BIPOLAR JUNCTION

TRANSISTOR (BJT)

Prepared by:
Seigfred Prado, ECE, M. Sc. ELEG
Introduction
◼ In 1904, the vacuum tube
diode was introduced by J.A.
Fleming.

In 1906, Dr. Lee de Forest added

a third element called the
control grid to the vacuum
tube diode, resulting in the first
amplifier,
the triode. UST - ECE
 Early TRANSISTOR
◼ On December 23, 1947, the first transistor was demonstrated
by Walter Brattain and John Bardeen, together with William
Shockley, at the Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Different Transistor Packaging
Advantages of a Transistor
◼ Smaller and lightweight
◼ No heater requirements (no heater loss)
◼ Rugged Construction
◼ More efficient (not much is dissipated by the
device itself)
◼ No warm – up period to operate
◼ Lower operating voltages are possible

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 Introduction
◼ The first transistor was
called point-contact
transistor.
◼ The term “transistor” was
given by John Robinson
Pierce.
◼ “Transistor” is a
contraction of “TRANSfer”
and “resISTOR”.

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BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR
◼ Two basic types of transistors are the Bipolar
Junction Transistor (BJT) and the Field-Effect
Transistor (FET).
◼ The BJT is used in two broad areas – as a linear
amplifier to boost or amplify an electrical signal
and as an electronic switch.
◼ It is “bipolar” because it reflects the part that both
majority and minority carriers participate in the
injection process into the oppositely polarized
material as oppose to unipolar where only one
carrier is employed.
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BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR
◼ The BJT is a current-controlled device because the
output current is controlled by an input current.
◼ It is constructed with three doped semiconductor
regions separated by two pn junctions.
◼ The three regions are called emitter, base, and
collector.
◼ The pn junction joining the base and the emitter
regions is called the base-emitter junction, while
the one that joins the base and collector regions is
called the base-collector junction.

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BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR

Schematic Symbol

Physical Construction UST - ECE

BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR
◼ The base region is lightly doped and very thin
compared to the heavily doped emitter and the
moderately doped collector.

◼ By varying the current between the base and the

emitter, the current flow between the emitter and
the collector is varied, causing amplification of
the signal at that collector.

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BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR
◼ There are two types of BJT
– the NPN transistor and
the PNP transistor.
◼ For a PNP transistor, the
emitter arrow points
towards the base.
◼ For an NPN transistor, the
emitter arrow points
outward and away from
the base.

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BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR

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OPERATION
◼ Regions of Operation:
◼ Active or Linear Region
◼ It is the condition in which the device conducts

at normal operation, that is, amplification

occurs.
◼ The collector current is approximately

proportional to the base current, but many

times larger, making this the ideal mode of
operation for current amplification.

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OPERATION
◼ Regions of Operation:
◼ Saturation Region
◼ It is the condition in which the base current is

increased to a point where the external circuitry

prevents the collector current from growing any
larger.
◼ Cut-off Region
◼ It is the condition in which the device no longer

conducts. The base-emitter voltage is too small

for any significant current to flow.

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OPERATION
◼ BIASING THE BJT

Region Base-Emitter Base-Collector

LINEAR/ACTIVE Forward-biased Reverse-biased
CUT-OFF Reverse-biased Reverse-biased
SATURATION Forward-biased Forward-biased
REVERSE –
Reverse-biased Forward-biased
ACTIVE
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OPERATION
◼ BIASING THE BJT

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OPERATION

Common-Emitter

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OPERATION
◼ Characteristic Curve

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OPERATION
◼ Characteristic Curve

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OPERATION
◼ Characteristic Curve

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OPERATION
◼ Consider an NPN transistor:
◼ In normal operation, the base-emitter junction
is forward-biased, meaning the base is made
more positive with respect to the emitter.
Moreover, the base-collector junction is reverse-
biased, meaning the collector is made positive
with respect to the emitter.
◼ The electrons from the emitter will diffuse into
the base.

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OPERATION
◼ Consider an NPN transistor:
◼ The base is always made very thin such that
most of the electrons diffuse over to the
collector before they recombine with holes.
◼ The electrons are swept into the collector by
the electric field around the junction.
◼ A small change in the base current can translate
to a large change in electron flow between
emitter and collector, hence, BJT is considered as
current-controlled device.

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OPERATION

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OPERATION

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TRANSISTOR CURRENTS

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TRANSISTOR CURRENTS
◼ Base Current (IB)
◼ Collector Current (IC) IE = IB + IC
◼ Emitter Current (IE)

◼ Note:
◼ The collector current is always much larger than
the base current.
◼ Typically, IC is between 49 to 300 times greater
than IB.
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TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Base Configuration (CB)
◼ In
this configuration, the base is common to
both input and output side of the circuit.

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TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Base Configuration (CB)
◼ Features:
◼ The input signal is introduced into the
emitter, and the output is taken from the
collector.
◼ It has a very low input impedance, usually

between 1 to 50 ohms.
◼ It has a high output impedance – about 1 KΩ

to 1 MΩ.

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TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Base Configuration (CB)
◼ Features:
◼ Primarily functions as a VOLTAGE AMPLIFIER.
◼ Its voltage gain is always greater than 1.

◼ Its current gain is always less than or

approximately equal to 1.
◼ There is no phase reversal between the input

and output signals.

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TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Collector Configuration (CC)
◼ Inthis configuration, the collector is
common to both input and output side of
the circuit.

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 TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Collector Configuration (CC)
◼ Features:
◼ The input signal is introduced into the base,
and the output is taken from the emitter.

◼ It has a very high input impedance.

◼ It has a relatively low output impedance.

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 TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Collector Configuration (CC)
◼ Features:
◼ The current gain is always greater than 1.
◼ The circuit provides voltage gain of less than 1.

◼ It functions as a CURRENT AMPLIFIER.

◼ There is no phase reversal between the input

and output signals.

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TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Emitter Configuration (CE)
◼ Inthis configuration, the emitter is
common to both input and output side of
the circuit.

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 TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Emitter Configuration (CE)
◼ Features:
◼ The input signal is introduced into the base,
and the output is taken from the collector.
◼ It has a moderately low input impedance –

typically from 25 Ω to 5 KΩ.

◼ It has a moderately high output impedance –

typically from 50 Ω to 50 KΩ.

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 TRANSISTOR CONFIGURATION
◼ Common-Emitter Configuration (CE)
◼ Features:
◼ It has a moderate voltage gain.
◼ It has a moderate current gain.

◼ Because of its moderate voltage gain and

current gain, it functions as a POWER

AMPLIFIER.
◼ There is a 180-degrees phase reversal between

the input and output signals.

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 DC TRANSISTOR PARAMETERS
◼ Common-Base Short-Circuit Amplification
Factor (α)
◼ It is the ratio of the change in collector current
to the change in emitter current, with VCB
constant.

ΔIC IC
α= α=
ΔIE IE
VCB = constant
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 DC TRANSISTOR PARAMETERS
◼ Common-Emitter Short-Circuit Amplification
Factor (β)
◼ It is the ratio of the change in collector current
to the change in base current, with VCE constant.

ΔIC IC
β= β=
ΔIB IB
VCE = constant

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 DC TRANSISTOR PARAMETERS
◼ Common-Collector Short-Circuit Amplification
Factor (γ)
◼ It is the ratio of the change in emitter current to
the change in base current, with VEB constant.

ΔIE IE
γ= γ=
ΔIB IB
VEB = constant

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