KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (KNUST), KUMASI

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
FACULTY OF COMPUTATIONAL AND PHYSICAL
SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

EXPERIMENT TITLE:
An experiment to determine the iv characteristics of a bjt

Name: GILBERT BLAH QUARSHIE

Index Number: 4280520
Date: 14/03/2023
Abstract

The aim of the experiment was to obtain the IV characteristics curve of the BJT for both the input

parameters and the output parameters. The apparatus used were the 2N3904-Transistor, a

Breadboard, an Ammeter, Two Voltmeters, 100Ω and 56kΩ Resistors, Two Programmable Power

Supplies, and a DC Power Source. The transistor was configured by grounding the emitter

terminal, and connecting the base terminal to an ammeter and a 56kΩ resistor. A voltmeter was

then connected between the base-emitter junction, after which the collector terminal was

connected to a 100kΩ resistor. A voltmeter was connected between the collector-emitter terminal,

and an ammeter was connected in series with the resistor to measure the output current. All

connections were made on the breadboard. The power sources at the base and the emitter were

switched on to measure the base-emitter voltage at fixed values of collector-emitter voltage (0V

and 5V). During this process, the input current was varied from 0µA to 100µA. After recording

and tabulating the values, the output current was measured by varying the emitter-base voltage

from 0V to 10V, while keeping the input current constant at 20µA, 40µA and 60µA. The values

were then recorded and tabulated. The IV characteristics was successfully obtained for both the

input parameters and the output parameters. The experiment was able to verify the influence of the

output voltage over the input current and input voltage in the IV characteristics. It was also able to

verify the influence of the input current over the output current. Although instrumental errors

affected the accuracy of the results, this experiment can be used as a basis for understanding how

amplification in a transistor works, and is therefore recommended as an educational resource for

any interested researcher.

Introduction

The Bipolar Junction transistor (BJT) is a device that consists of three layers of dopped

semiconductors namely the emitter, the base and the collector. The device can also be known as a

current control device, since a small amount of current can be used to control a large amount of

current. It is for this reason that the BJT is the best choice for signal amplification, although it can

also be used as a switch.

The BJT was first introduced by three physicists who go by the names William Shockley, Walter

Brattain, and John Bardeen, of Bell Labs. They created it by layering a p-type and an n-type

silicon to form a three-layer “sandwich”. The base was the middle layer, to which a small starting

current was attached. The emitter was one of the outer layers, which emits electrons and the

collector was the other outer layer, which collects electrons. After creating a working BJT, the 3

physicists did not publish their work till 1948. They then received a noble prize in Physics in 1956

for their work. The idea that the transistor should be bipolar was put forward by Shockley. He

proposed that the transistor should consist of two charge carriers, holes and electrons, hence the

name Bipolar.

The BJT has a wide range of applications. For example, the laptop used to type this report will be

unable to do so without the logic gates, as they need BJTs for their operation. A loud speaker or

even a wifi adapter will not be able to carry out its function without the help of BJTs as the have

the ability to amplify signals as stated above. BJTs can also be in detectors or demodulator

circuits. Clipping Circuits are also included since they help in the formation of wave shapes.

BJTs can be described as two diodes connected back-to-back. This description helps one to better

understand the current control functionality of the BJT. The BJT when biased properly, can
operate in the Active region, the Saturation Region and the Cut-off region. Aside from these three

modes there are also three different ways of connecting BJTs. These are the Common Base

Configuration, the Common Emitter Configuration and the Common Collector Configuration.
Theoretical Analysis

A Bipolar Junction Transistor is a three-layered semiconductor. It consist of three terminals; the

Emitter, the Base and the Collector. In terms of Doping, the emitter is heavily dopped, followed by

the collector and the base. As its name suggests, the BJT is bipolar, meaning it operates on two

polarities, the positive (Holes) and the negative (Electrons). As a result, two types of BJT can be

derived. There is the PNP transistor and the NPN transistor. Both transistors are similar in

operation, but different in terms of the polarity of the current, and the majority charge carriers. The

PNP transistor permits current to flow from the emitter, base, and to the collector. The NPN

transistor permits current to flow from the Base, Collector and then to the Emitter. The majority

charge carriers of the PNP transistor are holes, while those of the NPN are electrons.

The BJT can also be described as a device that works like two diodes connected back-to-back.

This implies that it is a current control device since diodes have the ability to control the direction

of current flow. Depending on the biasing conditions, the BJT is capable of amplifying current or

regulating it, like a switch. The model of two diodes connected back-to-back describes two major

junctions that is a result of the 3 different terminals of the BJT. For an NPN transistor, there is the

base-emitter junction (VBE), the collector-base junction (V CB), and the collector-emitter junction

(VCE). However, for a PNP transistor the polarity of the current must be taken into account, hence

changing the way the junctions are described. For example, VBE becomes VEB, etc.

The BJT can be biased to operate in three different modes. There is the Cut-off mode, which

results from the reverse biasing of the base-emitter junction and the collector-base junction. In

doing so, current will not be permitted to flow, hence the transistor behaves like an open-circuit.

There is also the saturation mode, during which the transistor behaves like a closed circuit. This is

because both VBE and VCE are forward biased. The last is the Active mode, which results from
forward biasing VBE, and reverse Biasing VCE. In this mode current amplification and the

derivation of the IV Characteristics of the transistor is favoured.

Aside having three modes of operation, the BJT has 3 different configurations. There is the

Common Base Configuration, within which the base is grounded; the Common Emitter

Configuration, within which the emitter is grounded and the Common Collector Configuration,

within which the collector is grounded. For each configuration, there different kinds of input and

output characteristics produced. This experiment focuses on the Common Emitter Configuration,

which is also widely preferred for current amplification. This is because, during the output

characteristics of the BJT, any small input current results in a large output current. This enables us

to calculate the amplification factor or current gain, which is given as;

Output Current IC
β= =
Input Current IB

The sum of all current flowing through the transistor is given as; I E = IB + IC where IE is the emitter

current, IB is the base current and I C is the collector current. Because I B is so small, it make I E and

IC approximately equal.
Methodology
Apparatus: 2N3904-Transistor, Breadboard, an Ammeter, Two Voltmeters, 100Ω and 56kΩ

Resistors, Two Programmable Power Supplies, and a DC Power Source.

Firstly, the terminals of the transistor were identified by viewing the datasheet of the 2N3904

transistor, and verifying it using the multimeter. The first circuit was setup using the Common

Emitter Configuration to determine the input characteristics of the BJT transistor. This was done

by connecting the base of the transistor in series with an ammeter, a 56kΩ resistor and a

programmable power supply (VBB), which was turned on by a DC power source. The collector of

the transistor was then connected to the 100Ω resistor and a programmable power supply (V CC),

which was turned on by a DC power source. The emitter of the transistor was grounded along with

the negative terminal of both VBB and VCC. Voltmeters were connected across the base-emitter

(VBE) junction of the transistor and the collector-emitter junction of the transistor (V CE). All these

connections were done on the breadboard. In order to obtain the input characteristics of the

Transistor, VBB had to be varied to obtain the base current (I B), which ranged from 0µA to 100µA.

For each value of IB, the input voltage (VBE) was recorded. In order to obtain the output

characteristics, the ammeter was connected between the collector and the 120Ω Resistor to

measure the output current (IC). Both VBB and VCC were set to 0V, then VBB was increased till IB

was 20µA, 40µA and 60µA respectively. For each value of I B, VCC was increased so that, V CE will

range from 0V to 10V successively. For every value of V CE, IC was recorded. After the

experiment, the IV characteristics for both the input and the output characteristics of the BJT were

plotted.
Table 1: Table of Output Voltage, Input Voltage, and Input Current
Input Characteristics
VCE = 0V VCE = 5V
IB/µA VBE/V IB/µA VBE/V
0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00
10.0 0.56 10.0 0.66
20.0 0.57 20.0 0.66
30.0 0.58 30.0 0.67
40.0 0.58 40.0 0.68
50.0 0.59 50.0 0.68
60.0 0.60 60.0 0.68
70.0 0.60 70.0 0.69
80.0 0.60 80.0 0.69
90.0 0.61 90.0 0.70
100.0 0.61 100.0 0.70

Table 2: Table of Input Current, Output Voltage and Output Current

Output Characteristics
IB = 20µA IB = 40µA IB = 60µA
VCE/V IC/mA VCE/V IC/mA VCE/V IC/mA
0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00
0.1 1.48 0.1 2.12 0.1 2.52
0.2 5.00 0.2 6.40 0.2 7.20
0.4 8.48 0.4 12.45 0.4 15.30
0.6 9.16 0.6 14.00 0.6 17.58
0.8 9.32 0.8 15.12 0.8 19.15
1.0 9.39 1.0 17.75 1.0 21.20
3.0 9.89 3.0 17.11 3.0 24.80
5.0 10.39 5.0 18.24 5.0 26.50
7.0 10.69 7.0 11.63 7.0 20.30
8.0 7.17 8.0 12.45 8.0 17.10
10.0 7.21 10.0 11.21 10.0 13.10
Graph 1
 Input Characteristics of BJT in Common Emitter Configuration
120.0

100.0

80.0
IB/uA

60.0

40.0

20.0

0.0
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80

VBE/V

Input Characteristics of BJT (VCE = 0V) Input Characteristics of BJT (VCE = 5V)
Graph 2

Output Characteristics of BJT in Common Emitter Configuration

30.00

25.00

20.00
IC/mA

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00

VCE/V

Output Characteristics of BJT (IB = 20uA) Output Characteristics of BJT (IB =40uA)
Output Characteristics of BJT (IB = 60uA)
Results And Discussion

The experiment successfully yielded the expected results. Table 1 represents the values recorded

for the input characteristics of the BJT, while Table 2 represents the values recorded for the output

characteristics of the BJT. Table 1 successfully yielded Graph 1 which shows the input

characteristics graph of the transistor in the common emitter configuration, while Table 2 yielded

graph 2 which shows the output characteristics graph of the transistor in the common emitter

configuration.

Observing the input characteristics of the BJT, it was noticed that for every small increase in input

current, there was a corresponding increase in the input voltage. This means that the input current

directly affects the input voltage. During the period within which the values of the input

characteristics was being recorded, the output voltage was set at two fixed values, 0V and 5V.

This was done to observe how the output voltage affects both the input current and the input

voltage. In the end, it can be noticed that when the output voltage was increased, the curve leaned

towards the input voltage axis. This can even be observed in the table, where we can see that there

is an increase in the last values of the input voltage corresponding to the input current, 100µA.

Hence, it can be safely concluded that for every increase in output voltage, the curve would lean

more in the direction of the voltage axis.

Observing the output characteristics of the BJT, it was noticed that for every small increase in the

output current, there is a corresponding increase in the output voltage of the device. This means

that the output current directly depends on the output voltage. However, it can be noticed that the

direct proportionality relationship does not last for very long, as the curve tends to become almost

linear at certain specific output currents. To understand this behaviour of the transistor, we need to
know that the curve actually represents the input current, which was spoken of earlier. It can be

noticed that for every small increase in input current, there is a corresponding large increase in the

output current. As a result, it can be safely concluded that there is a gain in current or current has

been amplified. This quantity is represented as Beta, β. For the transistor used in the experiment,

the gain is about 70, according to the datasheet presented by the manufacturer. This means that for

every 1µA of input current, the output current is amplified to become 70 times larger than that of

the input current. This also means that an increase in the input current directly affects the output

curve generated, hence affecting the nature of graph 2.

When one observes the Graphs 1 and 2 plotted from the table of values, it can be noticed that there

are some wayward points which do not help improve the clarity of the work. The values resulting

in those points were not as a result of the experimenter’s mistakes but rather as a result of the

measuring devices used, and how volatile some of the components used in the experiment are to

temperature or even environmental conditions. For example, for a metallic conductor, it is widely

known that its resistivity increases with temperature, and temperature is a factor that directly

affects the resistivity of a material. The jumper wires may not have been significantly affected by

the environment because they were insulated, but the leads of both the transistor and the resistors

were not. Power dissipated as a result of heat generated from the working of the components is

also another factor that affected the accuracy of the results obtained.
Precautions

1. It was ensured that the connections made were tightly fitted.

2. It was ensured that the voltages and currents used to operate the circuit did not exceed the

limits of the components.

3. It was ensured that the circuit was turned off after the values had been recorded.

Conclusion
The experiment was successful in deducing the output and input characteristics of the BJT. This

report can be used as a means for understanding the functionality of the BJT in the common

emitter configuration as it includes a detailed explanation of how it works, including the method

through which the experiment resulted in the Graphs 1 and 2. It also provides clarity on the basis

for amplification while using a BJT. Valuable information can be out sourced to provide

understanding to researchers who seek to know how an amplifier works. The report can even be

improved upon to generate even better transistors that nullify the errors indicated in the report.