0.8.

UJT characteristics:
When applied emitter voltage VE is smaller than the peak-point voltage VP, the p-n junction at the emitter is
reverse biased and only a small leakage current IEO normally flows in the emitter. The current IEo usually
micro
measured in A, corresponds very closely with the reverse leakage current ICo of the conventional bipolar
transistor. This region as indicated in the figure is called the cutoff region. see Fig. 1
When the voltage VE is increased, a voltage is reached where VE is equal to the sum of the forward voltage drop
across the p-n junction and the voltage across rB1. This voltage is known as the peak-point voltage VP or firing
point voltage. When the applied VE reaches the firing potential VP, the diode will fire and the UJT will conduct
from the cutoff region into the negative resistance region. The emitter firing potential is given by

VP V B 2 B1 V D
Where the forward voltage drop across the diode V D is typically 0.7 V. as the emitter base1 voltage greater than
VP the p-n junction is forward biased so that the holes are injected from the emitter into the silicon n-type
material. Since the B1 is negative with respect to the emitter, the electric field is such that most holes move
toward the B1 terminal. An equal number of electrons are injected from B1 to maintain electrical neutrality in
the n-type material. The increase in current carried in the silicon material decreases the value of r B1. This causes
the fraction of voltage across rB1 to decrease, which causes a further increase of emitter current IE, and a lower
resistance of rB1. This region between the peak point voltage VP and the valley point voltage VV on the curve is
called negative resistance region. With the characteristic of negative resistance, the UJT is suitable for the
application of relaxation oscillator, multivibrator, and timing circuit. At the valley point voltage, the emitter
voltage VE increase gradually at currents above IV and then reaches a nearly constant value VEsat. This voltage
is called saturation voltage. The region to the right of the valley point is known as the saturation region, where
the dynamic resistance is determine d by the slope of I-V curve and is given between 10 and 20 . If the emitter
voltage returns to zero, the UJT operating in saturation will be cut off. The emitter resistance of UJT ranges

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 from several hundred ohms to several mega ohms. In cutoff region, the emitter resistance is typically several
hundred thousand ohms or several mega ohms. In negative resistance region, the emitter resistance typically
several thousand ohms and is about several hundred ohms in saturation region.

Testing UJT with ohmmeter:

Set the analogue multimeter on 1 K
Ohm
to the base 1 a reading between 5 to 12 k should be obtained. Reversing the polarity will be the same reading.
This reading represents interbase resistance of the UJT with IE = 0. If the black lead is connected to the emitter
and the red lead to the base 1 or base 2, the p-n junction is forward biased by the internal battery and the meter
should indicate a low resistance. Thus emitter terminal is located. The resistance of E-B1 is greater than the
resistance of E-B2. Thus three terminal of the UJT are identified.
Prelab
From the experimental circuit below find the capacitor charging time T1 and T2 for the following values of C:

3
)*C

1. C=C4=1 µF
2. C=C3=22 µF
3. C=C2=100 µF
Time constant T= R*C.
Example:
For: C=C4= 1 µF
Frequency f= 1/T.

T1=0.00051 seconds, and f1=1960 HZ

T2=0.25 seconds, and f2=4 HZ
Figure 1. UJT characteristic curve

Procedure:
UJT characteristic measurement
1. Connect AC 12 V from power supply unit KL-51001, KL 58002 to module KL 53001.

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 Experiment circuit

2. Insert connect plug in 1, 4, 6 and 8 positions. Adjust VR1 fully CCW to obtain a minimum resistance. Draw the
equivalent circuit diagram of the experimental circuit.

SSR
SSR operation

3. Turn on the power. Observe and record the state of LED. ____________________ The UJT is operating in
________________ region. Using the multimeter, measure and record the voltage across R11.
_____________________V.
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 Note: All the measurement should be on DC mode
4. Measure and record the emitter voltage of the UJT with the multimeter (the red lead to E, the black lead to
GND).
VE = _______________V.
increasing
5. Slowly turning the VR1 to the right (CW), observe the change of VE until the voltage reading reaches a peak
value and abruptly reduces to a valley value. Record the peak and valley values. The peak value represents the
peak point voltage of the UJT and the valley value is the valley point voltage.
VP= ___________________ V
VV = ___________________V
6. The led is _____________ (on or off). The UJT should operate in ______________ region. Editting pdf file
7. Using the multimeter, measure and record the voltage across R11. V R11 = ___________________ V

UJT OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT

1. Referring to the experiment circuit, set S1 on Module KL-53001 to OFF.
2. Connect DC 12 V input to +12 V output of power Supply Unit using test leads.

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3. Insert connect plugs in position 1, 4, 7,8,11,12, and 14. Turn VR2 fully CCW to get the minimum value of
resistance. Draw the equivalent circuit diagram of the experimental circuit.

4. If you increase VR2 in this circuit, the period of oscillation will ____________ .

5. If you increase the capacitance, C4/ C3/ C2 in this circuit, the period of oscillation will ____________ .

6. Switch S1 to ON position. Using the oscilloscope obtain the output waveform (at B1) then record the
waveform period T=------------------------ ms

Note: If no oscillation occurs, slowly turn VR2 to the right until a visible waveform is present.
7. Using the oscilloscope obtain the output waveform (at E) then record the waveform period, T = ---------------
--------- ms. Do they agree? ________
8. Draw the voltage waveform at E, determine the parameters of UJT.
9. VV= V VP= V

10. Observe the changes of waveforms at E and B1 while turning VR2 CW.
_______________________________________________

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11. Remove the connect plug from positions 7 and then insert in positions 6. Without changing VR2 observe the
output waveform (at E) then record the waveform period, T = --------------------- ms.
12. Remove the connect plug from positions 6 and then insert in positions 5. Without changing VR2 observe the
output waveform (at E) then record the waveform period, T = -------------------- ms.
13. Turn VR2 fully CW. Observe and record the states of LED and buzzer.
LED -------------------------; Buzzer ---------------------------

UJT TIMER CIRCUIT

14. Remove the connect plug from positions 12 & 14 and then insert in positions 13 & 15. Adjust VR2 to get
maximum oscillation period of VE.
15. Turn SW off and then turn ON. Observe the delay between SW ON and LED ON.
16. Using Oscilloscope measure the time from S1 ON to LED ON. T = -------------------- ms.

Conclusion:

After Lab Questions:

Is a Unijunction transistor a continuously variable device or a switching device? Explain

Useful websites:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=d7Y2i2VD-70&ab_channel=AllAmericanFiveRadio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ_4fwGI3fs&ab_channel=JonathanBisnett

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Lab Manual, EEET 212: Industrial Electronics