Transistor

 A transistor is a three-terminal, solid-state electronic

device used for amplification and switching.
 Two basic types of transistors are the bipolar
junction transistor (BJT) and the field-effect
transistor (FET).
 The First Transistor: Point-contact transistor

A point-contact transistor
was the first type of solid
state electronic transistor
ever constructed.
It was made by researchers
John Bardeen & Walter
Houser Brattain at Bell
Laboratories in December
1947.

The point-contact transistor was

commercialized and sold by Western
Electric and others but was rather
quickly superseded by the junction
transistor.
 Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT)

 A bipolar transistor essentially

consists of a pair of PN
Junction diodes that are joined
back-to-back.
 There are two kinds of BJT, the
NPN and PNP.
 The three layers of the
sandwich are conventionally
called the Collector, Base, and
Emitter.
Terminals & Operations
 The First BJT

Transistor Size (3/8”L X 5/32”W X 7/32”H)

No Date Codes. No Packaging.
Modern Transistors
Example of BJT Specification Sheet
Transistor Currents and Voltages

I E = IC + I B
Basic Transistor Operation

VBB forward-biases the BE junction

VCC reverse-biases the BC junction
 Transistor Parameters

IC 
 DC = =
IB 1−

IC
 DC =
IE

Determine βDC, IE, and αDC for a transistor where IB

= 50μA and IC = 3.65mA.
Current and Voltage Analysis
 Example

Determine IB, IC, IE, VBE, VCE and VCB in the circuit. The
transistor has a βDC=150
Transistor Characteristic Curve
 Modes of Operation

 Cut- off Region

Base-Emitter Junction- Reversed Biased
Collector-Base Junction- Reversed Biased
 Saturation Region
Base-Emitter Junction- Forward Biased
Collector-Base Junction- Forward Biased
 Active Region
Base-Emitter Junction- Forward Biased
Collector-Base Junction- Reversed Biased
Collector Characteristic Curve
 Cut-off

I B = 0; I C = 0

ICEO – due to thermally produced

carriers, very small amount of
leakage current (usually neglected)

BE and BC junction are

both reverse-biased VCE ( cutoff ) = VCC
 Saturation

VCE ( sat ) = VCC − I C ( sat ) RC

VCC − VCE ( sat )

I C ( sat ) =
RC

Enough IB to produce IC(sat)

When VCE reaches VCE(sat), IC
will not increase further even
with an increase in IB.
I C ( sat )
I B (min) =
 DC

VCE(sat) occurs somewhere below knee of collector curves, only a few tenths of a volt
for Si.
 Example

Determine whether or not the transistor is in saturation.

Assume VCE(sat) = 0.2V
 Transistor Amplification

Amplification – process of linearly increasing the

amplitude of an electrical signal
Transistor as a Switch
Example

a) For the circuit, what is VCE when

VIN=0V
b) What minimum value of IB is required
to saturate this transistor if βDC is 200?
Neglect VCE(sat).
c) Calculate the maximum value of RB
when VIN=5V
 Linear Operation

•Region along the load line including all points

between saturation and cutoff

•Waveform distortion
Under certain signal
conditions, the location
of the Q-pt on the load
line can cause one peak
of the Vce waveform to
be limited or clipped

•Where IBQ, ICQ and VCEQ are dc Q pt values with no input sinusoidal voltage
applied