Helwan University - Faculty of Engineering (Helwan)

Electronics and Communications Engineering Department

Electronics
Lec-7 Bipolar Junction Transistors
Presented By:

Azza Mohamed Anis

Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

As mentioned before, bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) use both

electrons and holes as current carriers (bipolar devices).

BJT is a current-controlled device, where the base current (𝐼𝐵 ) controls

the amount of collector current (𝐼𝐶 = 𝛽 𝐼𝐵 ).
 PNP BJT consists of two p regions separated by n region.

Emitter (E) Collector (C) P

N
Base (B)
PNP
Symbol P

The arrow on the emitter lead refers to the direction of emitter current
when emitter-base junction is forward-biased.
PNP BJT has two pn junctions.
Base (B)
Emitter (E) Collector (C)

EBJ CBJ

The pn junction joining the emitter region and the base region is called
the emitter-base junction (EBJ).
The pn junction joining the collector region and the base region is called
the collector-base junction (CBJ).
Modes of PNP BJT
Emitter (E) Base (B) Collector (C)

EBJ CBJ

Mode EBJ CBJ Application

Active Forward Reverse Amplifier
Saturation Forward Forward Closed Switch Digital
Cutoff Reverse Reverse Open Switch Circuit
 Active Mode of PNP BJT
In active mode, external dc voltages are applied to set EBJ
is forward-biased and CBJ is reverse-biased. CBJ
EBJ
As a result of the forward-bias voltage between emitter and base, holes
are injected from the emitter into the base.

𝑰𝒑𝑬

This results in the component of the emitter current 𝑰𝒑𝑬

The electrons injected from base to emitter give rise to the second
component of emitter current 𝑰𝒏𝑬

𝑰𝒑𝑬

𝑰𝒏𝑬

−
Total emitter current is the sum of these two currents: 𝑰𝑬 = 𝑰𝒏𝑬 + 𝑰𝒑𝑬
Number of the holes injected into the base will recombine with the
majority carriers in the base (electrons), giving rise to the base current 𝑰𝑩 .

−
The holes that succeed in reaching the boundary of the depletion region
of the CBJ will be diffused into the collector and collected by the
negative voltage on the collector and appear as a collector current 𝑰𝒑𝑪 .
𝑰𝒑𝑪

−
𝑰𝑩𝑪

𝑰𝑩𝑪 is the collector current due to the flow of minority carriers across
the reverse-biased CBJ.
The emitter current (𝑰𝑬 ) is the sum of the collector current (𝑰𝑪 ) and the
base current (𝑰𝑩 ).
𝑰𝑬 = 𝑰𝑪 + 𝑰𝑩
𝑰𝑪

The ratio of the collector current (𝑰𝑪 ) to the

base current (𝑰𝑩 ) is beta (𝜷).
𝑰𝑪 𝑰𝑩
𝜷= 𝑰𝑬
𝑰𝑩

The ratio of the collector current (𝑰𝑪 ) to the emitter current (𝑰𝑬 ) is
alpha (𝜶). 𝑰𝑪
𝜶=
𝑰𝑬
Summary of PNP BJT Active-Mode Currents

𝑰𝑬 = 𝑰𝑪 + 𝑰𝑩 𝑰𝑬 = 𝜷 + 𝟏 𝑰𝑩

𝑰𝑪
𝜷= 𝑰𝑪 = 𝜷 𝑰𝑩
𝑰𝑩
𝑰𝑪
𝜶= 𝑰𝑪 = 𝜶 𝑰𝑬
𝑰𝑬
𝜶 𝜷
𝜷= 𝜶=
(𝟏 − 𝜶) (𝟏 + 𝜷)
Current and Voltage Analysis
In this section the three dc currents and three dc voltages can be
identified.

IB : base current
IC : collector current
IE : emitter current
VEB : emitter-base voltage
VEC : emitter-collector voltage
VBC : base-collector voltage
When the emitter-base junction is forward-biased, the voltage drop
across that junction is the barrier voltage

𝑉𝐸𝐵 = 0.7V

Apply KVL in the emitter-base circuit:

−𝑉𝐸𝐵 − 𝐼𝐵 𝑅𝐵 + 𝑉𝐵𝐵 = 0
𝑽𝑬𝑩
Then, the base current (𝐼𝐵 ) is
𝑉𝐵𝐵 − 𝑉𝐸𝐵
𝐼𝐵 =
𝑅𝐵
Knowing the parameter 𝛽 , the collector current (𝐼𝐶 ) can be obtained
from the relationship:
𝐼𝐶 = 𝛽 𝐼𝐵

The emitter current (𝐼𝐸 ) can be obtained from the relationship:

𝐼𝐸 = 𝐼𝐵 + 𝐼𝐶 𝑜𝑟 𝐼𝐸 = 𝛽 + 1 𝐼𝐵
Apply KVL in the emitter-collector circuit:

𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝑉𝐸𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 = 0

The emitter-collector voltage (𝑉𝐸𝐶 ) is obtained as follows:

𝑉𝐸𝐶 = 𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 -
𝑽𝑬𝑪
+
The reverse-biased voltage (𝑉𝐵𝐶 ) across the collector-base junction is
given by KVL around transistor terminals:

−𝑉𝐸𝐶 + 𝑉𝐵𝐶 +𝑉𝐸𝐵 =0

𝑉𝐵𝐶 = 𝑉𝐸𝐶 − 𝑉𝐸𝐵 𝑽𝑬𝑪

𝐼𝑓 𝐼𝐵 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝐵𝐶 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠

∴ 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒

Example 1:

Determine IB , IC , IE , VEB , VEC , VBC in the circuit if β is 50.

Solution:
For the pnp BJT :
❑ The base is connected to – 4V and emitter is connected
to ground (0V) through a resistance 3.3K.
∵ VE>VB, the emitter-base junction will be forward biased.

❑ The base is connected to – 4V and collector is connected to

– 10V through a resistance 4.7K.
∵ VB>VC, the collector-base junction will be reverse biased.
❑ Assume transistor is in active mode and VEB=0.7V
Apply KVL in emitter-base circuit:

− 3.3𝑘 𝐼𝐸 − 𝑉𝐸𝐵 + 4 = 0

𝐼𝐸 = 1mA
𝐼𝐸
𝐼𝐵 = = 0.0196mA
1+𝛽

𝐼𝐶 = IE − IB = 0.9804mA 𝑰𝑬
Apply KVL in emitter-collector circuit:

𝑰𝑪
− 3.3𝑘 𝐼𝐸 − 𝑉𝐸𝐶 − 4.7𝑘 𝐼C + 10 = 0
-
𝑽𝑬𝑪
+
𝑉𝐸𝐶 = 2.092𝑉
𝑰𝑬
The reverse-biased voltage (𝑉𝐵𝐶 ) across the collector-base
junction is given by KVL around transistor terminals:
𝑽𝑩𝑪
−𝑉𝐸𝐶 + 𝑉𝐵𝐶 +𝑉𝐸𝐵 =0 -
𝑽𝑬𝑪
𝑉𝐵𝐶 = 𝑉𝐸𝐶 − 𝑉𝐸𝐵
+

𝑉𝐵𝐶 = 2.092 − 0.7 = 1.392𝑉

∵ 𝐼𝐵 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝐵𝐶 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠

∴ 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒

Example 2:

Determine IB , IC , IE , VEB , VEC , VBC in the circuit if β is 50.

Solution:
For the pnp BJT :
❑ The base is connected to – 2V and emitter is connected
to 2V through a resistance 3.3K.
∵ VE>VB, the emitter-base junction will be forward biased.
❑ The base is connected to – 2V and collector is connected
to – 8V through a resistance 4.7K.
∵ VB>VC, the collector-base junction will be reverse biased.

❑ Assume transistor is in active mode and VEB=0.7V

Apply KVL in emitter-base circuit:

2 − 3.3𝑘 𝐼𝐸 − 𝑉𝐸𝐵 + 2 = 0

𝐼𝐸 = 1mA
𝐼𝐸 𝑽𝑬𝑩
𝐼𝐵 = = 0.0196mA
1+𝛽
𝑰𝑬
𝐼𝐶 = IE − IB = 0.9804mA
Applying KVL in emitter-collector circuit:

𝑰𝑪
2 − 3.3𝑘 𝐼𝐸 − 𝑉𝐸𝐶 − 4.7𝑘 𝐼C + 8 = 0
-
𝑽𝑬C
𝑉𝐸𝐶 = 2.092𝑉 +
𝑰𝑬
The reverse-biased voltage (𝑉𝐵𝐶 ) across the collector-base
junction is given by KVL around transistor terminals:

𝑉𝐵𝐶 = 𝑉𝐸𝐶 − 𝑉𝐸𝐵 -

𝑽𝑬C
+
𝑽𝑬𝑩
𝑉𝐵𝐶 = 2.092 − 0.7 = 1.392𝑉

∵ 𝐼𝐵 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝐵𝐶 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠

∴ 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒

 Cutoff Mode

In cutoff, both the base-emitter and the base-collector junctions are

reverse-biased.

All the terminal currents are zero (when neglecting the reverse saturation
current across the junctions) and the BJT acts as an open switch (off
switch) (open circuit).
 𝐼𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 (𝑉𝑖𝑛 = 0)
+VCC
𝑅𝐶
RC IC = 0
𝑰𝑪
𝑅𝐵
𝑉𝑖𝑛 𝑰𝑩
+
- 𝑉𝑐𝑐 ≅ C
E

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 − 𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑗𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 − 𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒 − 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑗𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑒 − 𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑

∴ 𝐼𝐵 = 𝐼𝐶 = 𝐼𝐸 = 0
𝑉𝐶𝐸 = 𝑉𝑐𝑐
Example 3:

Determine the node voltages VB , VE , VC and the currents IB , IC , IE

if β is 50.
 Solution:
For the pnp BJT :
❑ The base is connected to ground (0V) and emitter is
connected to ground (0V) through a resistance 3.3K.
Therefore, the emitter-base junction will be reverse biased.

❑ The base is connected to ground (0V) and collector is

connected to – 10V through a resistance 4.7K.
∵ VB>VC, the collector-base junction will be reverse biased.
❑ Assume transistor is in cutoff mode.
In cutoff mode: 𝐼𝐵 = 𝐼𝐶 = 𝐼𝐸 = 0 −

𝑉𝐵 = 0 𝑽𝑪
𝑰𝑪
𝑉𝐸 = − 3.3𝑘 𝐼𝐸 = 0 +
𝑉𝐶 = 4.7𝑘 𝐼𝐶 − 10 = −10 +
𝑰𝑩
𝐼𝑓 𝑉𝐸 ≤ 𝑉𝐵: emitter−base junction is reverse biased. 𝑽𝑬
𝑰𝑬
−
𝐼𝑓 𝑉𝐶 ≤ 𝑉𝐵: collector−base junction is reverse biased.

∴ 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒.

 Saturation Mode
In saturation, both the base-emitter and the base-collector junctions are
forward-biased.

In saturation, BJT acts as a closed switch (on switch) (short circuit).

In saturation, the collector current consists of two components:
The first component is due to the diffusion of electrons from emitter to
base then into collector.
The other is due to the forward current across the base-collector
junction.
The two components are opposite, 𝑰𝑪
so the collector current decreases in
saturation than in active mode.
𝐼𝐶 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 < 𝐼𝐶 (𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒)

𝐼𝐶 𝐼𝐶
𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 < (𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒)
𝐼𝐵 𝐼𝐵
When the base-emitter junction becomes forward-biased, the base
current is increased (𝐼𝐵 ), the collector current also increases (𝐼𝐶 = β 𝐼𝐵 ),
and 𝑉𝐶𝐸 decreases as a result of more drop across the collector resistor
(𝑉𝐶𝐸 = 𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 ).

When 𝑉𝐶𝐸 reaches its saturation value, 𝑉𝐶𝐸 (sat)=0.2V, the base-collector
junction becomes forward-biased.
+VCC

RC IC(saturation)

≅ C
E
Solution:
Assume transistor is in saturation mode:
𝑉𝐵𝐸 = 0.7𝑉 𝑰𝐼𝐵𝑩
𝑉𝐶𝐸 = 0.2𝑉
𝑽𝑩𝑬
𝑉𝐵𝐸
𝐼𝐸 = 𝐼𝐵 + 𝐼𝐶
Apply KVL in the base-emitter circuit:

𝑉𝐵𝐵 − 𝐼𝐵 𝑅𝐵 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸 = 0
 𝑉𝐵𝐵 − 𝐼𝐵 𝑅𝐵 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸 = 0

𝑉𝐵𝐵 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸
𝐼𝐵 = = 86𝜇A
𝑅𝐵
𝑰𝑪
Apply KVL in the collector-emitter circuit:
+
𝑽𝑪𝑬
𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸 = 0 -
𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸 = 0

𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸
𝐼𝐶 = = 3.26𝑚A
𝑅𝐶

𝐼𝐶 3.26𝑥10−3
𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = −5
= 38 < (𝛽 = 100 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒)
𝐼𝐵 8.6𝑥10

∴ 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑑𝑒.

Repeat with the 2KΩ emitter resistance is added.
Assume transistor is in saturation mode:
𝑉𝐵𝐸 = 0.7𝑉, 𝑉𝐶𝐸 = 0.2𝑉, 𝐼𝐸 = 𝐼𝐵 + 𝐼𝐶

Apply KVL in the base-emitter circuit:

𝑉𝐵𝐵 − 𝐼𝐵 𝑅𝐵 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸 − 𝐼𝐸 𝑅𝐸 = 0 𝑰𝑩

𝑉𝐵𝐵 − 𝐼𝐵 𝑅𝐵 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸 − (𝐼𝐵 + 𝐼𝐶 )𝑅𝐸 = 0

𝑰𝑬
(1)
Apply KVL in the collector-emitter circuit:
𝑰𝑪
𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸 − 𝐼𝐸 𝑅𝐸 = 0

𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸 − (𝐼𝐵 + 𝐼𝐶 )𝑅𝐸 = 0 (2)

+
𝑽𝑪𝑬
-
From (1) and (2):

𝐼𝐵 = 6.25x10−6 A
𝐼𝐶 = 1.94x10−3 A 𝑰𝑬

𝐼𝐶 1.94x10−3 Transistor is not

= −6
= 310.4 > (𝛽 = 100 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒) in saturation
𝐼𝐵 6.25x10
Assume again transistor is in active mode: 𝑉𝐵𝐸 = 0.7𝑉
Apply KVL in the base-emitter circuit:

𝑉𝐵𝐵 − 𝐼𝐵 𝑅𝐵 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸 − 𝐼𝐸 𝑅𝐸 = 0

𝑉𝐵𝐵 − 𝐼𝐵 𝑅𝐵 − 𝑉𝐵𝐸 − (1 + 𝛽) 𝐼𝐵 𝑅𝐸 = 0

𝐼𝐵 = 0.017𝑚𝐴 𝑰𝑩

𝐼𝐸 = (1 + 𝛽) 𝐼𝐵 = 1.72𝑚𝐴

𝐼𝐶 = 𝛽 𝐼𝐵 = 1.70𝑚𝐴 𝑰𝑬
 𝑰𝑪
Apply KVL in the collector-emitter circuit:

𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 − 𝑉𝐶𝐸 − 𝐼𝐸 𝑅𝐸 = 0 +
𝑽𝑪𝑬
-
𝑉𝐶𝐶 − 𝐼𝐶 𝑅𝐶 − 𝐼𝐸 𝑅𝐸 = 𝑉𝐶𝐸

𝑉𝐶𝐸 = 1.46𝑉
𝑰𝑬

∵ 𝑉𝐶𝐸 > 0.3𝑉 ∴ Transistor is in active mode